Post by Gane on Feb 7, 2010 13:49:35 GMT 8
Distortion Android 3
aka
Revenge of the Fallen Legends Class Devastator
"Intelligence, Happy"
Probably the most waited Devastator set ever since it came out in Japan. And in almost the same time the US version set came out in TRU and TK, the fakes/imitations came out with the set in the Distortion Android series, numbered 3 with the following words "7 in 1 Deformation Combined, Intelligence, Happy"
I don't know if these are the same guys who made those 75% accurate TF Animated toys with White cardboard backing. Because other than the shortcuts they made, this set is almost accurate to the original molding.
Amazingly, you'd think that they would have stuck with using the accuracy as they did with the TF Animated toys, as I mentioned above, since these are Legends Class and are small. But no they, they had to cut short of making the set 80% accurate by removing some articulation and in the case of High Tower, they just ignored his bot mode completely.
The Set
Instead of buying them individually since they are packed just like the Japanese release; you can get the whole set of 7 bots stapled together.
Having to weigh out whether to get this or the P2,600 original set is a no brainer, I had to give this a go… If I like it, I’ll get the original, because we all know these imitations are brittle in the hands.
Out of their blister packaging, these toys are NOT for small children. Why? Other than the small/tiny pieces, every part of every bot has sharp and pointy edges, not to mention the number of extra plastic from the mold, the loose pinhole plastics caused by a pin removing the plastic from the mold. They don’t come with instructions so you’ll have to use the picture at the back of the cardboard backing as a guide or look for one online.
All the bots are in their correct colors, but most of which are sparsely painted; probably they were trying to catch a deadline before the original US release comes out. Mind you, they have crisp details except for a few bots that had those nasty production shortcuts done on them. The only downside is that they all need clean-up, the plastic halves have huge gaps and some pin locks don’t fit into their holes. Correcting the paintjob should be easy enough, so adding paint on the detailed heads should be part of the job if you want to display him.
They are a sweet set of the nasty and ginormous Decepticon from the movie. At this point I was wondering if they can combine without a hitch; a lot of imitations are guilty of bad fit especially on model kits. But alas, without the aid of an instruction manual, I managed to build Devastator in all his imitation glory…
The Individual Bots and their Anomalies
*Some names in the pictures are wrong and weren't edited with the correct list of names before uploading - sorry*
I guess you already know all the bots in Devastator so I’ll only name a few which needs more attention, especially those who had production shortcuts issue. I will not mention the bad paintjob since it’s in every bot anyway, and all other stuff I already mentioned.
Scavenger – his only problem so far is his “scooper” halves (I don’t know what you call them), they removed the joint and made it fixed to his arm. So, in alt mode you can’t move the “scooper” to play with.
Over Load – he’s accurate as far as I can tell. He has a hook thingy in his torso that locks the arms in place in alt mode, but this gets snapped off easily because it doesn’t quite fit well when getting through the hole, so clearing it up is a must.
Long Haul – I think he has a joint on the foot to make him stand properly, but this got chopped off and replaced with a fixed foot which now makes him difficult to stand on two feet.
High Tower – I hate these fakers for not giving High Tower what he deserves… a jointed leg/whatever. They removed the entire section completely and molded the final toy with a fixed foot in the alt mode. You can still hide the face, but you can hardly pose him in any other way other than “the pet dog” of the Constructicons…
The rest of the crew are good and true to their form, but would look much better with some work.
The Combined Devastator
Without a hitch, they all come together to form Voltron… I mean Devastator…
Look for an instruction manual if you want this guy, the tricky part is the combination of Over Load and Scavenger. I supplied a few pictures to show what I mean. Long haul and Scavenger form the torso by sliding Overload into Scavenger's tread area slot and locking his wheels as shown below… Mix Master situated on top of them both with a couple of protruding pegs above Scavengers' head to lock him in place.
The arms are connected like a plug which locks them in place. It’s not tight so don’t worry that the plastic will break, but is not loose as Scrapper or High Tower will come off easily. You can still pose them all you want, limited as they may be…
The legs are connected the same way, but look at Longhaul’s position in the picture because if done properly you can have Devastator standing in a balanced footing. Longhaul’s body should stretch up so he’s as tall as Rampage in “leg” mode.
Articulation wise, the original could have more movements over this one because of the production shortcuts I mentioned. Posability is limited to the same problem although the fear of breaking is always there so…
Conclusion
A few work here and there and this imitation is almost worth the P300 I shelled out. But did it change my mind in getting an original? Yes. As impressive as it may seem, Legends Class Devastator is still a small toy and the limitations of its size did not help. He does look good for a small Devastator though; like having a miniature Doberman, small but still look deadly as the big ones.
If you want to have a Devastator, this is cheap as ****, but make sure nothing is broken inside the packaging. The crisp molding relieves you of the disappointments with the set specially if you can repair them. You can transform him in Devastator mode, and individual bot and alt modes repeatedly, but with careful attention to the quality of plastic.
I don’t recommend buying this if you can afford the original, if you don’t know how to repair/make a model kit and lastly, if you want to give this toy as a gift to a child.
If you are curious about the Legends Class Devastator then it’s your choice…
As for the Original Hasbro/Takara-Tomy Legends Class Devastator, well it is not my cup of tea. I would have considered getting them all if they come in Scout or Deluxe classes. In the end, the original has a very steep price which I can use to buy another Human Alliance figure and still have a change for a ride home in a taxi.
Quality = ***
Playability = ***
Accuracy = **
aka
Revenge of the Fallen Legends Class Devastator
"Intelligence, Happy"
Probably the most waited Devastator set ever since it came out in Japan. And in almost the same time the US version set came out in TRU and TK, the fakes/imitations came out with the set in the Distortion Android series, numbered 3 with the following words "7 in 1 Deformation Combined, Intelligence, Happy"
I don't know if these are the same guys who made those 75% accurate TF Animated toys with White cardboard backing. Because other than the shortcuts they made, this set is almost accurate to the original molding.
Amazingly, you'd think that they would have stuck with using the accuracy as they did with the TF Animated toys, as I mentioned above, since these are Legends Class and are small. But no they, they had to cut short of making the set 80% accurate by removing some articulation and in the case of High Tower, they just ignored his bot mode completely.
The Set
Instead of buying them individually since they are packed just like the Japanese release; you can get the whole set of 7 bots stapled together.
Having to weigh out whether to get this or the P2,600 original set is a no brainer, I had to give this a go… If I like it, I’ll get the original, because we all know these imitations are brittle in the hands.
Out of their blister packaging, these toys are NOT for small children. Why? Other than the small/tiny pieces, every part of every bot has sharp and pointy edges, not to mention the number of extra plastic from the mold, the loose pinhole plastics caused by a pin removing the plastic from the mold. They don’t come with instructions so you’ll have to use the picture at the back of the cardboard backing as a guide or look for one online.
All the bots are in their correct colors, but most of which are sparsely painted; probably they were trying to catch a deadline before the original US release comes out. Mind you, they have crisp details except for a few bots that had those nasty production shortcuts done on them. The only downside is that they all need clean-up, the plastic halves have huge gaps and some pin locks don’t fit into their holes. Correcting the paintjob should be easy enough, so adding paint on the detailed heads should be part of the job if you want to display him.
They are a sweet set of the nasty and ginormous Decepticon from the movie. At this point I was wondering if they can combine without a hitch; a lot of imitations are guilty of bad fit especially on model kits. But alas, without the aid of an instruction manual, I managed to build Devastator in all his imitation glory…
The Individual Bots and their Anomalies
*Some names in the pictures are wrong and weren't edited with the correct list of names before uploading - sorry*
I guess you already know all the bots in Devastator so I’ll only name a few which needs more attention, especially those who had production shortcuts issue. I will not mention the bad paintjob since it’s in every bot anyway, and all other stuff I already mentioned.
Scavenger – his only problem so far is his “scooper” halves (I don’t know what you call them), they removed the joint and made it fixed to his arm. So, in alt mode you can’t move the “scooper” to play with.
Over Load – he’s accurate as far as I can tell. He has a hook thingy in his torso that locks the arms in place in alt mode, but this gets snapped off easily because it doesn’t quite fit well when getting through the hole, so clearing it up is a must.
Long Haul – I think he has a joint on the foot to make him stand properly, but this got chopped off and replaced with a fixed foot which now makes him difficult to stand on two feet.
High Tower – I hate these fakers for not giving High Tower what he deserves… a jointed leg/whatever. They removed the entire section completely and molded the final toy with a fixed foot in the alt mode. You can still hide the face, but you can hardly pose him in any other way other than “the pet dog” of the Constructicons…
The rest of the crew are good and true to their form, but would look much better with some work.
The Combined Devastator
Without a hitch, they all come together to form Voltron… I mean Devastator…
Look for an instruction manual if you want this guy, the tricky part is the combination of Over Load and Scavenger. I supplied a few pictures to show what I mean. Long haul and Scavenger form the torso by sliding Overload into Scavenger's tread area slot and locking his wheels as shown below… Mix Master situated on top of them both with a couple of protruding pegs above Scavengers' head to lock him in place.
The arms are connected like a plug which locks them in place. It’s not tight so don’t worry that the plastic will break, but is not loose as Scrapper or High Tower will come off easily. You can still pose them all you want, limited as they may be…
The legs are connected the same way, but look at Longhaul’s position in the picture because if done properly you can have Devastator standing in a balanced footing. Longhaul’s body should stretch up so he’s as tall as Rampage in “leg” mode.
Articulation wise, the original could have more movements over this one because of the production shortcuts I mentioned. Posability is limited to the same problem although the fear of breaking is always there so…
Conclusion
A few work here and there and this imitation is almost worth the P300 I shelled out. But did it change my mind in getting an original? Yes. As impressive as it may seem, Legends Class Devastator is still a small toy and the limitations of its size did not help. He does look good for a small Devastator though; like having a miniature Doberman, small but still look deadly as the big ones.
If you want to have a Devastator, this is cheap as ****, but make sure nothing is broken inside the packaging. The crisp molding relieves you of the disappointments with the set specially if you can repair them. You can transform him in Devastator mode, and individual bot and alt modes repeatedly, but with careful attention to the quality of plastic.
I don’t recommend buying this if you can afford the original, if you don’t know how to repair/make a model kit and lastly, if you want to give this toy as a gift to a child.
If you are curious about the Legends Class Devastator then it’s your choice…
As for the Original Hasbro/Takara-Tomy Legends Class Devastator, well it is not my cup of tea. I would have considered getting them all if they come in Scout or Deluxe classes. In the end, the original has a very steep price which I can use to buy another Human Alliance figure and still have a change for a ride home in a taxi.
Quality = ***
Playability = ***
Accuracy = **
keeping the site active as a place to dump info for easier backtracking. 