Tag Archives: Constructicon

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – Studio Series: Scrapmetal

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This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the original release of the Transformers Movie “Revenge of the Fallen”.

Despite this movie being almost universally agreed upon as the worst out of all the Transformers movies, it did very well at the box office (as opposed to the Bumblebee movie which was the opposite in both regards). But even fans that didn’t like the movie they liked the figures, a lot of toys were fantastic and considered a lot better than most of those that accompanied future movies.

So, to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the movie and its toyline, Hasbro is releasing via its Studio Series line, new versions of the Constructicons. These new figures will all eventually form a gigantic new Devastator combiner – and who doesn’t love that!

There were lots of unnamed Construticons in the ROTF, and one had a very short showing. Known as ‘ze little one’, there was a small yellow Constructicon who got ripped apart by his peers to be new parts for Megatron. And a full decade later that little guy is getting a toy of his own – so let’s have a look at Scrapmetal.

 

Excavator Mode

A really nicely detailed little digger. Certainly a lot smaller than the rest of the Constructicons, even counting those toys that were released way back when ROTF was in the cinemas. I suppose that suits him based on his ‘ze little one’ moniker. There is a decent amount of detail to this excavator, especially on the digger arm. I also appreciate that his cab windows are translucent rather than solid, as one would expect from a Studio Series toy. A bit of a disappointment is the plastic treads, I would personally have preferred rubber.

 

Robot Mode

I’m not Scrapper – he lived… for a while

Both in colour scheme and general appearance he looks a lot like ROTF Scrapper. But given that was how he pretty much appeared in his very brief appearance in the movie this is to be expected. Again, a nice bit of detail to this toy to recommend it. There is a fair bit of kibble but in a good way. A nice touch is that they’ve made his hands look like grabbing claws as if they are formed from the excavator bucket, even though they aren’t. A big disappointment for me though is my versions hands seem to be jammed, I just can’t get them to open.

Considering how many ugly movie toys we have had over the years, this bloke looks quite good. He comes with a shield, which is OK but I think mainly an excuse to use up some kibble.

Ole’!

The articulation on Scrapmetal is great! Head, shoulders, knees and toes (knees and toes). And I’m not sure I’ve ever had a figure that does such wonderful cartwheels!

 

Transformation

Fairly intuitive. A pretty good level where it’s not going to take up half your afternoon but at the same time isn’t overly simplified like say some of the Cyberverse toys. Parts lock solidly in place in both modes.

 

Scrapmetal – worth getting?

It depends on how much you liked the movies and/or associated toys I guess. If you are a Movieverse completionist then Scrapmetal is a must have, but even if you are not a fan of the flicks this is still a pretty cool toy. If however you are a Constructicon nut like I am, or intend to form ROTF Devastator (Scrapmetal will make up one hand) then this guy is certainly worth putting down your money for.

 

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Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Devastator Pack Review: Part 2 – Gameplay. Transformers TCG

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Last week we got to have a sneak peek at the Devastator Deck, courtesy of an advance copy from Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, and look at the cards contained within in detail.

Now officially released, these are available for purchase, and over the past week I’ve gotten a chance to really put the pack through its paces.  So let’s have a look at the Devastator Pack in gameplay.

And the usual spiel: Neither Hasbro or Wizards of the Coast have paid for this review nor have they tried to dictate the contents of this blog.  Bigangrytrev.com would like to thank both companies for their ongoing generosity.

Since all the cards have been already examined in great detail in Part 1 of the review, we wont rehash what we already know.  If you need a reminder, go check out that post.  Instead I’m going to give you some top tips for using Devastator to… er… devastate! In particular we will look at pitting the Constructicons against other Combiner Teams, such as the Stunticons and  Menasor.

 

GAMEPLAY TIPS & TRICKS

Get Scrapper into Robot Mode

This should be your very first action!  Not only does it get one of the 6 characters into robot mode which you will need to make Devastator later, but it means every time another Constructicon gets KO’ed you will get a point for your Tower Card.

Get Bonecrusher in the mix

As your best offensive Constructicon, get him into Robot Mode next.  You want to try and inflict a fair bit of damage with him and his Pierce 2 on your opponents cards before he gets KO’ed due to his low Health Stats.

Flip Scavenger next

You want that Bold 1 and the extra card it garners you every time you are attacked.

Keep the others in vehicle mode until KO’ed or needed

The other 3 Constructicons don’t have particularly useful Robot Mode abilities so I suggest keeping them in Vehicle Form until KO’ed.  Their stats remain exactly the same and every time you attack with them it will give you another point for your tower.

If any character gets KO’ed in vehicle mode, flip them at the first opportunity. 

Their ability to get you extra points for your Tower is gone once they are KO’ed, so if you come across a card like Rapid Conversion, use it to flip a KO’ed vehicle into Robot Mode so they are ready to combine when required.

Build that Tower to at least 6 before combining!

I played several games both as and against Devastator and I’ll tell ya, you will really want those extra 2 Bold points Devastator gets when his Tower is at 6. They do make a difference when trying to knock out another Combiner like Menasor or a Titan like Metroplex, characters that have huge stats.  Also it means that it’s 6 damage points that you get to remove from Devastator, which also makes a huge difference!

Getting your Tower to 10 before combing is often unrealistic.

While it would be great to have your Tower at 10 before you form Devastator, unless you have a good run of luck with the cards it is probably not going to happen.  If you can achieve it, great!  It means you loose 10 whole damage counters and get extra attack power right off the bat, but again, it’s likely not to happen.  Hope to get your tower to 8 and then pick up some Builders Tools and Enigma cards to take you the rest of the way.

If your opponent makes a Combiner first, get combining!

Gotta Combin’em all!

The likes of Menasor are pretty damn powerful and you don’t want to give them free reign for too long, because your individual Constructicons aren’t going to be very effective against the behemoth.

Keep track of your Builders Tools and Constructicon Enigma Cards

These two cards are the only way to add extra points to your Tower after you build Devastator.  You get three of each card so keep track of where they are and how many you have used.  Once or twice I had to form Devastator when only having 4 points on my Tower, and coming across those cards enabled me to bring my Tower up to 6, helping turn the tide of battle.

If you get your Tower to 10 – get ready to bask in victory!

If you can get that Tower up to 10, getting an extra 4 Attack Points and your overall attack rating going up to 10 means that you are going to decimate your opponent!  As someone who has played both sides when this has happened, I can attest that the opposing Combiner/Titan/Team goes down very quickly under an onslaught that strong.

 

So there ya go, some top tips & tricks to playing as and winning with the Constructicons and Devastator.  A lot of it will depend on the deck your opponent has built.  Given that the other Combiners special cards are only found in Booster Packs, it’s unlikely they  will have 3 of each like you will be sporting, so if you find yourself destroying every opponent in sight you might even be magnanimous and take a couple of yours out to make things more even.  Until you reach that winning streak though, devastate away!

 Got any other tips to playing with this pack?  Would love to read them in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles:

Devastator Deck Review: Part 1

Rise of the Combiners Booster Packs Part One and Part 2

Metroplex Deck Review