The slow release of the Studio Series Constructicons continues. Some see it as a good thing, not overloading their budgets. Others see it as an irritation, their frustration to build Devastator from Revenge of the Fallen growing week by week.
For me personally it has been neither. As someone who is happy enough with the ROFT Devastator I already own, this Studio Series has simply been a chance to fill out my collection with those onscreen Cons who never received an actually decent toy before such as Scrapmetal.
Today we are looking at one such character. The leader of the Constructicons in G1, who like Long Haul and Mixmaster got to actually keep their proper name and traditional alt-mode for the movieverse, we are looking at Scrapper.
Robot Mode
This looks pretty good for a movieverse toy. He actually looks like a robot rather than just a mess and is pretty faithful to how he appeared on the big screen. He has retained the flail attachment on his arm, however sadly is unable to swing it. He has decent articulation for a fairly stocky bot, with elbows, neck, knees and hip movement.
The colour scheme is not only faithful to how he appeared in ROTF, but also has some G1 roots too, almost an homage to the European/Australasian rerelease of the G1 Constucticons from 1992.
Vehicle Mode
Really pretty damn good! A superb amount of detail throughout the entire vehicle form, this looks like a proper model of a real construction vehicle. Some have argued that the alt-mode is too kibble-laden, but as someone who has seen a lot of very large construction vehicles up close, some Front Shovel Loaders do indeed look similar with parts everywhere.
The vehicle form feels very solid overall and a nice touch is that you can actually raise the shovel!
Transformation
This figure has a really interesting transformation. With 36 steps its going to take you a few minutes to do the first time out, but there is no part that is overly frustrating or a head-scratcher. It feels very satisfying to work through, and that is always a massive plus when dealing with actual transformer toys.
Overall
If you have no interest in the Movieverse (in which case why are you reading this review? Go outside and play!) then it’s an easy pass. But if you like the Movieverse, are a Constructicon fan or a completionist then you will want to pick this guy up. Of course if you intend to build Devastator then you have no choice but to pick him up! But you wont regret doing so, it’s a solid figure in both modes with a good transformation and for once you feel like you are getting a proper Voyager-class sized figure when buying a toy of that classification. So yeah, a good value toy that reminds you just how fun transforming transformers can be.
Related Articles:
Toy Review: Studio Series Scrapmetal
Devastator Pack Review – Transformers TCG