Encore #20: Devastator Giftset

[liegeprime]

yeah the rubber cones on the more recent seekers are just wonky and oversized, while the booktype ones were all nice and trim.... poor QC comes in as well as a factor now that is seriously going slack in these companies prod lines...

[Jinto]

It's about time Hasbro got down to it and created a good quality, G1-esque Devastator. A set of deluxe size figures that can become their own 'bots and combine if you get the set would be downright fantastic. Two 3rd party companies are filling the hole that Hasbro could have plugged themselves, at a lower price point too.
And I'm not talking that 2009 movie creature.

I sure hope he gets considered as a character for TFP.

[kup]

It's about time Hasbro got down to it and created a good quality, G1-esque Devastator. A set of deluxe size figures that can become their own 'bots and combine if you get the set would be downright fantastic. Two 3rd party companies are filling the hole that Hasbro could have plugged themselves, at a lower price point too.
And I'm not talking that 2009 movie creature.

I sure hope he gets considered as a character for TFP.

Hasbro is on the record saying that they will not do proper gestalt combiners because 'it's too hard.'

That opened the way for the 3rd party devastators which are probably better than anything contemporary habro would be willing to do.

[gdmetro]

@ Jinto: From what I read the "it's too hard" rationale is basically due to the way that case assortments work and size assortments/price point issues- how contemporary retailers market and sell the product to parents and children.

Wave assortments make it impossible to place combiner or sub-teams in a line and have the line sell well (Hasbros POV). Their market is obviously for parents and kids, whom occasionally go to the store to buy a figure. Accordingly, it would be almost impossible under this "occasional buying" for a kid to collect all of a sub-team or combiner group. Hence such figures are not marketable in that sense.

Any gift-set type thing would sell in limited quantities due to price point- but would not suit the figures being dispersed individually and separated in wave assortments.

In comparison, during the 80's apparently entire lineups of figures were continually restocked over more than a year- that was probably why it was possible back then. Marketing and media was also not as homogenized as it is now.

An extension of this is that media would most likely not support a character as Devastator. Hence the kids would not know who Devastator is or care- ROTF Devy just made it worse- ugly design aside (IMO)- the rows of either the legends or Supreme sized toy lining the walls of my local TRU is not helping.

No, sadly, Hasbro would rather market another few Bumblebees and Primes than do a Devy.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

No, sadly, Hasbro would rather market another few Bumblebees and Primes than do a Devy.

Maybe they should do a combiner made up of four interchangeable Bumblebee limbs with a Prime central body.

[GoktimusPrime]

I honestly dont think it's just mold degradation. To me it's the use of cheaper materials.

I think so too.

These industrial grade metal molds are made to cast thousands if not millions of pieces, not easy to degrade. It's the plastic that they inject into these molds that make a difference.

molds affects --> joints, how parts fit together, etc
materials --> colours, density, strength of plastic, etc.

That's my view anyhows

Yeah, you guys are probably right.

Hasbro is on the record saying that they will not do proper gestalt combiners because 'it's too hard.'

D'oh!

Come to think of it, other than Mini-Con gestalts and Combiner Class Devastator, I don't think Hasbro's engineered any gestalts since 1997 (Magnaboss & Tripredacus). Most other gestalts since then have been from already existing moulds, e.g.
+ Rail Racer --> redecoed JRX
+ Ruination --> redecoed Vuldigus (who himself was a redecoed Bruticus anyway)
+ Universe Micromaster gestalts --> repackaged G1 Micromaster reissues
+ Energon gestalts --> redecoed Super Link gestalts
+ ROTF Legends Devastator --> repackaged EZ Collection Devastator

Then again, Takara said that they wouldn't do a reissue G1 Devastator either for similar reasons, but they've done a 180 on that (although it's taken them over 11 years ); I sure hope that we don't have to wait till 2022 until we see a Classicsesque gestalt.

[Quickstrike]

Hasbro is on the record saying that they will not do proper gestalt combiners because 'it's too hard.'

You've taken that quote way out of context.

edit: I should've read the rest of the thread before posting.

Devastator stuff

He's covered it pretty well!

[Sutton]

If they wanted to differentiate from the G1 originals, why didn't they just paint Mixmaster's barrel as planned and give Devs some red eyes...? One of the defining memories from childhood with this guy is the almost garish bright green and purple combo...this one looks almost pastel.

As such I'm still not sold on this guy one way or the other.

[GoktimusPrime]

Constructicons in tray


Sticker sheet


Assault vehicle modes


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Comparison between 1985 G1s (left) and Encores (right).

Bonecrusher in vehicle mode


Bonecrusher in robot mode


Hook/Glen in vehicle mode


Hook/Glen in robot mode


Long Haul/Long Howl in vehicle mode


Long Haul/Long Howl in robot mode


Scavenger in vehicle mode


Scavenger in robot mode


Scrapper in vehicle mode


Scrapper in robot mode


Devastator


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Thoughts

+ I can see what people mean when they describe the Encore Constructicons as being of "KO" quality. These really are not excellent reproductions of the original Constructicons. They're not terrible per se, but they are certainly disappointing. The colours are brighter and the plastic quality does feel cheaper.

+ The sculpting really isn't as nice as the originals. This is particularly noticeable with the grooves on Mixmaster's cab roof and Long Haul's grille. Note that Encore Long Howl is based on the slotless grille/chest whereas my G1 Long Haul is the slotted version. Original G1 Long Haul was available in either slotted or slotless varieties, so this isn't an Encore thing.

+ Scavenger's toes are poorly made and are prone to falling out (this has never happened on my original G1 Scavenger).

+ For some reason, Hook's hook is "reversed" on the reissue. G1 Hook's hook points outward, whereas the Encore points inward.

+ There have been some design changes made in an effort to improve some toys. Hook has an extra tab added on the right side of the rear portion of the vehicle - this is intended to help the toy lock in better when transforming into Devastator's chest/head. Unfortunately it doesn't quite work out so well in reality because the tab's a tad too small and fails to sufficiently interlock.

+ Bonecrusher right arm panel has a small tab added - this allows Bonecrusher's arms to lock together in vehicle mode, and it works! I really like this feature as one of my long-running irks about Bonecrusher is how his arms don't have any locking feature in vehicle mode - it just relies on the arms to stay in place, and eventually when the arms get loose they just flop out of place. This is particularly frustrating when he froms Devastator's left arm as gravity makes the arms part. My Bonecrusher's arms had become pretty loose by 1987-88 after years of thoroughly playing with him... and it was around 1988-89 that I stuck a piece of Blu-Tac there to keep his arms in place when transformed as vehicle mode, and especially as Devastator's left arm!

+ I really do enjoying having all of the little accessories now - and especially having a set of Constructicons that I can play around with and combine into Devastator without having to tread on eggshells!

I used to have a set of KO Constructicons (it was a free gift) and in all honesty, Encore Devastator is still definitely superior to the KO by a long shot. The colours and sculpting on the KO are still much worse than on Encore. But having said that, the quality of Encore Devastator is still below par for a legit/official reissue. It's not as bad as Encore Bruticus - the mould doesn't seem to suffer from mould degradation issues that Bruticus does, but it does seem to suffer from quality issues.

Overall I am quite happy with Encore Devastator, but there are notable flaws with this set and I can understand how it might bother some people. I'd still recommend this set, but not for above RRP. If you're thinking about getting this set, get it now. Don't wait till later and pay some inflated aftermarket price for it, because it won't be worth it. If you can get it for below RRP then even better. (I got mine at 20% off the RRP)

If they wanted to differentiate from the G1 originals, why didn't they just paint Mixmaster's barrel as planned and give Devs some red eyes...?

I'm glad they didn't give him red eyes. He looks much better with his original yellow eyes IMO.

One of the defining memories from childhood with this guy is the almost garish bright green and purple combo...this one looks almost pastel.

Actually, the reissue's colours are more bright and garish compared to the originals! The original Constructicons are way more subdued and pastel by comparison.

[5FDP]

Thanks for the comprehensive write-up Goki

Hopefully mine will arrive on Monday seeing as though everyone else who ordered from RK already have theirs