Constructin' Devastator

I, personally, am a huge Devastator nut, and a sucker for buying anything Constructicon-related. Official toys, knock-off toys, statues, busts... I've got 'em all. Something about the combo of green and purple sends me to my happy place. Thus, I was really looking forward to Devastator's appearance in Transformers 2, and not even his huge balls could dissuade me. I do want to get the Devastator toy, but I haven't yet - for now, I have to content myself with Constructin' Devastator. Powerful trucks are the arms and legs of this mighty robot! Yes, thank you, tiny paper insert. That was very helpful and instructive. We shouldn't make fun, really; Constructin' Devastator was a Burger King Happy Meal Kids' Meal toy premium released in conjuction with the film (and the oh-so-healthy BBQ Double Stackticon sandwich), so of course everything about him is pared down and simplified. The figure was sold in a plastic bag with a folded sheet of paper describing him and all the other BK Kids' Club toys, though he got the lion's share of the space inside. Gotta have the assembly instructions, after all! Constructin' Devastator (yes, that's really his name, not "Construction" or "Constructicon" - Constructin') actually does a decent job of duplicating the movie design, in its own simple way. The figure is 4¾" tall, and his limbs connect to the torso via balljoints - the only articulation anywhere on the figure. He's mostly grey, with red highlights on the torso, green lights inside his face, and four different colored limbs. Sort of. One footleg is green, while all the others are minorly different shades of yellow. Ideally, there would be more variety there (like there is on the promo photos). Though there's no sort of transformation at all, Devastator's limbs can be removed from his central hub, and used as standalone vehicles. As long as you don't mind your vehicles being slightly misshapen, not having rolling wheels, and being molded in one solid color. Still, you get individal versions of Scrapper, Long Haul, Rampage and Hightower, and that ain't bad! Yes, it would have been awesome to get Mixmaster, Overload and Scavenger/Demolishor/whatever name you call him, but they're all fully embedded in the head and torso somewhere. Each of the vehicles is about 2½" long and 1" wide. Despite the fact that this is specifically a simplified kiddy toy, Constructin' Devastator doesn't skimp on the details. He may not be painted spectacularly, but the sculpt doesn't cop out at all. In addition to the pistons and wires on his limbs and the tech bits on his back, you can just make out a hint of the Vortex Grinder in his mouth. And while the four vehicles are fairly realistic when they're just skitting around looking vehicle-y, the backs/undersides have an unexpected level of detailing for when you stand them on-end, as well. Since the balljoints are all the same size, you can assemble Devastator however you like, but there are letters molded on the toy to remind you what's meant to go where. It took me a little too long to decide that I wanted Constructin' Devastator, so Burger King's Transformers 2 promotion was on its last legs by the time I actually tried to get one. Fortunately, I managed to get the toy off eBay for less than what it would have cost to buy a Kids' Meal. I may repaint Devastator to bring out some of those details and differentiate the limbs a bit more, but for the price you pay, this little guy is big fun. -- 10/20/09

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