More Images and New Info Regarding New ROTF Constructicon Figure

OK, can someone just confirm for me: these are going to be Voyager class TFs, with robot and construction vehicle modes... that also combine to form a giant Devastator?

GuyIncognito wrote:OK, can someone just confirm for me: these are going to be Voyager class TFs, with robot and construction vehicle modes... that also combine to form a giant Devastator?

I don't think anyone can confirm much of anything at this point, but after reading through the comments, everyone really seems to freak out and infer a lot from a couple blurry pictures. All there have been is rumor and speculation (and an as usual angry Sledge sighting). I am willing to be patient and see that they have done with the whole set. I just hope that all the colors of the different vehicles look decent together.

Looks like he was transformed by someone with no hands!

Hey that's really cool. I still think it would have been cool to have them all green. 'Can't wait to see more pictures of the figures surface. Just hope they will be correctly transformed in them.

After looking at the pics, I do agree it looks like part of the full devastator figure. The main shoulders and arms.Even the head. It looks more like 1 transformer figure who seperates to 2 or more vehicles. Rather then different vehicles forming different charcter figures than merging to 1 big figure. I don't know guys I've seen most of the figures that you guys must have also seen online and the more I look at them the more suspicious I get that they may be test figures rather than the compleated deal. Mislead us perhaps...The guys who are associated with the movie are really utilizing the transformers catchphrase "more than meets the eye".playing with our eyes..

GuyIncognito wrote:OK, can someone just confirm for me: these are going to be Voyager class TFs, with robot and construction vehicle modes... that also combine to form a giant Devastator?

If that's the case then...wow...can you imagine the sheer SIZE of it? Though if you think about it, it could make sense. A bunch of Voyagers would have more- and larger- parts available to interlock more smoothly.

Also, my first impression of the head is...the head of Energon Demolisher. I do also get the Unicronish vibe, but initially I thought of Energon Demolisher....

...am I crazy?








Don't answer that...it was rhetorical.

Autobotic9 wrote:He's a voyager shovel. His shovel splits into two arms, one tread goes behind his head, and the other one he rolls around on. This is a fact. His alt mode is also horribly mistransformed. It should look like this:

So he has an alt mode and he combines and he has a robot mode but he doesnt have any legs of his own?

Chronic wrote:

Autobotic9 wrote:He's a voyager shovel. His shovel splits into two arms, one tread goes behind his head, and the other one he rolls around on. This is a fact. His alt mode is also horribly mistransformed. It should look like this:

So he has an alt mode and he combines and he has a robot mode but he doesnt have any legs of his own?

well,the treds become his leds and his shovel becomes 2 long massive arms

See aside from die hard collectors and such this has to be the worse Devastator/Constructicons that they'll make. I mean for 20 bucks to buy a Transformer that can't transform is a big waste of money on the grounds that you'll have to hunt the others down.

And what if they also do it in waves? Then you'll have a useless robot that's only decent qualities are the vehicle.

In Hasbro's defense, making such a detailed combiner for Hasbro would be very expensive. Are people willing to pay extra for the requirements that some people demand beyond the traditional price points (such as Masterpiece class)? And even if Hasbro met those requirements and sold the product, would the company sell enough make a profit?
Also, the movie studio probably does not yet have the final version of the robots, so Hasbro has to develop the toy on a preliminary design which may change by the final edit (as it was stated before, it takes 12-16 months to develop 1 Transformer toy). ROTF may not be fully rendered until the last days before the release. Considering the pressures and deadlines this company faces, I am disheartened to see so many people bash Hasbro at this one unauthorized preliminary photograph of a toy. The standards that some people apply for toy designs may be so high that they may be impossible to reach. If some people cannot understand that, then they may never feel satisfied.

The alt mode looks really good but I need to see it combined with the rest of the Constructicons before I make any final thoughts on this toy. I like the head mold though.

There's a problem of perspective with this toy. Looking at in comparison to the other toys, it seems like one of those little excavators that you see on the side of the road. Why then, would you make it turn into a robot with no legs?

That's not what this is, though. Look at this pic again (might be cut off in the forum view)



This excavator needs A FLIGHT OF STAIRS to get into. Some similar kibble can be seen on the toy. This robot is huge enough on its own that even with no legs it could possibly stand taller than Optimus Prime.

It's already hard enough to fit humans and Transformers on the screen at the same time, but if this guy had legs, he would be totally out of frame most of the time. You may ask, "Isn't that what we want from Devastator?" Yes! So if a single Constructicon had that effect, it'd subtract from the impact of the Constructicons combined. I think they made this Constructicon the way they did so that when Devastator shows up, it'll be more awe-inspiring.

Unfortunately, that means making Mr. Excavator (Scavenger?) less awe-inspiring.

Skowl wrote:I rather they make one set with good-looking vehicle modes and good looking bot-modes and a seperate set with an awesome Devastator mode instead of trying to do too much, and ending up with a set of useless, un-transformable, unstable robots.

Fans don't know what's best for them sometimes - they want perfection when they should learn to be grateful for excellence.

Autobotic9 wrote:He's a voyager shovel. His shovel splits into two arms, one tread goes behind his head, and the other one he rolls around on. This is a fact. His alt mode is also horribly mistransformed. It should look like this:

Fact, eh? I'd like to believe you - that actually sounds like a cool idea for a bot mode!

EDIT: Wait, further research has revealed that you are actually the guy who got to see one of the ROTF Voyager figures during that Hasbro tour! You did describe it as a Voyager-class shovel-scoop construction vehicle - so you must know what you're talking about!

What a scoop! Both figuratively and literally speaking...

Yeah. I really didn't want to give anything away in respect for hasbro, but now that this floodgate is open on this toy,might as well.

For the robot mode, one tread folds vertically over his head, and the other one he rolls on like a unicycle. I don't know if this is fact because the man was painting it to be photographed.

craggy wrote:yawn

What a sparkling Wildean retort! You have made me realise the fatal flaw in my argument with your devastating wit and reason!

If I can interrupt the panic about this, I'd like to ask again: has anyone got any actual confirmation on how Devastator will work? So far, I've seen a picture of one mis-transformed construction vehicle that has somehow convinced people that we're either getting a group of vehicles with no individual robot modes, or two sets of vehicles to address the individual and combined robot modes.

He's a voyager shovel. His shovel splits into two arms, one tread goes behind his head, and the other one he rolls around on. This is a fact.

What?

Oh we can't figure out how to give him legs in robot mode?

Just make it roll about on one of the tracks...that'll do

That is just lazy design. Even the simple G1 figures all got to have legs.
Was it the good designers day of when they did this one?

I think he's just mistransformed.

Anyways, i'd pay for 5 or 6 deluxes forming a bigger robot. No problem with that. When i was a kid we all tried to collect the constructicons (i had more luck with the technobots) and the toys were expensive back then compared to what they did.

But again, i won't buy 5 or 6 non-transformable vehicles forming a robot. That's Voltron, not transformers.

Sledge wrote:

craggy wrote:yawn

What a sparkling Wildean retort! You have made me realise the fatal flaw in my argument with your devastating wit and reason!

If I can interrupt the panic about this, I'd like to ask again: has anyone got any actual confirmation on how Devastator will work? So far, I've seen a picture of one mis-transformed construction vehicle that has somehow convinced people that we're either getting a group of vehicles with no individual robot modes, or two sets of vehicles to address the individual and combined robot modes.

Sorry for not explaining everything I was saying to you on a giant piece of paper with crayons. If you'd read all of my comments you'd see what I was talking about and where I was coming from. I got bored trying to get it into your head.

As I said before, I don't know what this toy is. It could be one part of a combiner made up from numerous vehicles that change into robots. It could be one vehicle that becomes a couple of smaller robots. It could be a toaster disguised to look like a Transformer. I was talking about the rumour posted at the start of this discussion (well, I'd have liked it to be a discussion) that there were to be 2 sets of Constructicons, one with separate robot modes which don't combine and one with no individual robots that do combine into a larger robot. I did say I could be wrong. I didn't take that picture, or have anything to do with making the object featured in it.

I don't know if you like arguing with people in general, or if I'm just lucky, but I'm replying here in a last attempt to turn this into something constructive, if you'll pardon the pun.

Bottom line, I don't see any reason Hasbro can't make a combiner where each part has its own robot and vehicle mode. If they want. They have done before and could do again. Customisers make their own often, and some of those surpass the official efforts in terms of articulation. Obviously with real products a lot of it comes down to the price point the toys are designed to sell at.

Another idea I'd not thought of, but which could make some sense, is that the Constructicons start off as normal Decepticons and sacrifice their separate robot modes for the ability to combine into Devastator. It's silly, but not any worse than some other ideas that have been used in Transformers in the past 25 years, and in fact could show a bit of the difference between the Bots and the Cons. The bad guys are willing to give up their individuality in order to become better killers.

All of those are reasons why they might choose not to make a new Devastator using the same concept as the original, but there's no reason why they can't, which is what you had a go at me over in the first place.

Now regarding the picture itself, I sometimes have a tough time telling if a movie style TF is transformed correctly into its robot mode even in publicity shots, so I wouldn't be too shocked if that mess was intended to be the real version of whoever this is.

That thing looks awfully familiar, especially the arms/shovel. I just can't quite remember yet.

Sledge wrote:

craggy wrote:yawn

What a sparkling Wildean retort! You have made me realise the fatal flaw in my argument with your devastating wit and reason!

If I can interrupt the panic about this, I'd like to ask again: has anyone got any actual confirmation on how Devastator will work? So far, I've seen a picture of one mis-transformed construction vehicle that has somehow convinced people that we're either getting a group of vehicles with no individual robot modes, or two sets of vehicles to address the individual and combined robot modes.

WEll, back on page one, I made an opinion based on what I saw and rumors that I have read or heard. None of us are claiming to know anything factual here, and all we have are rumors to go on at this point. I don't think anyone is getting too upset with what is being theorized here. It's just speculation based on rumors and whisperings...

forgotten wrote:That thing looks awfully familiar, especially the arms/shovel. I just can't quite remember yet.

Armada Hoist?
http://www.tfu.info/2003/Autobot/Hoist/hoist.htm

I'll be skipping that if that is indeed the one that can't combine.

know one really knows at this point wots true and eot isnt at the moment, but say the rumoured 2 sets are true ( which it may not be so i could be speculating on nonsense...)

maybe it has something to do with the transformation designs for the movie being so impractical, it isnt actually possible for a plastic toy to mimic in all three ways.
look at movie jazz...he hes false wheels on the toy to mimic where the actual wheels end up on screen.
the first movie prime toy-the transformation for the toy is all wrong as apposed to on-screen. in the movie the arms are the nose of the truck, with the legs at the back...not so on the toy, as a result, the toy is not so screen acurate(but does the job)
movie bee-the 08 camero toy does a nice job, but unlike a bt toy he doesn't have the very important seats for shia and megan to park there asses. Ultimate bee, even at his size point, still can't be accurate(though very close
maybe i'm talking bull, but at the end of the day it's obvious bay and crew don't want designs to be constricted to what a toy can do. g1 and bt toys were designed with both modes in mind, and have a practical transformation (the characters are designed first)
Movie designs look a lot more like they take a car, think of a bot, and see where they can plug most of the pieces.
(i'm not strictly bagging anyone on the team with that last comment, but i just personally like the practical approach of old style transformers.)

and who knows, maybe most of the rotf toys will please me on that this year...

I know most of you are snoring at this point...i can only apologise. I wouls offer my soul as compensation but not being able to afford an alternity convoy right now has already claimed it...

Chaoslock wrote:

forgotten wrote:That thing looks awfully familiar, especially the arms/shovel. I just can't quite remember yet.

Armada Hoist?
http://www.tfu.info/2003/Autobot/Hoist/hoist.htm

no that's not it. Maybe it was some kind of McDonald's transformer or maybe a Go-Bot or a KO. I'm going to do some digging and see if I can find out. Thanks for the try though.

So he's a head on a tread? With arms? It stll looks like he could be the Head ofevastator, and break off into an extremeley poor designed
robot probably not in the movie. I don't get it.

Wow, Hell must be freezing over, because I'm actually agreeing with Sledge on this one...

The fact is, there has never been a combiner as complex as this one. The G1 combiners had little or no movement, and there's not really been that much improvement since. The RID Build Team was built with modern sensibilities in mind, but still transformed into an unarticulated brick - and that was only 4 bots. Imagine the complexities involved with 9!

The point is that Hasbro has to make a toy that looks as close to the Movie counterpart as possible, but still having a working transformation mechanism. As shown on other figures (Jazz, Brawl), this is difficult enough with stand-alone figures. But with combiners? That's a hell of a job.

It seems to me that if Hasbro are unable to release a fully-workable Devastator, they are giving us THE NEXT BEST THING. Each individual figure with the transformation, articulation and detailing that we've come to love from the movie series, plus a fully articulated Devastator that can split into vehicles.

And for people who begin shouting 'Power Rangers', there have been many previous Transformer robots who split into individual vehicles long before Power Rangers came on the scene, from the G1 Duocons to that Double Powermaster (I forget his name) that split into a jet and a tank.

starfish wrote:And for people who begin shouting 'Power Rangers', there have been many previous Transformer robots who split into individual vehicles long before Power Rangers came on the scene, from the G1 Duocons to that Double Powermaster (I forget his name) that split into a jet and a tank.

That would be one of my all time favorites....Overlord!!!

The point is that Hasbro has to make a toy that looks as close to the Movie counterpart as possible, but still having a working transformation mechanism. As shown on other figures (Jazz, Brawl), this is difficult enough with stand-alone figures. But with combiners? That's a hell of a job.

[/quote]

you made my point a lot better than i did...

hinomars19 wrote:The point is that Hasbro has to make a toy that looks as close to the Movie counterpart as possible, but still having a working transformation mechanism. As shown on other figures (Jazz, Brawl), this is difficult enough with stand-alone figures. But with combiners? That's a hell of a job.

you made my point a lot better than i did... [/quote]

I agree wholeheartedly on both counts...no offense hinomars..LOL

I simply can't imagine what Hasbro's engineering division thought when this was proposed.

Boss: "We're gonna have a combine in the movie. Construction vehicles."

Engineers: "Cool...we'll just do another RiD Build Team repaint and Bay will have to deal with it."

Boss: "No can do. ILM has it worked out. 9 vehicles with robot modes that combine. Movie accurate. AND he has to have two things that you have never done in combiners before: Elbows and Knees."

Engineers: (Head explodes)

Boss: "Someone call HR...we need to replace another group of engineers! Damnit, that's the fourth group today. ANd can someone deactivate the sprinkler system and get a mop up here for him?"

I'm not completely sure of course, but... I think this might not be the head. It might be the groinal region. I mean, if the pics shown on the site linked to in the thread are of the construction vehicles shown at the filming sites, then this one is the odd one out in terms of color scheme. It makes sense to me to have a white/yellow chest. A white/red groin, and yellow limbs.
The gaps are just too large for it not to have something clip into it. The treads are maybe something more like a loincloth on the behemoth. or you turn it sideways and plug the chest into those massive holes in the top. I still have hope that good can be done, despite the robot rolling around on a tread. It makes me think of that scorponok figure we had last year. And what was Scorponok? A piece of bigger, better gimmick for other toys. I still have hope.

G1 Devastator = miracle of technology???

To transform them into "combination ready" mode:


Hook: Separate, Fold in half, unfurl arm connector
Long Haul: Fold in half
Mixmaster: pull cab out, fold cab up
Bonecrusher: play with bulldozer part, maybe rotate arms down
Scavenger: Move tab on bot-stomach
Scrapper: NOTHING

The head & both hands were snap-on parts, the legs wouldn't even connect unless a snap-on part was used, both arm connectors were prohibitively tiny, and he had no "feet" to speak of.

That's your marvel of technology you seek to recreate?

The "scramble city" style combiners were at least a little better, and, that technology was repeated (though with less separate molds) for... Energon... and look at the "epic fail" those molds met with...

Now, they're supposed to come up with combiners that:
have full articulation in both bot and combined modes
can combine with no extraneous parts, everything needs to be in the bot
have a 100% accurate and free of visible bot-kibble alt-forms
and are movie accurate in all 3 forms???

Something tells me that is an all but impossible task.

Delta Supreme wrote:G1 Devastator = miracle of technology???

To transform them into "combination ready" mode:


Hook: Separate, Fold in half, unfurl arm connector
Long Haul: Fold in half
Mixmaster: pull cab out, fold cab up
Bonecrusher: play with bulldozer part, maybe rotate arms down
Scavenger: Move tab on bot-stomach
Scrapper: NOTHING

The head & both hands were snap-on parts, the legs wouldn't even connect unless a snap-on part was used, both arm connectors were prohibitively tiny, and he had no "feet" to speak of.

That's your marvel of technology you seek to recreate?

The "scramble city" style combiners were at least a little better, and, that technology was repeated (though with less separate molds) for... Energon... and look at the "epic fail" those molds met with...

Now, they're supposed to come up with combiners that:
have full articulation in both bot and combined modes
can combine with no extraneous parts, everything needs to be in the bot
have a 100% accurate and free of visible bot-kibble alt-forms
and are movie accurate in all 3 forms???

Something tells me that is an all but impossible task.

Well said and true. Not that G1 wasn't great in its day. But I believe having movie accurate combiners will be nearly impossible have. Many engineers probably died in the designing of those figures...

I don't think taking combiner technology to the advanced level would be such a big job, of course snap-on parts are necessary, but if I could find the link, there was a great re-making of Bruticus with proper articulation.

Till then:
TFTM86 Devastator

EDIT:
Anybody knows who made these?:

The add on parts are what Hasbro and Bay are probably trying to avoid. It's something that very few of the combiners have ever avoided. The two off the top of my head are Magnaboss and Tripredacus. The nice thing about those two are that there isn't even anything truly odd about the transformation.

Why does no one ever remember Rail Racer?

Yeah, Tripredacus and Magnaboss are really the benchmarks for TF combiners. Good individual figures and well articulated gestalt modes. They weren't completely without problems (Ironhide had a weird-looking robot mode, Tripredacus had silly hands), and they only had to combine three toys each. We don't know now many Constructicons there are in the movie (anything up to 9, according to reports).

Sledge wrote:Why does no one ever remember Rail Racer?

few peeps seem to remember anything rid, dunno why.

I kind of have a new theory...

Jazz died because he got ripped in half, supposedly destroying his spark, Blackout also was shot from underneath up into his chest where his spark would be, Megatron, etc, but Bonecrusher just had his arm and head chopped off. Maybe somehow this new toy is Bonecrusher's new body, he had wheel like feet in the first movie. Just a thought

and here's the head comparison that led to the idea



though would that mean that he's the "leader" of the Constructicons?

harvester wrote:I kind of have a new theory...

Jazz died because he got ripped in half, supposedly destroying his spark, Blackout also was shot from underneath up into his chest where his spark would be, Megatron, etc, but Bonecrusher just had his arm and head chopped off. Maybe somehow this new toy is Bonecrusher's new body, he had wheel like feet in the first movie. Just a thought

and here's the head comparison that led to the idea



though would that mean that he's the "leader" of the Constructicons?

Wasn't there a rumour that stated Starscream had plans for Bonecrusher's body?
Suddenly that toy got a little more cooler.

harvester wrote:I kind of have a new theory...

Jazz died because he got ripped in half, supposedly destroying his spark, Blackout also was shot from underneath up into his chest where his spark would be, Megatron, etc, but Bonecrusher just had his arm and head chopped off. Maybe somehow this new toy is Bonecrusher's new body, he had wheel like feet in the first movie. Just a thought

and here's the head comparison that led to the idea



though would that mean that he's the "leader" of the Constructicons?

Good theory! I think that's certainly plausible.

original sin wrote:

harvester wrote:I kind of have a new theory...

Jazz died because he got ripped in half, supposedly destroying his spark, Blackout also was shot from underneath up into his chest where his spark would be, Megatron, etc, but Bonecrusher just had his arm and head chopped off. Maybe somehow this new toy is Bonecrusher's new body, he had wheel like feet in the first movie. Just a thought

and here's the head comparison that led to the idea



though would that mean that he's the "leader" of the Constructicons?

Good theory! I think that's certainly plausible.

Bonecrusher Lives!!!

It's a good thing too, he hated being dead.

If it is Bonecrusher, that makes 2 possible bots that disappeared/"killed" in the last movie that will have a new mode/toy in this one [not counting the Megatron Tank]. This and the other being the new Audi which looks remarkably like Barricade.

Wonder what they're going to do with Scorpinok...

Sledge wrote:Why does no one ever remember Rail Racer?

you're right...and I was just fiddling with him nthe other day too... I also need to through Magmatron in there too.