Today at Toy Fair 2015 in New York City, one of the Transformers most imposing figures—the Constructicon combiner Devastator—finally has a physical toy worthy of his reputation. Check out the first official pics, along with shots of the new Defensor, Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus and more.
Hasbro's Combiner Wars line of Transformers Generations figures is one of the best things that's happened to the brand in ages, and it couldn't come at a better time. With third-party robot makers asking upwards for $600 for "homages" to the combiner squads of the original G1 era, hardcore fans were handing their money over to shops like MakeToys. Due out this fall, the new and improved Devastator should have fans lining up for a chance to pay his $150 price tag.
Like the original gestalt, new Devastator is made up of six different construction vehicles, but where the original figures were all relatively small—the combined robot was only about nine inches tall—the new Devastator is made of six Voyager class ($24.99) figures, any single one of which should almost match the first combiner in height.
Scrapper
Scavenger
Mixmaster
Long Haul
Hook
Bonecrusher
Together they form...
Finally. Now I just have to go back into my memory and substitute this guy in every time the original cartoon tried to make the first Devastator seem like a force to be reckoned with.
But Devastator isn't the only new Combiner Wars group to contend with. Ineffectually attempting to slow his march of destruction will be the Protectobot combiner Defensor.
Like most other sets in the Combiner Wars line, Defensor will consist of one Voyager class leader—in this case the power blue fire engine Hot Spot—and four smaller Deluxe class figures.
Hot Shot
Blades
Rook
Streetwise
First Aid
Together they form...
One of my least favorite combiners, in retrospect. Never did like his color scheme. I'm also not fond of how the police motorocycle Groove is relegated to a smaller Legends class figure that can fit into Defensor's chest. At least if I don't like the light blue I can use the upcoming Decepticon Voyager Cyclonus to form my own damn combiner team.
Last but not least, we've got a gorgeous bit of odd timing. With collectors just getting over showing off their shiny new Masterpiece Ultra Magnus MP-22 figures imported from Japan, Hasbro goes and does this:
That's Leader class Ultra Magnus, $44.99 worth of trying his damndest to light our darkest hour. He's a complicated bot for a complicated fan base.
Mags here has firing missles, massive weapons and something called a "working vehicle feature", which I am guessing has something to do with this little guy that comes with him.
Ultra Magnus is due out this spring, with an appearance in my living room shortly after.
This is going to be an excellent year for Hasbro Transformer fans. Between the most massive combiner figure ever made, a hot new City Commander in Ultra Magnus and a fan-built combiner team that's yet to be revealed, there are going to be so many wonderful ways to fill our shelves with plastic in 2015.