I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again...
The combined form is amazing. The seperate components look like crap.

 

You can store the drum on his back while still having him properly transformed. Looks a tad bit funny, but that's only because a big mixing drum is on his back lol. It doesn't wobble or anything.

Cell phone pic.

 

I was waiting to see if you could do this. It guve it that g1 look i thought it was missing. Cant wait to get my hands of him now!

 

Hmmm....not that I know how. Let's see if any others are able to find any ways around it.

 

If only that was always possible. I tired that with mine and it doesn't hold in place at all. That part it connects to is either cut too big or not cut in enough

 

has anybody painted the cement drum purple yet??

 

E-P-I-C!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Prepare for extermination!!

 

i'm looking to buy them, but the prices are too high!!! do you know maybe a store that sell&ship for a normal price to israel?

 

I noticed there were a few previous attempts to get Madblenders barrel on his back but there's not an easily apparent solution. I fiddled around with him today and with a swap of Madblenders and Neckbreakers guns I'm pretty happy with the end result! I forgot to take a picture of it, but I combined Madblender's hand gun with the Hercules chest piece for Neckbreaker's weapon. You can barely see it in the top left corner of the first pic.

 

Is anyone else have issues with Mad Blender's connector knee ratchet? When have all figures combined (freaking amazing by the way) the knee is fairly lose, to the point where the figure wants to fall over. Does anyone know how this can be fixed?

 

I took him apart and found the ratchet piece. I then took a hard plastic card protector and cut a piece of it out the size of the ratchet piece and then sat it in and placed the ratchet piece over it and put I'm back together. Fixed the problem and he's now more stable. Took about 5 mins to do

 

there's a fix with a bit of an art eraser, more "springy" than plastic, and works great apparently

 

This guy is great. The only problem I have is pulling the barrel apart into the 8 pieces.

 

Re: Mad Blender mixing drum storage in robot mode:





With a slight mistransformation, it's possible to attach the drum to his back in a compact and secure manner. Just plug the large peg into the upper hole, and fold the combiner port panel overtop it. Unfortunately, the pegs now exposed on the top of the green panel aren't in the right place or proportion to attach the double gun, so you'll just have to leave it hanging off the back instead. I guess since the drum guns are stowed away, we can call this "Standby Mode". It should be possible to mod something so the double gun can attach in a more G1 position in this configuration, if one were so inclined.

 

i also got a madblender with a loose knee connector, and when they assembled mine the striped the screws out pretty bad

 

Oh man! I want to get these Hercules figures so bad, but I just don't have the money right now. Hopefully they'll still be available in the near future...

 

herc/devy can also hold g1 legends megatron in his hand this is one awesome figure just got my last two today

 

For more pics, click on the image above

Prelude: Legal stuff first, as always. Madblender is not an official Transformers product from Hasbro or Takara-Tomy, he hails from third party provider TFC Toys. He’s clearly meant to be an updated version of G1 Mixmaster, but for legal reasons he can’t be called by that name.

Robot Mode: Once again, let’s start with resemblance to the G1 original. Madblender and Mixmaster have the same basic design where the cab of the truck mode becomes the legs and the mixing drum ends up on the back. The arms are somewhat different, as Madblender has the truck wheels on separate shoulder pieces, but the general resemblance is there, no problem, and Madblender comes in the traditional Constructicon colors, too, with quite a bit of nice detailing to boot.

Articulation-wise Madblender is the best of the TFC group, I think. His legs alone have double knee-joints and double swivels (all required for the transformation). He can twist in the hip and dip sideways there, too. His elbows can bend forward and backward. Just about the only thing he lacks are twisting wrists, but to compensate he has those separate shoulder pieces, which can be posed in multiple different ways as well. So to sum it up, Madblender is practically a contortionist.

In terms of weapons Madblender might just be the most powerful member of the TFC Not-Constructicons. Apart from the standard two weapons (one purple, one translucent red) he carries an entire arsenal inside his mixing drum. Or rather, the mixing drum itself becomes an arsenal. The central axis of the drum becomes a long rifle he can carry in hand or mount on either shoulder (which looks very cool). The actual drum can split into up to eight separate weapon modules, which can attach to various parts of Madblender’s body. See the pictures above for several of the possible variants. My personal favorite sees the rifle on the shoulder and a three-quarter drum-half on each arm, with the remaining two pieces on the shoulder wings or legs. Use your own imagination here, there are lots of possibilities. And if that isn’t enough firepower, Madblender can apply the purple centerpiece of Hercules’ chest shield on top of the structure behind his head, giving him yet another two barrels.

So the bottom line for the robot mode is pretty simple: Madblender is easily the TFC member with the most play value, the best articulation, and while I prefer Structor overall, Madblender takes the prize for best TFC Hercules member robot mode.

Alternate Mode: Madblender transforms into a cement mixer truck. Now here is where, compared to the brilliant robot mode, Madblender drags a bit. Oh, he’s fully recognizable as what he’s supposed to be, but the front section of the truck looks pretty plain, while the mid-section looks positively hodgepodge. You don’t really see any robot bits, but there is no straight line for the vehicle mode here and the middle wheels seem pretty isolated. Again, nothing that actually screams “there is a robot in disguise”, but it seems very pieced-together.

Plus, you can’t really do much here. Yeah, the mixing barrel can turn, but that’s about it. The weapons can attach to either the cab up front or the purple piece on the back and that’s the extent of it. So while Madblender is brilliant in robot mode, his vehicle mode is nothing more than okay. Sufficient for its purpose, but no more than that.

Combiner Mode: Madblender becomes the left leg of the Hercules combiner, of which there’ll be a separate review here on TFU.

Remarks: Mixmaster was the eccentric master chemist of the Construction team, always busy mixing solvents, acids, and stuff. Like most of the Constructicons (except Long Haul) he can make some claim to team leadership, as the Marvel UK comic story “Space Pirates”, which played in the (then-)distant future of 2008, showed him as one of the chief lieutenants of Decepticon leader Soundwave, standing together with other special team leaders such as Motormaster and Hun-Grrrr. Also, he was the Constructicon giving the orders in the final part of “Five Faces of Darkness”. Maybe the Constructicons just took turns giving orders, giving everyone a chance (except Long Haul).

As a toy Madblender is pretty nifty. He doesn’t quite managed to edge out my favorite TFC member Structor, but he comes very, very close, sharing second place with Heavy Labor. He combines great articulation with a host of interchangeable weaponry, plus a great overall look. Only the somewhat mediocre vehicle mode drags him down a bit. Again, as part of the combiner set you’re going to have to get all six members anyway, but still: highly recommended.

Rating: B+

 

I have an issue. Ordered mine from TFSource and received it two weeks ago. Tonight I noticed that the black piece that connects the mixing drum assembly/connector port to his back is broken on one side of the pin hinge where the black part connects to the mixing drum carriage. Have no idea if I did this after opening it or not but it is certainly possible. Is there any way I am going to be able to get a replacement part/repair or am I just screwed? I don't believe that the rest of that hinge is going to last long with it only being held together on one side and because the gestalt connector is part of it, will be a big problem.