Some fine points were made to cover this but I would like to add...HASBRO CAN DO IT.

We were one season away from getting an Animated Devastaor. And seeing as the whole line was filled with love and awesome you know that Animated Devisator was going to be the best combiner EVER.

Other reasons are budget. Hasbro has the technology to successfully turn a scount into a very awesome 10 changer but they wouldn;t be able to do it within price point. Budget has a lot to do with it.

Thanx
Transbot90210

 

What exactly put this out of their budget? They've done some pretty incredible things for a great price point. I don't think I would've imagined Alternators being $20 each (I think) or Masterpiece Grimlock being $69.

 

No, I admit the restrictions only rule out the possibility of them releasing the teams in a timely manner.

There are further considerations against them, however. Namely the economics in this case. All of them are very unique characters. Barring oddball reuses like Universe Overkill, none of them have any redeco potential. So while there's desire to produce them, they likely get pushed back in favour of the various Autobot cars or Decepticon jets, that have myriads of repaint potential to give HasTak the most bang for their buck.

Budgetary restrictions limit things like parts count, weight, and size. They managed to work Alternators into a workable price point. Grimlock's low price probably has a lot to do with Takara footing the bill on that one, representing a much lower investment on Hasbro's part, thus less costs to recoup.

These "Constructicons" as they are wouldn't fit into any pre-existing price point. They're seemingly larger than the average Deluxe, and going by "Scavenger"'s hydraulics, and "Hook"'s massively complex crane boom assembly, they're well beyond Hasbro's usual parts count as well. And yet, they're too small to amount to a Voyager.

If we were to see a similar attempt by Hasbro, I'd expect them to be quite simplified from what we've got here.

 

Tell that to my toilet bowl.

A fine chain would be both adequate and BETTER than string. Accuracy be damned, chains will look and hang better. I've never seen a crane with cable that looks as dodgy as the string in those pictures either.

zmog

 

What kind of toilet do you have that uses 2-3 feet of fine link chain, coiled around a winch reel?

The chain in a toilet tank is kept mostly taught. There's no risk at all of it get tangled on itself. And the links are far from tiny, so there's also no risk of inseparable knots, even if you do manage to achieve the impossible.

I've handled a few toys before that used some absurd lengths of scaled chain (Kaiyodo's "Gazelle, the Peacemaker" figure comes with a good meter-and-a-half of very fine chain). Manage to get a knot in it? Good luck getting it out. The chain links bind against each other, giving you no slack at all to loosen the knot. And give it a good yank, if it were to say, unexpectedly snag? Broken links ahoy.

Fastening knots aside, string does a better job of replicating the look of tensile cables, since the steel strands are woven in much the same way.

 

I was just going to mention some points similar to the above, so I'll just quote it. Thank goodness there are still some people on this board that have some common sense.

Now as far as a Hasbro Devastator is concerned. The only way I think that it might be anywhere near feasible would be something along the lines of a Supreme class figure where the 6 individual figures are closer to deluxe scale. Sell it in the $80-100 range similar to Supreme class ROTF Devestator. However dont bother with any sort of electronics, I believe ROTF Devy had electronics(?) which could save some costs as well as space within the figures themselves. Focus on the individual bot/vehicle engineering with the ability to combine. Basicly $60 worth of deluxes selling at $80-100 price point could offset the costs of design and production of 6 rather distinctive figures with little to no repaint options (unless you consider a G1 yellow/orange repaint).

Now weither or not this would even be economical enough for Hasbro to entertain, I'll leave to my betters. The other thing is, will the general public be willing to spend that kind of money on that kind of figure. I know the fandom will but we are still a small percentage of the market.

Then again, I'm still hoping we'll get an MP Devestator, which is a line that the above may make more sense in. 6 highly detailed figures, maybe between deluxe and voyager size that creates a bot bigger than MP Prime. This could entertain a price in the $200-300 range, perhaps. Again, market research and ecomony considerations would dictate the feasibility of such an endeavor.

 

I agree. Dark gray nylon string like a darker version of what Tarantulas has coming out his backside would look nice and work well.

 

However, this goes back to my previous post. We've had numerous accounts from previous BotCons, or other behind-the-scenes interviews, where it's been suggested that it's retail pressures that force electronics into big-ticket toys, so that may not be an option.

Does make sense to some degree. Kids grow out of toys faster nowadays, so parents aren't as willing to drop $80-100 on an action figure. Big, flashy figures with giant "Try Me" windows, however, dazzle the kids, and thus inspire their parents to splurge more during big gift-giving occasions.

 

I don't care I just want a nice looking Devastator that I can display with my classic line. I think this one is the winner!

 

Looking pretty cool so far! Even cooler if I'll be able to afford it, ha!

 

Fair enough with the electronics thing and Hasbro would be much more of an authority than I, when it comes to that kind of market research.

Thats why I'm leaning more towards my final thought in that post that it may be more feasible to make such a figure in the Masterpiece line which seems to have a bit more leeway when it comes to included 'gimicks'. Also the price range could also be upgraded to account for such one-off figure(s). I know it may be all wishful thinking but you never know what they've got in their plans. I do think that if they were to do a Devestator, a gift set of all 6 figures would be the best way to go instead of spreading 6 individual figures out over the course of years.

 

I'm pointing out that toilet tank chain is quite durable and tends not to tangle, even when it detaches because the rubber stopper breaks. You'll find that the same kind of chain is used in many places... children's toys, and those attached pens at the bank counter, for example.

Also, a trip to your local hardware store will reveal all manner of fine chains available for purchase in bulk, at reasonable prices... YARDS of it, all coiled around winches. And oddly enough... I've never seen a tangle or knot.

Nylon strings? Nope... that's going to tangle, it's going to get kinks in it, and it's going to fray and break.

Obviously a poor-quality chain. I generally find chains tend not to get snagged up.

This I would agree with, if it weren't for the fact that string always looks awkward on toys like this (much as it does in these images), and gets kinks in it that are uncharacteristic of real industrial cables. In short, it just doesn't hang right.

zmog

 

The links in toilet chain are also at least 5 times bigger than a properly scaled chain for this toy could be. And again, it's also much too short to get any sort of knot tied in it.


And the chain I described is not a poor quality chain. Wasn't going to break under normal handling. I stand corrected on the broken links part: what actually "broke" was the open link that was hooked over a plastic accessory part. Pulling the chain bent that out of shape, and I wasn't able to squeeze it back into shape by hand, it was too small. But the knot's not coming out.

 

The problem here is scale. You may find yards of chain wound around spools at a hardware store but those spools are typically alot larger than one found on a toy this scale. Wrap that same chain around a spool that's at best 3/8" diameter and the chain is going to start to kink pretty quickly. Then thread it through the end of the boom that might barely fit it and at a 90* angle (or more) it's not going to run smoothly. Even using a fine link chain or one of those ball-chain type used with bank pens, wouldn't necessarily be better.

Mind you, yes there is a problem with string. However the biggest issue here is there is not enough weight within the string itself nor the ball/hook at the end of it to pull the string taught as you would assume the steel cable on an actual crane would look.

However I think there's a much simpler solution using string than the problems involved with even a fine linked chain. If a heavier weight was used at the hook, even just using a die-cast ball and hook, it may add enough tension on the string to make the overall appearance more accurate.

 

OK, enough chain and string talk!  

I want the head, SHOW ME THE HEAD!!!!  

And more pictures of any kind. This, I demand!

 

still no head (bastards !!!  ) but still good pics....

 

he's looking beautiful.

 

Ditto, this thing is going to be majestic when it's all done.

 

I'm glad they're using the Energon combiner ports. Gonna be fun mix n matching with FPJ Bruticus.  

 

Dam you TF Club! You're gonna MAKE me get this arent you?

This is really looking good. Still I wish this was an official HasTak product.