TONKANATOR > REVIEW

I had no intentions of getting this particular Transformer upon its initial release. Not that I dislike it, more that I disliked the price. In my opinion it was vastly overpriced for what it is…. a 40 plus year old toy design in a colour scheme, more or less, robbed from the G2 toy line. 

There is also that thing, and I know it’s nothing new, but as I’m getting older I’m finding it is starting to bother me. And that is, repurposing molds or toys with a new colour scheme and making them a different character. Now, I can hear you shouting Bluestreak, Red Alert, Grapple, Hoist…. the list is long. But as I mentioned, as I’m getting older I seem to be finding the whole thing lazy. But I won’t get into that too much here, I’ll save it for a rant elsewhere. We are here to talk about Tonkanator, or as I keep calling him for some reason, Tonkatron. Which I feel is a better name!

As mentioned above, Tonkanator is a straight up copy of G2 Devastator, but I accept the shade of yellow is slightly lighter here than his mold-mate. Also, the purple accents have been replaced with dark grey and the sticker colours changed accordingly to better suit his Autobot status.

So as we all know and love Devastator I’ll go to the main points and not waste too much time on exposition. A short read then with some very nice photo’s.

Packaging: Copy of the Devastator Gift Set box, but in an Autobot décor. Sadly we are presented with a plastic tray rather than polystyrene. I had looked into the possibility of re housing them in a spare poly tray but the new box is slimmer than the old Gift Set box, so buggered there. Artwork colours reflect the figures inside and each have also been assigned a new name, these are as follows: Mega Dozer, Skyhook, Power Digger, Mega Hauler, Motor Load, Motormix.

Contents: The 6 individual figures and their corresponding weapons. Also all the usual attachments to help the conversion into Devasts…., Tonkanator. Fold out instructions and sticker sheet. Also a small warning leaflet to advise people not to swallow their figures. Those damn tree hugging hippies trying to subvert Darwinism.

Tonkanator: I’ll talk here collectively as I cannot be bothered to give a breakdown of each individual figure. I photographed them separately, what more do you want? Now contrary to some reports and opinions out there, the individual figures do contain die-cast in correlation to the ones that had it when they were Devastator. No real paint Application to speak of, other than the eyes and wheel rim accents. Stickers feel cheap and once on, do not like to be removed or re-applied. There may be alternative options available from Toyhax in due course if not already, as of writing I’ve not checked. The plastic is good quality but not on par with the original 80’s. It feels ‘sharper’ and I get the impression it could break more easily, were you to be a little too heavy handed. Once combined all the components are sturdy enough and hold together well. But, there are no spring mechanisms in any of the areas there should be. This means that the combined fists just drop out of the arms, as do the drill attachments and the missiles that go above the head of Motormix. Should you have a junker or a KO, you could do surgery and put the springs in.

Transformations: If you don’t know how these bloody things transform by now then go stand in the corner for 10 minutes, as I’m not telling you.

Vehicle Modes: Exactly the same as the originals, other than the change in colour.

Closing Thoughts: I picked this one up from Cosmic Toys for £40. It is used but in like new condition with no marks and all the stuff there. It’s a price I was willing to pay to have him gather dust on my shelf. Contrary to what impression you may have garnered from what has preceded, I do like it, and that’s because I like the original Devastator. Of course it’s not the best of toys and in the day wasn’t really a great toy to play with. But to me it’s a great piece of early transforming robot engineering. Very simple but really effective. It kind of falls into the category of ‘why’ but you then shrug your shoulders and think ‘I’ll have one anyway’. 

If you're a fan of G1 & Devastator, and if you can find one at a sensible price, it’s worth having one just so you can ask yourself why but then feel all snug at the happy yellows.

Right, I’m out of here. I’ve been Edd, they’ve been Tonkanator and you’ve been awesome for spending a little time reading my ramblings.

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