So, I ended up with some store credit at BBTS because I canceled an order. I needed something to waste that credit on because hey!–I can’t wait for it to go toward my other orders, right? I had been looking over the CrazyDevy stuff cause I liked what they were doing with the G1 Devastator. Awesome ideas, but I didn’t have a G1 Devastator. Oh noes! I did have a G2 Devastator that I’ve had forever, though, but the main add-on I wanted (the legs) would look dumb on a G2 Devastator. Well, that changed when they came out with the special version that had silver legs. I guess purple would have technically worked, but eeeh. I think it looks better with silver.
So, the legs for the original Devastator was kind of lackluster. He couldn’t move them all. It was just sort of a plate that held the figures together. There was no articulation with it at all. With the CDMW-02* add-on, your Devastator now has full movement of his legs! That’s right! They can go one-infront-of-the-other! Of course, even as cool as that is he kind of has balance issues now. Getting him to stand on his own was a pain in the ass. I’ll just leave it at that–but it’s still a great addition to the G1/G2.
Also, I’d like to explain with the asterisk is for on the CrazyDevy stuff. It’s their way of differentiating the sets. For the most part, it deals with a difference with the knock-off and the original Hasbro productions. The tooling on the originals pegs (for the forearms where they connect) is a different size on the knock-offs, which means it won’t fit if you happen to have the knock-off version. For most of the other asterisked sets, it’s just a difference in the color scheme from what I’ve seen.
The head for this is a definite improvement. I found it looked kind of funky since I was so used to how the original head looked, but this one is more accurate to what it’s shown as on the show and in the comics. Plus! It has an LED inside of it and you click a switch on the back to turn it on. …I didn’t take a picture of it with the light on, but you can imagine. It looks cool–trust me.
The forearms are kind of a throw-away item. I could have certainly lived without them, but the swivel and give him a bit more poseability that really brings the character to life. Not to mention, supposedly if you use the new fists in the old forearms there’s possibly an issue with them not fitting in correctly. Also, instead of the purple forearms of the original, they’re black–which is more G1 accurate, since they’re supposed to be formed from the treads of the vehicle. Or, at least, that would make sense…
The fists are pretty cool. Again, they’re kind of throw-away since you really don’t need them. Also, it comes with an enlarged version of the gun. It makes sense, since the original has such a small gun for such a big robot. The fingers are articulated, but they work on this odd hook-based system. When I was first moving them, all of the fingers just fell off. I feel they could have engineered that a lot better. But, it’s not a huge deal since once my figure’s in its pose, that’s the way it’ll be for a loooooong time.
So, that’s what I think of the add-ons. There is another add-on that makes his arms swivel a bit more at the shoulder, and replaces the mixing barrel on Mixmaster, but I won’t be getting that at all. The only reason I picked these 4 sets up was because I had the cash to throw around (which I guess is the only reason I buy any of this… but… oh well…) I really can’t recommend this to anyone without very deep wallets or a questionably weird lust for Devastator. It’s great at what it does. It makes a classic toy into what it could have been. But, at the price point of $30+ per add-on, you end up having to pay quite a bit just to improve an old toy. And that’s even if you have the old one. If you don’t, then you’re destined to get a knock-off and then buy the parts, or get the Hasbro ones off eBay … and then buy the parts. If you were to buy all of the sets out right now at $30 a piece (some are more) you’d end up spending $150 to fully upgrade this guy according to CrazyDevy’s idea. It’s just really not worth it to me. And, it’s probably the last piece I’ll buy from CrazyDevy unless they release something REALLY amazing. (And 24k gold wing extensions for Predaking don’t count…)
Pros:
- Great upgrades for a classic.
- Adds some nice touches and gives the figure “mobility”.
Cons:
- COST. OMG. WTF.
- Aside from the legs, it’s all just very minor adjustments and tweaks that make it slightly better.