Cliffbee.com Combiner Wars Scavenger Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Scavenger
Series: Combiner Wars
Allegiance: Decepticon
Alternate Mode: Excavator



EXCAVATOR MODE
Height: 14cm Length: 17cm Width: 7cm (dimensions depend on position of the arm)

   A lime green excavator with purple treads, Scavenger has a can on the front left side, featuring purple painted windows and a Decepticon logo on the front. There's some red painted details on the sides while there's some silver paint on one of the pistons on the arm (which is sculpted with a gap underneath, which is nice to see. It's a fairly simple vehicle, but it's clearly Scavenger.

   Scavenger has a good sculpt - particularly on his treads & the arm, as mentioned. While there's some transformation joints visible on the front and back, there's also some red taillights on the back, which is a great touch.

   Scavenger has some play value, but it's mixed. There are two hinges on the digger arm, and there's also a swivel towards its base. While these joints are needed for his transformation, it does bring play value. Unlike the G1 toy, he cannot turn on his treads, which is disappointing (and a result of the transformation). There are three wheels underneath which allow him to roll. There's no way to attach his designated accessory for an attack mode, that I can see.

   A well sculpted vehicle mode with some good play value, but some shortcomings, too. On the whole, I like this vehicle mode - it's very faithful to the character, but it's hard to overlook the fact that it does less than the original, smaller, older toy.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Rotate the arm, fold back and down. Unclip and swing the treads out to the sides, unclip the sides and swing them out, also. Pivot the groin up and into place. Swing the legs into position, open the ends of the treads out as feet, extend the legs and stand him up. Fold down his chest plate, flip out the head and close the chest again. Swing his arms into position, flip out his hands and you're done.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 18cm Width: 12cm (depending on pose)

   Scavenger's colour scheme adds more colour and closely adheres to G1 - his upper torso and arms are green while the groin and legs are purple, His head is black with a silver face and red eyes while the chestplate is mostly silver with a Decepticon logo in the middle. Those red outbursts are on his chest now, and match the eyes.

   There are some nice things here, which show attention to detail. I like how they've gone and ensured the digger arm hangs down at the back, like G1 - with that rotator in place to make sure it does. The head and chest are very much Scavenger - the face matches the cartoon nicely. Unlike some of his teammates he has distinct elbow joints. On the down side, the general proportions are squat and ... "juvenile". It reminds me of how Scavenger was drawn in Five Faces of Darkness, which isn't a good thing.

   Scavenger's play value revolves around his poseability - he can also hold the light forearm piece as a missile rack - there's a fold out post on the outside of the fist which forms a handle form him. This weapon works fairly well, for what it is. Poseability includes ball joints in his neck, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. Most are quite useful, although the neck joint is fairly limited and the knees only really bend. The digger arm on his back can act as third leg, helping with his useful range of poses, though there is some limitation in his hips ruling out the more "action" poses.

   A good robot mode, although the juvenile proportions are a negative. The extensive use of ball joints means he's more poseable than most of his teammates, and while the blocky weapon formed from the forearm is unusual, it works well enough given it's a gestalt arm. The G1 tribute is strong here - there's attention to detail.

VARIATIONS

   There's an "exclusive" version with chromed purple elements. The Unite Warriors version has some paint changes and - most notably - a design of his knees to increase range of posing. It also comes with a G1 style handgun.

OVERALL

   A good looking toy in both modes, Scavenger is visually very faithful to G1. The poseability in robot mode is decent but with some shortcomings, and the play value in excavator mode is similar - some regressions from G1 which is a shame. He's one of the better components of the Devastator set, but I'm not sure he'd be a good voyager if sold on his own, down to the shortcomings in play value - 7.5/10

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