MakeToys Yellow Giant MT-03
Background:
This is Giant, the final combined form of Bulldozer, Excavator, Mobile Crane, Dump Truck, Wheel Loader and Mixer. This is MakeToy’s tribute to the iconic Transformers Decepticon Devastator in the G2 yellow colour scheme.
Name: Giant
Manufacturer: Maketoys
Line: Giant Series
Sculptor:
Designer:
Scale: Non-scale
Material: ABS
Release: 2012
Original Price: $387USD (approx. $379AUD)
Height: 310mm / 12.20inches
Packaging:
I’ve already reviewed the packaging for each of the three box sets previously but here’s a look at them all together. As you can see the quality of the packaging is very good and the design is consistent. What I really like about the packaging is that each of the individual robots are represented on the sides of the boxes as illustrations.
Accessories:
Weapons from each of the three box sets combine to form Giant’s gun, which looks great and has a cleverly designed slotting mechanism which slides into Giant’s hand securely. The chrome pistons from Dump Truck can be inverted to turn into massive screwdrivers and attach to Giant’s forearm, one of which is a flat head, and the other a Phillips-head. Replacement parts that came with Wheel Loader and Mixer includes a revised Dump Truck front and tray top, as well as an additional head and neck part. As far as I can tell, the Dump Truck parts look exactly the same, however the head mold has been updated with a solid back and black sides, and the neck joint reinforced.
Form/Sculpt:
The design of this combined form is absolutely incredible. The proportions are beautifully controlled with large shoulders, wide chest and a slim waist giving it the perfect Transformer build! In terms of it’s likeness to the G2 Devastator, it does a brilliant job and I can’t really think of anything you can do to improve on it. Even though this guy is completely constructed out of plastic (and good quality at that) it feels very solid and hefty and everything clicks into place perfectly.
Articulation/Action:
All the main joints of Giant are ratcheted which include the shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, thigh rotation and knees making it easy to pose and holds those poses well. It also has bicep rotation joint, wrist rotation joint, ball jointed ankles and ball jointed head. On paper this does seem like it would be very good however there are a few flaws. Firstly, the head is unable to look up which may not be a problem for Giant as most of his opponents would be smaller than he is, secondly the wheels on it’s thighs and the front skirts do inhibit the leg movement somewhat.
Paint/Print:
Paint app is incredibly tidy on this toy, much better than a lot of the licensed toys which is not surprising these days. I love the red visor on Giant’s head and the chrome piston detail on it’s right leg.
Detail/Features:
The crane arm in gestalt mode can be left up or extended and fold downwards. This is a cool and useful feature especially if you have a shallow display shelf. Personally I like it up.
The first photo is how MakeToys suggests you treat the transformation at the back, however I find it a bit odd as you can see Dump Truck’s hands so I fiddled around with it and found another way to fit everything in.
Here comes the fun bit, where we get to see just how massive this toy is. Firstly a comparison with Fansproject Bruticus (Crossfire), Giant stands about a head taller. When compared to Superion with Fansproject Appendage kit, Giant stands at least two heads taller.
When paired up with Classics Ultra Magnus, Giant still doesn’t feel big enough to be in scale. If it were another inch bigger it probably will feel much more imposing and in scale when displayed with Classics / Universe / Henkei / United line.
Overall:
This is one of the most well designed, engineered and produced “Transformers” toy I’ve ever come across. This is especially astounding considering it’s not even licensed by Hasbro / Takara. Everything about the toy screams quality and it is definitely worth the price in my opinion.
Yes, it probably should have been a little bigger and if it had been it would be 99.9% perfect as opposed to being just 98% (this is not scientific, just my opinion). Having said that, it is a beautiful toy and it’s still the number 1 choice for me as a Devastator replacement piece. MakeToys is one of those rare companies that actually listen to feedback from their fans so I strongly support them and I hope you do too!
Thanks for reading!
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