Everybody loves the Constructicons (Except Blitzwing, Omega Supreme, Frenzy, Rumble, and Soundwave)

On the toy front the Constructicons are icons of Rebranding, from Hightower to Buckethead they've changed names more than I can count. but the one constant that's always been around* is their modest leader Scrapper.

G1 Scrapper is by far one of the best looking G1 toys in my collection, especially for a Combiner Limb.
he's got a great Sci-fi alien robot head, the purple works so well with the bright green (No I am not biased because my favourite colour is purple) and the Die-cast metal is so reflective it's blinding. the Die-cast also gives the figure some weight to it.

Posability is shoulders and if you work the transformation joints he's also got knees

In terms of accessories he comes with his "Laser Pistol" and a *sigh* "Super Wing" which is obviously for something I'll talk about later wink wink

Something I've always found funny about G1 Scrapper is that the roof of the vehicle mode cockpit sticks out so far from his back, is for some reason removable, and is a different colour than the rest of him (I assume due to a different plastic being used)

Speaking of the vehicle mode the transformation is unbelievably "Evocative of the G1 Spirit"
it's just pull out head and extend robot legs and I love it. except for one tiny problem, the head is unbelievably difficult to actually pull out, my nails can barely handle it.

The Payloader mode that resembles a CAT 966C is very simple, with a single joint for the shovel and nothing else, but it's fun and that's what we like about G1. with a G1 toy you expect a bit of jank for a lot of simple fun.

Swivelbot (I got that name fixed! I think...)

Swivelbot wrote:
> but the one constant that's always been around* is their modest leader Scrapper.

I was a comic reading kid who didn't bond with the cartoon much so I never really saw Scrapper as the leader. I didn't see it anywhere in the tech specs and I didn't get that impression from the comics. Once I paid attention to Heavy Metal War I understood how others were coming to this conclusion. But I still didn't see him as leader. He was just the loud guy of the team. Every combiner team has a loud guy.

> he's got a great Sci-fi alien robot head, the purple works so well with the bright green

Yeah they packed a lot of character into the tiny real estate they had for the face sculpts of the Constructicons.

> In terms of accessories he comes with his "Laser Pistol" and a *sigh* "Super Wing" which is obviously for something I'll talk about later wink wink

Well I always liked the battle modes of their alts. It is so Takara SF Land to put wings on a payloader and it looked so good I totally believed a giant construction shovel could fly.

> Something I've always found funny about G1 Scrapper is that the roof of the vehicle mode cockpit sticks out so far from his back, is for some reason removable,

So many Scrappers are missing that piece.

> The Payloader mode that resembles a CAT 966C is very simple,

Scrapper was the worst of them in terms of kibble and I feel like the shovel was a bit of a missed opportunity. It should have been a detachable weapon or something.

As a kid I was amazed and bewildered at how those construction vehicles ended up looking like those robots. Bonecrusher was especially mindblowing. Them and the Dinobots seemed like magic to me.

Swivelbot wrote:

> G1 Scrapper is by far one of the best looking G1 toys in my collection, especially for a Combiner Limb.
> he's got a great Sci-fi alien robot head, the purple works so well with the bright green (No I am not biased because my favourite colour is purple) and the Die-cast metal is so reflective it's blinding. the Die-cast also gives the figure some weight to it.

*blinks* Your Scrapper has die-cast? Where? Seriously, I didn't know a metal version even existed.

> Posability is shoulders and if you work the transformation joints he's also got knees

Back in the day, I considered it a happy accident any time we got extra articulation as a result of the transformation. The "rules" for Transformers toys seemed to be, mostly, that the bare minimum they had to be able to do was raise their arms to aim their weapons. Sometimes toys like Silverbolt or Hot Rod could only raise their elbows, but at least they could still aim their guns.

Obviously some of the toys actually broke these rules. The Throttlebots got away with it because they didn't come with guns. The Battlechargers *technically* got away with it, because their guns were shoulder-mounted. But there's no excuse for Ransack!

I love how in the 1985 product catalog, they always took advantage of any extra articulation when posing those robot modes. Like, Sludge is down on one knee, and Slag and Snarl also each have a knee bent, so it sorta kinda makes it look like maybe the Dinobots all have full leg articulation. Sludge is the only one who really comes close, though.

> In terms of accessories he comes with his "Laser Pistol" and a *sigh* "Super Wing" which is obviously for something I'll talk about later wink wink

It's so he can become a flying payloader, of course. As one does.

> Something I've always found funny about G1 Scrapper is that the roof of the vehicle mode cockpit sticks out so far from his back, is for some reason removable, and is a different colour than the rest of him (I assume due to a different plastic being used)

During G1, Hasbro was using this weird plastic for some of the more fragile parts, and the idea was that it would stretch or bend without actually breaking. It actually could break, of course, but it did have a lot more tensile strength than the normal ABS plastic they were using.

Slag's horns, Gnaw's shark arms and tail, Wingspan's wings, they were all made of this stuff. Dogs seemed to love chewing on it because it was slightly rubbery. And super glue didn't work on it.

> Speaking of the vehicle mode the transformation is unbelievably "Evocative of the G1 Spirit"
> it's just pull out head and extend robot legs and I love it. except for one tiny problem, the head is unbelievably difficult to actually pull out, my nails can barely handle it.

When I was a kid, I bit my nails constantly, so I was incapable of finishing some of the transformations that speficially required them. I would have to use my teeth!

However, there's a trick to Scrapper that I discovered. His head acts as a sort of lock to keep the shovel in the right configuration for Devastator mode. (If his head is poking out when the Constructicons are combined, then the shovel foot swings forward too far and Devastator can't stand up properly.) This means that if you use the shovel as a counter-lever and push into the little green locking tabs, sometimes you can force the robot head to pop out.

This worked on my original G1 toy, at least, but they may have changed something internally, because I can't get my Takara reissue to do it.

> The Payloader mode that resembles a CAT 966C is very simple, with a single joint for the shovel and nothing else, but it's fun and that's what we like about G1. with a G1 toy you expect a bit of jank for a lot of simple fun.

Scrapper's transformation in the cartoon is downright bizarre. The wheels on his shoulders somehow become the rear wheels of his vehicle mode. I've never been able to figure out why they did that.

> Swivelbot (I got that name fixed! I think...)

Looks good to me!

Zob (Scrapper is my best boi)

Fun review! I agree that the Constructicons were some of the most iconic G1 experiences.

Echoing Zob, I am also curious: where on Scrapper is die-csst? Just checked mine, and I can't find any at all. The only die-cast parts on these toys I can recall, in fact, are the arm connector on Scavenger, and the leg assembly on Hook.

JB

> Echoing Zob, I am also curious: where on Scrapper is die-csst? Just checked mine, and I can't find any at all. The only die-cast parts on these toys I can recall, in fact, are the arm connector on Scavenger, and the leg assembly on Hook.

Funny, I guess I always just assumed all the chrome bits on the Constructicons were die-cast.

Swivelbot (is kind of a moron

Swivelbot wrote:

> Swivelbot (is kind of a moron)

Nah, not at all. There were so many variations during G1 that it's impossible to keep track of them all.

Like, I just barely discovered that the head laser for 1986 Scourge is not compatible with 1987 Targetmaster Scourge. If all the Targetmaster guns, and peg holes, are five millimeters, then the original Scourge peg and hole must have been like 4.9 millimeters or something stupid like that. Completely non-standardized, in a way that surprises me, considering standardization of pegs and weapons was one of the things Takara has always done, even across different brands (which is why guns from Diaclone and Microman and Blockman are all interchangeable).

So now I have a Targetmaster Scourge with a loose and floppy head laser, which will come flying off any time he sneezes. Here's hoping Fracas never catches a cold.

Zob (just kidding... I don't even have a Fracas yet)

Yeah - totally understandable. Variations were so commonnplace, it was hard to keep track of them all.

Among my favorites: the metal vs. plastic Scramble City 'limb' members, and the painted vs. stickered cassettes. Also, rub sign vs. non-rub sign 1987 toys. Metal Constructicons would have been awesome!

JB