There were only four teams in the Universe Micromaster Combiners, but I would have loved to have gotten other Japan-exclusive molds in a US line. The “Multiforce” (which actually had been released with Japan’s counterparts to the Universe Micromasters around this time and could themselves combine into a larger robot of all six members) had two robots that combined into one, similar to the Autobot gimmick of the Energon line. They could have also released the G1 US Micromasters where the vehicles could combine to form more vehicles. By the time Micromasters came out in the original like I was too old for my parents to buy me Transformer toys and I didn’t have a job because…let’s just say I had bullies and leave it at that for this site. These four teams are as of this writing the only Micromasters I own. I still think Mini-Cons are cooler but my love of Mini-Cons does at least allow me to enjoy these predecessors even if they can’t combine with the larger robots.

Although the ones who form arms and legs can fake it thanks to the connectors being the same size as the Powerlink ports on the “Unicron Trilogy” figures and the rifles of these last three teams can be used by the Mini-Cons by connecting them to the plugs on the Mini-Cons. (The Railbots have other ways of interacting with Mini-Cons since they’re a different design, but the Aerialbot and Protectobot Micromasters share this and they all can swap an arm of their combined forms out with a Mini-Con who would be rather unuseful). Today we’re looking at the last of the Combiner team in the Universe line, the Constructicons. Named after and inspired by the G1 characters they’re the only Decepticons of the Micromasters in this line. Their parent characters, Sixbuilder and the Build Team, were actually Autobots who had a Decepticon clone. Don’t ask me how. I don’t think their story made a lot of sense. Luckily we’re here to talk about the toys, and I can see why they went with the G1 homage, although they didn’t keep all the names. Considering how many I change anyway I can live with that.

Buckethead was a new name already, so I just shortened Bonecrusher to Crusher. Not very creative but it works for me.

I’m not sure why Buckethead isn’t named Scrapper, although there could have been rights issues at the time. I don’t follow every toyline out there. Bonecrusher kept his name. One thing I like about this line is that most of them have working parts. For example Buckhead’s bucket goes up and down while Bonecrusher’s shovel does the same, like their real world vehicle counterparts. Buckethead’s Decepticon symbol is on the bottom of his bucket to form Devastator’s chest, which I would think would scuff it up a bit, while Bonecrusher’s is on the top of the cab so you can see it hanging from Devastator’s butt, further making me wonder why there’s a sixth member on these teams.

The only Micromaster Combiner with his faction symbol on his chest, and poor Bonecrusher has it upside down. I think the symbols are placed to demonstrate which limb they are.

Poor Buckethead can’t lift his arms well due to where his front wheels are. His head also spins around between those things on either side but there’s almost no reason to bother. It does allow him to look up but it is a rather odd way to design his head. This is really my only complaint given the time period these were designed in and for their size. There’s at least an attempt to give the illusion that the legs can separate, which is more than some of these Universe Micromasters can boast. Just be careful how you position Buckethead’s bucket so you can transform the legs properly.

Hightower was a name from a previous line, so I went with Highlift. (My creativity in action again.) Scavenger is G1, but apparently I just called him Digger. That one I’m not impressed enough with to even make fun of.

Hightower and Scavenger form the arms, and I’m posting these backwards to the combination positions to show off their faction symbols. Hightower is the crane, but they went with a character from the first Robots In Disguise line (an Autobot no less) rather than the proper G1 homage of Hook. His arm actually does stay in place, I just goofed when I took the picture. Scavenger is a power shovel like his namesake. Both have a working crane arm though Scavenger’s bucket is fixed in place. Hightower’s crane can fold back to make it easier to drive to the construction site. Both also have a moving cab just like their counterparts so you can swing their arm around. The original Constructicons didn’t have that going for them and these are late G1 Micromasters. There are Mini-Con construction vehicles that can’t boast these things and they were designed decades later as engineering advanced. That’s amazing! Hightower also has two fake wheels that can be used to move his robot arms.

Always prepared for a rainy day.

Yes, their peripheral vision is shot and their heads are covered but they’re doing better than poor First Aid from our previous review. Also interesting is that their cabs are actually split in half, meaning they do have independently moving feet. Not that it matters since they’re joined at the cab window but they still benefit. I do need to use their vehicle arms to hold them up in robot mode most of the time but otherwise I really like these.

“Quickmix” was the name of an Autobot Micromaster before this but was obscure enough that I kept it. Long Haul just became Haul. I didn’t even try with these two.

Finally we have Long Haul and Quickmix. Considering their comrades I’m kind of disappointed that there’s no action feature here. Long Haul’s bed doesn’t move and can’t dump anything while Quickmix’s mixer drum is not even a full drum. Other mixer trucks have had a separate drum that spins. Again, it wouldn’t bother me given their roots and size but the other four have action features as construction vehicles. At least they look good.

It’s like a combination of my only complaints with the other two groups.

Long Haul suffers the same problem Buckethead does with his vehicle bits getting in the way of his robot arms, while Quickmix has a thing on his head. Also for some reason Quickmix’s cab is loose in robot mode but I don’t know if this is a normal issue or if I need to break out a mini-screwdriver. Like their comrades they otherwise look pretty good.

Color-coded because the Constructicons know how to brand.

Of course we have to look at the jet mode even though it’s the same as the others. However, since the Constructicon share a color scheme (the Autobot version of Sixbuilder did not, while their Decepticlones were also green and purple) they do sync well together visually. Otherwise it has the same problem with the seat, but the rifle is a lot tighter here than on the others in jet configuration. Please remember this is a clean blog. You know, because it’s primarily about clutter cleaning, though the book and toy reviews tend to be the more popular articles. I like doing them but it’s not why I started this site. The reviews are to decide what to do with these things. Back on topic I’ve been worried about breaking off the sides and they aren’t even connected to anything. The rifles just fit into a notch on the jet to form the nosecone.

There’s only one Devastator (even if they redesigned him for Combiner Wars), so I called this merger Destructor.

The fact that construction vehicles combine to form a robot who gets his name from the word devastation is not lost on me, but the first Constructicons are an oddity to begin with considering they were the first Combiner ever and yet the Decepticons aren’t known for getting along like the Autobots. Sixbuilder, the original Japanese name, works but they were Autobots (or their clone was a Decepticon…like I said, they’re backstory’s confusing. Because Japan.) I forgot to take the usual behind shot, which is disappointing on my part because Bonecrusher fits better back there than on any of the other Micromaster Combiners except maybe the Railbots, although it does give him a big butt.

Visually this is easily the best looking combination, which to me is both a blessing and a curse. The others are different colors for the sake of their vehicle modes which means mismatched colors in combined mode, but due to keeping the all-green color scheme of their G1 namesake team they look almost like one robot when combined. I know some people like that but I grew up on Voltron and Devastator looks so good combined that I don’t have the same draw in disassembling them as I do the others. They look so cool together while the Autobots look cool together but I find myself more willing to separate. I’ve kept this team together for days while with the other reviews I went back and forth each day between combining, looking over in vehicle mode, and looking over in robot mode.

“You mean I can point forwards and still aim to the sides? I’m MAGIC!”

It gets better from there. Of all the Micromaster Combiners in Universe Devastator is the only one whose arms are long enough to get past those chest wings and aim his gun forwards! He can still aim and look to the sides, but pointing straight ahead is an option none of the others have. The hands also stay on much better than the others and look like a solid piece. Despite not being the final designed Micromaster as far as I know he seems to have solved all of the issues of the other three teams. I think he’s easily the best of the Combiners and he’s the Decepticon!

Overall I do enjoy the Universe Micromaster Combiners. The Constructions are the best but I do really like the others and don’t plan to get rid of any of them. Next time I look at a Transformers Universe (1.0) figure we’re back to those under debate and regular-sized Transformers. We already chopped one off, but will there be more? Next week it’s another organizing project as I go back and forth between clutter maintenance and Transformer collection organizing and cutting down because there are quite a few figures left in this box.

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