Steamhammer, the leader of the Energon Constructicons and the 'bot who forms the torso of their gestalt, Constructicon Maximus, has a vehicle mode of a steam shovel. Or... some kind of construction vehicle close to it, anyways. I'm not too fond of this mode, namely because it suffers from Steamhammer's gestalt combination. There aren't any robot extras per se, with the sole exception of the bottoms of the robot feet on the top of the vehicle mode, and those are easily overlooked. However, there's all these pegs and bolts and hinges popping out of the vehicle mode everywhere, it really detracts from the look. It's especially bad when you look at the sides of the main body of the vehicle. Also, the legs don't quite fold up into the cramped position they're supposed to stay in in this mode-- the knees tend to stick out a little from the back, and because of this, the first time you transform him into vehicle mode, you'll swear you aren't doing it right, but that's how he transformed-- it adds to the haphazard look of the mode, and it really should have been fixed before the toy was released. This problem is also exacerbated by the fact that it makes the rear end of the vehicle actually droop down a little bit, which I don't have to tell you looks bad. The actual shovel part of the arm is also really big proportionally when compared with the short upper part of the vehicle arm. Because of this, it's hard to imagine Steamhammer actually scooping up anything in this mode. I'm also not a fan of the red windows-- they look gaudy. At first I wasn't too crazy about the really small treads, but they are this way on the actual real-life vehicle, and Steamhammer still manages to stay balanced, so I guess there's no problem with it. Steamhammer's Decepticon spark crystal is on the inside of his shovel, and his blue Powerlinx symbol is on the left side of his vehicle mode (in the later versions; the earliest version doesn't have this symbol).
    Steamhammer's robot mode, on the other hand, is pretty good. His overall proportions are pretty good, and his articulation is top-notch; with the sole exception of the head, he can move at any point you can reasonably expect on a deluxe-sized toy, so you can get him into a heck of a lot of poses. Some people don't like his shovel-arm, but I don't mind it. It gives him a "strongarm" appearance, and I can easily see him kickin' some Auto-butt with that thing. The treads behind his head also blend in with the overall structure of the mode as well, so I don't mind those either. The vehicle mode cockpit does just stick out from behind his right shoulder, however, and it doesn't add anything to the robot mode-- so Steamhammer has a touch of annoying kibble there, but that's really about it. On the color side, I really like Steahammer's overall scheme-- it's appropriately reminiscent of the G1 Constructicons, what with the green and purple, but it manages to add a few other colors into the mix, like silver and black. It all comes together really well. He's also got a ton of paint detailing on his chest and legs, and I love love loove that metallic purple color he has there. He also has plenty of mold detailing, like hinges, bolts, and pipes, especially on his chest-- it really looks awesome. I'm also fond of his robot head design, as it looks like he has a shovel for a forehead, and his wide face gives him a stern, no-nonsense look. He does have light piping for the eyes, but unfortunately, the transparent plastic is too dark for it to work well.
    Steamhammer has a very nice robot mode, but a pretty sloppy and toy-ish vehicle mode. Still, I'm a bit more forgiving here than if this were a stand-alone toy, seeing as how he transforms into the torso of a gestalt, as well. Mildly recommended.

Constructicon Maximus (Combination of Steamhammer, Wideload, Duststorm, Bonecrusher, and Sledge)

Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Rating: 7.9

    Constructicon Maximus really should have been named Devastator Maximus, not only 'cause it sounds cooler, but because it's what the G1 gestalt formed from a bunch of Constructicon vehicles was called, and the same basic idea is being applied here. But anyways, Constructicon Maximus has some ups and downs when it comes to his overall structure. Steamhammer forms a pretty solid main body; no weak pegs holding stuff together, or anything of the sort. The hip joints on mine are a tad floppy under the extra weight, but my Steamhammer is from one of the first batches made, so this could just be an early production flaw. The gestalt head doesn't really peg into anything, though; it's just in between these two plastic pieces behind the chest, and tends to wobble a little without really staying in one spot. It's a little annoying, needless to say. The gestalt head also looks kinda odd, too-- it's really... square. The overly large "eyebrows" also don't look too hot, though I do love the gas-mask-like mouth-- he shares that in common with his fellow gestalt, Bruticus Maximus. The large shovel-shoulder also really looks cool. The Bonecrusher/Sledge mold makes a great leg or arm, and the claw Energon weapon that comes with the mold also looks good as either a hand or foot. Though the way that the shovel pretty much engulfs Constructicon Maximus' lower leg I'm not entirely fond of. The Duststorm/Wideload mold, however, looks pretty bad no matter what appendage it is in the gestlat form. As a leg, it's pathetically skinny when compared to the Bonecrusher/Sledge mold, and the crane and Energon claw just sorta hang off the front end unceremoniously. As an arm, it's a little better, though if you want to swing out the crane arm to make the main body of the crane look like the arm, it does tend to make the crane arm a pretty big extra, even if it means that Constructicon Maximus can bend his arm sideways at the elbow in this configuration and gets a little nifty claw made out of the front of the crane mode. If you keep the crane arm attached completely to the main body, however, it doesn't look like an arm at all, just a couple of connected parts with a claw attached on the end of them, so I recommend the arm configuration pictured above for the Wideload/Duststorm over the one explained in the official instructions. On the upside, though, Constructicon Maximus has pretty good articulation for a gestalt; he can move at the waist, head, hips (at two points), knees (at two points), and shoulders (at two points). His individual members' colors also work reasonably well together, with the sole exception of Bonecrusher's yellow, which I still say is too bright.
    Constructicon Maximus is a decent gestalt, though not as good as Bruticus Maximus, mainly because the Duststorm/Wideload mold makes a poor appendage. Mildly recommended.

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Reviews by Beastbot

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