Price: $17 (U.S.)
Overall Rating (gestalt form included in score): 7.9

    Although originally this set was originally slated for release in the main Universe line, the non-exclusive portion of the line was cancelled because of the lack of stores willing to carry it, so here the set is, more than a year later, as a Target exclusive at a slightly cheaper price!
 

Long Haul

Allegiance: Decepticon
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: Light pasty green, moderately dark gray, royal purple, black, and some silver, transparent light green, light yellow, light red, dull metallic bronze, dull gold, and dark bluish green
Individual Rating: 8.5

(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to RiD Heavy Load. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of RiD Heavy Load here.)

    ...Wow. Long Haul is an incredibly awesome repaint, even ignoring the fact that he's a big G1 Construction homage with a color scheme fans have been clamoring for ever since the mold was first released. The light green and purple just go extremely well together, and the gray and black are nice contrasting colors that help to mix the scheme up a little bit more than the typical G1 Constructicon colors of just light green and purple. There are also several new paint apps added when compared to this mold's previous versions, especially on the robot upper arms and upper legs, and they all contrast very nicely. The dark blue-green paint apps also look really nice against the green and purple as well. At first, I was a bit concerned about Heavy Load's grinning, friendly mug being used for a Decepticon, but to my surprise, it works perfectly! Now, instead of a happy, goofy face, the same exact facial expression looks like a smug sneer on Long Haul. Interesting how just knowing a character's philosophy can change how you percieve the same facial expression, no? (The dark "sunglasses" optics also probably help, too.) One minor complaint is that the Decepticon symbol on Long Haul's chest is upside down in robot mode, which is... odd, considering this is the only mode it's readily visible in.
    No mold changes have been made to Universe Long Haul.
 

Hightower

Allegiance: Decepticon
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: Light pasty green, royal purple, moderately dark gray, black, and some silver, transparent light green, light yellow, light red, dark metallic bluish gray, and dark bluish green
Individual Rating: 8.7

(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to RiD Hightower. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of RiD Hightower here.)

    Hightower, the only Universe Construction to not change his name from the mold's previous uses (probably because the Constructicon name "Hook" wasn't legally available), shares pretty much the exact same color scheme and placement of said colors as his pack-mate Long Haul, so pretty much all my comments on Long Haul's AWESOME paint job apply to Hightower as well. Plus, Hightower has even MORE new paint apps than Long Haul, which is always a plus. The slight frown on the face is also pretty fitting for a Decepticon, so no worries there about the mold's faction-changing for this version.
    No mold changes have been made to Universe Hightower.

    Long Haul & Hightower are two molds with incredibly awesome paint jobs, and are great G1 Constructicon homages. Their colors are so good, it almost negates the kiddy-looking alt modes for both of them, and their robot modes are awesome pretty much regardless of what paint job they get. Not to mention $17 is a good deal for both of them. Highly recommended, even if you don't intend to get Bonecrusher & Scavenger to form Constructicon Devastator.

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Review by Beastbot

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