Release Date: August 2025
RRP: $42.99/£34.99
2025 has been a pretty great year for Transformers, with two full Combiners completed in its Generations lines, a further one kicked off for completion next year and a fourth successfully backed via Haslab. But while most of this is off happening in the Age of the Primes line, Studio Series (or more specifically, the range formerly known as Studio Series 86) has been busy with the show's first gestalt team and only one to appear in Transformers: The Movie - the Constructicons. It's been a fun few months slowly picking these up piece by piece, but now it's time to round things off with Studio Series Mixmaster - the last Voyager Class-sized piece of the puzzle.
Mixmaster comes boxed in the same 2025 Studio Series packaging as the rest of his fellow Constructicons, his Voyager Class status giving him a medium sized box matching Scrapper’s. As well as dropping the “86” from the line name to bring both the cartoon and live-action Studio Series releases under one banner, the packaging has also been revised to closer match the concurrent Age of the Primes line. The fifth and final piece needed to form Devastator, the front of the box features newly created artwork of Mixmaster in both modes alongside the usual window section. One side of the box features the same Devastator artwork seen across all the Constructicon releases, whilst the other simply features the Autobot insignia and generic Transformers logo. On the back of the box you’ll find renders of the figure in both modes, alongside a short one-sentence bio and movie still of Devastator battling the Dinobots. Inside Mixmaster and his accessories can be found tied down to a cardboard tray – the mixer barrel detached from the main figure and stored separately along with the weapon.
In robot mode Studio Series Mixmaster bears a great likeness to his G1 cartoon self, right down to the legs basically being little more than green stumps when viewed from the front. As is the case with the other Constructicons, the cartoon version of Mixmaster has considerably less detail than his original toy self - something that is particularly evident from the lack of silver on the legs as well as the missing sticker details. There's always a chance Hasbro might one day reissue these figures with a more toy-accurate deco (and if not, there's always third party stickers), but making these ones cartoon-accurate was the brief and Hasbro have definitely fulfilled it. Something that does make Mixmaster stand out from his brothers though is the head sculpt - with its detailed, almost Decepticon insignia-like helmet and luscious moulded lips. The colour balance on the robot mode also works really well too, with all of the vehicle parts in that traditional Constructicon green while the more humanoid aspects of the body are predominantly purple.
Having previously played around with Scrapper and knowing that Mixmaster forms one of Devastator’s legs alongside him, you immediately get a sense of what the articulation is going to be like even if their bodies look different. Altogether Mixmaster features;
- Ball jointed head
- Swivel hinge shoulders and hips
- Hinged elbows, knees and ankles
- Bicep and thigh swivels
For the last time it’s worth pointing out the lack of a waist swivel, which is disappointing for the individual figure but does begin to make sense when handling Devastator. While I have no real complaints about the quality of articulation present on the figure, moving the head is a bit frustrating because of the solid vehicle piece fitted behind it. While it doesn’t obstruct the head itself, getting your fingers into the cavity to move the head about feels like more of a chore than it should be. While there’s also perhaps an argument to be made regarding Mixmaster having other articulation points one might expect on a Voyager figure (e.g. wrist swivels), he falls pretty much in line with the other Constructicons at least. There’s also the fact that both Scrapper and Mixmaster are less Voyager Class figures and more souped-up Deluxes with added combiner sturdiness, so in that respect he probably does much as is expected of him.
Mixmaster’s sole accessory is his blaster, which (as with the other Constructions) is based on that of the original G1 toy and cartoon model. The weapon is moulded entirely in black plastic with no additional paint, but features plenty of moulded detailing to make it both accurate to the source and visually distinct from the other Constructicons’ weapons. The gun fits into either of Mixmaster’s hands via the usual 5mm peg system.
15 easy to follow steps later sees Mixmaster transform from robot mode into a cement mixer truck - a vehicle that looks particularly good in those iconic Constructicon colours. There's enough additional colour on the truck itself to not make it just feel like a sea of green, but the purple colouring still predominantly coming from the mixer barrel still helps tie the deco together. There's also quite a lot of detailing on the front on the cab, with the grill having some really distinct moulding that's brought out nicely by the silver paint job. There's also plenty of additional moulded detailing on the sides of the vehicle too, even if it isn't quite as visible in just the base plastic colour. In vehicle mode, Mixmaster sports a couple of places to store his weapon - while the packaging and instructions recommend the side of the vehicle, it's also able to be mounted on the top of the vehicle like the G1 toy. While neither are the best solutions to weapon storage, I do appreciate the throwback to the original toy.
The Constructions have all had pretty fun vehicle modes, most of which were thanks to the various moving parts they had. Mixmaster certainly looks the part but is unfortunately pretty basic compared to most of his teams, with only the standard rolling wheels present in terms of additional gimmicks. Granted there isn’t much a cement mixer could do outside of the barrel also being able to spin, but presumably that wasn’t possible due to the way the part mounts (and transforms) on the main body of the vehicle. But at the very least the detail surrounding the back-end of the vehicle is nice – the moulded funnel top beside the barrel adding accuracy even if the functionality itself isn’t there.
Studio Series Mixmaster is a solid way to round off the Constructicons nicely - another great figure even if it doesn't technically measure up to what is usually expected of a Voyager Class figure. While he does perhaps feel a little more substantial than Scrapper, there's still that lingering sense that compromises had to be made for him to work properly as a limb as well. Still, with all six of these figures in hand Hasbro have done a fantastic job supplying fans with a modern, cartoon-accurate interpretation of Transformers' first combiner team. They look fantastic altogether, those uniform colour schemes and vehicle modes complimenting and elevating each other beautifully. The only thing left to do now is bring them all together and see if Devastator was truly worth the wait...
(Devastator review to follow shortly)
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