Maketoys Yellow Giant VS TFC Hercules Review Comparison *ONGOING INVESTIGATION*

[Slave]

Ladies & Gentlemen, Boys & Girls, Mermaids & Mermen, Robots & Fembots! Come one, come all to this Glorious Event of Giant Proportion!

The Larger than Life confrontation you've all been waiting for! But First, tonight, for your eyes only you will witness the confrontations of both 6 "Not-Desvastator" parts individually, in a VS comparison.

Until the moment you've all been waiting for; the main events of TFC Hercules VS Maketoys Yellow Giant!!!!



6 Pre-Matches that pits:
Dr.Crank VS Crane
Exgraver VS Excavator
Heavy Labor VS Dump Truck
Mad Blender VS Mixer
Neck Breaker VS Bulldozer
Structor VS End Loader

And the very Best at the end, the one you've all been waiting for, the match of the Titans: HERCULES VS YELLOW GIANT!

So Ok... I just want to make a Maketoy Yellow Giant Review, but of course, I will be doing a lot of comparison with TFC Hercules... Both are 3rd Party, both are the same representation of Devastator, both are very expensive... Whether you do not know which one to pick up, of maybe you only want some of them characters individually but do not know which one... I hope this review and comparison will help you out.

So lets Start The First Match. Exgraver VS Excavator

First Up, the Vehicule Mode:


Exgraver's vehicle mode looks awesome, I personally think its "almost" perfect; it looks great, rolls, the crane arm is my favourite part; all articulated with moving pistons and everything... even the Giant hand tucks perfectly in the back of the vehicle mode. The down side, and that goes for Every TFC Hercule's parts: not much details... few paint apps here and there, but nothing major, as a single vehicle and robot, he looks good, but overall still would need more decals/stickers/paint job IMO.

Excavator's vehicle mode also looks incredible, I love the amount of Details and paint job there is on it... not a single decal/sticker... the details you see: All painted on. Very very detailed. What I dont like much is the Crane arm... the shovel part is not articulated, you have movement at the "shoulder" of the crane and another one in the middle... that is it... very disappointing that there is not much articulation there, with pistons and all like Exgraver. But IMO Excavator's Vehicule mode looks much more realistic, they probably took model a real truck and started making the robot from that. I love it. Excavator comes with a little trailer (that become's the Giant's forearm and hand) I like the idea... unfortunately, in vehicle mode there is no way to attach the trailer to the vehicle mode. That sucks.

Robot Mode:



Exgraver's Robot is straight forward, I like how the threads makes the legs and feet. I particularly like the idea of having the detachable crane arm... stick it on the arm, use it as a reaching weapon, or stick it in his back. The down side of the robot mode... well, if you're like me and love when everything tucks away nicely, Exgraver can tuck away the Giant purple hand in his back... but it looks mighty weird having a big hand grabbing his ass. Sure it tucks in... but...yeah...

Excavator's Robot mode is pretty awesome, I love the general transformation. Its more intricate than Exgraver. I personally like it when transformations are intricate. like Exgraver, Excavator uses the threads as legs, but they have a bit more transformations to it. Arms also transforms in the same kind of way, but my only complaint about the robot mode is that the Crane arm cannot be detached from his right arm. I like how it tucks away on his arm, but when its opened up to be used as a weapon (sorta) it kinda look fugly 'cuz its angled downward. The other thing I dont like about him is the fugly backpack he carries. its not very big but really feels like it doesnt belong there. The back pack consist of the joint & plug for connecting the forearm and shoulder while making the Giant. its an important part, but still dotns looklike it belongs on a robot. Lastly the trailer/forearm & hand can be use as a sort of weapon for Excavator. The idea is cool, but the results... meh... it sorta look like a big ass jackhammer for construction... not much as a weapon you'd normally bring to a fight. That weapon feels more like a last minute add just to make use of the trailer in robot mode.

So how about we do a little Recap:
Exgraver: Simple looking, simple transformation, detachable crane arm is nice, great way to tuck big purple hand in vehicle mode, but very ugly way to tuck the hand in robot mode and he could use a bit more details/paint apps.

Excavator: Intricate transformation that I really love, realistic looking vehicle mode, nice looking robot mode, but the crane arm could have use more articulations joint, the trailer is a nice add-on, yet in vehicle mode the trailer doesn't attach itself nowhere, and in robot mode the trailer makes a sorta jackhammer... good idea... but final result when you place it in his hands... meh.

Even if I really really really love Excavator, I'm going to give this fight to Exgraver.

Don't go anywhere, Match 2 is up. The fighters are
Neckbreaker VS Bulldozer


Vehicule Mode:
Neckbreaker... I personally think Neckbreaker is the weakest link in all of TFC Hercules. His vehicle mode looks nice... but then... you look closer... and you start to see parts that doesn't hold up too good with each others... The arms in particular, under the arms, you see tabs that should peg into the arms to hold them on the torso, but they don't seem to hold in there at all. Then the cabin also has tabs for the arms to plug in, again they don't seem to hold in there either. Next up the Shovel doesn't hold too good... a mere bump and the shovel breaks apart from its transformation. And finally, the biggest problem... ugh... the huge hand in the back... I know its optional, you can remove it and the vehicle mode looks 100x better... but like I said, it came with it, it "should" tuck there... so I'm taking it into consideration. IT LOOKS LIKE SHIT!... There...

Bulldozer Vehicle mode is just awesome... just like Excavator he looks like a very realistic bulldozer, the paint apps are superb, very detailed... but alas suffers from the very same problem as Excavator, he also has a trailer which doesnt attach to the vehicle mode.

Robot Mode:


Neckbreaker's robot mode is nice, the legs transforms exacly like Exgraver, but there is a lot more going on in the arms and torso, that I really like. I love how the shovel folds up and makes a chest shield. And I really like the options you have to pose the feet; either you use the shovel as feet, upward or downward, or you tuck the shovel as pads and use the same type of feet asExgraver. But again, just like Exgraver, the giant hand tucks away and grabs his ass... not a pretty sight.

Bulldozer shares a lot of similarity with Excavator, Same legs transformation, similar arms folding transformation, even looks a lot like him... twins you think? Mostly the major difference is the head (looks and transformation) and weapons... Bulldozer's shovel becomes his weapons, kinda 2 axes... I really love this, its a neat idea. But again, just like his twin brother, he also suffers with his fugly back pack which consist of arm and shoulder joint for when he becomes the Giant. Oh and he also has the same problem with the trailer/arm &hand... Makes another jackhammer... Meh!

So how about we do a little Recap of this 2nd match:

Neckbreaker: Good looking Robot mode with nice options to make the feet as you like, stands out from his similar counter part Exgraver, with a nice different transformation... but vehicle mode is very poor, doesnt tab and hold correctly, fragile, very fugly giant hand grabbing his butt.

Bulldozer: Amazing looking Bulldozer vehicle mode, realistic, great use of shovel has weapons, nice intricate transformation, but a bit too similar to his counterpart Excavator, back pack joints doesnt look too good, trailer doesnt attach to vehicle and makes a jackhammer weapon for robot mode that looks very "Meh"

Although Neckbreaker has a good looking robot mode, his vehicle mode is too... "kibbly" and the giant hand really ruins both mode... This one goes to Bulldozer

Unfortunately, that is all for tonight... I thought I would have enough time to post everything tonight, but lots happened tonight and now its late and I work in the morning. Tune back Sunday Evening for the 2nd part of this Epic fight among Giants!

Sunday Will Showcase
Heavy Labor VS Dump Truck
Dr.Crank VS Crane

Good Fight! Good Night!

[Echotransformer]

This is brilliant...love the colorful text, love the commentary--big effort and creativity in this review. Thanks! Looking forward to the BIG EVENT!!!

[pud333]

Seeing these side by side, it is clear to me that I prefer the aesthetic of the Giant pieces over Herc. Both look amazing, but I just prefer Giant. That said, I don't care about the individual bot modes. All I care about is how it looks and functions as Giant. Looking forward to the final match.

[Slave]

Yes of course, as for me I also displays them as the combined mode, that is for sure. If you want a hint about the final match... seriously they both have Big Pros, and Big cons on both sides...

But as for now, lets continue this match up with the 2nd part match:

WELCOME BACK to the showdown of the Year! HERCULES VS YELLOW GIANT!

Tonight's Matches will pit, to me, the Bests from the individuals bots:
Heavy Labor VS Dump Truck
Dr.Crank VS Crane


Lets begin our 3rd Match with Dr.Crank VS Crane

And first up Vehicle mode:



Dr.Crank: This will be a hard match... Dr.Crank is just awesome, the vehicule mode is great looking, the crane arm is just friggin' awesome and extend so long, 3x its original lenght. The addition of having a spinning rotor is Great... my only gripe with this is... WHY THE HELL TFC bothered making that little pulley rotor, and not put a tiny rope in it for the hook at the tup of the crane?? I love to have that option and if I want i can insert my own rope and all, but Why have they not done it in the first place??

Crane: Love the visual, just like all the others of the Giant's vehicule sets, they all look like actual real looking vehicules, the Crane truck looks like a real model. incredibly detailed... The crane does extend pretty far, but only 2x its original length, here are the 2 down side from the crane though first it doesn't rotate... it goes up and down and that's it, Dr.Crank's goes up, down and spins... heck its even detachable, Crane is not detachable, but we'll get back to this in robot mode. and the second thing about the crane arm that bothers me, is that it feels cheap. The plastic is rather thin and feels like it could break easily when fully extended. Its not much of a problem, I'm really nit picking on this... but still feels too thin for its own good. Maketoy probably made it thin to be much lighter so that it wont topple the truck over when fully extended... its understandable, but feels flimsy.

Robot Mode:



Dr.Crank's robot mode is practically identical to Crane, they have the same transformation... with minor details different. Dr.Crank is a bit simpler to transform, but its not a bad thing. I like the fact that the crane arm is detachable and you can place it either stored in his back or on the back of his head there's a "pike" sticking out that think looks ugly unless you plug the crane onto it which then looks really awesome and feels like he's carrying a giant cannon on his shoulder. Problem is that crane is mighty heavy and whether you store it on his back or on his shoulder, its hard to make him stand straight with that in hand.

Crane's transformation, although almost identical to Dr.Crank, is a bit more intricate and I love how it is. The robot mode looks so good. Fit, slim... Dr.Crank feels like he has a tiny back pack due to his transformation into HERCULES and having the giant head tucked in his back... Crane doesn't have this problem. The YELLOW GIANT's head is actually his right foot... at first I wasn't too sure about that... but after playing with him... man I love this, its brilliant... yes he's antisymmetric, but I really love the look of it. Here's my nit picks of his robot mode: the waist split, just like Dr.Crank, Crane splits in two to form the chest of their giant robot mode. Now on Dr.Crank the split in the middle of his body is quite tight, but on Crane its not as tight and.. ok it doesn't fall apart when in robot mode, but it feels like it splits open too easily for my taste. and to me the bigger problem is the crane arm... its attached to the forearm and doesn't tuck away nor unplug... it's screwed there and that's it. You can try to turn it backward, but it doesn't go back completely, and the crane arm stays angled up 45 degrees on the back of his forearm. The only way to have it is in front, as a weapon, it looks very nice, but its not an option really. The Crane arm, once it is extended, can then bend 90 degrees in the middle... this will be mostly for the YELLOW GIANT's mode, because it still looks mighty awkward in his robot mode. I seen an image on the net where the crane arm is detached and tucked away in his back... I looked at my Crane and the crane arm really is screwed on the forearm... unless I unscrew it, there is no way to place it there.

Match recap:

Dr.Crank: Love that crane arm, detachable gives lots of options for posing and articulation 3x long extended crane looks awesome, option for people to place a tiny rope to make a functional pulley crane using the tiny rotor at the base of the crane it great... but I hate the fact that we have to do it and TFC didn't bother to make it themselves, the crane is a bit heavy and in robot mode will make the robot topple over easily.

Crane. great looking robot, ingenious way to place the YELLOW GIANT's head on the foot, realistic looking vehicle mode, but the crane looks flimsy, its not detachable and limits the poses for the robot mode.

I really cant decide which of these is better than the other... I REALLY love Crane, but I'm a bit turned off by the crane arm's limited movement and options with it. Otherwise there's not much difference with his counter part Dr.Crank. So I'm going to throw a TIE between these two.

Next up is Heavy Labor VS Dump Truck



Vehicle mode:

Heavy Labor has not much to say about the vehicle mode, looks nice, rolls and all... nothing but few very small nit picking, its a dump truck, yet the container in the back clustered with his 2 arms and takes a lot of place and looks not so good with the 2 fists in there not hidden or anything.

Dump Truck looks really nice in vehicle mode if you look at it from the front; with the front grill, bumper & cab... but not soo good from the sides or the top. Just like Heavy Labor, he's a dump truck and to me, a dump truck should have a container on top to carry stuff... but his container is completely filled up with the arms and so he cant carry shit. His fists are clearly visible from the back, but to me, the biggest pain is the attachment points of the YELLOW GIANT's knee, they stick pretty much to the back. Yes Heavy Labor also has this attachment points to the same place, but they stick out much less. A really cool, but useless thing is due to the transformation, his front wheels can turn left and right just like the real thing. its useless but very nice addition really.

Robot mode:



Heavy Labor's transformation is pretty simple and straight forward, I love the way the arms transforms, they could've been much simpler, but TFC made it different and I like it. I again don't have much to say about his robot mode, he's good looking, simple, and everything works. If I REALLY want to be nit picky, I'd complain about hos his head feels loose, but the chest locks it in place so there really is no problem.

Dump Truck's transformation is totally the opposite... it is insane what Dump Truck goes throught to become a robot. he's so far the more complicated one to transform of the bunch. its really not a bad thing... I LOVE when transformers toys are complicated to transforms... and Dump Truck takes the cake. He looks somewhat a bit like Heavy Labor in the end, but he is so much more. I really love Dump Truck's transformation and robot mode. But that level of complicated transformation also brings out a few problems; his forearms are split in 2 and you need to stick them together to make the forearms... the problem is they don't seem to stick too much together, they don't hold too good... but luckily even if they are not stuck correctly together, it doesn't look bad. My main problem is the headlights flaps, you may have read in a previous post I made my complaint about it. But if you look at the picture of the vehicle mode of Dump Truck, the Headlights are on "flaps" that you need to rotate inward. That articulation joint is INCREDIBLY TIGHT, and after a single transformation, the flap on the right broke, the plastic completely broke off, and the flap on the left shows heavy stress marks. This is completely unacceptable. Apparently in the 3rd package of the YELLOW GIANT set, Maketoy will have a replacement for these flaps. I really cant wait to see.

Final thoughts on that match:

Heavy Labor has nothing really to say, he's a good looking vehicle and robot mode, with a simple transformation. the only thing bad I can say about him is really a tiny problem about his hands completely out in the open on the top of his vehicle mode and doesn't look too good...

Dump Truck has an amazing transformation, really complicated, lots of moving parts going around and I totally love that. the turning wheels are the cherry on top for the vehicle mode. But the problem of the vehicle mode is the attachment points of the YELLOW GIANT's knee that stick pretty much to the back. But it is nothing compared to the headlights flaps that broke upon the first transformation.

I would've given the fight hands down to Dump Truck, I love the look in his 2 mods, but I love even more his transformation, everything is so great and nice about this guy... but the simple fact that he's not totally functional and broke upon first transformation is totally unacceptable... its too bad really. The simplistic, but yet functioning Heavy Labor wins this match... he will bare the winning title until Dump Truck gets a fix for his headlights.

That is it for now!
Thank you for joining and reading this long ass review comparison. The upcoming battle that will pit, Structor VS End Loader, Mad Blender VS Mixer and the final everyone been waiting for: HERCULES VS YELLOW GIANT! Will be in a few weeks, as soon as I receive my 3rd and final set of the YELLOW GIANT :-)

Good Fight, Good Night!

[Tekkamanraiden]

Best review I've ever read, both entertaining and informative. Looking forward to the conclusion.

[Bruticus82]

Fantastic review series, very entertaining and informative!

Looking forward to the spectacular conclusion!

[brr-icy]

so far i haven't seen one maketoys figure i've liked better than the herc figures, great review though, helps with the debate of getting green giant later

[Goaliebot]

Awesome reviews! Great read.

Though I can't justify/spend the money on either, they seem very close in quality/fun, which means I'd have trouble spending double ($600) for a set so close in value/fun to the $300 one.

[Echotransformer]

Great review of the middle bots!

As for Dr. Cranks crane not having rope: I purchased some nice dark grey string from Michaels and fed it thru the pulleys. It looks great but there are a couple of issues:

The string easily falls off the pulleys and gets tangled and, more importantly is not locked in place properly. You can use the little purple winder but the pulley has too much side to side play to lock and even if you do use it, it's on the SAME SIDE as Hercules head, blocking part of his face. FAIL. A custom part will be needed to make a proper lock on the other side.

My guess is this is why they didn't ship the rope installed...

--Echo

[Slave]

Good thing you tried it then... and sucks it's not working properly then. :-( Disapointed