Behicle Modo!
It's a mixing truck.
No, literally, that's pretty much all I have to say about this mode. I mean, it's a 'nice' mixing truck, but the mixer doesn't move due to transformation and it doesn't do much. It looks nice, will probably look cool in a Constructicon vehicle display, but that's all the more I have to say about it.
Robot Modo!
It's a robot.
Nah, I'm kidding. He's pretty good. He's got a 'lot' of articulation. His arms have waaay more joints than they need, but unlike, say, Cybertron Quickmix, they don't end up hindering him by not being able to accomplish the job that one could do. He's sculpted and posed so that he's kind of permanently lunging or hunching forward, in a way, but it's not horrible like Movie 1 Barricade is. He's got kibble, but it can 'definitely' fold away. Those huge ugly wheel chunks on his forearms are jointed so that they can hide behind his upper arms, which muchly improves the way the arms look. It's intended for his battle mode, but I like the way it improves the robot.
You know how you get some TF toys, transform them, and instantly go, "Okay, this was a Good Decision, this guy clearly rules," and then he totally does? That's what Mixmaster is. Within two seconds of finishing his transformation, I told 86 that he needs to nab him.
Problems? What problems? He's pretty much devoid of them. The only thing that annoys me is the cab front on his back. It...doesn't clip to anything. At all. It just sticks there and relies on the friction of its own joints to stay in place. You can also fold it around so the grille is up against his back, which looks better, but still isn't any more stable. In fact, I think that's how it's intended, because there's a spot on the hood that protrudes into what should be a square peg, and there's a slot on his back for it. But it doesn't stick out enough to actually peg...
That's where the misassembly comes in. According to the Wiki, he's got some misassembly problems. It's something with the panels that end up on his back. I honestly can't quite make out how they're saying he should be, so I can't honestly say if it's hindering the toy that much.
Okay, I discovered this but I'm too lazy to actually go back and try to make this have a coherent sequence of narrative. I was transforming Mixmaster so that his cannon ended up above his head, pointing forward, which looked nice, and properly Mixmastery. In doing this, you can indeed rotate the cab around and push the grille against his back. But when you transform Mixmaster the way the box photos and instructions show--with the cannon pointing upwards--then you can basically fold the empty cab end over his backpack. It 'still' doesn't click or tab into place or anything, but it's something.
Battle Modo!
These Wapanese puns are hard.
Alright, because the individual Constructicons can't form Devastator--and probably with good reason since most of them don't in the movie anyway--most of them ended up with half-assed Battle Modes. And then...a Mixmaster guy actually used his in the movie. Awesome! So now I have to try it.
...And after over *an hour* of trying, I gave up. It's a kibbly mess, the instructions don't make any sense, it's not intuitive, the kibble makes it suck, and if it's anything it's a crappy fan altmode that somehow made it to the toy. It has absolutely no redeeming qualities and it's not even worth trying.
Has the Imperial Magistrate reached a verdict?
But the robot mode is 'awesome,' still. He's articulated and fun, in that Movie aesthetic sort of way. He's a greebly construction robot monster, and that's why he's cool. If you're waffling on him, nab him. I like him so much I just might buy the repaint. Yes, just to have it.
And because pics are fun:
