Unhappy with unglamorous role, but understands its importance... helps build Decepticons' massive energy-recovery installations. As vehicle, can carry 90 tons for 1200 miles, use a dual heat-seeking missile mount. As torso module, combines with fellow Constructicons to form giant robot "Devastator". Can be goaded into a fight in which he's overmatched.
First/Last Comic Appearance (US) - Issue 10, November 1985 / Issue 41, June 1988
First/Last Comic Appearance (UK) - Issue 61, May 17th 1986 / Issue 279, July 21st 1990
First/Last Cartoon Appearance - Episode 16 (Season 1 #16), December 15th 1984 / Episode 93 (Season 3 #28), November 19th 1986
First Toy Appearance - 1985
Figure Details
AKA 'Dump Truck'
Manufacturer - Maketoys
Toyline - Type 61
Additions/Mods:
- Added a Decepticon symbol to the chest
- Added a Decepticon symbol to the cabin
Review
I often wonder what my beloved Transformer characters were doing between the early 1990's and, say 2005 and in Long Haul's case it is clear he has been hitting the steriods big time. As the crotch of
Devastator, this unfortunate robot always had the hardest burden to bear, so it's perhaps not surprising that he turned to drugs. Long Haul was also the most prosaic of the
Constructicons; the other vehicles had exciting functions, whereas a pretty standard dump truck failed to excite. But, as a toy, is this
Maketoys incarnation similarly bland?
Appearance (Robot Mode) 9/10
Long Haul is incredibly squat, and powerful looking. I think that this annoys some collectors, but for me he perfectly epitomises what the Constructicons are about. This guy is the engine room for the whole combiner so
has to be pretty damn solid. From his wide-legged stance to massive fists, Long Haul looks like a brawler - the blunt instrument you use when more precise methods fail. He is Devastator in a nutshell. I really admire the head scuplt which is appropriately industrial. As in all cases with these Maketoys bots, the paint apps are well-judged and immaculate. I guess they learned some lessons on yellow Giant, after all.
Appearance (Alternate Mode) 9/10
The dumptruck mode is equally formidable. The tyres are superbly sculpted and chunky, and have the added bonus of having 'steering'; not rack and pinion exactly but it works well enough to make interesting poses. The cabin area is absolutely dwarfed by the huge tyres beneath it and you really get a sense of the size of this vehicle. The combiner chest kibble can be smartly stowed in the rear of the huge bed. I'm very pleased overall with this dump truck, which once again conveys brute force and horsepower. The lime green matches so well with the G1 original and the paint apps are, once again, understated and very neat.
Transformation 7/10
One thing you can feel when transforming this figure is how substantial it is, both in size and weight. The truck bed splits in half to become the arms, but not after first folding the arms back on themselves. It is a pretty imaginative way of forming them and better than the usual 'hide the arms under the chassis/fuselage' fare. There is some manipulation required around the crotch piece (that's what she said) but nothing too taxing. The headlight assemblies fold in to form a more svelte waist and the somewhat diddy feet fold out from the shins. It is very difficult to reattach the front portion of the truck bed though as the instructions explain it, as you have to push them over very wide tabs. This requires herculean effort and can cause serious damage to the figure unless you come up with your own method. After I join the arms back to form the truck bed, I pitch them down slightly, to make placement of the 2 flaps easier.
Poseability 8/10
Long Haul's head and shoulders are both ball-jointed. His elbows are double-jointed and his almighty fists also rotate at the wrist. He has ratcheted joints in his waist, and 2 ratchets in each hip allowing for comprehensive yet supportive movement. Bicep and thigh swivel are both present, and Long Haul's 'toes' are also on a ball-joint. Disappointingly, his knees are very low, but his function as the combiner lower torso probably made this necessary. Apart from this issue, Long Haul is surprisingly poseable, and thanks to his low-wide-legged stance, he has an excellent center of gravity.
Quality 8/10
I would love to mark this figure higher because he is heavier and more substantial than any of his fellow Constructicons. He has superlative hip joints, with no expense spared on keeping them as rigid as possible, bearing in mind the sheer weight this guy carries around when forming Devastator. He is extremely well made out of very high quality plastic, surpassing all but the most recent
FansProject efforts in my humble opinion. I only mark him slightly lower because of the difficulty with getting the front of the truck bed to rest back accross the cabin in alt mode and the extreme force required (unless you alleviate it somewhat by re-jigging the transformation sequence) to do so.
Overall - 41/50
I really have a lot of time for Long Haul. He shines in both modes and embodies what I have always admired in the Constructicons. He is a pretty perfect robot, and poses so well, adding some much-needed weight to the Constructicon ranks. If not for that one very scary aspect of his transformation, then this guy would be getting a couple of extra marks under his belt. But even with these issues, Long Haul is the most successful of Maketoy's reimaginings, and my favourite to boot. Just don't tell the others.
