Harvester (Terminator: Salvation)

June 8, 2011 | By More


I have always liked giant robots but, as I had mentioned in other occasions, I never really got into Transformers. I did like Robotech though, which in turn led me to Battletech and that became my main Sci-Fi fix for a number of years. As time passed, my interest in the Battletech property faded away but my interest in giant mecha remained latent and from time to time  it rears it’s head and bites me in the ankle, just like the time I went downtown looking for bargains and ended up getting the Deluxe Harvester from the Terminator Salvation line.

The movie sucked and the associated toy line kind of followed suit, to a certain degree. While the kindest thing that can be said about the 1:18 scale figures is that they would have been decent figures 20 years ago, Playmates still managed to produce one or two decent items in this line, and the Harvester is definitely among them.

The Harvester is huge in terms of 1:18 scale toys, measuring 16” tall and almost as wide. Even thought the toy is actually underscaled compared to it’s movie counterpart, it is still quite an imposing toy made from metallic gray plastic of various types, from the rigid styrene outer shell to the flexible ethylene compounds used for the joints. The whole toy is covered with sculpted mechanical detail and adheres as much as possible to the on-screen images.

Articulation is varied and complex, with all the major joints built with ratcheted stops to help the heavy plastic pieces to hold their position. The Harvester is articulated in a very similar fashion to smaller action figures. The legs are configured in a way that allows the robot to assume either a normal humanoid stance or a reverse knee pose, this being the stance that looks best, in my opinion.

Even though the humanoid mode looks more screen accurate, I like the chicken walker mode better, as I feel it adds to the overall weirdness of the design.

Another unusual Harvester trait is that it has four arms, two big ones at the usual places and two smaller ones protruding from the chest of the machine. The big claws on the main arms are spring loaded and operated by buttons on the forearms, while the small auxiliary arms are operated manuallyto grab any figure unlucky  enough to be in range.

The main arms and torso articulation function in a fairly standard fashion, but the auxiliary arms are configured like Tyrannosaurus arms, meaning that the range is nowhere near as ample as that of the main arms.

The Harvester packs in a few action features that are actually quite well integrated into the toy. The first and most advertised in the package is the working searchlights placed at the sides of the head. Press a panel at the center of the chest and the four bright leds turn on as long as you press the panel. The other action feature built into this toy is the shoulder mounted plasma cannon.  The weapon can be set in rest mode at his back, but when you press the head down the gun springs into position. The cannon can be swiveled by hand, and has a button that fires the spring loaded projectile provided.

Of course, since this machine is not meant to be a vehicle, there is no cockpit, thus reducing somewhat the play value of the piece. After all, even the the Hunter Killer toy had a compartment to carry inside one of the T-800 figures.

Still, the Harvester did turn out to be a fun, impressive toy and it is always nice to see such big items get made, and even though I would have not paid the full retail price it had  at stores originally, it was definitely worth the USD $16.00 I ended up paying for it.

Errex Score: 79/100

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Category: Featured, Other Film, Toy Reviews

About the Author ()

I've been collecting action figures since the original Kenner Star Wars days. Nowadays, I still collect pretty much anything that catches my eye.

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