Funny story happened today, or at leat funny to me. I went to my local Toys r Us looking for a Masterpiece Grimlock. After finding not a single one on the shelves but the SKU Code still there I asked a very helpful associate if by chance there were any in stock. 10 minutes later he told me that there were 4 in stock, so my hunt began! He asked a couple of his other co-workers on where they might be hidden as I kept my eyes peeled for one that might be in a spot it should not be, but after nearly an hour of my looking I had to give up the search and the fight.
During my search, I did grab a couple non Transformer related items and since I was there and I went there for a Grimlock, I will be leaving with a Grimlock! Thankfully to a little known movie called Transformers 4 Age of Extinction that came out, have you heard about this? Well apparently there are Dinobots in this movie along with some other transforming robots. So in keeping with my promise of leaving the store with a Grimlock I added to my growing TF4 collection with Age of Extinction Voyager Class Grimlock.
The figure comes in the new style packaging that were are becoming familiar with the new releases. Standing proud and mighty in robot mode, Grimlock greats you in the large window opening with a picture of Grimlock in accurate movie colours. On the back you have the bio as well as the normal photos in both alt and robot modes. The latest gimmick Hasbro is telling us is that the transfomation only takes 'X' amount of steps and in Grimlock's case that number is 18.
Time for a small rant here. I am not against a simpler transformation if done right, but I feel the math Hasbro uses does not add up. I say that because a figure comes with 2 arms, 2 legs and a few other pieces that might be doubled, but when the count is tallied up they count moving both arms separately as one move, where in my opinion that is two separate actions or steps. To further add to that count, when our figures are displayed sometimes (and I know I do) a mistransform to give them a better pose or look and by doing so we would either add or subtract from the total number of steps taken in the official transformation.
Another little pet peeve of mine comes with the instructions. Most of the newer figures I have gotten my hands on, the instructions have been in reverse. For example we will use Grimlock here. In the package he appears in Robot mode, but the instructions start him off in Dino mode. The first time I completed the transformation I had some great difficulty figuring out how the T Rex head assembled and actually faced forward to the rest of the body. Once you figure out where everything fits, slips through, or under the actual transformation is quite intuitive but I did learned one small tip. When working with the Dino legs or Robot arms, it is best to move them off to the side on the shoulder joint to allow more than enough clearance during rest of the transformation.
Starting in Dino mode you see a very different take on a robotic dinosaur. With all his spikes and amour plating Grimlock looks more like an upgraded battle cat. If you have seen the new movie I can understand your confusion as the colours, as they are no where those in which we saw in the theatres. The paint scheme all though very sharp and applied in the right areas. With a change in the paint barrels I feel that they just starting pumping these out on the same line in which they did the Transformers Prime Predaking on and did not inform the staff.
The head is very large compared to the rest of the body, but I do like it. Even with the large teeth, Grimlock's grin makes him look friendly, but that grin does come at a price. There is a gimmick with the lower jaw that when you press a button on the left side of his head, it chomps up and down. I personally would want that gimmick to have a lock so the mouth does not need to be open at all the times. The short stubby arms are on a ball joint and can assume some expressive positions but the chest piece does not clip into anything so they tend to move along with the arms. The legs are fully poseable with joints that work in the hips, knees and feet but for the later you will need to start the transformation to get the feet free and into poses. From the great legs we get to a stubby tail.
Now I do not feel this tail is short or stubby but from certain angles it does give that impression. If you feel the tail is to short you can fix that with weapons storage. The mace that comes with Grimlock can clip on the tails tip adding a ridiculous length and look. At least it will stop you from hitting people in the head with it causing a concussion.
It is in Robot mode where Grimlock begin to shine. The short tail, large head and nice legs all fit in beautifully and with surprisingly very little alt mode kibble. Why not I get what I feel is a small amount of kibble out of the way and start with the Gorilla arms. You can see the remainder of the Dino feet hanging from the forearms and thankfully the arms and hands are not in their position permanently.
With a slight mistransformation by unpegging the kibble from the forearm and you can freely rotate at the hand at the wrist. Doing this comes in handy when wielding the large mace in Robot mode. The large skull tucks away fairly nicely. The top half splits into two, to become the shoulder pads with what is left over hanging off his back like a hoodie with the hood down.
The head sculpt is different than what we have seen with previous Grimlocks but at the same time familiar. Behind the faceplate you see teeth, something that has been appearing in the latest versions of his head from third party companies. The overall look is of the Dino Knight motif, that is somewhat explained in the movie. All the clues are there from the helmet, amour plating and spiky boots.
The figure has all the standard ball joints in the shoulders and hips with pivot joints in the elbows and knees. There is no waist movement, but there is an ankle tilt. Surprisingly there little movement in the head with it just on a pivot joint considering the majority of figures appear to be connected with a ball jointed neck. Overall is this figure worth full retail? I will say no. With the flood of movie figures that have come out, Grimlock along with his other wave mates will be on sale later in retail if not sooner. Already teased with a SDCC and overseas exclusives, the G1 repaints are right around the corner. If you are a completionist like myself, Grimlock will stand proud along with the other Dinobots that have been released as they all share the knight look and would look good standing guard on your display shelf separate from the latest line of movie figures, but if you have patience I say wait for the sales, or the G1 repaints that will soon follow. I say give Hasbro or Takara another year for those.
TheRealRonin
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