Post by Rodimus Prime on Apr 12, 2009 11:12:26 GMT
Classics Grimlock
This is the first true Grimlock to come around since G1. We've had previous efforts like the Beast Wars Dinobot repaint or the godawful in-name-only construction vehicle from RID, but this was THE Grimlock that people had been waiting decades for.
That was until the Masterpiece version crashed the party with it's perfect representation.
Classics Grimlock - T-Rex Mode
His dinosaur mode is surprisingly poseable and has a fantastic point of balance. The colour scheme is mostly grey, but there are touches of gold and red and a little black. What is really nice about this toy is that he actually has a mettalic aged paint job. Dust and dirt is already added bringing a sense of what the character is about.
The tail is segemented so that you can give it a twisted reptillian appearance and this clips off later. Smack dab in the middle of his back is a small tower that his weapon mounts to. I actually like this feature, however pointless it may be. And to the front is Grimlocks T Rex head, which to me has more in common with a dog than a dinosaur.
Poseability here is much better than one would expect. Grim can be posed in the more typical G1-esque pose of low tail/high head or in the more reptillian pose that I have him pictured in. The legs can be moved in a variety of directions also, though his tiny arms could have done with an extra hinge at the wrists.
As I said the tail is segmented to be dynamic and the mouth can be opened and closed.
Classics Grimlock - Robot Mode
The same colour scheme follows over from his dinosaur mode, with black and gold beomcing the more prominent colours, though your eye is immediately drawn to his head and chest, both sporting bright clear red plastic which are nicely offset against they base colours.
And on to the body. In direct opposition to Optimus Prime who has been working out, "Big" Grim isn't so big anymore. In fact, he's got the body of a robot ballerina.
Grim's body and midsection are quite narrow with black, gold and red for the paint job. Notably, a large red, what I can only assume is a spark crystal, is displayed slightly off center on his chest. The lack of symmetry is appealing for some reason, maybe because previous toys have had a perfect layout of detailing on their body.
The dino modes legs now become the robots arms and seem slightly short and not very well transformed. By that, I mean that Hasbro didn't design this well enough to satisfy me because the claws flip back to reveal small and stocky forearms and fists. Poseability of the arms is ok, but nothing spectacular. They hinge out and in from the shoulders, can rotate at the elbow and move forwards and backwards.
Unfortunately, the way the shoulders clip into the body frame is pretty flimsy and the grips on these don't hold as well as I'd like. Often, just moving Grim's arms around means they pop out of place.
What was the neck and head of the dino mode, splits and extends to become the legs on the robot mode. These are ball mounted and can therefore move at the hips in almost any direction.
The jaw of the dino head splits to become his feet and are initially offputting but with time actually grow on you. They dont(when coupled with the ball joint hips), however, seem to support the overall weight of the upper body(which is top heavy) making him difficult to pose and allowing his legs to slide apart if not moved carefully.
Weapons
Grim comes two weapons. His blaster cannon is bad ass with a clear red missle, black finish and blade mounted to the underside of the muzzle. What would've been even better would have been the addition of a peg on the rear of the cannon so that it could be wielded like an sword also - which I have recently found out was what Pretender Grimlocks blaster did. In fact, the whole figure has more in common with the Preternder Grim than the Generation One original.
The second weapon is his tail which detaches from the dino mode mid-transformation. I have zero idea what it's supposed to be when placed in his hands. A whip? A sword? A segmented whip/sword a la Ivy in Soul Calibre 2? Thankfully, it can be clipped on Grims back while he's in bot mode.
Overall
An okay update to a fan favourite but really, it has too many issues. The lack of bulk, the flimsy arm grips and ball jointed legs and a pointless tail weapon. Grimlock is a big tough war machine and any toy that homages this should accentuate this as a rule.
It's also hard to review him when you own the Masterpiece version. Takara got it so perfect with that. It makes this version seem so lacklustre.
With all that being said, he does look good generally. But he's like Universe Galvatron in that "look but dont touch" way.
Score - 2.5/5
This is the first true Grimlock to come around since G1. We've had previous efforts like the Beast Wars Dinobot repaint or the godawful in-name-only construction vehicle from RID, but this was THE Grimlock that people had been waiting decades for.
That was until the Masterpiece version crashed the party with it's perfect representation.
Classics Grimlock - T-Rex Mode
His dinosaur mode is surprisingly poseable and has a fantastic point of balance. The colour scheme is mostly grey, but there are touches of gold and red and a little black. What is really nice about this toy is that he actually has a mettalic aged paint job. Dust and dirt is already added bringing a sense of what the character is about.
The tail is segemented so that you can give it a twisted reptillian appearance and this clips off later. Smack dab in the middle of his back is a small tower that his weapon mounts to. I actually like this feature, however pointless it may be. And to the front is Grimlocks T Rex head, which to me has more in common with a dog than a dinosaur.
Poseability here is much better than one would expect. Grim can be posed in the more typical G1-esque pose of low tail/high head or in the more reptillian pose that I have him pictured in. The legs can be moved in a variety of directions also, though his tiny arms could have done with an extra hinge at the wrists.
As I said the tail is segmented to be dynamic and the mouth can be opened and closed.
Classics Grimlock - Robot Mode
The same colour scheme follows over from his dinosaur mode, with black and gold beomcing the more prominent colours, though your eye is immediately drawn to his head and chest, both sporting bright clear red plastic which are nicely offset against they base colours.
And on to the body. In direct opposition to Optimus Prime who has been working out, "Big" Grim isn't so big anymore. In fact, he's got the body of a robot ballerina.
Grim's body and midsection are quite narrow with black, gold and red for the paint job. Notably, a large red, what I can only assume is a spark crystal, is displayed slightly off center on his chest. The lack of symmetry is appealing for some reason, maybe because previous toys have had a perfect layout of detailing on their body.
The dino modes legs now become the robots arms and seem slightly short and not very well transformed. By that, I mean that Hasbro didn't design this well enough to satisfy me because the claws flip back to reveal small and stocky forearms and fists. Poseability of the arms is ok, but nothing spectacular. They hinge out and in from the shoulders, can rotate at the elbow and move forwards and backwards.
Unfortunately, the way the shoulders clip into the body frame is pretty flimsy and the grips on these don't hold as well as I'd like. Often, just moving Grim's arms around means they pop out of place.
What was the neck and head of the dino mode, splits and extends to become the legs on the robot mode. These are ball mounted and can therefore move at the hips in almost any direction.
The jaw of the dino head splits to become his feet and are initially offputting but with time actually grow on you. They dont(when coupled with the ball joint hips), however, seem to support the overall weight of the upper body(which is top heavy) making him difficult to pose and allowing his legs to slide apart if not moved carefully.
Weapons
Grim comes two weapons. His blaster cannon is bad ass with a clear red missle, black finish and blade mounted to the underside of the muzzle. What would've been even better would have been the addition of a peg on the rear of the cannon so that it could be wielded like an sword also - which I have recently found out was what Pretender Grimlocks blaster did. In fact, the whole figure has more in common with the Preternder Grim than the Generation One original.
The second weapon is his tail which detaches from the dino mode mid-transformation. I have zero idea what it's supposed to be when placed in his hands. A whip? A sword? A segmented whip/sword a la Ivy in Soul Calibre 2? Thankfully, it can be clipped on Grims back while he's in bot mode.
Overall
An okay update to a fan favourite but really, it has too many issues. The lack of bulk, the flimsy arm grips and ball jointed legs and a pointless tail weapon. Grimlock is a big tough war machine and any toy that homages this should accentuate this as a rule.
It's also hard to review him when you own the Masterpiece version. Takara got it so perfect with that. It makes this version seem so lacklustre.
With all that being said, he does look good generally. But he's like Universe Galvatron in that "look but dont touch" way.
Score - 2.5/5
