|
 Toy Reviews Links |
07/13/2008 Hasbro Transformers Animated Grimlock Review
One of the first things I remember as a kid is my love of dinosaurs. I know this didn't make me unique as a kid but I really have a passion for them. I used to entertain my relatives when I was 4 or 5 years old because I could rattle off names of many different dinosaurs. While that skill has long left me, my love for them has never left. I am also drawn to toys that are stylized in an animated way. Once I saw they were making Dinobots for the new Transformers Animated line, I knew I would be tracking these down.
There is a bit of biographical information on Grimlock on the back as expected as well as pictures of the toy in both robot and dinosaur mode. I appreciate the picture of the toy in robot mode as I can never seem to get the transformation quite right. My box suffered from either a lot of shelf wear or a shipping case that got crushed along the way. I can't help to wonder if the box had standard angles, it could have held up a little better.
Twisty ties and more twisty ties - oh I hate them. There were several to remove before removing the toy from the box. I accidentally popped a leg off in the process but thankfully the ball joint hip popped right back on. Once I had it opened and standing there, I was already happy with it. Between the sculpt and the paint scheme, it looks like it stepped right out of the cartoon.
Normally I am inept when it comes to transforming some of the more complicated Transformers. Give me an Alternator and I will be there for awhile trying to figure it out. It doesn't help that I don't like reading the instructions. This one is rated a '3' or Advanced Conversion according to the box. I was able to transform it with little problem. I only had two small issues. First is one of the chest panels that has the dino arms on it kept popping off. The other is I had to look at the box to know if I was storing the dino head correctly behind the back in robot mode. That is the only real gripe I have with the transformation process - the dino head just feels like it is in the way once you are done.
One action feature is some of the flames on the blade pop out when you out the sword in its hand and twist the wrist. It is an ok feature - I wasn't jumping up and down with excitement when I did it. The eyes on the toy will "glow" a bit when there is an overhead light above the head. The light is piped down through some clear plastic on the top of the head. I tried to get a picture of the effect but it didn't quite work out. One other action feature is snapping jaws. There is a small button on the back of the neck when pushed opens the jaws. When you release the button, the jaws will snap shut. I would have preferred jaws that open and close without an action feature but I would imagine kids will like it. I would like to pose the toy with the jaws open without stuffing something inside to keep them open.
This is one of the larger Grimlocks we have gotten over the years. This is perfectly ok with me as I want Grimlock to be big! Heck, I will even take a bigger one - where is a Masterpiece Grimlock already? I was a bit cautious about buying it (as I already have too many toys) but in the end I like it much more than a lot of the other Grimlocks I alreadyhave. It is easily identifiable as Grimlock and looks like it popped right out of the cartoon.
This will run you around $20 give or take a dollar or two. It was a challenge for me to find for the first few weeks after the Animated line was released. It seems like it is one of the more popular ones currently but I saw plenty of them this weekend. I am giving this a **** out of five star rating. I ended up liking it much more than I anticipated I would. I eagerly await more Animated Dinobots to put along side it. |
