Grimlock
(Activator)
Grimlock's t-rex mode
is good, at least from a top-down view. The tyrannosaurus proportions are
quite accurate to the show version, and his color scheme is pretty accurate
to the larger toy. His gray is a bit duller,
though, which makes Grimlock's already fairly dull color scheme look even
less interesting. Still, the dull red, tan, and metallic bronze are fairly
good contrast colors against the gray-- it's just far too dominant of a
color, is the problem. Still, for an Activator toy, Grimlock has fairly
good t-rex articulation-- he can move at his hips (at two points), knees
(at two points), ankles, at the base of each of his two tiny arms, and
at one point along his tail. His mouth can't open and close, which is a
bit of a disappointment. I do love that the tail, though still a little
small proportionally, fits in with the body better in terms of its shape
and isn't LAUGHABLY small. Of course, now we come to the HUGE downside
to this side, which is apparent in the pictures above-- Grimlock's robot
legs are INCREDIBLY blatant on Grimlock's underside in this mode. I mean,
they're just there, without any attempt whatsoever to blend in. It's particularly
bad near the back where the legs are wider yet the dinosaur body is slimmer--
it almost makes Grimlock look like he has a big butt. You can also see
the robot waist from a front view, which doesn't look too hot, either.
Pressing down on the tan tab near the rear of Grimlock will activate his
auto-transformation, with all that's required afterwards is some posing
of his limbs and rotating his dino tail back.
Grimlock's bot mode
is clearly where the priority is for this toy. It looks fantastic all around,
particularly for this size class and with an auto-transformation. The tyrannosaurus
head and main body hang behind his back, but it's out of the way and doesn't
interfere with movement or his stability (much). Plus it's like that on
the Voyager toy as well, that's a minor downside at most. His tail sticks
out from behind his butt in robot mode, though, which looks rather odd.
His overall robot proportions are pretty good in general, but his arms
are a little long, which is my main problem with this mode. The paint apps
on his robot chest & head are very well-done-- I particularly like
the combination of metallic yellowish-gold, metallic bronze, and dull red
on his chest-- they all go together marvelously well with each other and
with the dominant gray color, making Grimlock more eye-catching in this
mode than in his dinosaur mode. Grimlock has pretty good articulation,
particularly for an Activator-- he can move at the neck, shoulders (at
three points), elbows, wrists, hips, and knees again (and some of those
are on ball joints for added movement).
Activator Grimlock has
an awesome robot mode for such a small toy, but his tyrannosaurus rex mode
suffers from a HUGE kibble problem-- his robot legs sticking out from the
bottom. If it wasn't for that this toy would get a great rating, but those
darned legs just pull it down substantially. If spending $20 on Voyager
Grimlock is really THAT big of a deal to you, than this is an okay substitute,
but it's not the best of the Activators.
Review by Beastbot