Grimlock's wigged-out t-rex form on this "Flip 'n Change" version is-- rather surprisingly, given the simplstic, gimmicky nature of this subline-- his most well-proportioned alt mode out of all of his figures in AoE. His legs are a touch large, the tail maybe a TAD small, but that's about it-- otherwise, his head-body-arms propprtions are quite good. There is one somewhat obvious robot mode extra in this mode, and that's the robot chest plate, which is underneath Grimlock's lower head and teeny t-rex arms. At a normal angle, however, it tends to just look like an extra plate of plastic, and isn't that big of a deal. It actually seems like the lesser of two evils, since if that part were taken away, we'd have Grimlock's robot arms sticking out like sore thumbs down there instead. (Said robot arms are still a LITTLE obvious behind the t-rex arms, but only really around the fists.) The mold detailing on this toy is quite good, with bone-like layered armor all over the place-- his tail looks particularly nice, as do his legs in this respect. His main body is carved almost as if it were made of rocks, and the "scars" on the hips are a nice touch. The head could have larger horns, but hey, we're talking about a toy aimed at a younger-than-usual age group here, so it makes sense they'd be a little nubby. Grimlock's color scheme is the same as it is on most of his other toys, being mostly a rather unique shade of brownish bronze, with some gray that's almost so dark as to be black being the main dark color (it also has just a touch of a brownish tinge to it, thus allowing it to both contrast and complement against the brownish bronze). There's also a fair amount of silver on the legs and head for a "light" color, and the electric blue used for the eyes may not be accurate to the movie (where they'e red), but they still look nice against the other colors. That said, the paint used for the brownish bronze-- as opposed to the plastic color-- is of a noticeably lighter and more metallic shade, so it doesn't blend in as well as it should. Between all this, Grimlock's paint apps are pretty well-spaced out, so no complaints in terms of color variety here. The big weakness here-- and oh, what a weakness it is-- is that Grimlock has almost NO articulation. He can move back-and-forth where his dino arms meet his body, but that's it. Not even some basic hip or jaw articulation is really pushing it for a toy of this size (he's larger than a voyager, but a little smaller than a leader), gimmick or no.
    Grimlock's transformation is pretty fun, and the highlight of the toy-- you separate his tail into two halves, swing those halves out, and then use them as handles, swinging the entire toy around either forwards or backwards (depending upon what mode you're transforming him into)-- after a couple of flips, he's transformed, and you fold the tail halves behind his upper back. For Grimlock, you do need to make sure that the dino head halves aren't pegged together tightly before you start, though, otherwise that will keep the gimmick from working. The end result is pretty good for a toy with a gimmicky transformation. The tail halves behind his shoulders aren't movie-accurate, sure, but I actually think they enhance his silhouette a little more, just like the dino head-halves that are both movie-accurate and look uber-cool. The legs stay the exact same as in dino mode. Grimlock's arms are a bit short and stubby, but otherwise proportionally he's pretty darned good in this mode (and hey, maybe having short stubby arms is okay for a robot who transforms into a t-rex, huh? Hah...). There is a bit of a gap between his head and his shoulders, though, which is a bit unsightly. The robot chest and head are sculpted quite nicely, with the "teeth necklace" on the chest well-detailed and painted, and his head pretty in-line with his other AoE toys, with a large central crest and a mouth that looks like it's teeth hidden partially by a unique pointy faceplate. I will say that, man, this guy needs a weapon, though. Where's his mace, or a sword or something? He certainly has the hand holes for one. For articulation, he can move at the elbows (at two points), and that's it-- again, articulation is definitely this guy's biggest drawback. And even here, his little t-rex arms on the back of his lower robot arms can collide with his tail halves and get in the way of what little movement they have.
    Flip 'n Change Grimlock may be a simple toy, but he's a fun toy with a fun transformation gimmick, and proportions-wise he hits nearly all of the right notes in both of his modes without a bunch of kibble-- even the tail halves frame his robot mode rather nicely, in my opinion. His color scheme and number of paint apps are also solid, but his articulation is where he falls flat-- a point of movement or two for each of his arms in each mode. Particularly since his legs remain the same in both modes, I see no reason why a couple of points of movement couldn't have been added in there. Regardless, this is my favorite toy from the subline because of just how few drawbacks he has besides his articulation. If you're looking for an Age of Extinction Grimlock toy that's easy and fun to transform and lack of articulation isn't a turn-off, I'd recommend this over all the other "non-Generations" toys of the design.

Review by Beastbot

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