Dinobot
Slug (Power of the Primes)
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation to Robot: Easy
Difficulty of Transformation to Leg: Very Easy
Difficulty of Transformation to Arm: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Milky gray, red, metallic gold, and some black, metallic charcoal black, silver, dark red, and clear plastic
Rating: 7.9
Slug's triceratops mode is in general pretty darned G1 in terms of its overall look, but something is definitely... off... about it, that much is clear right away. I don't know if it's because he has to combine this time around, or if it's because the body of the mold is re-used later (I would guess the latter), but the head is WAY too close to the main body. Like, there's basically no separation between the headcrest and the body-- he has no neck. The whole head itself seems sloped back a bit unnaturally, as well. The tail is also a bit too short and stubby, though that's not as big of a deal. The rear legs are a bit 2-D, but still pretty passable, and the front legs look good, but they're a bit too long in comparison to the rear legs-- they have to be at a pretty big angle or they'l keep the front half much further up than the back half. As a big plus, however, there's no robot mode extras in this mode whatsoever, so that's cool. Color-wise, this toy is VERY G1-accurate. The gray used for the main plastic is a very, very milky version, so much so that it almost looks shiny-- almost. Silver paint is still definitely preferable to this shade of gray plastic, but since it IS gray plastic, it looks better than most gray plastics. On the dino head, tail, and on the hips, there's also gold painted INSIDE clear plastic that's ridged with many robotic details, which makes for a very nifty look. There's also some red on the horns and eyes, with a bit visible on the sides, but most of this color is relegated to the robot mode. There's some more gold on the top (the pieces that become his robot feet), some black "wiring" detailing across his front half, some silver on the hips, and some G1 sticker-like paint decals on the base of the tail. The mold detailing on Slug is quite impressive overall, with lots of ridges, tubes, wires, hinges, and the like all over the place-- despite the fact that he's mostly gray, that combined with the shade of this gray makes it so he doesn't look boring. For articulation in this mode, Slug can move at the shoulders, front knees (at two points), hips, rear knees, at the base of each horn (which are made of soft, bendy plastic), and theoretically his mouth, though it opens up in a very odd manner-- far too wide, and due to the transformation behind where the actual jaw bone should be, so I prefer to keep it closed. For accessories, Slug has his "Prime Armor", which essentially makes a double-thumbed fist for the combiner modes, and there's a clear piece in the center you can take out to put a Prime Master in to "power Slug up". It has some cool spikes near the front, but it too obviously looks like a hand and not anything else. You can plug it on the top of this mode or in the center of either of his hips, but either way it's a bit eyesore that doesn't fit in with the rest of the mode at all. Slug also has a simple black blaster accessory with a scope-- pretty cool, but nothing to get overly excited about. It can fit in the same spots the Prime Armor can.
In general keeping with his G1 design, Slug's transformation is fairly simple. The front legs become the arms, the dino jaw opens down to become the chest and reveal the robot head, and the back halves rotate around to become the robot legs, with the rear dino legs folded up a bit and the tail splitting in half and hiding behind said lower legs (which also have heel panels to flip out to stabilize Slug a bit more in this mode). In general this is a solid mode, and a pretty good update of his G1 robot mode, especially considering that he combines. I do wish Slug was a bit more "broad-chested" given that he's a Dinobot, but I get why design-wise that's not the case. The rear dino legs do kinda hang off his very large lower legs quite obviously, but that's about it as far as kibble. The jaw becomes an excellent chestplate, and although you could argue the triceratops head top behind Slug's robot head is an extra, that's been a design staple of his, so I don't mind it. When looked at from the side, you can see the front dino body extends behind Slug's back quite a bit, but it doesn't get in the way of articulation and isn't that visible from most angles you'll normally view him at. In this mode, there's still plenty of milky gray, but the red plastic on the main body is more prevalent in this mode. There's also some nice metallic charcoal black on his upper legs and head, which looks great (his eyes are also painted red in this mode as well). Other than these bits and the Autobot symbol on his chest, though, there aren't any paint apps from this mode that aren't carried over from the dino mode; because of the transformation, beyond the chest there isn't much visible in this mode that wasn't visible in dino mode either, but those parts that are continue to have a decent amount of robotic detailing on them. Slug's headsculpt is spot-on, complete with a no-nonsense look on his face. Slug's Prime armor can be fitted across his chest, or you can stick it on the side of one of his arms as an over-sized piece of bashing armor (given the spikes on the "knuckles" of said Prime armor). For articulation, in this mode, Slug can move at the head (slightly, because of the dino head it's embedded in), and at the shoulders, elbows (at two points), downwards slightly at the wrists because of the transformation, and rotation at the waist, as well as movement at the hips (at two points) and knees. Thus, he's fairly articulated, and given his large lower legs, very steady on his feet.
