Sludge
(Wal-Mart Exclusive)
Beast mode is a dimetrodon.
Sludge is one of the two Transformers: Dinobots that is the first release
of a previously "Japan-only" mold in the U.S. Ol' Sludge here is a repaint
of the Beast Wars Neo toy Sling. This mode suffers from one huge problem:
His robot legs stick out VERY obviously from his underside, and completely
ruin any good looks on the rear half of this transformer. However, the
mold detailing and paint detailing are exquisite; molded-in leathery scales
are everywhere, and the gold stripes look really good against the flat
blue of the rest of this toy. Sludge's articulation in this mode includes
his jaw and all four of his legs at the hips. However, his legs are molded
in such a position where you can really only logically put each of his
legs in one position (see above picture), so this kind of negates the articulation
there. This leaves Sludge's posing in this mode basically being a choice
between having his mouth open or closed. Meh. And, of course, the Autobot
symbol on his forehead looks just plain dumb.
Sludge's robot mode,
on the upside, is extremely posable- he can move at his waist, knees, feet,
head, shoulders, and knees- all the major points of articulation. And his
feet, although comparatively small to other Transformers toys, hold him
up pretty well. His dimetrodon "fin" also folds out to form an arm-shield.
However, this thing is spring-loaded, and although pressing the buttom
in center of the shield to close it is kinda cool since it resembles a
venus fly-trap, it snaps closed far too easily, which gets pretty annoying.
Also, the back half of Sludge's dimetrodon mode essentially hangs off his
right arm. I suppose I can kind of see it as an arm-mounted gun, but considering
there's no mechanical on the bottom of the tail to suggest it, it's quite
a stretch. And another major downside Sludge has in this mode is that his
beast mode head doesn't fit very snugly onto his chest, and kinda roams
around a bit while you're playing with him. The head also looks a bit too
"evil" to fit an Autobot- and this makes sense, considering that Sludge's
predecessor Sling was a bad guy. Oh, and Sludge has an Autobot spark crystal
on his chest- only the Autobot symbol is painted on top of a Beast Machines
spark crystal. Boooo. And- yet another problem- Sludge has almost detailing
on his robot mode proper. The only real paint detailing is on his beast
mode parts, and his legs and arms need some paint detailing BADLY.
Sludge certainly has
some good traits- such as his wonderful articulation in robot mode and
his excellent mold and paint detailing hin beast mode- but he suffers from
quite a few problems that negate those good points. A mediocre transformer.
No Stats
Review by Beastbot