Review: #852
Name: Dinoking
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - Legacy: United
Year of Release: 2024
Size Class: N/A
Mold Status: retool of Legacy United Volcanicus
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:
Released as an exclusive, Legacy United Dinoking is the first modern update of the character, and he comes in a really nice fancy packaging that does it justice.
It's designed to replicate the looks of the G1 packaging and it looks really nice. It's a box that you would be keen to keep.
DINOFORCE:
Dinoking is formed from the Dinoforce team, comprised of six members:
- Goryu
- Kakuryu
- Gairyu
- Yokuryu
- Rairyu
- Doryu
Each of the members transform into a robotic dinosaur, who looks good as a team.
They look equally good in robot mode, but you can tell that they are retools from the Dinobots as their designs are clearly supposed to be Dinobots, which is a shame.
Nevertheless, having them all together is great, even if they are only in a smaller size class.
TRANSFORMATION:
Dinoking is a combiner formed of six members, so four of them become the limbs, and two forms the torso. Transformation isn't hard, as effectively each team member partially transforms from dinosaur mode into their combined form. Each piece has multiple pegs to lock it into place.
A big difference compared to the original Dinobot release is that Dinoking comes with a bunch of additional parts, including new fists and new feet for the combined mode, which makes it much more stable and cohesive.
COMBINED MODE:
And now the mode that we all bought the set for, and the combined mode does not disappoint. It's definitely the strongest mode, and is worth the compromises that the individual bots suffered from.
He feels extremely solid in hand, and the combined mode holds together super well (except maybe the fists, which can detach due to only being attached by thin pegs).
The head sculpt looks good, very G1, although can be generic as a result.
Being formed of six Core figures, he ends up being around a Voyager in height, but much much bulkier.
Looking from the side, you can see that he's bulky from only from the front, but has the depth as well.
He has the theoretical articulation, having joints in his head, shoulders, elbows, wrist, waist, hips and knees. And thankfully, he can use most of that articulation.
All the individual robot weapons can combine into a giant scythe, and a combined gun.
The scythe looks great, while the gun just looks like one of those where you needed to plug everything together. The great thing with the scythe is that since the handle is formed from multiple parts, Dinoking can hold it naturally in the middle of the shaft rather than the end.
The weapons can peg onto his back for storage.
The addition of feet pieces helps keep him super stable, and allows him to effectively use the full range of articulation that he has.
Only slight negative are the arms, where they are of the design with the inward facing elbows. You can rotate them so that he can have more naturally looking elbows, but the left arm cannot do this properly as it ends up being too thick and sticks out by his side.
The limbs are also all designed to be attached in a certain way, there is no mix and matching of limbs here like the original G1 figure, but it's not a huge deal.
This is a fantastic combined mode, there's not doubt about that. Dinoking, despite his smaller size, is an impressive figure that can become a centrepiece of your display.
OVERALL:
Putting out it there now, Dinoking himself is worth the price of admission. This pack is not cheap, and the six individual Core figures each have their compromises, but it comes together beautifully into the combined mode that's super stable, is articulate, and looks amazing.
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