Review: #670
Name: Grimlock
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release: 2021
Size Class: Leader (Wave 6)
Mold Status: new
ALTERNATE MODE:
Studio Series Grimlock, based upon his appearance in the G1 movie (hence the SS-86 moniker), transforms into his classic gold and grey robotic dinosaur.
We've seen many G1 inspired Grimlock in the past, so the dino mode, which while awesome, is not something that will blow you away.
Grimlock is fairly sizeable, above is a comparison against POTP Leader Optimus Primal and you can see in beast mode, Grimlock is almost the same height as the robot mode of a Leader figure.
The robot gun can peg onto his back for storage.
Articulation is fairly good, since he has balljointed shoulders for his arms, and joints for his hips and knees, since they are the robot arms. Grimlock is also well balanced so he can stand either upright with his tail on the ground, or forward with his tail off the ground.
Furthermore, his jaws can open, and the head and rotate from side to side.
Grimlock comes with a mini Wheelie figure and Wheelie can ride his back, although he doesn't peg on. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic robotic dino mode.
WHEELIE:
If we focus on Wheelie first, Grimlock comes with a non-transforming version of the character, which can seem disappointing at first but Wheelie is actually not too bad.
While he is designed to sit on Grimlock (either in robot or dino mode), Wheelie is actually capable of standing up by himself.
Wheelie is roughly Legion sized, but you can see that Wheelie has hollow limbs, and the degree at which the figure is hollow is quite distracting.
He has balljoints for both shoulders and both hips, while his head can turn from side to side. Still quite restrictive but actually more poseable than you would first expect.
This is a nice bonus, considering that it doesn't appear to have caused too many compromises to Grimlock (particularly since Wheelie is so well painted himself). Would a sword be better instead of Wheelie? That depends on your preferences.
TRANSFORMATION (GRIMLOCK):
If you've ever transformed the G1 figure and the Masterpiece figure, then the transformation here is extremely similar. There's really only so many ways you can design the transformation. The back, including the tail, splits and unfolds to form the robot legs. The torso then splits in half and the two shells, along with the dino head, act as a backpack with wings. The dino legs form the robot arms, and that's about it.
ROBOT MODE:
Grimlock's robot mode is pretty great and this is also where the figure shines the most as it is a wonderful robot mode.
He's got a bit of a backpack but this is fairly accurate to the original, and is always something that G1 Grimlock has, so he kind of gets a pass here.
The head sculpt while simple, nails the character.
Perhaps the most surprising here is simply how big Grimlock is. Considering Leaders are now just chunkier Voyagers, Grimlock breaks that trend by being near the size Leaders used to be. Yes, he has hollow parts (the feet being the major culprit) but he still feels hefty in your hands.
As part of the Studio Series line, Grimlock comes with a cardboard stand formed from the inner packaging.
The stand depicts the scene from the movie in which Grimlock was about to burst in to save Hot Rod.
For articulation, Grimlock has all the standard joints you'll come to expect: head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
While it is accurate to the character, the fact that the dino claws stick out like that from the hands does look lazy.
Wheelie here can sit on either of his shoulders, but Grimlock's left one is the best as it is easier to angle Wheelie's slingshot. What's nice is that Grimlock's shoulders have a port for Wheelie to securely peg onto.
Grimlock comes with his double barreled gun.
The gun can be held in either hand. One thing to note is that there is an Autobot insignia behind the dark smoky transparent plastic on his chest, it's just hard to make out.
The knees are also prone to unclipping when you're trying to bend them. It's not a huge issue but for a figure that feels so solid, that is the one weak point.
A fantastic robot mode and one that'll surpass your expectations.
OVERALL:
Grimlock feels like a return to the glory days of Leader classed figures. He's big and he's fun. Granted, the transformation is simple, but this works in his favor as we get a bigger figure and better paint apps. The inclusion of Wheelie without compromising on the core figure too much is impressive. Grimlock is definitely a worthwhile figure to purchase.
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