Toy Review: Transformers Earthspark Grimlock (Deluxe)

Review:  #818

Name:  Grimlock

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Earthspark

Year of Release:  2023

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 3)

Mold Status:  reuses engineering of Cyberverse Grimlock

BEAST MODE:

Grimlock transforms into a mechanical dinosaur, heavily inspired by his G1 design so it's no surprise here.

While not strictly a remold, he's basically a reshell of Cyberverse Grimlock and reuses the engineering.

He is an okay size, although somewhat let down by his light weight, due to excessive hollow parts.

He comes with right leg of the build-a-figure Mandroid.

Grimlock doesn't have too much articulation, only able to open his mouth and move the legs around at the hips.

The robot weapon, a gun, can peg on the back and to be fair, it doesn't look half bad there.

A decent enough beast mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

Grimlock has the exact same transformation scheme as the Cyberverse figure, and it is fun enough, albeit simple.  The head folds to the back, you open up the chest so that you review the robot chest.  The tail becomes the legs, and the beast mode legs become the arms.  It's like a typical Grimlock transformation.

ROBOT MODE:

The robot mode is where the remold really helps the figure shine, and it is a lot closer in design to the G1 figure, but stylized in the Earthspark way.

He has a decent amount of kibble on his back, and his legs are quite hollow, despite attempts to fill it in.

The head sculpt is great, with a mask and blue visor.

He's around the height of a typical Deluxe.

Putting him next to the Cyberverse figure, you get to see how different and how much remolding happened.  The darker shade of great, and the changes in aesthetics really help this figure stand out and pop, making this version the better one.

Articulation is fine, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles.

He comes with a yellow gun, which he can hold in either hand, this is the only gimmick.

The chunky limbs at times can be awkward but it can be worked around.  The joints also feel a little bit looser than wanted.

A strong robot mode and one that really improves upon the original base figure.

OVERALL:

Earthspark might be a bit lazy with its amount of retools and reshells, but Grimlock is an example of when it is done right.  It looks great in both modes, and is an improvement in aesthetics thanks to the colors and different style it brings.  He's worth a purchase, even if you have the original Cyberverse figure.

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Nintendogs + Cats (3DS)

Nintendogs + Cats is a pet simulation game for the 3DS and is a sequel to the super successful and super popular Nintendogs DS game. It came in three versions, where the differences are the breeds of the dogs available. This version is the Toy Poodle version, which has a total of 27 breeds including the titular toy poodle, shih tzu, labrador retriever and corgi. There is now also the addition of cats.

You start out by picking which one of the starting breeds of dogs that you want to adopt. It comes back home with you and from then on, you’re kind of just let loose to experiment what you can do. First off, you’ll probably want to pet it, and you’re given some early supplies such as food, water and shampoo. Using the stylus on the bottom screen is how you interact with your dog, such as rubbing it, throwing balls for it to catch and cleaning it.

The touch screen is also used to teach it tricks. By using specific movements, you can teach your puppy how to sit, give you its paws and other tricks. The system uses the microphone to then record your voice command so that the puppy will know what to do when you say it out loud. Similarly, it records you saying its name so that it can run to you when called.

Another big element of the game is taking your dog out for a walk. It sounds more interesting than it is. You pretty much just hold the leash as your dog walks down a street. Along the way, you must keep it out mischief, such as not getting itself dirty and eating what it shouldn’t be. You must clean up after it, and along these walks are opportunities for your dog to grow by interacting with others, finding items and training.

The game has a bunch of in-game shops to buy all the items you’ll ever need for your dogs and cats. These range from food, furniture, toys and clothing. There is even a shop that allows you to give it junk to swap for better things. All these cost money and you’re given a decent amount of starting money, so you can spend away initially without the fear of running out.

The game is designed for you to play a little bit each day, and not in long sessions. Your dogs will get hungry and thirsty, so you will need to feed them multiple times a day. They can only learn up to three tricks a day and can participate in each competition twice a day. The competitions are the main way to earn money, and you compete against two other dogs. You’ll always get some money, even though it isn’t much.

The three competitions are disc throwing, lure, and obedience. Disc throwing has you throwing a disc using the touch screen for your dog to catch. Lure has you reeling a lure on a course as your dog races to the finish line. While obedience has your dog doing the tricks that you’ve trained it. These have multiple difficulty tiers and can be very lucrative if you come first place. You can train your dog in the meantime inside the house or better yet, at parks or gyms while on a walk.

As you progress with raising your puppy, you’ll eventually gain enough money to adopt another pet, which includes kittens. There are only three types of kittens to choose from and you go through a similar process to name them. The things you can do with a kitten are more restrictive, basically you can only play with them and take care of them. You cannot take them out for walks or teach them tricks. However, they are still very cute, and it can be fun watching their interactions with your puppy.

Just like getting a real pet, while interesting in the beginning, it can start to become a chore as you need to feed, train and play with the pets daily. It is a neat feeling when you see your puppy start off not being able to catch your flying disc, but then eventually get better and better to the point of winning the top competition. Money then becomes much easier to come by as you constantly win the higher ranked competitions. However, it is all very repetitive and the types of things that unlock aren’t exactly thrilling, as the core gameplay remains the same the whole way.

Overall, Nintendogs + Cats (3DS) is a nice update to the original game, even though it didn’t really change too much. The biggest addition of kittens isn’t a big change either, as the things you can do with it are limited (basically just feeding and playing with it). The competitions are interesting but you’d wish that there were more minigames to play with your puppy. Decorating and buying accessories for your pets can only really keep your attention for so long.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Optimus Primal (Leader)

Review:  #817

Name:  Optimus Primal

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Generations - Studio Series

Year of Release:  2023

Size Class:  Leader (Wave 13)

Mold Status:  new

BEAST MODE:

Optimus Primal is based upon his appearance in the Rise of the Beasts movie, although he is based upon concept art.

He transforms into a mechanical gorilla and he can easily stand upright on his own.  He doesn't have too much robot kibble, just that his legs are a bit thick as they are folded up.

Despite being sold in the Leader class assortment, he is fairly short in robot mode, approximately the height of a short Voyager, although he is bulkier.

A quick shot against the beast mode of fellow Maximal Rhinox, and you can see that they are roughly similar size (but Rhinox does not have as much mass).

The head sculpt is complex and busy.  The mouth can open and close.

He has some articulation, most of it is in his arms.  The legs are fairly static.

He can easily go on all fours too so that's a nice option.

To make up for his smaller size, he comes with a multitude of accessories:  two chain pieces, axe, two swords, and the Transwarp key.

He can hold and wield everything in beast mode as well as robot mode, even the Transwarp key.

The two chain pieces can be joined together and then attached to the swords.  He never used it like this in the movie so this is purely from the concept art.

Otherwise, he'll hold the swords in both hands.

Similarly, he can hold the two chain pieces separately as batons.

Impressively, all the weapons can store on him.  The axe on his hips, the swords and chains on his back, although the chains are somewhat awkward as you try to position to not get in the way or take too much space.  The Transwarp key unfortunately has nowhere to go.

A good beast mode, and the ability to wield all his weapons is a bonus.

TRANSFORMATION:

For a Transformer that basically stands up for robot mode, Optimus Primal has a more complex transformation than that.  The legs still extend but there are some more pieces to flip up.  Same with his hands, which has the gorilla hands flipped away and the robot hands come out.  Perhaps most interestingly is how he has different chest plates for gorilla and beast mode.

ROBOT MODE:

Optimus Primal's robot mode is good, but compared with the Awakening version, this one is a lot more athletic looking, for better or worse.

The biggest negative here is how high the beast mode chest plate sits on his back, it sticks up too high over his head.

The head sculpt is fine, it's not amazing and feels a bit flat at times.

Size here isn't too great either, he is still roughly Voyager sized, making him feel a bit weak in value even with the additional accessories.

A shot against Awakening Optimus Primal and the Studio Series version here just looks somewhat out of place.  He really feels too skinny.

As part of the Studio Series line, he comes with a cardboard stand, depicting a scene from the movie.

Articulation is great, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

All the weaponry stores in basically the same spots in robot mode as beast mode.

One of the interesting things is that the chain piece can be used to attach Battletrap's flail, and given that Battletrap actually did use a flail in the movie, this is a good (if accidental) gimmick.

All of the weapons are held in exactly the same way in robot mode, but of course, Optimus now has much better articulation to utilize it all.

There are some additional elements to help justify the cost, such as articulation for his hands, and the solid compact feel of the figure.

It's not the fault of the figure, but more so the design.  He has a lot of unpainted grey plastic, which coupled with the black plastic, makes him feel a bit bland in terms of color.

He doesn't have any ranged weaponry, unfortunately he doesn't have the shoulder guns or the wrist guns.

There's no denial that this is a much much better toy than the Voyager one we got in the mainline, and so he is worth the wait.

Apart from aesthetics reasons (which is subjective), this is a fantastic robot mode.

OVERALL:

Optimus Primal is worth the purpose.  Even though he is a bit small for Leader class, he packs enough complexity and additional accessories to just manage to be worth the price.  He looks good in both modes, and while there are flaws and many elements that could be improved upon, he is still worth picking up.

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