Tuesday 20 May 2014

Pictorial Review: Age of Extinction Grimlock (Leader Class)

The hype of Age of Extinction keeps building. With that also the hype of the toys increases. Here we have the pictorial review of the leader class Grimlock. ROAR!!!!

In Package




Here we have the box. Same as Optimus Prime's box. Basic box shape. On the front the art work of Grimlock seems awesome. On the back as usual the toy's alternate and robot form displayed and his bio. Now you see the paint scheme on Grimlock is mostly brownish but the toy inside is totally different. As you can see below.


As you can see the toy's colour scheme is different from what appears on the box. Noticeable most on his shoulders. Hasbro has been using a lot of chromes on figures lately. It used to be TakaraTomy's thing last time. 

Instruction and Accessories


Here you have the instruction and Grimlock's weapon and shield. Note on the instruction, despite the real picture of the toy's being used, it only shows the toy transforms from alternate mode to robot. The toy comes in robot form so you have to read the instruction in reverse to transform it into alternate mode. So a bit of more focus needed. Same goes for Optimus Prime.  






The shield can be transformed. The one on the left is the normal mode and it's actually part of the alternate mode. When in robot mode, the sheild should be transform in to the one on the right.


Robot Mode

Visually he look great. The upper torso looks big and he has six pack. Or maybe eight? As you can see his body is chromed as oppose to his appearance on the back of the box. Up to individuals of course but for me I like the chrome better. Though it long term the chrome may wear out.  

His face is a little weird. Green eyes with black face. Not sure he has a battle mask on or that is his face. He has eyebrows too.







I don't know why but to me if he is without his weapon and shield, he kinda looks a little "naked" to me. When he's holding his accessories, he looks great.


His articulation can be considered better than Optimus Prime. He has wrists joint! Unlike Optimus. 


Shoulders, elbows, knees, hips are all on ratchet joints. Click-click-click. He has ankle joints too. Elbows and lower legs can be swiveled in and out, left and right. 


Elbows can bent at 90 degrees only.


The knees can be bent more the 90 degrees which makes him able to have more poses. 


His head unfortunately is not on a ball joint. The head is screwed in. So he can only look to left and right. No up and down. 


His feet is stable enough for to hold him in almost any kinds of poses you may like. 


Size Comparison

His height is about the same as Leader Class Optimus Prime. Or maybe slightly taller if you include his horn and shoulder pads.


Alternate Mode

Obviously again a T-Rex. Though some angles he looks great, but from the side you can see his body is kinda thin and straight. It's like he's not been fed for many months. Even on the bottom of his body there's a bone like pattern. So maybe he is hungry after being stasis all those years.



The sheied and the weapon are transformed and combined together to be part of the tail of T-Rex mode. The shield and the weapon make up the part right after the chromed part.



The head sculpt is kinda has a menacing look thought. Almost similar to what we see in the trailers. But he has green eyes instead of red. He has horns. Since when does T-Rex has horns? 

The horns are rubber and so are the teeth. However the bottom mouth has some hollow parts. This is due to its transformation. Being the head split into two and become the shoulder pads.


Unfortunately his robot mode hands cannot be hidden. This is how the hands are placed when in dino mode. It sort of become the heel for the legs. This is the only robot part exposed in alternate form.


Though the alternate mode looks great and menacing, it is a big disappointment. Because there's almost nothing you can do with it. There is no head articulation. Except maybe looking up and down a bit but that's because of its transformation. The tail because it's made from two different parts once it's combined it's one solid piece. So he can't wiggle his tail. Only articulations he have are the legs and his tiny arms. And of course those have limited movements too. 


It's like a skeleton T-Rex with a skull head. 



Battle with Optimus.



Everyone is sure to do this action. Optimus riding on Grimlock. Find the right center gravity and Grimlock is able to stand still with Optimus on his back. Sorry no comparison shots of him in alternate mode. 


Rating:

Robot mode: 7 out of 10
Alternate mode: 4 out of 10
Cosmetic: 6.5 out of 10 (The chrome on the body is nice but it could wear off with excessive play)
Play-ability: 7 out of 10. (Though alternate mode almost literally can't be played with, the play-ability of the robot mode makes up for it.)

Until next review, I'm signing out now. Till All Are One!

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