Hmmm... I have mixed feelings about Grimlock. Dinosaur mode The idea of Grimlock being a velociraptor-a-like has grown on me I must admit; I absolutely hated it to start with, but I'm fickle. However the head just seems wrong; it seems almost rat-like in profile and that's the snout's fault. It kind of spoils it for me. I didn't realise until I got him how big Grimlock's alt mode was, which was nice surprise. The dino mode is moderately posable with all those joints in his legs, and the light piping is a nice touch. 6/10 Robot Mode My favourite of the two modes, he seems far more stable and posable than the deluxe seekers, but he loses some of his bulk of his large dino mode to the tail-whip-thing. Although the 'bot mode is obviously Grimlock, he seems quite lean rather than the powerhouse of old, an observation not a complaint. I don't particularly like either of Grimlock's weapons, the tail whip doesn't have enough joints to look like a whip so I always mount it on his back, which gives him more bulk (or kibble). The bayonetted gun doesn't really suit him, it should've at least had a post in the end so he could've held it like a sword; still it can be mounted on his back along with his tail. Grimlock is moderately posable, but he would've been able to pull off some more dynamic poses if he had more friction in his hip joints. The tabs on my example do not lock either. 7/10 Miscellaneous Aside from friction-less hip joints there are no problems with my Grimlock. I quite like the asymetric transformation.
I think the shoulders were just assembled backwards at the factory. It seems as though the tabs were designed to hold the shoulders in place, but they don't.
I just opened mine. He suffers so much from kibble, it's not even funny. I do not like that his arm panels don't lock into his torso, and that those two black flaps don't snap into them somehow(even though it looks like they should). This leads to his arms not staying into position and his head area(the whole black area that swivels) moving around. I also don't like how he can't hold his gun like a sword. That, in itself, would've been a great plus, imo. On the positive side: His head mold is great and so are his paint apps.
The shoulders aren't backwards. As per Kyde (Allspark resident and Hasbro pseudo-insider), the proto was designed with the screwholes forward in robot mode. It's the package photo sample that's misassembled. And in practice, the shoulder tabs do nothing to hold the shoulders in place. If that was their intention, then someone must have failed their engineering courses with flying colours. It's impossible for the tabs to have any restraining effect on the shoulders the way they're designed. More likely, they're just to keep the collar from spinning, although they don't do a great job of that either.
it's nice to see hasbro making a new dinosaur grimlock, but he has to many flaws to make him a great figure. i've actually sold mine after i bought the binaltech grimlock which is by far the best grimlock figure ever. and now i'll wait till the titanium grimlock comes around, it would be awesome if they made the classic G1 grimlock into a titanium instead of a war within grimlock, but either way, more grimlock figures is always welcomed lol i just hope they don't mess it up like they did the classics one.
Found one, finally! I actually really like him. He seems just as posable as Voyager Optimus. As for the big point of contention, the shoulders... Mine are tight enough to more or less stay in place. But yeah, those fold-down flaps on the collar do NOTHING. They're misaligned and can't actually lock into the shoulders whatsoever!! Something got seriously gaffed in either the design stage or assembly stage.
I wasn't going to get Grimlock because I haven't liked the photos, but I was jonesing for a new TF yesterday so I thought I'd give him a chance. I was hoping for a "Me Grimlock kick butt!" feeling, but this particular jumble of plastic bits left me with a fairly distinct feeling of "Me Grimlock suck ass!" The non-locking arm and torso parts are a drag, the legs that look like nothing more than the front half of a dino split in half are a drag, not to mention the tippy-toe head-feet which are a drag, the little dino arms that pop out of the socket every time they are moved are a drag, the removable tail as 'weapon' is a drag. The dirty wash on only part of him is just kind of stupid and looks terrible. I like his bot head. Although the fact that it's not on a ball socket means I can't easily pop it off to put on a better bot, which is about the only thing I would want to do with it. Overall, to me he's a wasted effort and the single big turd among a line of jewels (not counting the minis, which to me are several little turds) I think if Grimlock had been part of an earlier TF line then my criticism wouldn't be so harsh, but afer Classics Prime, Megs, Mirage, Jetfire, BB, Rodimus, Starscream, Astrotrain...he just seems too lacking and too flawed to be regarded as an equal. As an aside, his bayonette cannon looks like it would be a perfect shoulder-mounted cannon for an Alt if the blade was removed. Has anyone tried that yet?
I wouldn't say I hate it, just compared to the rest of the Classics he leaves a lot to be desired. And like I said before, had this guy been in Energon or Armada I probably would have a kinder eye for him.
I like him more now that I've had him a while. Not sure why, but I'm just digging the look of the bot mode more all of a sudden.
Henkei Classics Grimlock So i finally took the plunge and grabbed this fella today.(Thankfully, Henkei are easy to find at retail here, and cost the same as regular Hasbro products) Not a huge fan of the mold, though i don't exactly hate it either. Its just the legs that bothered me when i was playing around with the Hasbro version. Anyway, mold-wise, he's still got the same issues i had the first time around. Still a pain to pose, his legs get a little slippery and he tends to topple under the weight. I just wish they had designed the transformation so that the dino head wasn't his feet. Good things about the figure, i absolutely LOVE the head and body deco! Great G1 update, minor paint apps there that puts the Hasbro version to shame. And the Autobot logo is just a nice touch. One thing about the chrome that suprised me, i thought i was going to hate it. In fact, i was planning to swap the legs and arms with the Hasbro version so i could do away with the chrome, but it kinda grew on me, and i think i'm gonna leave it as it is. So there you have it, folks. Take a look at the pics and decide for yourself if its worth the money. Personally, i passed on the Hasbro one, and now i'm glad i did. I like the mold a bit more because of this figure now. Will be getting Henkei Prime and Bumblebee next week. Trying to fill up the rest of my Hasbro Classics as well, and looking foward to seeing more Classics/Henkei on my shelf.
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