Picked him and megs up at retail yesterday. Packaging and bio, First off dino mode, In theory this was a great idea that fell short during execution. Overall most of the dino mode is good except for the bot legs. In dino mode they are very kibbletastic and bulk up his tail. But other than that he is very poseable and his mouth is not on a spring so it can stay open. the main issue is here and the legs tend to not clip right or stay in place bot mode, This mode is where it's at as far as getting it right. Highly poseable and multiple ball joints make him almost better than the voyager mold. A additional joint on his shoulder allows his arms to extend out to the side unlike the voyager mold. The only complaint with bot mode is the dino feet for hands(but that is expected in a activator) I highly recommend him when you see him And because he can pull it off Nom Nom Nom
That is very cool. Really digging the Activators line as a whole, and this looks like a good addition.
Can't wait to find this guy, my only complaint is his arms are super long, but like you said it's expected of an activator.
I got him this morning and he rocks! very fun and looks great in both modes. Can't go wrong with a Grimlock. 5/5
High Fours actually! Picked him up with Act. Megs, I must say "Him Grimlock, Him King!! (of Activators)!! Easily the most fun of all the Activators, Beating Bumblebee just by his Dino nose! I'm having a blast with the Act. line, no disappointments (Lockdown comes close) Back to Grimmy, Everything is great on mine! Love the opening jaw, Love, love, love the added shoulder joint! Arms are a tad long, but easily acceptable. I know they don't give Activators accessories, but a 'lil Flaming Sword and he would be a awesome as the Voyager, he's THAT good! Five stars out of five, a must buy!
Pretty cool. I wish the dino tail would go somewhere else in Robot mode but with all the balance issues it does help to steady it. Not much else to add, it looks cool in both modes and it's Grimlock so I'm a fan!
The dino head on mine doesn't like to fold back when I push the button unless I put my finger on it, any ideas?
looks very nice....btw, the dino feet are his hands in the voyager figure too, so u cant really complain there
Just cracked Grimlock open. I got him and Megs yesterday. LOVE the figure. Probably my favorite to play around with a my desk along with Bumblebee. The "activation" is pretty fun and really makes him Transform almost completely. It's like watching the cartoon transformations right in front of me. Dino-mode is really well done. Easy to pose, has an opening mouth for biting stuff. Little dinky dino-arms and a nice long tail. There is even a window on his back that lets you see the Autobot insignia from his bot-mode chest. Nice touch. His legs articulate really well and let you stand him back-flat or sraight up in an almost G1 posture. Although is head doesn't bend down so his head is pointing up a bit too much. You can even give him that Jurassic Park "I'm about to jump and kill you" look. Pretty nice. Bot-mode is really good. Lots of backpack, but that is certainly expected, especially for Grimlock. If he didn't have wings with little stubby arms on them, it would be a huge letdown. His entire Dino head/torso bits are done perfectly. It's his Dino tail that looks bulky since it doesn't turn into his legs like most Grimlock figures. This is really minor once you see the figure. Totally worth the trade off of having great articulated bot-mode legs and a quick transformation.
Pros: * Both modes look good and pretty accurate * Automated transformation is fairly elaborate * Good articulation, better than the full-size in some ways. Cons * Robot arms are awkward * Dino mode needs to be JUST right to hold together properly. * Not all parts of the automated transformation always go off at once. Verdict: Kinda fiddly and picky, but above-average as Activators go.
For more pics, click on the image above Robot Mode: Activator Grimlock is pretty much identical to the larger <a href="include.php?path=content/content.php&contentid=1408"> Voyager-class Grimlock</a>, just scaled down. Which isn’t that surprising, as I have no idea how one was supposed to simplify his transformation scheme any further than it already is. The detailing is a tad more simplified as well, but no more than expected given the reduction in size. The one actual difference to the larger figure is the absence of Grimlock’s big flaming sword, but I think all the Activators were unarmed. Anyway, the Activators are supposed to be smaller, simpler versions of the Animated characters with an easy, semi-automatic transformation and lots of fun for kids. Grimlock ticks all those boxes. He looks like he should, he is nicely articulated, his arms are just as overly long as those of the bigger Voyager figure, so all in all: a nice robot mode, being exactly what it is designed to be. Alternate Mode: Hardly surprising, Activator Grimlock transforms into a mechanized Tyrannosaurus Rex. Never saw that coming, did you? Anyway, just like with the robot mode, the beast mode is a pretty straight-forward downsized version of the larger Voyager figure. The dinosaur legs are fully articulated and the jaws can open up. The tiny little front arms can move a little bit as well, if you want. So... yeah, that’s pretty much it. The golden lever on Grimlock’s back triggers his auto-transformation gimmick, though it only does about 80 percent of the transforming, you have to straighten the guy out a bit yourself still. All in all, though, a great little T-Rex. No complaints here, either. Remarks: Grimlock and his fellow Dinobots were created as weapons against the Autobots by Megatron before accidentally gaining sentience due to Sari Sumdac’s AllSpark Key. It didn’t make them very smart, though, as they were easily manipulated by the likes of Meltdown and Blackarachnia. Despite Hasbro making a big deal about the simplified figures such as the 1-Step Changers in the current Age of Extinction toyline, the idea of simplified, young-kid-friendly Transformers toys has been around pretty much since the days of the original toyline and just about every line since has included such figures. For Animated it was the Activators (among others). Grimlock is the only one of the Animated Dinobots who was also available as an Activator, hardly surprising as he’s Grimlock. And while the bigger Voyager-class toy is certainly more interesting to adult collectors such as myself, the little guy here is certainly a nice toy for smaller children, as was the intention. Thus: mission accomplished. Rating: B+
