At first he kind of annoyed me with his misleading size, and girth, but he's growing on me. At first I wasn't sure how the limbs worked, so that was sort of frustrating, but then once I realized that he's supposed to be this hulking, monstrosity sort of, Autobot Abominus thing I got with the program. I like him more now. Grimstone is aesthetically the best commander of the ones I've got, but his transformations are really fiddly and too reliant on the swiveling of those arms and crest panels. The drones are where this set shine, all of them look very Dinobot Crew esque, and they work very consistently as a set. I love the Pachycepholosaurus' unsung gimmick, where if you lift his tail up he rears his head, and when you switch it back down he does a spring loaded thrust. The Combined mode, and really the torso mode is great if you can get behind the idea of this monstrous combination of chunks of dinosaur forming something vaguely humanoid. It reminds me a lot of the "Alien" movie aesthetic that toys like Mixmaster and the Bike Triplets went for, except this time it's attempting to channel the beast like qualities of a Dinosaur. In that respect this set is a total success, and I can forgive the somewhat undefinable limb structure, articulation and sometimes downright floppiness of this thing. But his stature makes him all the more interesting than the lanky look he kind of had in some photographs. Way better in hand, for reasons I didn't anticipate, and well worth the 15 I got him for. In terms of "Best", I'll have to get Steamhammer to decide, but he's certainly the most consistent of the 5 packs I have.
SO HAPPY... Been searching for this set since before Christmas when I found the Steamhammer set. The Drones are just kickass, WIN, awesomeness. Grimstones Styracosaurus looks MEAN and does a decent job of hiding the connectors. His bot mode is DECENT...def not the worst Combined mode is everything I built it up to be in my head. VERY stable, connectors lock GREAT...he IS just a jumble of Dino parts, but it works SO well. Im gunna buy another if I can find one. This one shouldent be missed. Alot of the guys that Hated PCC would even think this one is baddass
I think this set's pretty cool, mostly because it's so unique among the PCCs. The colors have an undeniable appeal. The hadrosaur-looking leg guy is pretty irritating with his arms that like to come off. I've given up looking for them after the last time they disappeared.
Got this for Christmas (along with an Undermine to be their rival), loving it all. I'm a HUGE dinosaur nut, so I'm probably biased, but this set has got to be one of my favorites. Got to hunt down those Dinobot Minicons. I didn't see this mentioned anywhere, but the Pachycephalosaurus "drone" (these guys have way too much personality to be mere drones, but alas) actually has a headbutt feature! A strong one, at that.
For more pics, click on the image above Prelude: Many thanks to BlackZarak, who loaned me Grimstone for this review. Robot Mode: The name Grimstone immediately evokes the image of Grimlock, naturally, but even a brief glance shows that Grimstone doesn’t really resemble the original Dinobot leader much in robot mode. In fact, the Dinobot he most resembles is Snarl, I believe. So if you were hoping for a new version of Grimlock (not that we’re lacking Grimlock toys, really) you’ll be disappointed. Fans of Snarl, though, who are sick and tired of his name being given to new versions of Slag, should be able to rejoice. Despite being a very stocky robot, Grimstone is pretty posable and not lacking in detailing, either. Also a definite plus: the blue Power Core connecting pieces are all on the back, so they’re safely out of sight (from the front at least). And while Grimstone does carry a bit of a backpack, it doesn’t hinder him any. He doesn’t carry any weapons with him, so he only has those blasters on his shoulders for armaments, but they can’t flip forward, sadly. Still, the Power Core line is all about everything being interchangeable, so he can borrow a Minicon from one of his peers, no doubt. Not much more I can write here. A good, solid robot mode that isn’t exactly spectacular, but doesn’t have any flaws worth mentioning, either. Beast Mode: According to the back of his package, Grimstone transforms into a Triceratops, the beast mode made famous by Slag. It’s not a Triceratops, though, missing the characteristic horns on his forehead. The closest match would be the Styracosaurus with the bony crest on the back of his head. He does in no way resemble a Tyrannosaurus Rex, just so you know. Species classification aside, the dinosaur looks pretty decent and has four more or less articulate legs, so no complaints on that part. The detailing is pretty strong here, too, especially the golden dino head with the silver crest looks fabulous. The two guns from the robot mode become the tusks here and Grimstone has a Minicon port on the end of his tail, so he can fasten a weapon-mode Minicon here if he needs more firepower. All in all, a very nice dinosaur mode, no complaints. Partners / Add-Ons: Grimstone comes with his own force of four drones, all of which resemble dinosaurs, naturally. There is a Pachycephalusaurus drone (the one with the metal hat), an Ankylosaurus drone (the one with the morning star at the end of his tail), a Parasaurolophus drone (the one with the yellow horn on the back of his head), and finally a Spinosaurus drone (big spine sail on his back). Little side note: none of the species that are represented among the original G1 Dinobots are present here. All four drone dinosaurs look pretty great and feature detailing at a level that’s really amazing considering their size. All of them carry arms, too, and look far more dangerous in terms of firepower than their leader Grimstone. Articulation is pretty much zero, of course, or merely incidental as it pertains to the auto-transformation into limbs. Still, among the best-looking drones in the entire Power Core line-up and certainly the most detailed. Power Core Mode: Like all PCC figures (that aren’t Minicons) Grimstone, too, can transform into the torso of a larger combiner robot. And while the connector pieces are, of course, universal and allow Grimstone to combine with any of the Power Core drones, his very singular look among his peers means that only the combination with his own team of four drones looks good. I tried several others and didn’t even bother putting them on photo; they just looked completely off to me. Grimstone in Power Core Mode looks like some kind of Aztec fable warrior, what with his big golden helmet, the various dinosaur pieces that look like ceremonial battle armour, and the almost regal air he has. Articulation is standard for a Power Core Combiner, no surprises or disappointments here. Just one thing that’s a little off-putting: while his drone limbs are bristling with weapons, practically none of them are positioned so that he can actually use them in this mode to fire forward. That’s just a little thing, though. Overall: the best-looking of the Power Core Combiners in this mode by far. Really cool! Remarks: Whether you like Grimstone or not largely depends, I think, on what you expected going in. If you were looking for a combiner made from everyone’s favourite G1 Dinobots, then you probably ended up disappointed. Grimstone is not a combiner of the G1 Dinobots. He is a robot that looks like Snarl, transforms into a dinosaur somewhat like Slag, has a name that sounds similar to Grimlock, and combines with four drones into a vaguely Aztec-looking robot. And he does it very, very well, I might add. But he’s not a Dinobot combiner. So that’s my verdict, basically. Grimstone works very well if you take him as a Power Core Combiner that pays slight homage to the Dinobots. He looks great, he has a fantastic combination mode, and even the four drones show a lot of love for detail. Me, I love this guy. But he’s not a Dinobot combiner. Just so you know. Rating: A-