Masterpiece MP-08 Grimlock Design Sketches

awesome just awesome

I'm in two minds.

One, I don't have a G1 Grimlock and I want one.

Two, I don't want to pay $$$ for a slavish G1 design. For something this size and the cost it would be, I want to see something in dino mode at least a lot closer to correct posture, and a robot mode that's a lot more than this appears to be so far.

Not sure if I want. I'll wait and see what else comes out.

The transformation looks remarkably similar to G1 grimmy.

The text seems to imply that he is a very popular character... is that so?
In the west maybe, but I thought in Japan, nobody gave two hoots about the T-Rex.

I think it's more of a case where G1 Grimlock was already pretty bang-on in terms of overall transform accuracy. This version just takes that template and adds all the missing ingredients like better articulation, proper proportions, etc. And I'm glad. If it was an entirely new transform process (ala Classics Grimmy), it wouldn't feel right.

Just to add to that a bit, I'd actually expect the same if we're ever lucky enough to get Masterpiece versions of Soundwave & Shockwave. Their G1 versions are already SO good that some people probably wouldn't be too impressed by their hypothetical MP versions since, just like Grimlock here, the overall transform basics would likely remain very similar.

Interesting, Grimlock has a flamethrower in his mouth. No wonder the figure is so expensive. But do you think it will pass U.S. toy safety standards?

the designers have probably done the best thing possible with grimlock: remained faithful to the G1 toy detailing and TF sequence but given him the cartoon dino look, i feel a much better robo mode has been allowed for with the godzilla type dino, a realistic t rex form would probably have given a skinnier looking robot, the robot is as bulky as anybody could ever want!

sparking mechanism maybe??

God that huge orange cap in his mouth is going to look horrendous!!!!!

If it aint broke don't fix it!!!!!

Why is there a Disney copyright on there?

The "Optimouse Prime" Disney figure was probably shown on the same page but cropped out in this scan.

While I love G1 stuff especially G-lock, I can't help but think that he looks more like Godzilla than an actual dinosaur. Maybe I'm trying to compare him to Megatron's beast mode oh well, I'll still pick him up.

Love the dinosaur. It looks more scary in this scan

I find the design/concept art here more appealing than the retailer catalog resin prototype image from last week. That one looked pretty underwhelming and coupled with the higher than usual price for an MP figure, I'm going to hold out for more pics of the toy before deciding whether or not to pre-order.

Why do people continue to say this? Upright vs. flat doesn't change proportions. It's still the same dino, just in a different position.

Not that I dislike what we're seeing here, just saying it seems someone, somewhere, thinks that the t-rex suddenly becomes a skinny mini when it stands flat instead of upright.

Flamethrower in the mouth? Hmm. That could be interesting.

not bad. What's with Disney in there?

Can't wait for it!! also just placed my pre-order for him yesterday woo hoo!

This figure looks awesome. Now lets see if they can paint it!

I hope the flamethrower makes it into the final toy - that would be the icing on the cake.

The flamethrower is probably just going to end up being a small bit of detailing in the jaw like the G1 figure. I doubt it'll fire a projectile or anything.

i disagree with you here. the big bellied godzilla bot has arguably more bulk where it counts as regards forming robo parts. A more realistic T rex would have quite skinny legs and be rather slim laterally and have a larger head (edit, hey, maybe he could have the large head Tf to become feet, oops....)

Maybe this guy can be posed in the more modern horizontal t rex position anyway.

The original gets pretty close, you just have to balance it right.

Let me just preface what I'm going to say by saying that I'll be buying this bad boy as fast as I possibly can.

I've been thinking a little bit more about the issue of initial disapointment from some (myself included) that Grimlock's T-Rex mode isn't an anamatomicaly correct T-Rex. (And it isn't. The skull and jaw assembly alone look nothing like a real T-Rex head.) I think MP-03 Starscream is to blame. After all, MP-01 was all about a huge G1 Prime who looked exactly like his animation model, even down to giving him two truck grills to achieve that effect. MP-05 Megs was about as close to his animation model as you could get him and still have something that transformed. So why the hell did anyone expect MP-08 to be any different?

Because of Captain Hip-Kibble, MP-03. The initial prototypes of Screamer showed, yet again, a toy built to look as close to his animation model as possible. Yet this was changed by the guest designer and thus Screamer (and Warpie and ThunderCracker) became a Masterpiece seeker who SIGNIFICANTLY differed from his original animation model and transformation scheme. The purpose apparently being to make his F15 mode as realistic as possible. I think that introduced the idea, in my head at least, that maybe some of the other masterpeices would be major re-designs, not just upscaled versions of their G1 animation designs.

I'd still have quite liked a "realistic" T-Rex design, because I think I would look more "bad-ass" than the G1 animation T-Rex, who strikes me as a bit dumpy and lumbering. But what they're giving us IS A G1 Masterpiece Grimlock in it's purest form. Which is pretty much was the line was set up to do.

In conclusion: Blame StarScream. And buy Grimlock

true, hes kinda half godzilla/half t rex.

I cant wait to see this guy in his production colours.

Grimmy simply looks The flamethrower is neat. Should be interesting to see what it does if anything.

i still wish the megs gun had been beefed up a bit to increase the lateral dimensions (id happily compromise the absolute scale) to have given a chunkier bot.

I'm more interested in what his hands are going to be like. I get the impression that, if there is some sort of light up gimmick, that they won't open and articulate like other MP figures have. I also am really curious as to how articulated he'll really be in both modes, dino especially.

I think Coolhand is quite correct about Starscream. While I'm still very impressed by the figure, I also prefered his prototype, because not only did it match the animation model, but it also made his legs larger, and more capable of supporting and stabilizing the figure.

I too have also always seen the Masterpiece line as supposed to make the toys that look exactly as they did in the cartoon. Not to mention, nearly every dinosaur Transformer I have seen uses the new correct style for T-Rex and raptor figures. I'm pretty happy to see a stompy version of Grimlock. Not to mention that he'll be in scale with Optimus and Megatron.

Now though, I'm still wondering how the color changing eyes will be done. Will they change color using a plastic gimmick, or with lights? Also, how large will this figure be, to fit a flamethrower and eye-gimmick into the dinosaur head?

I can't wait to see more photos!

This is going to be a great toy. I'm absolutely thrilled that they didn't use an 'accurate' or 'anatomically correct' T-Rex because if they had it just wouldn't look like Grimlock. And why does a robotic alien dinosaur have to look like a real T-Rex anyway? Is the design going to comprise his disgusie or something? Accurate or not a dinosaur is not a good disguise.

"Oh hey, look Jim, there's a T-Rex over there. That's pretty cool."
"That's no T-Rex, Bob, notice how it's walking upright and potbellied?"
"Oh my god, you're right! It's an alien! RUUUUNNNN!!!!"

Agreed about the other dinos being more modern looking. Heck, Classics Grimlock filled this gap. And god knows, we don't need another rehash of him in MP form. It's good to see MP Grimlock stay true to the old school formula.

It would have been cool to see a 'correct' T-Rex alt mode, but this is perfect for what the line represents: a masterpiece "perfect" version of older toys. If they don't mess with the mold much like they did with Starscream and this is somewhat close to what is released I'm going to be EXTREMELY happy.

Since Disney bought out Saban which did RID does that mean Disney now have rights to the character names too... Does that mean if Hasbro or Tomy want to use the name Grimlock won't they have to pay Disney for the use?

Not in the least. There have been at least a half-dozen Grimlocks made since RiD, not to mention Optimus Prime, Megatron, Prowl and others.

Coolhand is pretty spot on imo. I don't get people thinking Grimlock should be a realistic T-Rex just because science has found that they walked more horizontal. Masterpiece was always supposed to be about toon accuracy not realism. I loved the original prototype of starscream. When that guy came in and redesigned it and gave it all that hip kibble, it ruined it for me. The hip kibble was the reason I never bought that mold.

I am sold on this one!

I'm a huge Godzilla fan, as such I really don't mind and actually quite like the conventional Grimlock, as opposed to one proposed to be anatomically correct.

I can see people's preference for the anatomically correct T-Rex, but quite frankly Grimlock would lose the distinction of being in the masterpiece line if they went towards the modern, correct conception of the T-Rex.

So far, Masterpiece has been all about tranlsating Takara's old Diaclone/Gun robo whatever old molds that Hasbro repackaged into Transformers.

Optimus Prime is based on an 80s truck cab which is antique and obsolete by today's trucking standards.

The seekers are old F-15s which were, and still are (if I'm not mistaken) the primary bulk of japan's airforce, as constricted by WWII peace conditions. In contrast, the U.S. airforce (from whom Japan gets their planes) has F-16s, F/A-18s, F-22s, and so on. None of those models were adapted for Masterpiece Starscream.

Megatron is a walther p38, a design that was implemented in 1938 and whose major use was in WWII. The improved design of the p38's successor-the Walther P5-was not used for Masterpiece Megatron.

Conventional and scientific views of the T-Rex in the early 80s showed it as upright and draged its tail on the ground, with most of its mass on the hind quarters. This is the model diaclone Grimlock was created from, the same time that starscream was made.

Bascially, what I am saying is that Masterpiece is simply utilizing today's toy technologies to recreate toys originally made in the early 1980s, who in turn were based off of technological and scientific understanding of that time.

By saying you want an anatomically correct T-Rex (again, it's a preference, not saying it's wrong to have one), it's in the same vein as saying you want Masterpiece starscream to be an F-18; Optimus to be more like his movie or classics incarnation; Megatron to be a modern handgun, and not the P38 that was made in 1938.

Prime, Megatron, and Starscream retain their alt modes that reflect human technology and scientific understanding of the time.

Put concisely, should Grimlock be held to a higher standing to reflect today's scientific knowledge, while it's ok for starscream to remain an F15, when today's scientifc knowledge can create a craft (F22) that is so relatively advanced, that is equivalent to 9 of those F15s?

Basically, the science that created the conception of the T-Rex in the 80s and the introduction of the F15 in the 1970s are now obsolete and have been replaced by more accurate, updated, and modern designs.

I know! I'm guessing bigger than Prime and Megs, what with the increased price point.


"Me Grimlock not understand mass panic! Me squish screaming humans until they calm down or shut the frag up!"

I don't want to get overly excited until I see final photos, but it is looking very very good.

Based on what we've seen in MP Convoy and Megatron, I'm guessing that the flamethrower houses an LED.

As for the dino mode, I'm glad it's accurate to the animation model.

i cant wait till he comes out i had grimlock when i was younger and i will be getting this one to go with the other ones i have.

Still looks great, imo. While I'm not a big fan of G1, even I like the slavish G1 design. Would a more realistic dino-mode be cool? Yeah, but this is perfectly fine, imo. While I don't think it would doom his robot-mode, I personally don't think that a more realistic dino-mode would help it at all, and would more than likely, if anything, just ruin it. Not that it couldn't get the same or similar robot out of it, just that it's less likely, imo. I can't wait to see what Hasbro has planned for their eventual release of him, as I'll more than likely wait for that one. Also, what looks to be his gun (or could be his gun, not really sure), being able to go into his mouth and act as his dino-mode flamethrower is a great little feature.

Awesomeness. Just awesome. I love the dino look, and the bot-mode is definitely spot on.

Save the "realistic" T-rex modes for Beast Wars crap.

tommy disney?

Oh for the love of, most of you people arguing about how it isn't anatomically correct yet it is G1 accurate remind me of those damn members over at macrossworld who argue about the actual toy being 1 centimetre off in scale to the line-art.

I hope the LED mechanism on the head [for the eyes and possibly flamethrower] doesn't make it heavy, because it's going to be hanging off the back in robot mode.

It's not entirely certain we're getting a flamethrower sculpted into the mouth though, right? Could it be like one of those sketches on Megatron that housed a spark chamber on his chest?

When this baby is released, Henkei Grimlock can go back to his box and leave this guy with my classics\henkei group.

If it's anywhere near the size of the removable LEDs in the G2 Laser Rods, no worries. They're smaller than your thumbnail.

Grimlock is one of those Iconic transformers,,,
His G1 toy had such a great transformation. Why change it?

Only thing it needed was more articulation (in both modes)

I just hope they figure out a way to give the Dino-head six axis articulation.

The Mickey Mouse figure is probably listed on the same page.

MP Grimlock is looking to be an awesome figure to buy!

IMO, you just described what a Masterpiece line should be.

Can't wait for actual pics of the final MP-8 Grimlock, but so far is a sale!

-airfox