After a bunch of back and forth with Baba, they did finally refund most of my purchase price (complex multi-item order and discounts, so mostly fair return) and I notice their inventory numbers have gone up a bit, too. Kinda ironic their main argument was that they can't lose money on a sale, but when they now have about the highest price, both on their own site and their Ebay listings, it seems until most other retailer's stock dries up, all they're gonna be doing is losing money on this release.

Opted to switch my order over to TCP at the $200 price because I also had a bunch of credits with them to knock the price down even lower than Baba's with a multi-buy and discounts added back when the price was about $60 less than now.

 

Finally got the shipping email~

Big fella arrives on Monday.

 

I am so tempted to cancel my cheaper priced order at TFS just to get this guy sooner...

 

Went back and forth, clicked checkout when I meant to check shipping options. Except I was already at that screen lol. Oh well, ShowZ bumped him up to $215 right after so I'm cool with it.

Between this happy accident, Acoustic Wave and my new audio equipment, I hope none of my preorders hit soon.

 

Seeing all these shipping nightmare stories make me very happy I impulse bought Cacus on Wedneday from ToyDojo and had him in hand on Saturday. No shipping or taxes so I am happy, especially since there seems to be a price increase happening right now.

 

If what you described as "lateral articulation" is what I understand as ankle rocker (side to side pivoting movement of the ankle), it is actually available on Cacus. Perhaps it is really tight on your copy? I was pleasantly surprised that it had ankle rocker as it definitely helps with posing the dino.

 

Just checked mine and you are right. No review I have seen has shown that off at all. Mine was pretty stiff so I had to put some force into it but now it is really smooth and stable. Thanks for the info.

 

ShowZ now has this guy for 214.99. {Planet X PX-C04 Cacus Grimlock}

Glad I managed to get in at 199.99!! Minus 4 bucks plus 10 bucks in points also does not hurt.

 

Right so Planet X Cacus then...HOO FUCKIN' BOY.

First off he is a monster in terms of size and heft. Not far off a foot tall bot mode and easily longer than that in dino mode, he certainly has gravitas. Or gravity. Seriously with the heft he's got I'm concerned my house is gonna be surrounded by small moons in the morning

In both modes look absolutely fan-fucking-dabi-dozi-tastic. The robot mode looks like he is going to murder you, your entire family, their friends, THEIR family, and then the entire staff of your local Argos. The sword (not pictured) is very stabby and slots really well into his hands. The gun (also not pictured) is less impressive. It's a pretty plain version of his G1 gun and he cannot hold it well. The peg and as such the groove he uses to hold it is way too short and it gets knocked out his hand easily.

Articulation in bot mode is beautiful. it's got everything you need with a few caveats. His waist swivel is incredibly tight, to the point where I dabbed some shock oil on it so it doesn't feel like it's gonna break. His ab crunch is useful, but I dunno if it's just mine but it feels loose when not locked in when standing straight up or fully crunched. It feels like a very soft ratchet and I have no idea if there's a way to tighten it or if it's just like that.

Transforming him is half complex but intuitive and half FUCK YOU YOU BASTARD CUNT LEGS FUCKING MOVE.

*ahem*

It may not have helped that I initially used Emgo's video to transform him and I am 95% convinced he does things out of order in regards to leaving his rear-robot-butt-skirt-to-mid-dino-back transformation as one of the last steps as I could not get his legs pegged in right doing it his way. Looked at Ben's Collectibles and doing it in that order seemed far more intuitive and setting you up for success later down the line. Sort of like how an unpaid internship is supposed to work but less potential for getting shouted at for getting some manager's coffee order wrong.

Either way though getting those legs transformed and everything tabbed in is a bit of a nightmare because you have sod all room to move everything., Good thing the paint is study because everything is gonna rub up against everything else, and not in the fun way.

But when you do eventually get to dino mode, which will be some time when the universe has died and begun anew and real dinosaurs are back, the results are amazing. The rex mode is 100% beautiful...but hard to balance on those little feet,. Still when you do get it balance he looks amazing. Plus he still has loads of articulation left to play with. I do like the light up eyes, thought I wish they were done with a switch rather than the nifty though less practical "magnet in the sword" way.

I am weirdly in love with his neck, not only for the articulation, but how it has overlapping armour plates.

No that is not in fact my weirdest fetish.

Is he worth the £125 I got him for? Yes. Is he my favourite Grimlock toy? No. But he's a close second.

Simply due to the easier transformation I would still say Planet X's own Vulcun edges it for me. But in terms of pure aesthetics, size and enough heft to kill a small to medium child if he fell off the shelf, gotta give it to Cacus.

 

Nice review, I am waiting for this figure package to arrive.

My favourite version of grimlock so far is fans toys grinder. I was waiting this to replace it on my top 1, but not sure until I get my hands on it.

What version of grimlock is on your top? Curious to know it.

 

Planet X Vulcun.

 

Gigapower Grimlock.

 

So mine just arrived. Unboxed and checked him over; aside from one very tiny paint imperfection it's amazingly done and the finish is impressive.

Those are ratchets are crazy tight though and I suggest everyone is careful with them.

Been chatting to a mate I do a bit of gaming with who is 3 or 4 pieces into his collection and his Cacus arrived with a detached arm/broken ratchet out of the box; almost as if whomever packed it at the factory broke it and shoved it in the packaging before someone else noticed.

He sent me those pics last night and safe to say he's not best pleased. He's waiting for ShowZ to get back to him.

 

Spent a bit of time with him. Ab crunch on mine is weak to the point of being useless. You use it, it flops right back. Aside from that - and it's a big that - he feels fantastic.

 

This is not Planet X's first rodeo. Kadmos's ab crunch was pretty solid, so it's sad to hear this guy's ab crunch isn't as solid. I am guessing the had to rush the production before October's Golden Week. I'd rather they just push production a month out.

 

Yeah it's frustrating. He's very heavy up top so aside from, I dunno.. taking that into account during the fucking design process, a better option might have been one hard click forward at the waist then opening up that side to side articulation the upper torso has to incorporate some forward motion as well.

Haven't transformed him yet though or paid much attention to reviews, so don't know if the ab crunch is a part of the conversion process. If it is then I'm talking out of my arse  

 

The ab crunch gets locked in the straight position as part of the transformation

 

Well, I got hit with an extra 21 dollars USD for extra shipping fee for Cacus courtesy of baba. Sucks, but considering I still got it for 208 USD altogether it's hardly a crippling price increase. Now let's just hope that I don't get unlucky with missing/broken parts.

 

'Shall we dance, my king?'