Name: Grimlock
Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Dinobot Commander
Alt Mode: None (was a Tyrannosaurus rex)
Thanks to kup for loaning me Grimlock for this review (I have since acquired Grimlock)
ROBOT MODE
Height: 9.5cm Width: 4.5cm
A predominantly grey and black robot, Grimlock has a gold chest, grey boots and arms, a black head with a blue eyestrip, a red groin and black fists and thighs. While there are quite a colours, it all comes together well, and the colours are pretty faithful to the original Dinobot version of the character. He sports an Autobot logo sticker on his left shoulder and some white paint on his knees - for a toy multiple colours simple details work well. The only real change in colour is the switch from a red to blue eyestrip, to match the cartoon. The backpack Grimlock carries is gone, but the face is obviously Grimlock (based on the cartoon) and with faithful colours, it's clearly Grimlock here. The gold is no longer chromed, but then Actionmasters don't do chrome, and hey, some have fluorescent orange which Grimlock has avoided. On the whole, this is a good colour scheme which fits the character well.
The proportions have been cleaned up a little compared to the original, since there's no dinosaur mode to worry about. The original had decent proportions anyway, although the arms are a tad long and head sits a fair way back. I am happy with the shift in proportions. The loss of the backpack is actually detrimental in a way - the claws and wings behind his shoulders are signature features of Grimlock's robot. I can see why they were left off - so I'm not criticising it, but they are features that both comics and cartoon incorporated into the image of Grimlock we came to expect. The sculpt does include other alternate mode relics, mind you, such as the split tailtip on his knees and vestigial claws on his wrists.
Poseability is the same as every other Actionmaster - head turns, arms rotate and legs have G.I. Joe poseability (fully poseable hips, knees bend 90 degrees). He's more poseable than the original was, which you'd expect. His footprints are a lot smaller, but without the backpack of the Dinobot it doesn't matter. His handgun is silver plastic, which is slightly incongruous with his grey plastic, but close enough to work.
ANTI-TANK CANNON
A fluorescent red and silver ride-on mobile gun emplacement. It has treads, which is ironic for something designed to combat tanks. The treads are fluorescent red while most of the rest - including the raised cannon rig - is silver. There are three cannons on the rig, a larger central one and two smaller side ones. There are pegs on the treads so Grimlock can ride on it, and pegs for him to hold as handles (or controls). It's not well designed since Grimlock cannot ride on the thing and grasp the handles at the same time. So while some Actionmasters come with useful accessories, Grimlock's is pretty useless.
The combined gun mode is awkward - as most Actionmaster combined guns are - with the red treads crowding out his head at the back of the gun and partially blocking Grimlock's view. Having said that, the weight is further back that on most of these combined guns. so Grimlock is capable of holding the gun up, which many Actionmasters struggle to do. The long barrel, formed from the handgun, integrates well into the body of the gun (the central cannon).
Whilst I enjoy many of the Actionmaster partners (especially the animal ones), this one is a dud. Conversely whilst most of the combined gun modes fail, Grimlock's actually works fairly well.
VARIATIONS
None that I know of.
OVERALL
A decent Actionmaster figure, although I don't find it offers much that the original Dinobot since that robot has good proportions and decent poseability for its time. The combined gun works fairly well, but then only within the context of Actionmasters - and the Anti-Tank Cannon configuration fails badly. If you like Actionmasters, you should enjoy Grimlock, despite the overall failure of his accessory - 6.5/10
|
