Name: Sludge
Series: Power of the Primes
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: Brontosaurus
BRONTOSAURUS MODE
Height: 6cm Length: 18cm Width: 6cm
A grey brontosaurus with transparent plastic on his tail, rear legs and head, Sludge has silver paint on the inside of his tail and hind legs, while the inside of the head and the "feet" on his back are painted gold. There's also a smattering of gold inside the rear hips. There's some red peaking out between the forelegs while his eyes are painted red and there's a stamped Autobot logo on his head - between the eyes. There are some outbursts of robot mode black on the lower forelegs and on his back. It's a good, G1 faithful colour scheme & the extensive use of paint under clear plastic is a great touch.
Sludge's tail isn't as long as that of G1 - the original toy had a long tail whereas this one is fairly conical. Otherwise though he's a pretty convincing robotic dinosaur. The neck is curved upwards, the head looks forward. His forelimbs are tucked inwards towards the back - they're the robot arms - and this is my main complaint about the shape of this beast. The sculpt is good - he's detailed all over and underneath the clear plastic. Behind the lump on his back, Sludge has a very detailed black, silver and blue painted patch.
There's a mixed bag of play value here. The legs swing at the hips and technically there's knee joints on the forelegs, but the feet aren't hinged so there's not really any useful articulation. The lower jaw is hinged... for whatever reason my Sludge's mouth simply wont open. There are two small pegs on top - just in front of that gold hump - where a Titan Master can stand, which is a nice touch given the pegs are subtle enough to be just general sculpt if you're not interest in Titan masters (like me). There are four holes where you can plug in his black gun - two on either side of the body, one under the neck and one on top of the bottom of the neck. The sides & underside of the neck work well enough but that one on top of the neck only allows the gun to point out to the sides... which makes it all but useless. He has one of those hand/foot accessories... it can't plug in here and this is a good thing given how silly they look as weapons.
A visually appealing dinosaur mode that evokes the original Dinobot nicely, Sludge is worth the decade or so wait from Grimlock's classics release to his. The play value works well in some ways (the gun can attach well, the Titan master connection is good) but bad in others (leg movement is pointless). Overall, it's a good brontosaurus mode and a good Sludge.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Detach and set aside the gun. Rotate the head through 180 degrees. Split the end of his tail and swing out to the sides. Split the rear of the body, flip over to form his boots, rotate the waist. Flip out his back heelspurs, swing the tail halves back and down behind his legs. Stand Sludge up. Straighten the forelegs to form arms and rotate up, giving clearance for the wings. Unclip the wings that cover his chest, swing back and swing the arms down to his sides. Flip the hands out, rotate the forearms and give him his weaponry.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 14cm Width: 6cm (12cm with the wings out)
Sludge has a red torso, black on his head, the panel on his chest, groin and thighs. His feet are bold while his face is silver with gold eyes. His fists and some his forearms are black. There's a tiny red Autobot logo on his chest and that detailed painted section from the dinosaur mode is now on his ankles. It's a good colour scheme that's faithful to G1. The head really looks like the head in the G1 cartoon.
There are some options here. As mentioned in the dimensions above, you can swing the wings right back onto his backpack like the G1 toy, or they can click 3/4 way back to form wings like we saw in the show. The hand/foot weapon can be plugged into his chest as a sort of armour. The same piece can plug into the outside of either forearm as a sot of shield, and looks reasonable as a shield.
The body shape is similar to the G1 toy, however the boots aren't quite as big, which isn't a bad thing. The backpack is similar and there's the tail hanging off the back of his knees - he actually has more kibble at the back than the original toy.
Play value is decent. As mentioned, his hand/foot accessory actually has some useful options here, and the handgun can plug into either hand or the outside of the forearms if you want (which works okay, but it's better in hand). The poseability is mixed. His head turns and while the waist turns, it does not work, visually - the lines just break up - it's a joint that's only really designed for transformation. The shoulders and hips are ball jointed while the elbows are ratcheted with swivels above them. The knees are hinged with rotators above them. The heelspurs ensure that Sludge is easily to stand and pose, despite the junk on his back.
A good looking robot mode with some design accessory options. Poseability is mixed but while he has limitations, he stands nicely. What I like the most is that this is unmistakeable as Sludge; with an improved body shape compared to the G1 toy.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of. He shares big chunks of his engineering with Slag. He combines with the other POTP Dinobots to form Volcanicus - the hole Sludge has for the leg mode is very prone to breaking, so I recommend using him as an arm.
OVERALL
A great modern update of the lumbering Dinobot. Both modes work visually - his colours are good, the sculpt is great and the transparent plastic in dinosaur mode is a great touch. Play value is actually good overall, despite below average poseability for the size class. I have no interest in Volcanicus, but having essentially reviewed Sludge as non-combining toy, nothing stands out as a limitation of the combination. If you like the Dinobots, I'd definitely recommend Sludge - 9/10
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