Age of Extinction Grimlock

Robot Mode: Let’s start as always with looking at the resemblance of this figure to its G1 predecessor. Well, there is none. G1 Grimlock was a broad, stocky powerhouse with kibble wings, a double-barreled gun and a sword. AoE Grimlock is a tall, lean figure resembling a medieval Chinese warrior in bronze and silver armor and carries a big mace. So, yeah, not even the slightest bit of resemblance.

Depending on your personal taste this might be a good thing, a bad thing, or (like me) you don’t care one way or the other. Anyway, resemblances aside Grimlock here makes for a striking figure in robot mode and while I am getting some Power Rangers flashbacks here (anyone remember Lord Zed?), I do like the look. Articulation is nothing to complain about either, though the armor plates / dino kibble on his shoulders and his hip need to be adjusted now and then to accommodate more extreme poses.

The only thing I’m not too fond of is the weapon, the big mace. Not that there is anything bad about it as such, I just would have preferred Grimlock to have a sword and / or blaster gun. Maybe even a lance. Then again, a big mace kind of fits his character, too. And you can remove the big black mace head if you want and repurpose the weapon as a kind of short spear, if you like.

So bottom line for the robot mode: completely different from G1 Grimlock, but a very cool and warrior-like looking robot with no flaws worth mentioning.

Beast Mode: Was there ever any question that Movie Grimlock would transform into a T-Rex? Yes, there have been Grimlocks in the past who did not become dinosaurs, granted, but for Grimlock’s big screen debut there was really no other choice. A T-Rex he had to be and a T-Rex he becomes. Now I’m not up on the latest paleontological papers, so I’m not sure how realistic a T-Rex he is, but he certainly looks more streamlined than the Godzilla-like T-Rex G1 Grimlock became.

Overall the T-Rex looks pretty good. The torso is a bit pieced-together, but that’s about the only flaw worth mentioning. Similarly to how G1 Grimlock transformed the robot arms are now the dino legs, giving them a good deal of articulation. The robot legs become the tail, which can be lengthened (quite a bit) by attaching the big mace. Which I won’t do, as I think it looks rather stupid, but to each his own. The dino head has a lever on the left side, pressing it causes the jaws to snap shut. Sadly it means that Grimlock can’t keep his jaws shut unless you keep pressing the lever or remove the spring mechanism, but that’s just a minor flaw.

To sum it up: the beast mode doesn’t disappoint, either. I would have preferred a slightly more wholesome-looking torso and a better solution for storing the mace, but otherwise, nicely done.

Remarks: Since the Age of Extinction movie hasn’t been released yet, I can’t write much about Grimlock’s role in it yet. At some point he will breathe fire, he will stomp all over enemy robots, and Optimus will use him as a steed to ride into battle on. Oh, and apparently he will actually transform into robot mode at some point, something quite a few fans feared wouldn’t happen. Whether he will be stupid cartoon Grimlock, smart comic Grimlock or something else altogether remains to be seen.

Naturally as one of the main characters of the movie there will be quite a few Grimlock toys to choose from (over a dozen already and probably more to come). Personally I picked the Voyager class toy mostly out of convenience (it was the cheaper one of two Grimlocks to choose from at NTF Toys) but I am satisfied with it. I briefly considered the Leader-class as well, but as I said, convenience. Anyway, the Dinobots are certainly the main attraction of the fourth movie toyline (the movie really should have been called “Transformers: Rise of the Dinobots”), so getting a Grimlock was a no-brainer. And the Voyager-class Grimlock is perfectly fine for me.

Rating: B