Toyworld Roar

 

Review by Laserwave13:

Prelude: Actually I planned to do Muddy for my first Toyworld Dinobot review, accompanying Columpio from FansProject, both of them homage to G1 Sludge. But since every company that is putting out Dinobots uses a different release order, we put that aside and start with Roar, Toyworld’s first release. A very controversially debated figure as it seems, in some cases leading straight to some prejudices. Honestly, unpacking him did come with a bad surprise, but unlike FansProject Cubrar it was easy to remedy. Toyworld is known by now for giving us figures with great engineering and design, but also for having some QC issues from time to time.

Packaging: Important not only because it is a nice big shoe box with a complete Styrofoam inlay, but it is also totally oversized. Even more so because except for the figure itself and two little weapons, there is nothing inside but a lot of air. No combiner parts whatsoever. Looks nice, but ridiculously big and despite all the protection this should give, I opened it and saw Roar with a big gap right down the middle. His complete torso was only loosely screwed together, so nothing was fitting together and one of the ratchets in his chest did not work. So what is all that Styrofoam and sponge really good for? Lucky me, I had a screwdriver handy to take Roar apart and screw him properly back together. And since then, no problems with him whatsoever. If you think now that this is what you can expect of Toyworld, then you may stop reading now. But a screwed up QC is not the figure’s fault and if you want to know how good he really is after his little repairs, you may read on.

Dinosaur Mode: So, here he is, G1 Snarl. Well, it is Toyworld’s Snarl, but they really do look alike. The Stegosaurus is a pure mirror image of his G1 role model, could hardly be done any better than this. Not overly detailed, but very nicely proportioned. Also not overly poseable, but more than good enough. It is a Stegosaurus, not a fast sprinter or hunter. He is big, he is massive, and very shiny. Very, very shiny. You may or may not like chrome, but somehow when done on Dinobots it fits and just looks good. Besides all those finger smudges. But yes, all that shiny brightness looks so, so good, making a great G1 aesthetic. It is a matter of taste, of course, but if you like or even expect it for your Classics / G3 shelf, then this all you could ask for. A big, shiny chunk of dinosaur that somehow looks extremely like G1 Snarl. Not only in Dino mode, but for this he deserves one thumb up.

Robot Mode: Once you’re done with a relatively simple but satisfying transformation, you are left with a big, muscular robot. Here I would like to add that for the transformation the tail of his dino mode does not need to be detached. It can stay on all the way without problems. Otherwise this big robot is unmistakably G1 Snarl. A bit different in his proportions, mostly in his upper body, but this gives him a really strong, massive, kind of brutal look. His legs are almost clean, incorporating the small dino legs inside the robot ones, leaving only the dino head on the outside. Looks good and does not hinder his articulation or appearance. Speaking of his legs, many pictures show them with the knees kind of bent forward too much which, together with his massive torso, makes him look a bit crippled. That’s not necessary, though, just keep his knees in line with his body and he looks perfectly fine and stable.

Talking about stability, he has every joint imaginable except for rotating wrists, but I can live with that and he can pose good enough while still looking totally normal. The shoulders are double jointed, which allows for setting them lower if you do not want him to look so overly bulky in the upper area. On the question why all the dino plates are on ball joints: to better arrange them to stay out of the way and to give him a cleaner silhouette. Especially on his back, where the instructions neglect to mention that the black plate must be aligned against the body, closing the gap and locking the tail section in tight. Sometimes you benefit from the need to screw open a figure before even fiddling with it. Otherwise everything is nice and tight and of overall excellent quality.

His weapons consist of a small sword, way too small, and one gun, which is nothing special either, but better than that little dagger. And it can be split into the black and red part, which leads to the assumption of a combination of the individual weapons for the combined mode. Nothing more to say here, he is big, he is beefy, and totally shiny. G1 Snarl at his best, second thumbs up!

Conclusion: At the moment you can buy yourself silly with Dinobots. Not all for the same category or shelf, but at least three for your Classics / G3 display, including this one. He is no Masterpiece figure and he does not intend to be one. He wants to be G1 or as close as it gets for a G3 version. And that is where he succeeds admirably. Yes, Toyworld should definitely work on things like QC and useful instruction sheets, but you cannot deny the great and classic Transformers-inspired figures they do make. Not even Hasbro does them like this anymore. Together with the FOC ones from Planet X, this is what Dinobots on a G3 shelf should look like. The combined mode may be nice, but to be honest I do not really need that, or at least it does not take anything from the figure’s other modes. This is meant to be a stand-alone figure and that is where he shines all the way. Recommended to any Dinobot fan and a big roar for two thumbs up!

Rating: A-