Animated Fireblast Grimlock

Series: Animated
Year: 2009
Allegiance: Autobot
Class: Activator

Prelude: Me, Grimlock, spew fire! Me, Grimlock can make big, bad fireblast! Maybe that is why me, Grimlock, got a fire-colored repaint of how me, Grimlock, looked in Transformers Animated and got it named Fireblast Grimlock. Me, Grimlock, not understand logic behind repaints, only want to stomp Decepticons! So Grimlock says let’s go!

Robot Mode: I wrote a review for the original Activator Grimlock way back in 2014. Seeing as it’s been a decade since then, though, we can take another look. Grimlock is about the size of a Scout-Class figure (or a rather small Deluxe by today’s standards) and while he is identical in shape to the Grimlock as we’ve seen him in the Animated TV series, he’s gotten a new fire-themed paintjob. Torso and legs are crisscrossed with markings that suggest lava and his main colors are black, red, and orange. He kind of looks like his skin is bursting apart and fire is spewing out, so it fits with his chosen prefix.

Apart from the paintjob, the figure is unchanged. The Activators were ball-jointed throughout, meaning it’s very nicely articulated and he can turn his head, too. No waist swivel, but that is due to the auto-transformation gimmick. The arms are a bit long, of course, but that fits with Grimlock’s proportions in the cartoon, so it works. He carries a big backpack, of course, containing the neck and head of his T-Rex mode, but his feet are big enough to balance him and if necessary you can use his tail as an additional stabilizer.

Not that much more I can write here, to be honest. Most of the Activators came with no weapons, so Grimlock carries neither sword nor blaster. His claws look big enough to shred most enemies, though. So bottom line: a nice robot mode from an Animated-style Grimlock and I kind of like the fire-themed paintjob, too.

Alternate Mode: Of course Grimlock turns into a robotic T-Rex, what else? The transformation is rather similar to most G1-based Grimlock’s and he can transform back from T-Rex into robot mode by pushing the orange lever at the root of his tail. The only transformation steps you have to perform manually are to fold out his feet and straighten out his arms.

The T-Rex, too, looks very close to the animation model from the cartoon in shape, if not in color. Thick body, tiny head with huge jaw, big legs, tiny little arms. Very nice, almost cute. Here, too, you have the fire-themed paintjob and the “lava-veins” are situated on Grimlock’s neck, almost as if the fire is running towards his mouth, from where it will blast free in huge gusts of flame. Nicely done. The legs, really the robot mode arms, retain their full articulation, so you can put Grimlock in a walking or running pose without any problems. The mouth opens, too. And a fun little feature: you see his Autobot symbol (the one from the robot's chest) through an opening in the back.

So bottom line, a very nice T-Rex mode and the auto-transformation gimmick the Activators had works pretty well, too.

Remarks: I have already written quite a bit about how much I like the concept of the Activators in my review of Activator Optimus Prime, I believe, so no sense repeating myself here. Grimlock featured in several Animated episodes and spewed fire in most of them, but he never really looked like this particular repaint here. No idea if there was some sort of story idea behind it for the unproduced season 4, but the look was recreated (somewhat) in 2014 with Generations Fireblast Grimlock from Takara.

So what’s my verdict on this figure? I like this little guy. Yeah, Grimlock never looked like that in any media, but who cares? He’s a flame-spewing robotic T-Rex and in this version he looks like he had a run-in with a volcanic eruption that empowered him instead of melting him down. Could totally see this happening in an episode of Animated. So bottom line: if you like Animated and the Activators, this figure is well worth getting.

Rating: B+