Transformers Animated Grimlock review

It's been soooooooo long since I reviewed any proper Animated toys. While I did cover the Legacy versions of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Prowl, the last time we took a look at any proper releases would have to go as far back as the Battle Begins 2-pack featuring battle-damaged repaints of Optimus Prime and Megatron. Both were Deluxes, both had the same punching gimmick, and both were out of scale; that being said, Optimus was in his Earth mode while Megatron was in his Cybertronian mode, which makes them entirely incompatible with the cartoon they were packaged with (or rather the pilot). Now, it's time we give that show some long-overdue love, as it, along with the first Michael Bay movie, will be turning 20 in less than 2 years. And what better way to start than with the only Dinobot to speak in the series proper than Grimlock himself?

Here we have Grimlock in his dino mode, which is a Tyrannosaurus Rex, more man-made in appearance than alien. This was explained in the series from the Dinobot trio being dinosaur animatronics that were made into Transformers via the power of the Allspark, giving us Grimlock, Swoop, and Snarl, who is not a Stegosaurus but a Triceratops, and the first time a character based on G1 Slag was renamed to avoid any inappropriate naming conventions in the UK. Grimlock's design, though tubby in the body and thin at the arms, at least fits the way a T. rex should be proportioned. I also like that there is a bit of red behind the gold neck that gives him a pseudo skin pattern of some kind.

His design is undoubtedly more cartoony than the old G1 version, but honestly, does it really matter? Not like the G1 version was any more serious a character. I will admit that maybe his tail should be longer, but at least it is a very close match to the cartoon. Being a dinosaur, he mostly has articulation in the legs that will be the same in the arms...

...but he also has a gimmick where pressing a button makes his jaw open. I kind of like that it has that old chomping trap look that once again reminds people of his man-made origins prior to his gift of sentience. The only problem is that the robot mode head is visible from underneath. But who cares? Not this guy!

For a size comparison, here he is towering over the same character whose VA he shares, Optimus Prime. I always appreciate it when the same man who voiced Megatron for a decade (minus RID 2001) got to distinguish his smooth, theatrical voice from the younger yet easy-to-take-seriously Optimus Prime and his own spin on the dimwitted yet powerful Grimlock. 

Transformation is close to the old G1 design, with the tail becoming the legs while the dinosaur's legs turn into the arms, and the dinosaur's head and upper body turn into the neck. It's easy to do, yet still satisfying all around. The resulting robot mode is appropriately stocky, and somehow the skinny arms look decently imposing on him. Maybe it's because they look thick with how deep they are from the sides. I also like that the dinosaur's claws are his digits in bot mode, rather than making separate hands on the G1 version. An interesting bit would be him having a Minicon port on one of his tail halves, so maybe powerlinking can make him do a super kick? His dino head kibble stays on the back as it should, but the chest is interesting since it's a clear piece layered over painted circuitry; this was done a decade before Power of the Primes, mind you.

His head sculpt is pretty similar to Crunch from the Orbots, who, yes, Thew once mentioned Grimmy looked quite a lot less gay in comparison (before censoring himself because trying to have a squeaky clean reputation at all costs is totally better than admitting you were reckless and crude back then), and no, I never saw the Orbots before. His articulation consists of a neck swivel, ball-jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, forearm rotation, claw-ticulation, waist rotation, somewhat limited hip movement, hinged knees, and rotation below the knees. 

His flaming sword is able to clip into his hand without 5mm ports, meaning only he himself is worthy of holding it. And why wouldn't it be? He can flick his wrist, and a button built into his right hand lets additional flame bits spring out, adding an extra bit of fire to a smoldering sword comparable to the one guarding the Garden of Eden.

Grimlock's Takara variant was made 2 years after the release of Hasbro's, giving him a metallic paint job as well as fully detailed sigils rather than the silver ones Hasbro stuck with. While this does look nicer, the Japanese versions always came off as inaccurate without the matte look from the animation style. 

Sadly, they canceled a repaint known as Goldfire Grimlock was prominently gold and black with some silver bits here and there. While some of the final Animated figures were sold in Toys R Us, Grimlock was one of the victims set aside as Hasbro began shifting gears towards the Aligned continuity.

For a size comparison, here we have Grimlock next to Legacy United Optimus Prime in bot mode. I think they don't feel too distinct from each other in terms of aesthetics, though there is a KO of OP that better matches the series he's from. While Grimlock should be taller than Optimus, the scale isn't too bad, though you can always get the Deluxe version that scales better with Grimmy. While they fight over who gets to clap Blackarachnia's spider-booty, I'm going to say that Grimlock is the best of the three Animated Dinobot molds, from the overall engineering to looking good in both modes. Swoop definitely looked great in bot mode, yet his beast mode was mediocre. Likewise, Snarl felt like a weird hodgepodge of G1 Slag and Snarl design elements, but his dino mode was okay. I was lucky to get this figure for $40 at a toy shop, so good luck getting yours at any cons or the bays of E!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐