Grimlock's dinosaur mode a mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex with horns added, and compared to the previous stabs of this appearance, this is the best take on AOE Grimlock's dino mode to date. The issue with the previous figures was how they didn't capture the physique or sharpness of the dino mode. Here, the proportions are much better than before, and that Michael Bay-sharpness is present as it should on a toy that's movie accurate. The paint job is phenomenal, too. It's got no bronze, no shiny silver, no awful chrome, and best of all, it's on an official toy! You'd expect this to be found on a custom, but Hasbro wins major props for the paintwork that beats all the other versions of AOE Grimlock.
That said, the dino mode's not 100% perfect. The teeth and lower jaw don't get the same kind of patina coloring to help make them stand out a bit more, though that may have to do with them being made of PVC than ABS. Also, there is a bit of a small gap when viewed from the size because of how the left forearm transforms. The coattail isn't fully hidden with the tail, and speaking of, I wish there was a bit of articulation with the tail, though that's not done because of how it becomes the weapon. A third-party upgrade kit has given this Grimlock a better tail and a cover to hide the gap found on the front of the dino mode.
The dino head looks nice and sharp, with the proper eye color of red instead of being a different, inaccurate color. Also, the jaw can articulate without making the head split like on the original Leader or without a spring-loaded jaw chomping gimmick. As I mentioned, I wish there was some coloring to make the lower jaw and the teeth look much better, since they almost look like parts of a muzzle ripped off in a way.
Here is a size comparison between Studio Series Grimlock and the Age of Extinction Voyager. Man is this a night and day difference. Ignoring the size, the Leader's sharper than the Voyager, and there's a much better attempt at making the dino mode look more like how it does in the movie whereas the Voyager kind of also looks a bit like a kangaroo mixed with a T-Rex. Also, the Voyager Class toy is colored inaccurately. From what I can tell, Hasbro likely made the Dinobots inaccurate in order to make them not only different from each other but also by being less monochromatic when stood next to the more colorful AOE characters. Some attempts at making the Voyager's deco more accurate have been made over time, most notably with the horrible Dinobots Unleashed 5-pack version, the Movie the Best version (which came with a mini-Optimus Prime), and the TLK Premier Edition version; those releases were not only too late, but they were also made by the time the mold started to face degradation. The TLK release is especially noted for having weaker tolerances and was infamous for shelfwarming along with the other Dinobot repaints. So the lesson here is if you want to make Grimlock more accurate, do it from the start!
And here is a comparison between the new Leader and the original. At least with the Voyager, Grimlock's proportions aren't too terrible, but the original Leader is by far the WORST take on Grimlock in the movies. The proportions are hideous, the tail is much smaller than the rest of the body (and without those parts, the thing would have a hard time standing up with the weight being absent), and the colors are ATROCIOUS! There's bronze, gold, and gunmetal gray, which would be somewhat acceptable if it weren't for how garish the silver chrome looks. It makes the front part of the dino mode look like it belonged on a different toy! And yes, there were attempts to make the deco more accurate, and both Hasbro and Takara made their variants look worlds better than the retail version, but even then, it still kept the awful proportions. Studio Series wins once again.
The size between Optimus and Grimlock may not be that accurate to the movie scale, but at least the Autobot leader can ride on his steed. All we need is some flame effects and we're all set!
Grimlock's transformation is a bit simple for a Leader Class figure. If anything, it's almost like it is in between the complexity of the AOE Leader Class Optimus Prime and Grimlock's wavemate, Blackout. There are some neat aspects of the transformation, with the legs not only straightening out but also having the parts of the dino hips become the waist of the robot mode. Instead of relying on having the dino head split in half, the actual dino head becomes the left shoulder while a fake dino head is made from a portion of the tail. The robot head simply transforms from opening up the chest and flipping the inner bust of the robot torso. As mentioned, the legs from dino mode become the legs in robot mode instead of the arms, which may seem somewhat underwhelming, but at least the articulation makes the legs more proportionate than the Flip & Change and Knight Armor toys. At least he has the feet change for their proper modes.
The robot mode is mean. It's the big, metal brute that makes this Grimlock look less like the textbook robot he used to be into a beast that could be the love child of DC's Bane and Killer Croc. Sure, it's a weird description, especially if he has been a dinosaur more than a robot, but that's the best description to make for his dinosaur mode being similar to Batman fighting KC and the robot mode being if Batman fought Bane. It feels righteously massive, it's colored gorgeously, and it also feels like it's made from the lost art known as die-cast construction.
The robot mode is mean. It's the big, metal brute that makes this Grimlock look less like the textbook robot he used to be into a beast that could be the love child of DC's Bane and Killer Croc. Sure, it's a weird description, especially if he has been a dinosaur more than a robot, but that's the best description to make for his dinosaur mode being similar to Batman fighting KC and the robot mode being if Batman fought Bane. It feels righteously massive, it's colored gorgeously, and it also feels like it's made from the lost art known as die-cast construction.
The side profile shows what the other Grimlocks have gotten wrong with the dino head, that being how it should feel filled in, which the Voyager got wrong for having the top part of the head split in half while the lower jaw hung like a stupid contraption that attaches to the butt; the original Leader did attempt a somewhat better approach with the lower jaw becoming the front of the shoulders, but it's nowhere near as cool as having four eyes stare at you from the front while there are two more eyes staring back at you when you stand behind Grimlock. He sees everything, and no prey of his will go unseen. Oh, and his back looks fairly good, too. It feels nicely filled in without any of the toyetic parts, though the feet being the dino toes facing backwards does feel somewhat disappointing for those that wanted more than just them turning a different direction and then having the foot spikes jut out.
The face sculpt is positively monstrous, with details that make Grimlock stray away from looking "human" to every degree possible, with red piercing eyes being the only decipherable aspect of his alien face. Sure, it's not the first toy to use the head sculpt (which the Knight Armor got), but it's nice to see this on a more collector-friendly toy. I personally like having Grimlock have red eyes since they help make him stand out from your normal Autobots. It's something that goes well with G1 Grimlock (since the blue eyes kind of feel random), and they especially look great here. None of that weird green eye crap that the original toy had. Also, his head design may lose the Darth Vader helmet silhouette, but at least he's still got a noggin that looks powerful. He even kept the horn, too!
Grimlock's articulation consists of a ball joint at the head, but he can look down more than up. Appropriate for his size, IMO. His shoulders have ratchet joints, and they have two points for movement. One joint moves forwards and backwards, while another joint in and out. There is a bicep swivel, a bend at the elbow, and at least one of the forearms has a wrist swivel. There is a waist swivel, and below the waist are hip joints that use ratchets to move forwards and backwards (once you move the waist piece) as well as in and out. The thighs swivel stiffly, and the knees bend 90°. Topping off the articulation are ball-jointed ankles that fluidly move.
Grimlock comes with no accessories, but he does have a wrecking ball fist instead. The design looks nice, yet I wish it had the same deco that the rest of the toy had. Also, since the weapon becomes part of the tail, there's no normal right hand. As mentioned, the same upgrade kit that fixed the dino mode has parts that give him not only a right forearm that has a normal hand but proper weapons for Grimlock to use, consisting of a spiked maul and a flail.
For a size comparison, here is the Studio Series Leader figure next to the AOE Voyager. Much like with the dino mode, the different details and colors make what are supposed to be toys of the same in-universe Grimlock feel like different characters side by side. While the Studio Series version will remain the same character seen in the movies, the Voyager will be a brand new character that aspired to be like the Dinobot leader. What will we call him? Clobber? Overkill? Tyrex? Trapjaw? Well, there was a Mini-Cassette called "Noise" that idolized G1 Grimlock, but perhaps it's not a name that works. I'll decide at some point. Anyways, the Voyager was a nice mold, and it's still not bad to have in your collection, yet the way the dino head halves look on the shoulders, the inaccurate colors, and the way the dino feet look oversized on the arms deems the Leader figure more worthwhile to have.
Grimlock could hold the AOE figure's mace weapon, which TFWiki mentioned isn't possible but it is here if you make him hold it in a specific angle. I did display the toy with the weapon like that for a while but seeing it now, it doesn't look right on him since it has none of the deco or professionalism of the Leader figure.
And while we're at it, here's the new Leader with the original. Yeah, I feel glad to not have bought the original Leader, though it did suck for those that dealt with the awful chrome. Also, the proportions didn't look that well, considering how skinny the legs are while the upper torso looked normal. Then there were the dino head halves that looked like they were floating over the shoulders than being integrated into them, along with those PVC parts that went over the chest looking cheap. At least that version came with some weapons, but again, without those, the dino mode is ruined. And while the repaints made do look better than the one I have for the comparison, they still kept the same issues that plagued the mold in general.
Now it's time for the king to be challenged by a knight...
Here we have Grimlock next to the TLK Premier Edition Optimus Prime. The size between the two still doesn't look as accurate as it was in the movie, yet the size and bulk of the toy was the limit Hasbro had for their line. If you really wanted to, you could instead buy the Black Mamba knockoff of the toy, which is in better scale with the Studio Series toyline, and even came with an Optimus figure to ride on him in dino mode. I'm happy with my Grimlock, and it does feel nice to have a screen-accurate take on the character after years of an inaccurate Voyager and a horrible Leader, just like it's nice to have an Optimus Prime that has fewer truck parts hanging off of it and is closer to the CGI model after not getting a Voyager Prime in the Western Star truck mode in AOE (*cough* multiple Evasion Prime variants *cough* helicopter Drift *cough*).
Overall, Studio Series Grimlock has few nicks on his glorious armor. Some may still be mad that this isn't even like the Grimlock they grew up with (which isn't the point), but I feel more happy to see screen accuracy be a priority instead of making too much merchandise of one character at once, which was a problem of the AOE line in my opinion. So far, this guy and Jetfire are the only Leader figures to not be repainted in the Studio Series line. While it is nice to be getting more new molds (with the line mainly getting two Leaders per year), do expect this guy to either be repainted in G1 colors or in AOE toy colors. For now, he's staying in his awesome patina.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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