“Me, Grimlock no bozo. Me KING!
Price: 100 – 130 USD upon release (Hasbro)* 150 – 250 USD upon release (Takara)*
*price depends on dealer or collector sell points.
Released: 1st – 2nd Quarter 2010
At last! My first Masterpiece figure and my most favorite of all Autobots, the “High” and “Mighty” MP03 Grimlock himself is on my shelf right now and he looks amazingly small? What? A MP Dinobot smaller than Masterpiece Optimus Prime? He looks more of a Velociraptor than a T-Rex! What’s with the size difference? Probably needs “Grow Taller Pills” PLUG!. Oh well I don’t own a MP Optimus but this guy gave me a knack for dinobots. Anyway with regards to the figure itself I would say that Hasbro can really deliver when it comes to Masterpieces. I find Grimlock intimidating with his bulkiness and of course you can call him “KING” as he hold the “Crown of leadership” seen in the old comics although it shortlived after Blaster did literally blasted him out of his throne. (Marvel Transformers # 35 Child’s Play). Anyway, Who would not love this big guy? After all he is not that stupid when it comes to kicking Decepticons to kingdom come. His loss of intelligence gave way for brute strength and killer instinct and theres a saying “never mess with a messed up head”. Short tempered as he is but kind and gentle to all sentinent beings as what Optimus would say. A character of a leader he has! (Yoda! PLUG!)
So what is it about this toy that made me pick him up? Is it the rarity or the lack of supply from “Toys R Us”? PLUG! Probably those are the least of my reasons but significantly this guy really made us love transformers more to this day. His stance, articulation, and how Hasbro delivered the toy itself is absolutely incredible. The detail on this guy is exactly the same as the G1 counterpart. Everything to how it transforms is spot on. Additional bits are the eye gimmick that with a flick of a switch changes from red to blue and back again. The blazing sword lighting is a bit low probably because of the batteries dying down but it can be tolerated. You can do a lot of poses when he is it Bot Mode. Love the way he is designed from the clear chest piece to his trademark wings. The T-Rex alt mode you see in the cartoons is realized with this figure. Love the way they specifically made all bits and pieces to connect together, although there are some changes with the faction placement. Still you can change the eye color in alt mode but you have to open the head piece and turn the eyes around. And what I’m really astounded was the die cast pieces around this guy. It balances the overall figure to give you that solid feel. This MP is meant to be played hard from snotty kids to childish adults (like me!). So besides all these good stuff I said about him there are some minor flaws. As you try to stand him on a smooth surface like a glass table, chances are he’ll do a split as his leg hinges are totally LOOSE! He’s like a noob ice skater without those ice crutches. Some folding pieces on the feet and hands also are a bit loose which tends to fall off when doing various poses. But theres nothing that a “Pledge Floor Shine” can’t fix. (Pledge PLUG!) There are also chrome recesses on the sword, crown, and the chest piece which are unnoticeable unlike the Reissue version. I don’t have the “Takara” version but there are differences in color application and additional pieces (Takara! PLUG!) In alt mode There is that head turn gimmick that you have to align the head sprocket to the a small transaxle which is a pain when transforming him. The left hand has index finger articulation and the right hand is a fixed lighting gimmick for the sword and gun light piping. I really can’t argue with that, Its an MP for crying out loud! He’s scales good with those 3rd Party “Not Dinobots” if you have them (PLUG!). Ok I’m almost done and I’m definitely finished with the plugging here. Too much free advertisement going on in my review already.
Overall the figure is a great addition whether you are an MP or a CHUG collector. Articulation is great but there are tolerable issues that can be sorted. Nothing too big of an issue for a Masterpiece figure. Just don’t pair it up with MP Optimus it will just look silly if you are a perfectionist. If you love Grimlock then this guy is a must, but if you are after a different look of a Dinobot Leader or you want all your Dinobots combining into an awesome gestalt you probably have to skip this one. I for one believe that Dinobots should stay as five separate entities and to be governed by a strong and reckless leader that has a speech impediment of a 1 year old is a combination that work wonders.
I love what you did Hasbro, I really really love it! (Hasbro! PLUG!)
Score 8.5/10
To God be the Glory!
