When Kingdom was unveiled, there was a specific set of characters that people couldn't wait for, and were characters that a new toy of them would be inevitable. Dinobot was one of these characters, as not only is he a beloved character from the Beast Era, but a spotlight episode for him, Code of Hero, is regarded as one of the best Transformers Episodes ever made. Considering he's one of five Beast Wars characters (not counting reprints and Lio Convoy) to have a Masterpiece figure, not including him in the toy line meant to represent the anniversary of Beast Wars would be a disastrous oversight. However, a bit more surprising was the inclusion of his repaint, Grimlock, in one of two exclusives that bundled an Autobot with a Maximal. Granted, Hasbro will use any excuse to repaint a figure that they can get, so Grimlock was likely; it just felt like an odd choice to include with a new Mirage toy, especially when G1 Grimlock was available in the Studio Series line (though out of all the possibilities, it probably still made the most sense). We've tackled Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rattrap, Airazor and Rhinox; how well does 2021 treat one of the most infamous warriors in the franchise (and his white cousin)?
For a lot of toys this year, the term "Mini Masterpiece" has been thrown around. While I think how it's being used is wrong, I believe there is a grain of truth to it. Many toys have borrowed elements from Masterpiece engineering to achieve the two modes. Still, due to the downscale of cost, the engineering's used mainly for large chunks rather than minor tweaks. Dinobot is an excellent example of this as while the base concepts in his engineering are similar to the Masterpiece in certain elements, the compromises are far more visible due to the smaller budget. This velociraptor mode looks ugly; there's no getting around that. Due to the robot legs needing to go somewhere, the entire underside of the raptor mode looks awful, and due to how much the legs stick out compared to a raptor's body proportions, there's no natural way to fix it either. From the top-down, the raptor model looks really good, and all the Kingdom signature beast detail is nicely on display here. However, even at this angle, the illusion is ruined by the robot mode feet. Compared to how the legs integrate into the toy, elements like the robot mode-specific deco visible in what would be awkward areas of the Raptor mode don't stand out as much. However, an eyesore is easily the Raptor hands. For the sake of robot mode engineering, the fingers are too long when compared to (what we know of) raptor hands and claws, and the locked position of them always makes the hands look awkward no matter what you do with them. Another compromise for the sake of the robot mode was the articulation.
Compared to other Beast Wars characters, Dinobot's raptor mode feels uncomfortably stiff, thanks to the locked neck, the immoveable tail, and the thighs being locked in place, denying the ability to get good running poses. In addition, many have complained about one element of this mode: the end of the robot mode's sword being used as the tip of the tail. Due to the paint on the sword is based on the Masterpiece's metallic pink blade, it leaves the tail with a pink tip. If that bothers you, Grimlock's sword blends in better with the tail, but I find the deco on him to be less impressive when compared to Dinobot. Also, elements like the deco on the dino thighs feel less interesting than Dinobots, an interesting turn of events as Grimlock was an exclusive repaint, often resulting in a deluxe paint job compared to regular retail. Unfortunately, that might be due to the one he was bundled with, Mirage, getting the deluxe treatment, a shame for those who were after the set for Grimlock like I was. I love Grimlock's green eyes, though, and it gives the beast mode a robotic feel to it that almost helps with hiding the robot mode junk trying to pass itself off as a Raptor stomach.
With the beast mode clearly suffering, one can hope that it was all for the sake of the robot mode. Thankfully, the robot mode for Dinobot is gorgeous! Dinobot is almost everything a Dinobot fan would want in a Voyager Class representation of the character in robot mode. He's one of the more agile figures in Kingdom, thanks to the extra joints in the shoulders for the sake of beast mode. 5mm ports on the palms of his hands can help fake the tail shield spinning gimmick the original toy and the Masterpiece had while maintaining the friction to hold his gear. Unfortunately, it's not very useful outside of his weapons because most weapons are designed for regular hands (sorry, you can't have him hold G1 guns, I'm sad to say). Paint applications are beautiful, with the only thing that feels like a glaring omission is painting the bone details on his shins, likely cut due to the transformation. Thankfully the moulding on the legs is there, so there's very little extra work that would be required if you're into customizing your figures. For those that aren't, I don't see an upgrade kit coming that could help fix this as the joints are covered up nicely, with pins not designed to be removed, locking the plastic pieces together. Once again, though, deco seems to be the issue with Grimlock, as not only is he missing paint applications, but applications intended for beast mode look awkward in robot mode, coming off as half done. The outer half of the knee spikes, thighs, and feet are painted white to blend into beast mode, but it shifts to the colours for robot mode, down the middle of each, resulting in a half-painted mess. The chest is also missing details, as some aspects in the moulding intended to replicate the Beast Wars Cartoon's Raptor head chest that Dinobot uses to full effect are lost on Grimlock. It seems like the priority that was given to Grimlock was for the beast mode. Still, it looks like a wasted effort, especially when the robot mode's engineering is so well done due to how heavily compromised the beast mode already was.
What's frustrating about this toy is that it's okay when a character like Dinobot deserves an amazing one. However, the issue with that mindset is that Beasts are always going to be compromised, and though this feels like too much of a compromise, it's hard to deny the sacrifices that were worth it when you see the robot mode. As a Raptor, Dinobot's toy is awful when compared to the other beasts in Kingdom's line, up there with Scorponok's beast mode due to how rigid it feels. As a warrior, though, the toy is practically perfect at the Voyager scale. The two cancel each other out though, to make the toy okay in the line, very average when compared to others. As for Grimlock, I wish it got the same Robot mode attention that Dinobot did, but that was probably due to Mirage needing so much of the packs budget.
No comments:
Post a Comment