My version of Grimlock came with a card for the Liege Maximo combination.
I suspect that those “truths” are all the same – “Me Grimlock smash”.
The Dinosaur
The weakest mode is the dinosaur who has far more “junk in the trunk” than previous releases. The top half is extremely accurate and has a great look and feel that screams Grimlock. The lower half however looks like he stomped through some poison ivy and is a bit swollen. Still a fun figure but the proportions seem a little off.
The Robot
The robot mode is a lot of fun and is, without question, G1 Grimlock. The weakest element is probably the chest which, due to the transformation, is split down the front which can leave a gap if you’re not careful.
The Combiner
In this line Grimlock is not only the leader of the Dinobots but also the torso of their combined form Volcanicus. I can’t wait until the last two Dinobots are released so that I can fully build this out.
Sadly, my Volcanicus is totally armless.
Dinobots
Grimlock joins Slash, Swoop and Slug in my PotP Dinobot collection.
Power of the Primes introduces us to the sixth Dinobot (no, not Paddles, he’s non-cannon!), Slash.
The Card
My version of Slash came with a card for her Vector Prime combination.
The Robot
The robot mode is clearly in the Dinobot family with big Grimlock-style shoulders and the red chest that all of the other wave 1 Dinobots should have.
One thing that is obvious when you put Slash with any of the other wave one Legends is that she’s tiny – with legs and a torso only half the size of her wave-mates.
The Dinosaur
The Dino mode is a surprisingly fun little velociraptor!
Prime Master Integration
The same spot that hides the dino head in robot mode doubles as a Prime Master cockpit.
Vector Slash – finally a combination that matches one of my cards!
Dinobots
Slash joins Swoop and Slug in my PotP Dinobot collection.
Clearly the “little sister” of the group. I imagine she follows them on missions even when she’s told to stay home.
Finally, my favorite Dinobot has been updated and is here at Junkion HQ!
The Card
Like previous lines, deluxes and above come with trading cards.
Unlike other lines, there are twelve different cards for each figure, one representing that character’s power when combined with each of the Prime Masters. My version of Swoop came with a card for Nexus Prime.
After coming clean about being a “Rumble is Red” guy in my last post I started thinking about my personal Transformer Prejudices. For example the reasons that, for me, Rumble is red, Thrust is the best Seeker (with wings behind his shoulders BTW) and Twin Twist is an important character is all due to the fact that I owned the toys as a kid.
A lot of the G1 arguments we have in the fandom are topics where both sides are technically correct. Of course, my side is more technically correct, but I digress.
Scale
We talk about this a lot; Masterpiece Ultra Magnus is too big (disagree), Masterpiece Grimlock is too small (conditionally agree), Power of the Primes Predaking is too big/not big enough (too early to tell). Lets be honest, there is no possible way that you can make everyone happy using a physical object to represent anything animated in the original cartoon.
Scale – I don’t think that word means what you think it means (photo from TF Wiki)
With deliberate mass-shifting and abundant animation errors it’s simply impossible to represent the characters as they were shown.
Takara decided to base their post MP-10 Masterpiece scale on the following guide (photo from TF Wiki):
This is great-ish. We have a standard scale for the robot modes that is consistent across the line. However, take Bumblebee…
…looks about right…
…wait, is that a child’s pedal-car model of a Volkswagon?
Personally I like the approach that Takara took since I primarily display my collection in robot mode.
However, eagle-eyed readers might notice MP-8 Grimlock standing between Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime, a clear violation of the scale chart. To compound the violation is Bullsfire DB-01 Air Strike, my Swoop stand-in which, unlike every other Masterpiece themed Swoop, is scaled to match MP-8. I did pick up FansToys’ FT-05 Soar but it is far too large to fit into my display.
Ultra Magnus
I don’t think of Ultra Magnus as a repainted Optimus Prime in armor because I didn’t get the toy until I was in college and the animation model always transformed straight from the car carrier to the bot.
Sure, I’ve read the Dreamwave comics where he was “revealed” as wearing armor and I’ve read the IDW comics where he was “revealed” as Minimus Ambus, just one in a long line of Ultra Magnus cosplayers, but that was long after my opinions were solidified.
Takara vs. Hasbro vs. Third Party
There are a lot of fans that will, very emphatically, argue that one is inherently better than the others, often followed by declaring how poor those other two options “really” are. I tend to double dip into Takara for my main collection when a deco (Henkei chrome) or additional accessory (Targetmasters) warrants it then use third party versions to fill gaps, primarily on the Masterpiece side. If I have a third-party version and an official version comes out I tend to display only the official.
Twin Twist has finally arrived at Junkion HQ and the Jumpstarters are finally complete!
In photos Twin Twist’s tank treads can look very thin and Topspin’s wings do not lock in place so I had been a little concerned about how the treads would work. But with the actual toy in hand I’m happy to say that they stay in place very well in both modes. There’s no real lock but they are tighter than Topspin’s wings.
Like his mold-mate, Twin Twist has a great transformation that compacts everything into the vehicle mode for a very solid feel. Not only is it a great update of the original, but the cockpit is very well integrated and feels like it should always have been there.
Also like his mold-mate, Twin Twist’s biggest difference from the original is the height difference. There is no question that these are the same ‘bot. You may notice that my G1 Twin Twist is not exactly pristine – it is my original toy and features a catalog Autobot symbol that I glued on after the sticker wore off.
Swoop was another figure that I owned “back in the day” and I was very excited when Ptero was announced, especially after seeing how great Clobber’s beast mode turned out. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed by Ptero’s mini-vehicle and am much happier with him in his new form (at least until we receive the true Swoop next year).
