Dinobots 5-pack

Height: 12cm long in Beast Mode, 10cm tall in Robot Mode. Super Robot Mode is 17cm tall to top of helmet.

Articulation: 17 points total in Robot Mode: swivel head; 4 points each arm- double-joint shoulders and elbows; 4 joints each leg- universal joint hip, thigh swivel, hinged knee.

Colors: Molded gray, red and black. Painted silver, gold, orange, red, black, and light blue (eyes).

Release Data: Released November 2010 at an MSRP of $19.99.

Author: RAC

(more...)

Grimstone has always dreamed of power and the privilege it brings. Despite his hunger for power, however, he has always considered the needs of others before himself. He believes it is the responsibility of the powerful to protect those less fortunate- a belief he intends to aggressively enforce now that he has his own Power Core team.

Transformers, as a brand, seem to be doing fairly well this holiday season. I base this on the fact that I can't actually find anything I want at any given time. This is so far the sole exception, and if I could only find one toy this season this is not a bad choice.


Robot Mode

More than even Animated Snarl, Grimstone has the look of the classic Dinobots to me. The red body, the mass of kibble on the back, the black-and-silver head... really we just need some clear parts and some needless gold chrome and he'd be spot on. I'm waiting, Takara. He's very squat too- in that sense he's a little more like Animated Snarl, as the original Dinobots had the same basic proportions as most of the G1 crew. The face somehow reminds me of Animated Snarl as well, despite looking more like Ben Grimm than Louie Anderson- is it me or have Transformers toy faces had just a bit more in the way of character to them since Animated? Either way, it's a good expression. I also like that his eyes are painted blue for a change- I'm not even sure they molded for light-piping this time. Overall, I really do like the look of him in this mode.

He's not going to win any prizes for articulation, though. The head swivels, and is mounted on a hinge for tilt, but it's not that great a combination. The Styracosaurus neck frills obstruct shoulder articulation, as does the back kibble which is connected to the same part as the shoulder joint. You can turn the shoulder in a complete circle, but you'll have to work for it. The elbows double up thanks to their transformation jointing, and the hands are rudimentary but open, but they have no trouble holding any weapons I've tried. The hips have a marvelous range, and there are thigh swivels which help the legs. I wish the hips were a bit stronger though, as the softness of the joints does neither Robot Mode any favors. The knees get about a 90-degree range too, though the squatty build and small, hooflike feet do limit your posing choices at times.


Transformation

The Robot-to-Beast transformation is pretty simple. You pull the dino-head up, fold the arms in front of the torso, fold out the tail, and close the frill around the top of the dino-head. From there it's just limb-adjusting. I don't much like that he has the blue blocks sticking off the back of his rear legs, but that's pretty well par the course on Power Core Combiners at this point.


Beast Mode

Grimstone is a Styracosaurus, though the packaging calls him a triceratops. He does have a couple stubby little horns where Snarl and Slag had theirs, but they'd be about useless for attacking anything. Judging from the angle of the guns attached to his frill, his body is supposed to be angled forward, which does make him look a lot more aggressive and hides the Robot Mode head more effectively. I have to admit, the guns on his frill and the one on his tail make him look a bit Zoidy around the edges. Which is fine since I like Zoids. There's a small amount of articulation in the legs but it doesn't matter that much. The rear legs essentially lock into place when they're transformed, and moving them screws up the position of the blue blocks. The head, being made of two parts, is basically static as well. There's also a Mini-Con port on the tail- yet another one that won't be much use to Throttler, though it should be fine for the rest of the Mini-Cons.


Drones

The arms are a Dimetrodon and Parasaurolophus, the legs are a Ankylosaurus and Pachycephalosaurus. They all have a look similar to Grimstone, a cross between G1 Dinobots and Zoids. They're definitely the most matched PCC team so far. The Parasaurolophus- which is hopefully the last time I'll have to type that- is the only one of the drones with limb articulation, with its stubbly little forearms being on ball-joints. Dimetrodon can move its jaw, which translates to hand articulation for Dinopope- yay?

The automorph works just fine, and so far everything is staying on its post nice and firmly. We'll see how that holds up with time, though. The Pachycephalosaur- last call on that too if I'm lucky -had to be started by hand because I wasn't sure how to get its head out of the way. Dimetrodon reveals a small forearm-gun when attached, and Parasaurolophus- dammit! -has the minor problem of its massive shoulder guns pointing inward in arm mode. This seems like an oversight. Though I kind of like the big claw formed by its rear legs, even if it's only marginally a more convincing hand than those formed by Energon combiners.


Dinopope Mode

The difference between Beast Mode and Torso Mode is actually pretty minimal. You'd hope something about the Beast Mode would be Maximal, but you can't have everything. But no, you just have to fold up the legs and lock the front ones down to become the shoulders. Then, you just slide up the beak of the Styracosaurus and make sure the nose-peg falls into the right spot on the revealed face, and voila!

The combined robot looks good. That similarity in design serves it really well here as well. I've seen stylized battle helmets like these elsewhere. I mean, I get what they were going for, but... screw it. He is now and forever DINOPOPE. My only complaint about this entire mode is that there's no way I see to attach an Armor Mode Minicon to the torso. The chest is neat enough looking that it doesn't actually need one, though. I like this torso a lot. It doesn't hurt that the dino-frill torso looks like a Gunmen face, or possibly Gaiking (which is of course what Gurren Lagann's torso was riffing on). It's also marvelously solid- the chest-frill and underlying gray piece move around a bit, but not much... and that movement has absolutely no bearing on the stability of the arms or legs.

Articulation is pretty good for a combined PCC figure. The head has a bit of tilt, and a front arc of swivel since it's blocked by the chest face. There's absolutely nothing restricting swivel on the arms, and they can lift out to the sides as well. His left arm is a little weak on the vertical axis though, and since it's a pinned hinge there's not much to do about it. The hips are also a bit weak as I said, though marvelously unrestricted. As has happened with PCC robots before, there's actually a couple too many points of leg articulation in the combined mode, and it gets fiddly. And though dinosaurs make for large, irregular feet, those feet do a particularly great job of holding up the robot.


Closing Remarks

Of the two PCC five-packs I've gotten this is absolutely my favorite. Grimstone's a neat little core robot, if limited in articulation. The tradeoff- that the combined robot is particularly good for its line in terms of articulation. If you like Dinobots, Power Core Combiners, or robots wearing silly pope hats, this is absolutely your toy. Grimstone and company are Excellent.

-RAC