FOC Grimlock

I'm not a fan of the FOC toys so far. The Deluxes have failed to impress me, and the Voyagers thus far released haven't done anything for me. On a whim, I decided to pick up FOC Grimlock to see if this release would be any better. I've read several reviews of this figure already, some good, some bad, so I wanted to see how he really stacks up.

Let's start with his 'bot mode since that's the mode he was packaged in.

This is a medium range shot.  This a good mode to package Grimlock in as he's quite impressive in this mode.   Grimlock is a barrel chested killing machine and pretty imposing.  He features a decent amount of articulation.  His knees bend and twist and his elbows feature the same points of articulation.

Let's get a closer look at ol' Grimmy.  The Autobot insignia on his chest actually lights up when the button on his back is pressed.  It's neat feature, but the cost for this is that he's incredibly hollow on the back.  This makes for a very light figure. I'd venture to say that he weighs as much as a deluxe.

Grimlock comes with two accessories - a shield and the ubiquitous sword. The shield pegs into either of his forearms and looks rather nice. While the sword looks great, I'm kind of over the Dinobot/sword connection. I like the double barrel blaster of the G1/Masterpiece Grimlock and would like to see that in use again.


I haven't played War For Cybertron or it's sequel Fall of Cybertron, so I don't know how accurate the figure is compared to the game, but I'm really impressed so far.

T-Rex mode is where this Grimlock loses points with me.  For some reason, maybe because of the L.E.D. wiring in the head, Grimlock is very hollow, as I mentioned earlier.  This leads to some issues when posing him in T-Rex mode. 

I don't know why I decided to look at the instructions.  When I opened them up, they just said "Do you own a Grimlock?  Any Grimlock in the 29 years that Transformers has been around?  Then you know how to transform this guy."  Yeah, his transformation is pretty much like any other Grimlock ever released.  Which is nice.  Then again, maybe some new innovation in the transformation would be nice.

Size-wise, Grimlock is a good size.  Not as big as the Masterpiece, but bigger than the G1 version and certainly the deluxe FOC figures (obviously).  As far as articulation goes, he has knees that bend, and they rotate left and right.  But due to the hollow underside, I have trouble doing any great poses; his legs keep going underneath his body.  Grimlock's forearms feature one point of articulation at the connection to the body.  Once again, due to the L.E.D., his head does not move, which is unfortunate.  Grimlock's mouth does open, when the lever on his neck is pushed back.  This also activates the L.E.D.

Overall, I think that the designers, either Hasbro or TakaraTomy, made some good decisions on Grimlock's robot mode.  Grimlock towers like he should, and looks bulky.  I feel like maybe a different solution should have been devised so his back/T-Rex underside wasn't hollow.  This would have added some nice heft and eliminated the leg problem when in T-Rex mode.  Because of this, Grimlock will more than likely never leave his 'bot mode.  Unless I wanna just line up a few T-Rex's.  For fun.

Random Thoughts Part II

Good news, everybody! My wife has consented to taking my figures out of the garage and placing them in the house! I have to place them in our bedroom, but that's not a problem. We have a huge bedroom with a sitting room and a built in desk, so they should all fit in nicely.

I almost decided against bringing my figures inside because of the kids, but with the ungodly humidity that has shown up since Isaac passed by has led me to change my mind. My babies need to be in climate control. It's going to take me a bit to move everything since I have to cut the 6 foot shelves I'm currently using in the garage to something like 4 feet and then move all of the standards. Still, hot damn.

Hopefully, my next post will have plenty of purchases to talk about. My local toy hunting spree has really invigorated me and I'm making up for lost time. Even though I didn't get a hurricane, I still waited until the coast was completely clear before ordering anything because I was worried about delivery. I can't wait until they get here.

After reading Heroic_Decepticon's post about his awesome black Diaclone Sideswipe find, I've wanted Deep Cover. Every time he pops up on eBay, he's gone before I can click the "Buy it now" option. I need to get faster reflexes. Or live on eBay. Hopefully I can get one before the year is out.

I wonder if Takara has a file on me. It just seems as though they're doing a much better job of taking my money than Hasbro. Case in point: the Shattered Glass Soundwave and Blaster eHobby exclusives. While I'm not a fan of the Shattered Glass fiction or any of the figures, I love me some Communications Officers and their requisite cassettes. No idea on price yet, but since TFClub is going to offer these as well, I can't imagine they'll be too expensive. Now I just need to join the TFClub.

There's currently a show on Syfy called "Collection Intervention". I don't know if anyone else has seen this show, but I'm turned off by it. I understand what I thought was the premise of the show: collectors who've become hoarders and have let it affect all other aspects of their lives. If the show was strictly about that, I'd be cool. But the host seems to know nothing about what she's looking at. And her whole deal of looking at value is disgusting to me. Every time she looks at a collection, it's "I don't see a lot of value here". Huh? Granted, the Star Wars fanatic, the guy with over 30,000 comics, and the guy with all of the Transformers that he was supposed to be selling through his web store all needed help. The way she dealt with them, however, just seemed condescending. I can't believe she talked that one guy into selling his G2 Breakdown. Then again, I don't know the entire story, but it all just seems fishy to me. It's on par with "The Toy Hunter".

I am the co-manager of a store for a very large retail company. Some of you may have heard of it, but I'm not going to publicly say who I work for. At any rate, if you shop my store, you'll always be able to find Transformers and G.I. Joes. We finally got in the Fall of Cybertron figures a few weeks ago and I'm worried. Sure they're $15, but we normally sell the Prime stuff when it comes in and those figures are the sane price. The only Fall of Cybertron figures that have sold are the ones I bought. It's like that all over town. Worrisome.

I've stayed away from the fandom for years basically due to a bad experience on a prominent site. Because of that, I haven't really wanted to interact with other collectors, but since I've started this blog, the interactions I have had have been encouraging. Reading through the various Transformer blogs has taught me so much and inspired me to get the best collection that I can get. So, thanks everyone.

Fall of Cybertron

I know that the Fall of Cybertron figures for Jazz, Optimus Prime and Shockwave have been out for awhile, but I haven't really searched them out. If you've read my previous posts, I've been kinda lukewarm about them. I was in a store yesterday and just stumbled across them.

One thing I noticed was the price. The Generations line was anywhere from $9.88 to $12.88 retail. These new figures were $15.47 a pop! That just seemed excessive. It's essentially only a $3 increase, but I just see myself paying that much for the whole line.

At any rate, I decided to purchase Jazz and Shockwave because Optimus didn't appeal to me at all. He just looked odd to me. I must say that the new packaging looks great to me. I love the new tech spechs. They're a call-out to the days of yore. Thank goodness I have to wear a ruby quartz visor so I didn't need to find a decoder to see the ratings.

First up is Jazz, and I must say that I'm disappointed. He just seems so simplistic. There isn't a lot to say about this guy. His robot mode just seemed kind of boring to me. His face is reminiscent of a Bayformer. For some reason I was also expecting waist articulation. Jazz just stands there. Looking at him, I just feel bored.

Moving on to his vehicle mode, things don't get much better. I snapped one of his arms off several times during transformation. Once I got him into vehicle mode, eh. It's sleek, I'll give it that. The metallic blues certainly make it stand out. That's a plus.

Size wise, he's in line with the previous War for Cybertron figures in robot mode. Once in vehicle mode, Bumblebee dwarfs him, which is odd. Once compared to the War for Cybertron figures, Jazz really starts to look bad. The War for Cybertron figures have more going for them in terms of articulation and mass. Jazz is just so light!

Next up is Shockwave. I like Shockwave's robot mode. It's sleek, although it is a little skinny. The light piping for his eye is awesome. That iconic purple just looks great, and the silver highlights aren't overdone. Really tasteful. Supposedly, his gun clips to his back, but on mine, it barely stays put. Still, great robot mode.

Shockwave's vehicle mode is sleek like his robot mode. I just wish it were bigger. Just looking at it, it really looks to me like a gun disguised as a ship. Still, I think Shockwave deserves a Voyager class figure. If Soundwave is getting one, shouldn't ol' one eye get one too?

Overall, with the huge price increase, limited articulation, and seemingly small size, I think Hasbro has made up my mind for me with this line. I'll still buy Bruticus, maybe a couple more, but I won't be out searching high and low for them. I will be searching out for Toys R Us Asian exclusives, however.