Hasbro's new kid strategy of focusing mostly on major hero characters has worked. Grimlock never really sat around, despite being in wave 1 and wave 1 toys generally being the ones that hang around due to being reshipped time and again. A "G1" recolor is already in circulation, which will hopefully raise demand for the 3-step Grimlocks - which also seem to be moving now - and whatever else they have on deck next. Kids like dinosaurs, and robots, and apparently also Grimlock.
Scale is something of a curiosity in this range, with Grimlock being one of the biggest characters in the show and a pretty small Warrior-class toy. He's big compared to the mini Legion dudes, but he's not exactly imposing relative to Strongarm, Bumblebee, and Steeljaw from the same assortment. Hasbro has at least four different green Grimlocks in various sizes in circulation, which tells you something about his marketability. They want one at every possible price point, but it seems they also short-shipped him in the sense that a) the show is still on, and b) you can't easily find one in most stores.
He's a Decepticon on the show who is aligned with the Autobots, but in the interests of keeping costs down and not confusing the tiny tots the toys all have the scannable in-app Autobot sticker that's increasingly something of an eyesore. The red life preserver around the classic graphic looks like a target in a sea of black and green, and the toy itself is quite nice given the budget problems and price point declines. Hasbro cut costs by cutting some levels of complexity and paint applications, but the toy looks great! Of course, a weapon would be nice, but you can't get everything. He has 5mm-compatible hands, so if you have access to the right weapons he can be armed with something or other.
His head is a metallic copper/orange color with blue eyes and a nice little frown. He's not super happy, which works well because the somewhat goofy cartoon character - while delightful - may not be the awesome Hulk stand-in kids may imagine when they see this toy on a shelf. He's not huge either - at just a hair over 5-inches tall, he's a good size for your desk. Transformation to dinosaur is relatively simple, as the robot arms become dinosaur legs and the robot legs become the tail and business end of the t-rex mode. The end result is a nifty little guy who looks sort of like the Grimlock you know and love, and also Godzilla. The cartoon makes sure to remind you of this.
As a robotic dinosaur, he has the benefit of always being scientifically correct. He looks like the cartoon character, give or take a few details. A lever on the back of his head opens and closes his jaws, which come complete with silver teeth and a gold cap on his head. Blue eyes recall the original cartoon Grimlock, and a mix of green with black works together well. It's not an eyesore where you can easily tell which bits are black plastic with green paint or green plastic with black paint - it just looks pretty good. The toy doesn't do much other than chomp his jaws or manually move his arms, but that's OK. We don't ask for a lot from a dinosaur robot.
Hasbro's scale problem - or non-issue, depending on your perspective - aside, this is a nice toy. By himself, with no comparisons, he's pretty decent and a lot of fun to transform. He's not huge (like the 3-step) or insanely fun to transform (like the 3-step) but he is cheaper and has more paint and has more articulation. A leaked prototype photo from Japan indicates there may be an even bigger Grimlock en route with even better articulation, but there's no word on a US release for it just yet. With at least four flavors of Grimlock on the shelf now, it's a safe bet not all of them will vanish and get expensive on the secondary market. Surprises happen, though, so don't miss out on this one if you see it cheap or feel like waiting a few years to see if people just stop being interested in this one.
--Adam Pawlus
Additional Images
Additional Transformers Robots in Disguise Warriors 2015 Wave 1 Images
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