There's more Transformers goodness today, in the form of Masterpiece Grimlock. Now the original Grimlock was a mecha - there was even a compartment on his back for a pilot to rid in. That compartment is gone from this version of Grimlock, but it doesn't make it any less of a masterpiece.
The box is huge,and despite the fact that it's black, the grey of Grimlock, particularly the poses on the front of the box does grab the attention. The back of the box has all sorts of tiny pictures showing the action features with a small area dedicated to text... in Japanese... this is a TakaraTomy box after all.
There's another trading card. Boy, those Japanese do like their trading cards, and an instruction booklet. Now, it's not just a black and white instruction booklet, but it has the full Japanese style magazine goodness of every single feature in it and the corresponding scene from the Japanese cartoon. How cool is that?
There's quite a lot of accessories in the box, besides the hunking foot tall figure. There's his sword and gun, and a whole tray of glasses. Then there's also a bowtie and an apron (which I prompty forgot about because it's silly for Grimlock to wear an apron and bowtie, right?)
The robot mode is huge and the first thing I noticed was the vacmetal parts - the arms, tails and claws are all vacmetal in addition to other bits here and there as well. The head seems a bit too small for Grimlock, but that's a minor complaint. The eyes though may be swapped to be either red or blue, which is a nice touch.
Grimlock in dinosaur mode comes with his Jewish skullcap... erm... brain transfer cable. It fits on his head snugly thanks to a hole on the top of his head and a peg inside the helmet. The tray with glasses is also for the robot mode as well, although I couldn't find a way for him to actually hold it (so I placed it on top of his hands). The tray is vacmetal silver, with holes in it. The cups had pegs underneath to fit into the holes. There was one tall glass though, which had a peg that was too big to fit into any of the holes. That's a bit awkward for a Japanese toy, but then again, these glasses are tiny - some are no wider than a millimeter across and about a centimeter long. The glasses are moulded from transparent plastic, so they actually do look like glasses.
The transformation to robot mode follows almost exactly as the G1 toy, with a few exceptions - the tail actually has springs to assist in the folding in, and there is a rocket nozzle thing at the bottom of his feet which keeps the tail in place.
There are batteries hidden in his right arm though, and when a button is pressed on his shoulders, light emits from his fist. When he holds a weapon (which is sculpted from clear plastic), the weapon also lights up. It's very obvious with the sword, but only the tips of the gun lights up, which is a pity.
My favourite feature has to be his colour changing eyes. Blue or red? Well, that depends on the mood. The eyes are actually vacmetal, so they are shiny and reflective. I like that.
Thsi Grimlock is huge. Animated Prowl looks inconsequential besides him, despite the fact that Prowl is almost 8-inches tall. He's way too big to be displayed with the rest of my animated stuff... or even the rest of my transformers. Still, he's got to be displayed and he's now proudly sitting on the top of the toy shelf as the king.
The box is huge,and despite the fact that it's black, the grey of Grimlock, particularly the poses on the front of the box does grab the attention. The back of the box has all sorts of tiny pictures showing the action features with a small area dedicated to text... in Japanese... this is a TakaraTomy box after all.
There's another trading card. Boy, those Japanese do like their trading cards, and an instruction booklet. Now, it's not just a black and white instruction booklet, but it has the full Japanese style magazine goodness of every single feature in it and the corresponding scene from the Japanese cartoon. How cool is that?
There's quite a lot of accessories in the box, besides the hunking foot tall figure. There's his sword and gun, and a whole tray of glasses. Then there's also a bowtie and an apron (which I prompty forgot about because it's silly for Grimlock to wear an apron and bowtie, right?)
The robot mode is huge and the first thing I noticed was the vacmetal parts - the arms, tails and claws are all vacmetal in addition to other bits here and there as well. The head seems a bit too small for Grimlock, but that's a minor complaint. The eyes though may be swapped to be either red or blue, which is a nice touch.
Grimlock in dinosaur mode comes with his Jewish skullcap... erm... brain transfer cable. It fits on his head snugly thanks to a hole on the top of his head and a peg inside the helmet. The tray with glasses is also for the robot mode as well, although I couldn't find a way for him to actually hold it (so I placed it on top of his hands). The tray is vacmetal silver, with holes in it. The cups had pegs underneath to fit into the holes. There was one tall glass though, which had a peg that was too big to fit into any of the holes. That's a bit awkward for a Japanese toy, but then again, these glasses are tiny - some are no wider than a millimeter across and about a centimeter long. The glasses are moulded from transparent plastic, so they actually do look like glasses.
The transformation to robot mode follows almost exactly as the G1 toy, with a few exceptions - the tail actually has springs to assist in the folding in, and there is a rocket nozzle thing at the bottom of his feet which keeps the tail in place.
There are batteries hidden in his right arm though, and when a button is pressed on his shoulders, light emits from his fist. When he holds a weapon (which is sculpted from clear plastic), the weapon also lights up. It's very obvious with the sword, but only the tips of the gun lights up, which is a pity.
My favourite feature has to be his colour changing eyes. Blue or red? Well, that depends on the mood. The eyes are actually vacmetal, so they are shiny and reflective. I like that.
Thsi Grimlock is huge. Animated Prowl looks inconsequential besides him, despite the fact that Prowl is almost 8-inches tall. He's way too big to be displayed with the rest of my animated stuff... or even the rest of my transformers. Still, he's got to be displayed and he's now proudly sitting on the top of the toy shelf as the king.
Masterpiece Transformers are exactly as described, masterpieces! I have MP Starscream, hoping to get Prime one day but at the rate prices are going I don't think I'll ever succeed
ReplyDeleteI passed on Grimlock since I'm not a huge fan of the character, but I always have thought the toy looked really nice. Perhaps one day I own him...
ReplyDeleteSo cool. What an awesome piece.
ReplyDeleteI have mine displayed with the apron and bow tie on. Bow ties are cool, after all.
ReplyDeleteMario: http://mariostoys.blogspot.com/2009/04/41-transformers-masterpiece-grimlock.html I still think the apron is goofy. How much did you pay for him? Over $100?
ReplyDeletehockstylin: Can you get them locally? Does TRU carry them there?
I got Starscream for S$50 during a TRU sale. Unfortunately Megs and Grimlock retailed closer to $150 and I don't think TRU has them anymore. Last I checked Prime is hitting $400 at specialty stores.
ReplyDeleteI know I saw Megs at Vivocity a while back. He's probably gone.
ReplyDeleteI think I paid $150 for him, back when he was first released. Then they did the American release for something like half the price, but without the odd accessories, and with a crown instead. But the extra goofiness of the Japanese accessories really appeal to me.
ReplyDelete