Transformers: Energon & Beyond

[figrin bran]

MP Grimlock is not actually in stock. I tried adding it to the cart but then I get "The following item: has limited inventory. We've adjusted the quantity below to reflect the number we have available"

It seems they may be using HTS's allocating method for the SDCC Sgt. Slaughters?

[JediTricks]

MP Grimlock is not actually in stock. I tried adding it to the cart but then I get "The following item: has limited inventory. We've adjusted the quantity below to reflect the number we have available"

It seems they may be using HTS's allocating method for the SDCC Sgt. Slaughters?

That sucks, sorry it was a bad lead.


TRU Los Feliz had the new HFTD voyager wave 2s, Battle Blades Optimus Prime and Banzaitron. I considered BBOP for a while but ultimately passed, it looks decent but I want to hear a few reviews before deciding.

After a year+ of scanning for sale pricing and failing, there was a sale tag for TFA voyagers and they had 1 left, Lugnut. The sale tag though said they were normally $35 and down to $22, standard TRU shenanigans, but I scanned anyway and it was $13! After all this time, I finally own Lugnut! It's a nifty figure, lots of character, pretty fun gimmicks and luckily they work on mine.

[figrin bran]

WFC Megatron is up on HTS right now in case anyone can't wait to get him.

[figrin bran]

I finally got my TFA Rodimus from my friend yesterday. He is as solid as any deluxe in the TFA line and definitely very poseable. The only flaws that come to mind are that the energy bow tends to limit the elbow articulation and in alt mode, much like with Classics Rodimus, there is a large gap. On classics, the gap was where you could store the blaster doubling as an exhaust pipe but here there is nothing like that.

Still, he is worth the time and effort to track down! Right now I think I give him an A-/B+

[figrin bran]

I had a $25 Walmart card and decided to use it on HA Sideswipe after seeing that the HA SS in future assortments is going to be a repaint.

[JediTricks]

Bikerscout just reported to me that he found HA Sideswipe at Ross La Cienega for $15, you may want to pick it up and return it to WM, get half your cash back. The gas used might eat that savings up though.

TFA Rodimus and Ironhide are now listed as $14.99 on the TRU site, still sold out. I really want that Rodimus, haven't seen any signs, stupid Ratchet has clogged the pegs.


I found HftD Scout wave 2 yesterday at TRU, I bought Breacher and Insecticon, left Oil Pan (a repaint of Brakedown).

Insecticon is supposed to be the tiny fly guys from the 2nd movie yet is not only much bigger, but notably different in design and coloring, so it's really its own thing. Bot mode is short even for a Scout-class, and has no hands proper, but a pair of separate pincer on each rotating shoulder that end in points. The head is a fairly classic take on an insect-bot-man, mandibles sculpted to cover the mouth, beady red eyes. The figure has a solid aesthetic, numerous little nozzles and a few tight croppings of tech detailing, and the deco carries a specific alien robot insect message as well - olive drab with milky gray and blue wings is a dull color scheme though. Articulation is decent, though the ball jointed shoulders on the larger rotating shoulder can be too much at times. The bot holds together well except for each shoulder panel which rotates a little on its transformation arm since it doesn't lock down.

Transformation is made to look complex in the instructions, but is really just rotating the back down, then the chest and head up, and locking the shoulders into the thorax (oh, and there's a notch to rotate the last segment of the gaster, a small but nice add). Naturally the instructions still manage to get it wrong.

Insect mode is fairly standard for a modern insect-bot, and has 6 legs on points articulated at ball-jointed shoulders and hinged knees (the front set have hinged feet-points as well). The size becomes standard Scout-class here. Not a lot of personality, it's a red camera eye between 2 sets of mandibles and a little tech detailing on a small hinged head. The figure holds together well thanks to the shoulders locking into the thorax. The colors and sculpting are unchanged here, though the small black Decepticon logos on the wing roots is an interesting touch. The wings are translucent and unfortunately sport large-ish, sculpted copyright texts on the underside leading edge of each. The detailing does change orientations, the top taken over by the wings and large round gaster at the back, the underside is about the legs and a number of sculpted thrust nozzles (compensating for the stubby wings). The gaster sports a silver disc full of techy detail on either side.

Overall, I'd give this an unenthusiastic "B" grade. It's not inspired, but neither is it insipid, it's just a tad unexciting. For movieverse, it does what its needs to adequately.


Breacher is nothing short of incredible. Vehicle mode is a 6-wheeled armored SWAT-type vehicle with a significant turret gun on top. Detailing is terrific, and the scale suggests a pretty big vehicle, no notable gaps or hollow spots that ugly it up. Colors are nearly all police blue plastic, some silver accents, red lights at the back, and a few white numbers and Autobot symbols. It even rolls well. The turret rotates and the gun elevates (technically it can actually lift up and rotate on a ball joint, but that's for bot mode). The vehicle only fits on Seaspray's hovercraft mode if you lift the rear ramp all the way up and open the drive fans, which isn't stable in the least.

Transformation would be exciting for a Deluxe, so for a Scout it's downright amazing. It's complex, with panel folding and parts rotation, and generally feels clever the whole way through. Going back to alt mode requires a little panel massaging and some thought.

Bot mode is a solid, well-executed Scout with a light-armor theme. There isn't much kibble, and what's there is turned into armor plates. Sculpted detail is good, making use where it can of the alt mode, and adding tech detailing to new bits. The look is anti-movieverse, it's a modern classic TF style all the way around. If I had an issue with the overall look, it'd be that the back is fairly open and small compared to the rest, but it's pretty minor a thing. Colors add white and black to the blue, plus more red elements. Articulation is top notch, pretty much only lacking rotation at the thighs, there's a lot of ball joints but it doesn't look it except at the elbows, and the waist can rotate from transformation (though it's offset back a little so the more it's used, the odder it looks). The gun detaches from the turret, it's on a ball-jointed 3mm clip which can be stowed on the back or put on the hand over a 3mm punch-extender on either fist, there's also 3mm roundbar on either side of the buttplate and the top of each forearm shield kibble - the shields themselves can be detached from the forearms and "held" on the fists or stowed on the back as they're also on 3mm clips! The instructions don't mention the shield thing, it feels like an undocumented feature, but they also don't mention that the gun can be used this way which is downright strange.

Overall, Breacher gets an A+, I can't imagine this not being the gold standard and benchmark of Scout-class figures to come.


Masterpiece Grimlock, I got this for my birthday. First off, it's REALLY annoying to get out of the package the first time. I do not understand why Hasbro releases these collector-focused figures in the US with the least collector-friendly packaging possible. Multiple trays and boxes and shells, and no explanation for how to get the figure out. If you do cut the right tape though, and then fuss with the various trays and doodads, you can replace it in the packaging, but that first time out was a real chore. Using rattan instead of twisties is good though, but the feet are just slammed into the tray, you have to get tough with that bottom tray.

Grimlock is legendary. I never had him as a kid, I think I may have had Slag for a minute, but definitely not Grimlock. I was of course aware of the king of the Dinobots though, the character is legendary, even to fans who didn't care about the Dinobots. I was never a massive fan of Grimlock or the Dinobots, I kinda liked the idea but it never was a driving excitement for me. Grim's dino mode didn't appeal to me when I was a kid because it was robotic and a little simple, but when I finally got the Beast Wars Dinobot and Megatron molds, I liked them but I yearned for a robotic dinosaur, and that's when it clicked in my head that Grimlock was a cool robot dinosaur. The idea of giant robot dinos trashing your town makes for an exciting imaginative scenario (even if it is a rather pointless "disguise" mode - giant dinosaur robot becomes large humanoid robot).

MP Grimlock's alt mode is pretty impressive despite being a bit small for a Masterpiece. It takes the cartoon's shape and adds the details one would expect extrapolated from the G1 toy. There's no Inchman control station anymore, but there are metal claws on the feet with jets in the soles, a flamethrower inside the mouth, decent jointing on the legs and arms, and some puppet action which is more fun than expected. The swappable eyes gimmick here is totally opaque despite being on a clear system, but it looks good anyway - although I totally prefer the red eyes in both modes, screw the 'toon. By moving the tail side to side, the head swivels at the base of the neck quite a bit, it's totally fun puppet action - it's done by gears, and if the tail isn't pulled back a little the head doesn't move much, but when you get it all lined up it's boss. The mouth full of silver chrome teeth opens 2 clicks, and pushing the cheek causes it to snap shut, although it's a bit wimpy of a snap it's still fun. Pushing down on the body at the hips causes the head to rise slightly if it's pointed down, this is pretty lame, but if you put the head pointed all the way up instead and then push the body down, the head snaps down which is a much more satisfying gimmick. The 3 finger-claws move but are very close together, I wish they were splayed, and the wrist doesn't rotate, but otherwise it's all good at the arms, they didn't overdo it so it's more true to the original's style while adding more articulation. The use of chrome is just right, very classic, as is the gray coloring and various other colored bits, it's a great deco. The scale of the bot seems to be something that would go great with G1 or Classics figures rather than with larger Masterpiece figures. I can sorta see it fitting with Alternators/Human Alliance scale as well... I think I'll go feed Grimlock some movie people in a few minutes. http://www.tfviews.com/forums/images...con_e_wink.gif Grims is pretty solid in this mode, although the tail pieces can get out of alignment playing with the puppet gimmick. Alt mode doesn't use ANY of his accessories, I'm glad they didn't bother with the brain transfer or bow tie or apron for this release, they're not what I'm looking for.

I never transformed the original, so I can't speak to whether or not it's true. This is a pretty simple transformation for a Masterpiece, but the legs keep it from being painfully simple, and there's a sliding gimmick that makes the Autobot symbol appear in the bot mode chest that's clever. It's also nice that the wings get a joint for "flapping" 1 stop. The second step of transformation makes Grimlock into a floppy mess until you get the legs sorted out, then he returns from the brink. There's a chance one or both hips will pop out during transformation, there's a clearance and a weight issue, but it's a ball joint, it doesn't care, it pops right back on. The head tucks away to the back much nicer than ANY previous Grimlock figure, it's still just hanging out between the wings but it tabs down and sits lower, it's simple but works (the tab is weak and it can come loose in bot mode tho'). Transforming back to dino mode is easy, but don't forget the tip of the tail, it's very easy to forget that.

Bot mode is a much leaner, meaner Grimlock than I'm used to, I've been poisoned by the last decade of Grimlock wannabes, too many of which were mediocre (Energon, Classics, Alternators, Titanium), so it is surprising to not see a gigantic chest or huge legs - the upper legs are almost petite even, but not really that out of scale to the chest. The bot mode feels a little unstable due to wiggle in the chest and some fit in the lower puzzle of leg and the head's tab not locking it tightly, but it is fairly stable actually, it more FEELS unstable. It doesn't help either that the upper body is where all the weight is, and the big claws now at the forearms are die-cast metal (the only other metal on this figure is the front and back of the crotch), what is it about Masterpiece Autobots being top-heavy? Grimlock has a solid look and good articulation, and 2 new gimmicks, plus he can use all his accessories. The sliding chromed eye panel is a good trick, and again, I prefer the red to the blue. The crown fits snugly but as accurate as it is, it's not quite delivering that "king Grimlock" comic look IMO. The blaster is cool and straightforward. The sword is red chrome handle with a clear blade, and a decent size. Both hand accessories can fit in the articulated-fingers left hand thanks to a small offset peg off the main peg. The right fingers are non-articulated (except the thumb) because it has an LED in the fist, press the back of the shoulder to light up either weapon - the sword looks way better than the gun for this, although I wish they had tinted it orange instead of leaving it clear since it's rather plain when not lit. The fist rotates and transforms like the left side, which is surprising given there's wiring in there. The big metal claws are now cuffs for the bot forearms, it doesn't entirely make sense to articulate them if they don't do anything with that in either mode, but by folding away the hands, the bot mode is given some big, heavy, nasty melee claw hands with jet nozzles in between, so that's got "imagination-help" charm. Articulation is very good, the knees are difficult to engage and the hips tend to want to de-transform when used, but they can be mastered. There's a little action in the feet on 2 axes, though I would have liked to see more tilt in the feet for an even wider stance.

At first, MP Grimlock seemed only "ok" for a $70 Masterpiece, he's not as detailed, not as complex, not as big, and not as tricky as the others in the line, but on his own he gains a ton of charm points, he delivers on the concepts set forth very smartly. MP Grimlock feels like an evolution of the G1 figure, bigger, better, more detailed, yet still true to what that character was about rather than trying to be something needlessly different and convoluted. I would absolutely recommend this figure on that basis. This is a figure that grows on you based on what it's saying and its charms, so it really needs time in your hands to appreciate it.

Overall grade would be an "A-" if you like the awesomeness that is Grimlock, or a "B-" if you are stodgy and don't love fun (or just aren't way into Grimlock and can't get past the pricetag).

[Chaddymac]

I'm curious, since I've heard no other reports, if you have any issues with the wiring on MP Grimlock. The light mechanism died on mine on day 2 and I've been laboring to repair it ever since.

[JediTricks]

I'm curious, since I've heard no other reports, if you have any issues with the wiring on MP Grimlock. The light mechanism died on mine on day 2 and I've been laboring to repair it ever since.

I remembered your post about the wiring and looked for troubles there, but have found none so far. Where was the issue specifically, in the bicep rotation joint, the elbow joints, or the wrist joints?

[Chaddymac]

I remembered your post about the wiring and looked for troubles there, but have found none so far. Where was the issue specifically, in the bicep rotation joint, the elbow joints, or the wrist joints?

technically, it wasn't a specific joint. But all the twisting and turning during transformation pulled one of the wires out of contact with the LED. The wires themselves were fine, the LED was fine, but the contacts are useless.

[JediTricks]

That sucks, sorry to hear it. Nothing of that has happened with mine so far, I've transformed it back and forth several times and haven't felt any resistance.