Hasbro’s Fall of Cybertron voyager-class Grimlock was certainly one of the greater tragedies that saw release in 2013, perhaps second only to Hasbro’s Impactor. Grimlock was so close to being a solid figure (no pun intended), and initial preview images gave the impression that he’d be a worthy “default” Grimlock in our classics displays. That’s the way this should have played out.
Unfortunately, this Grimlock ended up being plagued with an awkward transformation and one of the worst cases of “hollow syndrome” we’ve seen yet. This figure was pretty darn far from perfect, and it’s difficult to imaging anyone feeling satisfied with the figure upon purchasing him.
Fortunately, third-party team Iron Factory has produced an add-on set that more or less saves the figure from continuing on as the mess he was out of the packaging.
There isn’t much to this set, but luckily a little goes a long way here. I picked this up from Big Bad Toy Store a few weeks ago on a whim with the hopes of saving this Grimlock figure. The box itself is quite small, and I like that Iron Factory didn’t attempt to replicate the look of the old packaging style the G1 Grimlock came in. I appreciate their going their own way here in terms of design. At a glance inside the packaging, it doesn’t look to be much more than a shield and a gun, but, in true Transformers fashion, there’s more to this set than a quick glance will divulge.
The above pics show us Grimlock as-is before the Iron Factory set is added. It’s not a terrible dino mode, but look at that gap on his underside. It’s terrible and it ruins the figure completely. There is no denying that this figure needs help.
Normally I display my Dinobots in dino mode, but this Grimlock has been the exception to that rule just because of that all-too-visible gap. This alone makes this Grimlock the “hollow syndrome’s” greatest victim.
Iron Feather devised a clever and effective way to address Grimlock’s shortcomings by crafting a “belly” for his dino mode. This piece also transforms to become the “wings” the G1 figure has on his back. In addition, two blasters were included that can be joined together to form a weapon that is not coincidentally reminiscent of the G1 Grimlock’s double-barreled cannon.
The belly piece makes a huge difference once it’s installed. It completely changes his dino mode into something you’d actually want to display. And it’s not a subtle change; it’s something you immediately notice and it makes such a huge difference. Now, in a perfect world, the two ball joints near his neck wouldn’t be visible either, but that’s just about the only fault I can find with this add-on piece in his dino mode.
The colors are just about a perfect match. In certain light it can appear to be off by just the smallest amount, but for the most part the gray and the gold detailing match the figure nicely, almost to the point that it looks like a official part of the figure.
Grimlock’s ‘bot mode is definitely the better of the two modes, and it’s actually pretty close to the source material in terms of both design and execution. The hollowness isn’t as visible, at least from the front, and he’s still a large, imposing figure — just as Grimlock should be, regardless of iteration.
What this set does for his ‘bot mode is it gives us the opportunity to make him more closely resemble his G1 design by adding those signature “wings” to his back, and Iron Factory gives us two options with which we can accomplish this. Now, this is not a necessary component to this set. Again, this is only for those of us that would like the FOC Grimlock to take on design elements from the G1 Grimlock figure. The Fall of Cybertron design does not include these wings.
Option 1:
The shield that attaches to the dino mode’s belly sort of transforms into two wings that are joined by an apparatus that plugs into the space just below the neck of his dino head — the same place the shield plugs into to create the dino-belly. The arms of the apparatus extend out to hold the wing parts in place just behind his shoulders.
I think it looks cool, and it adds even more mass to the figure to make him even more imposing. Plus, I always thought the G1 figure’s “wings” were one of the more interesting elements of his design, so I’m only too happy to have the chance to replicate that effect here. However, if this configuration isn’t “G1” enough for you, then option 2 would probably be more up your alley.
Option 2:
This configuration is much closer to his G1 look. Included with the shield and blaster are a set of ball joints and connector pieces. These allow you to remove the T-Rex arms from the dino mode and attach them to the wings. The shield pieces then attach to either side of the dino head with the included connector pieces to form his wings this way. I love the way this looks because it is just that much closer to the G1 design.
Be careful, though. After popping the joints on and off a couple times, the ball joints on mine became fairly loose. This is probably nothing a little heat couldn’t fix, but it’s worth mentioning. At the time these pics were snapped, some of these pieces were literally flopping around just as loose as can be, so I’m going to need to address this as soon as possible.
His gun is a cool extra that further completes his “G1 transformation.” I do prefer the sword and shield combo he comes packed with, but the gun goes a long way in making this guy a decent approximation of the G1 figure.
I do think this set is worth a purchase for anyone who had either version of the FOC Grimlock figure, standard or platinum. It really does “save” the figure and makes it a worthy display piece, which is really no small feat. It can be had rather cheaply ($22.99) from Big Bad Toy Store, but even though it’s on the less expensive end of the third-party spectrum, it still ends up being more than the figure itself, so that is something to take into consideration. I’m happy I bought it, and I think just about any fan of Grimlock would be happy with it as well.