Fall of Cybertron Grimlock

Transformers have been with me through a big part of life, but with ups and downs. In recent years, my interests had wavered slightly, at least from what they had been. It really had nothing to do with a particular series or anything, but more with how the brand as a whole has mostly been limited to the same old things, with worsening quality. And with both my collection of movie and Classics items reaching satisfying levels, I had little more to gain. Despite the lack of change in the brand, I suppose when you push the right things enough anyone would be bound to crack at some point, the Fall of Cybertron toys have done that for me.

Before I get to Grimlock, I need to explain why this figure surprised me in the great way it did. You see, since the Dark of the Moon toys came out, the quality of Transformers have been quickly degrading in the worsening economy. Many of the DOTM toys didn’t even look as good as their 07’ movie counterparts from four years prior! The Transformers Prime First Edition figures also left me hopeful, until the much cheaper main line was introduced. The Fall of Cybertron toys didn’t look to have a much better start, given that what constitutes a Deluxe price figure now was equivalent to a Scout class figure from years ago. Although I won’t say the toys were bad, the first wave of figures was disheartening at best.

This Grimlock breaks the downward pattern Transformers have suffered from as of late. While Starscream already blew me away, Grimlock really takes things to the next level. Despite being based on the video game’s design, Grimlock is a really good interpretation of his G1 self, I’d say this figure represents the character better than his Classics toy from 2007 even. The toy also features a light-up gimmick in the mouth of his dinosaur mode head, simulating the fire that Grimlock could breathe. This really impressed me for a Voyager priced toy to feature a light-up gimmick with batteries included, when so many figures they release these days barely have a proper amount of paint to them.

If Grimlock had a problem, it’s that he’s fairly hollow. This really isn’t noticeable until you have him in T-rex mode, but it does put a damper on that somewhat. With that said, Grimlock is a big figure, especially in robot mode, so I find it to be understandable.

Overall, FOC Grimlock features a lot of things I like. He has a simple conversion, good articulation, good paint, great gimmick, and a good size on top of all that. All in all, this is the best Grimlock figure ever made, and I think he can be enjoyed by both fans of the game, and those who aren’t.