Hpoo's Mini MP Grimlock review.

[Hereticpoo]

From TF wiki: "The "Masterpiece" line is a series of Transformers created by Takara to update a character's G1 toy with today's advanced engineering techniques."

(Sorry forgot to rotate some pics) :o

And they did a dam good job. Like i said quick review. Please add your thoughts if I seem vague or if you'd like more detail. :)

MP Grimlock is a must have figure. Its a big call to make, especially given the price of the figure. 12000 JPY at robotkingdom with the current ex rates plus postage put's him at $220 - $240 if you buy him on your own without a group order.

But he's simply beautiful.

BOX and Accesories: Massive box, almost twice as deep as the seekers boxes. There's the mind transfer device, individual cups, goblets, and serving tray, bow tie, waiters apron, sword and gun. The accesories are nice touches, but most western fans would have appreciated the crown more. (hint hint FP :p) I've only played with the sword and gun.

http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss150/Hereticpoo/DSCF0324.jpg

http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss150/Hereticpoo/DSCF0325.jpg

http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss150/Hereticpoo/DSCF0327.jpg

Bot Mode: Good articulation in the arms and legs, the feet tilt to the side for extra poseability, minimal hip articulation, pretty stock standard stuff. The chrome :eek: I stared at the figure for 20 minutes willing my hands to de-oil them selves before touching it, but you cant transform it without making contact with the shiny stuff, I recommend clear coating the silver on the tail. Only because I thought I was immune to the MP Megs cosmic rust, prevention is better than the cure.

http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss150/Hereticpoo/DSCF0328.jpg

Dino Mode: Cooler than Bruce Campbell (Ash in Army of Darkness, the 80's babies will get it ;))

The tail is fixed in a curve, so that when you try and put him into a T-rex on the prowl stance he looks like a domestic cat. He's still nice and mean looking, the dino head can tilt a long way vertically so you can make some snappy poses.

Overall: a perfect rendition of G1 Grimlock, however the price is really steap so I can understand if people put it off in the hope of Hasbro's being cheaper. (if it even happens)
For those of you waiting for yours, it'll be worth it. I almost asked my wife for 5 mins alone with it. :D

http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss150/Hereticpoo/DSCF0331.jpg

[STL]

Nice, can't wait for mine to arrive!

[blackie]

cant wait for next week :D

[GoktimusPrime]

"Hail to the King, baby." :)

I want this toy, but not for what it would cost me to get it from Japan. :( Come on Hasbro, you know you wanna release this toy -- with crown! *Jedi.mind.trick@Archer*

[Lord_Zed]

Overall: a perfect rendition of G1 Grimlock, however the price is really steap so I can understand if people put it off in the hope of Hasbro's being cheaper. (if it even happens)
For those of you waiting for yours, it'll be worth it. I almost asked my wife for 5 mins alone with it. :D

http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss150/Hereticpoo/DSCF0331.jpg

Hehe I like the sound of that.

Makes me want to parphrase an old Simpsons episode.

"Marge I'd like to be alone now with the toy"
"you'r not going to play with it are you"
pauses........
"yes"

Can't wait!

[SentinelPrime]

Best MP yet! I think it is worth the money.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Yeh, I busted mine out yesterday! FEAKING AMAZING! I have been disappointed with the Masterpieces since after Convoy came out, but Grimbo is brillo!:D

Nice size, excellent balance in robot mode. The articulation goes down to his toes dammit! Its just beautiful to behold! Nice head movement, arm and leg, little bit of waist movement available too.

The Sword and gun are cool. The light looks great through them and the gun even has a couple of tiny little gaps in the black that allow some light through like they are meant to be vents. The Sword just looks fatastic when lit up, the grooves that have been moulded in just add a bit of texture and makes its awesome! I am gonna have to take some snappy-haps tomorrow night methinks.

Shame about the apron though. I second the FP crown making project! The tray and drinks are pretty cool and some of the drinks even look like they have liwuid in them! The bow tie I can see as getting lost easily as mine has dropped out of the box as I put him back in:o

I told the wife I was gonna sleep in the spare room with him... When I started taking him out of the box, I think I was drooling a little. Thats how good he is. My Henkei and Universe Cyclonie are looking a little jealous that they aren't the best tfs ever anymore. Still, the price is err, well pricey. But I am glad I got one.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Managed to get some snaps before the sun came up this morning. WOOOO LIGHTY!

The sword is very cool. Check out th lines which add some awesome texture to the light effect. Almost looks as is if the sword is pulsing/flowing with energon!!
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k313/Wootnchoo/IMG_0817.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k313/Wootnchoo/IMG_0827.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k313/Wootnchoo/IMG_0828.jpg

The Gun. This one has the "vents" I was talking about.
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k313/Wootnchoo/IMG_0821.jpg
The very left has the handle that goes into his fist, the middle light is the vent and the right is the barrel.


http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k313/Wootnchoo/IMG_0822.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k313/Wootnchoo/IMG_0824.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k313/Wootnchoo/IMG_0826.jpg
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k313/Wootnchoo/IMG_0831.jpg


One cool thing I noticed, when transforming him from robot to dino, the insignia on his chest disappears, and re-appears when going back to robo mode!!

[gamblor916]

Grimlock is cool. It's a nice touch that the gun is the original upsized.

[Robzy]

Oooo... Me Robzy love MP Grimlock! :eek:

[k.wong23]

sweet! can't wait to get my hands on this baby :)

[Hereticpoo]

I can't decide if Im a blue eyes guy or a red eyes guy. A wonderful dilemma :)

Transformation note; the knee ratchets are mega tight. So tight that the ratchet sounds like the teeth will snap. There's some nice little screws that can be loosened a tad. I loosened mine enough to get rid of the 'snapping plastic' sound. So now I hear a nice click instead.

[kup]

My MP Grimlock arrived today:

http://www.geocities.com/wow_frostwolf/tf3/mpgrimlock.jpg

Although I have serious issues with the choice of sticking to a strict 'G1' Grimlock instead of modernizing the T-Rex, I must say that I am very impressed by the quality of this figure. Yeah most of it is plastic but it is of a pretty thick and great looking plastic which makes Grimlock very solid in both modes, particularly robot.

I was surprised to see that despite its engineering being a pretty straight translation of the G1 toy, the size of it adds a new dynamic making it much more complex than G1 as you have to take the size of the parts into account while transforming him. I also found the way it handles the leg 'tail' kibble as pretty clever even if it feels somewhat fragile.

Although Grimlock is a pretty sturdy figure; one still has to be careful with his joints, they are pretty stiff and reasonably small ratcheting joints that do carry a lot of weight from the limbs and having them so stiff makes you feel as if they are about to snap.

Overall I am very impressed by the quality of this figure and do not regret the purchase as I feared I would despite the cost. In terms of quality, this is the best MP hands down.

The worst part of course is that it did not come with the Crown but instead they chose to include that ridiculous waiter kit including the bow tie :(. I haven't even tried it on the figure because its so full of Season 3 suck that its best to leave it in the box.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Intersting that you mention the fact they didn't update the rex. I would have passed on Grimlock if they had. I guess its how you interpret what the Masterpiece line should be.

They way I see it, Masterpiece is to make the best iconic characters as good as can be made, so IMO they did the right thing by keeping him Godzilla like. It would feel wrong to me if they did give him the new rex shape, after all that is what Henkei and Classics is/were all about.

Yes, the lack of crown does suck. Blasted apron.:o

[Lord_Zed]

I think modernising the Dino mode would have divided fans, I would still probably have gone for it, cause I like big fancy detailed robots but hey.

Played with my Grimlock on the weekend and he is cool, lots of fun, great detail, and I like the way he can switch from Comic/Toy Grimlock to Cartoon just from his eye switch. Size is great to far as I'm concerned all good he can take on the seekers.

his Gun and Sword are cool, apron and lame brain hat suck. I do like the bow tie though! :D I want to get him a top hat and a monicle so I can make TF Movie premier Grimlock, or out on the town Grimlock.

So overall yes a really cool Masterpiece, the price keeps me from saying best ever because I also really like Skywarp who was considerably cheaper when I bought him, and Convoy.

The worst part is, now I want more MP Dinobots or even better MP Insecticon team. I excpect Takara will release both soon after geneticly engineered flying pigs are anounced. :p

[STL]

The worst part is, now I want more MP Dinobots or even better MP Insecticon team. I excpect Takara will release both soon after geneticly engineered flying pigs are anounced. :p

:D

My sentiments are very similar to yours. I love the toy absolutely in both modes but price is the thing keeping me from declaring its the best ever. It certainly is one of my favourites because it captures the G1 feel so well and the proportions are so perfect as compared to MP-05 or the MP Seekers. I think the transformation is rather dull once you take the tail out but it serves it's purpose as a perfect representation of the character incredibly well. The articulation ignoring the hips is perfect and the balance is great too. No stability issues whatsoever which were prevalent in MP-05 and the MP Seekers.

Only thing though was I doubt I'd enjoy this toy anywhere near as much if they'd redesigned the Dinobot mode.

[GoktimusPrime]

I saw this toy in an import store today for $329! Yeah no thanks.

[The Scream Man]

There are still import stores around Sydney that would buy this?

[kurdt_the_goat]

Just a few random snapshots of pure awesome!

http://www.australian-postcodes.com/P1030511.jpg
http://www.australian-postcodes.com/P1030515.jpg
http://www.australian-postcodes.com/P1030519.jpg
http://www.australian-postcodes.com/P1030522.jpg

[sifun]

Where'd that crown go from the proto???? :(

[GoktimusPrime]

to be fair, the crown is fairly meaningless to most Japanese TF fans. Here's hoping Hasbro will release this toy and include the crown.

[GoktimusPrime]

I saw and handled gamblor916's MP Grimlock today. My very basic & brief overview: this toy is 45% Masterpiece, 45% upscaled G1 toy, 5% gimmicks. The toy does have quite a few gimmicks, but they don't overwhelm the toy nor detract from the overall engineering. Basically the lower half of the toy is like a Masterpiece in terms of complexity and ingenuity, whereas the upper half is fundamentally an upscale of the G1 toy.

[jacksplatt11]

What's the last 5%?

[liegeprime]

What's the last 5%?

Accessories

[Lord_Zed]

Accessories

No, Awesomeness!!! :D

[GoktimusPrime]

What's the last 5%?
Evidently my dyscalculia. :p ;) :D

"I'm a sadist, not a mathematician!" - Dart Zader
("Star Roars: Re-Hash of the Jeti", MAD Magazine)

[Ironhide63]

aw Grimlock...my second most favourite Transformer (after Ironhide ofcourse)
can someone plz tell me how much these are(AUD) and where I can order one...if I still can... otherwise ill have to go for TFA Grimlock...

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

aw Grimlock...my second most favourite Transformer (after Ironhide ofcourse)
can someone plz tell me how much these are(AUD) and where I can order one...if I still can... otherwise ill have to go for TFA Grimlock...
He aint cheap If you can find one $220 or so, maybe more if you're unlucky. Apparently Taktom are gonna do another run of it, so might be wise to wait a bit and get form from HLJ or something.

Masterpiece Grimlock and Animated Grimbo are two very different pieces of work, barely comparable

[GoktimusPrime]

Do you think $220-230's a decent price? Because that's how much I'm seeing them being sold for at local import stores.

[kup]

Do you think $220-230's a decent price? Because that's how much I'm seeing them being sold for at local import stores.

At this point in time, that is cheap.

However wait till the second batch is released.

[Hereticpoo]

Do you think $220-230's a decent price? Because that's how much I'm seeing them being sold for at local import stores.


Thats pretty cheap. Thats was the price of mine inc shipping from RK at a dismall exchange rate (64-65c i think). You might fare a little better now that the exchange rate is around the 75c mark.

[jaydisc]

I think that's a good price too, especially for a walk-in. I overheard someone theorize that it would be better to get now due to the potential mold degradation of a second run. Does mold degradation occur that quickly?

[GoktimusPrime]

Thats pretty cheap. Thats was the price of mine inc shipping from RK at a dismall exchange rate (64-65c i think). You might fare a little better now that the exchange rate is around the 75c mark.
It's a walk-in local import store, so their price won't be effected by fluctuations in the AUD since they're already selling it in AUD. :) Seems like a good price but after playing with gamblor916's MP Grimlock I'm not sure if I want to pay that much for that toy. While there are some really nice and admirable qualities in that toy, it's like a half oversized G1 and half real MP in terms of engineering - so to me it feels like a "quasi Masterpiece." But anyway, if anyone else wants to buy it for that price, then go check out your local import shops! :)