Toy Review - WfC Kingdom Voyager Dinobot

Series - Generations
Sub-line - War For Cybertron
Sub-sub-line - Kingdom Come
Size/class - Voayger
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 2
Released here - March 2021
Approximate Retail Price - $50


Raptor mode:

Excellent sculpt especially the head, and the molded skin texture is complimented nicely by the well painted stripes. The legs look much more natural when slightly splayed out. The dino hands are a non issue for me, as the arms are well articulated for natural-looking poses. I also don't mind the bot mode chest details showing on the back the thighs; it's such an ingenious design I'm willing to overlook the compromise here in raptor mode. The purple sword tip however baffles me. HasTak even sculpted skin texture on top side of the tip. I would've probably been content if they did the sword a bit shorter but have it completely housed inside the tail.

https://i.imgur.com/Xmuiq5Jh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Z05kCioh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/85Reid4h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/LnltAclh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/9ptLFtDh.jpg


Biggest issue with raptor mode is the engineering severely limits poseability. Then again I'm not sure at Voyager price they could've done any better than this, aside from maybe allowing the head to tilt further back. Also under the jaw there's a spring loaded piece that compresses for robot mode. If this piece wasn't there, a neck rotation probably could've been worked in; but without this piece to the neck will most definitely look too thin side on with the cut away to allow the head to come down.
https://i.imgur.com/Y6Xn4pLh.jpg

He looks really good with Megatron; but Meg's is so expressive, pulling off all kinds of awesome T-rex poses, Dinobot just looks like a brick in comparison.
https://i.imgur.com/06VTWPph.jpg


Transformation:
Sometimes I think to myself: Maybe John Warden & co. held back on doing anything for the 20th anniversary of Beast Wars for a reason: maybe he wasn't confident HasTak at that point would be able to do justice to characters like Dinobot and Blackarachnia. Had TT not tackled Dinobot and Blackarachnia in the MP format, I'm not too sure these two would've turned out as great as they are now, as TT would've had much less time and resources to come up with a fresh transformation scheme.

Just like Blackarachnia, the general flow of transformation here follows the MP version closely. The use of thigh panels to form the sides of the 'bot mode chest is pure genius imo. The majority of the chest mass is still formed by the real raptor head, thus eliminating faux parts and the need to hide them in raptor mode. On a retail figure, one part saved here means extra poseability/feature/pain apps somewhere else.


Robot mode:

Great looking 'bot mode with a surprisingly high degree of cartoon accuracy. Had we not had the MP version already we would've collectively lost our sh!t over what this thing's managed to pull off at the Voyager size. They even got the proportions mostly right; hands are on the big side, but they are there for raptor mode stability, and loaded with articulation so I'm not complaining. Kibble's kept to a minimum. If the gold details were picked out with some extra paint, Hasbro will probably lose money selling it as a
Voyager..

https://i.imgur.com/qLAHnb6h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hPMUs3Cl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/d6Axvacl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CpuLSPyl.jpg



If you weren't convinced that TT reused the MP head sculpt CAD models and scaled them down for Kingdom Primal, Megs and Blackarachnia, Dinobot is prettty solid evidence imho. Well executed paint apps too. Just a great great head sculpt.
https://i.imgur.com/TO8zwz5l.jpg


Articulation is excellent. The neck ball joint has a wonder up and down and tilt range. The ankle has front to back hinge thanks to transformation (the left ankle front to back joint is quite loose on mine; hopefully it's not a wide spread issue). And the wrist also have a lateral rotation carried over from raptor mode.
https://i.imgur.com/ykQbdBdh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0Q2q4znh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7qJOF47h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/e6Bs1Kyh.jpg

He fits right in with the other Kingdom BW 'bots.
https://i.imgur.com/XQZiSSqh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/levDOOEh.jpg

Just need Rhinox, Airazor and Tigatron to complete the crew!
https://i.imgur.com/SW4shMVh.jpg


Overall:
The engineering and 'bot mode alone is already worth the Voyager price imo.

Really looking forward to getting this one. The robot mode chest is a great touch - I hate faux parts and this seems to be a perfect middle ground between maintaining toon accuracy and using the raptor head as the chest.

complete the crew? What about my boy Depthcharge?

Nice pics! Dinobot has always been an itch I haven't been able to scratch. One of my fav TF characters and I've never been happy with any of his toy incarnations. (I'm not a MP collector).
So I'm really excited for this!
The only negative that I can see so far is that his tail-spiny-shield thingy does actually spin. Correct?

Picked this up this morning.

My main issue with this figure is the extent to which WFCK Megatron has spoiled me.

Both have characterful robot modes. Characterful, postable, accurate to source and soild. They both have that 'leaped off the screen' look.

Both have pretty good transformations. Dinobot's is probably better, because it relies less on shellforming and actually does interesting things with the alt mode mass. I especially love the way that the chest of the robot is actually a really flush compact comibation of the dino mode arms, thighs and head. That's the kind of engineering I love to see - I love it when alt mode parts are integrated, instead of just hanging off (or indeed hiding inside) the robot mode.

However, the dino mode itself is boring compared to Megatron's. It's certainly accurate to source, but is otherwise something of a brick. There's no forward and back at the hips, only side to side. The head can only look up and down, not side to side. The tail is immobile. The forearms having a full range of motion (odd wrists notwithstanding) helps, but it is basically impossible to get any kind of dynamic pose out of it. Your options are variations on 'just standing there looking straight ahead', with the variations mainly being how open the mouth is and how splayed the legs are.

I'll quote myself from the WFCK Megs thread:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark

Part of the reason I'm not big into figures with organic beast modes is because they're usually bricks.

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Unfortunately, this is the case here.

Overall it is a good figure in the sense that it has an incredible robot mode and a fun transformation, but the dinosaur mode is disappointing, especially in comparison to other figures in the line.

Love this guy. The WFC Trilogy has spat out some truly excellent voyagers and this is no exception. He's a little mini masterpiece who made such a primo impression that I started to expect some green laser eye blast effects to be packaged in the box. Very handsome and surprisingly robust in both bot and beast mode. Only minor complaints are the typical I DEMAND MORE BEAST ARTICULATION (even though its pretty generous already), hip shells not connecting too great (though I may be doing something wrong here) and not having a designated stow point for his tail (though it can be put loosely in his back 'quiver' which is pretty cool I guess). EDIT: +1 gripe, unreasonably floppy elbows

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark

It's certainly accurate to source, but is otherwise something of a brick... ...but it is basically impossible to get any kind of dynamic pose out of it.

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I think you gotta get a bit creative with this guy. I do understand the criticism, I myself would happily trade some of that arm articulation for a neck swivel, but for a voyager and a beast no less his dynamism is pretty alright. I don't have Megatron yet though, so maybe I am speaking as someone who is yet to be spoiled!

https://i.imgur.com/PIUfVESh.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/xw8xAYxh.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/fbGz8HXh.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/7kfDFwOh.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/ZnL2il1h.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/oYLOayMh.jpeg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lint

...hip shells not connecting too great...

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I see from your photos what you mean about the hip panels, although I managed to clip mine together to sit flush.

All in all, I am very impressed with this figure, and I like it more than the Masterpiece (when I take into consideration how much each cost). The transformation is fun and the perfect complexity, and I love how they managed to find a satisfying compromise with the robot chest by incorporating the actual beast head, along with some faux chest panels to make it show accurate.

After being a little bit worried due to some of the YT reviews, I'm well pleased with this guy. You know when you really, really like a figure despite its flaws and the (legitimate) criticisms raised against it?
Yeh, this is one of them.
The backpack, the mishmash of bits making up the torso, the lack of paint on the legs, the not bulky enough arms, the visible bot bits in beast mode, the weird raptor forearms...
Nope, don't care about any of it.
So its not perfect and it has issues, but it doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment or look of the figure. Its fun and quite impressive given what it does. I'm really enjoying it and am very happy to finally have an awesome version of my fav Beast Wars character (itch officially scratched).
Second best Kingdom figure so far (behind the near-perfect Cyclonus).