Series - Studio Series
Size/class - Leader
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - 1
Released here - April 2018
Approximate Retail Price - $90


Dino mode:
He's big and impressive. COVERED in sculpted details. Lighter than what you expect but very overall pretty a very solid dinosaur, aside from the 'bot mode butt flap which could've easily had a locking tab instead of just hanging there against gravity with mere friction of the hinge that it attaches to. I found you can have one side of the rubbery piece rest on one of the tail spikes to stop the butt flap from drooping.

The dry brush look is very awesome in person. I personally don't mind the small gaps on the body. Articulation is somewhat limited in dino mode. The already ball jointed feet are no sort of locked on the side to side direction due to transformation, and the jaw hinge has only two click points and it doesn't even fully close, which makes him look quite derpy with his half open mouth. Luckily the 'bot arm joint is still accessibly in dino mode which now has the upper body turn side to side. This is quite helpful in creating some aggressive dino poses.














Transformation:
Surprisingly simple for its size but very effective. It's almost like sculpt and paint were taken as priority on this figure. I wish there'd be more in the leg transformation to further distinguish between 'bot and dino legs. But all in all I think the end results are quite impressive.

'Bot mode:
I agree with the internet that this is the mode that shines. Again, that dry brush is GODLIKE. In find the whole thing looks better under natural lighting. You could even argue that this is the best paint job on a mainline Transformer toy, ever. Combined with the ILM CGI-powered sculpt and the sheer size, this guy just has this incredible presence, which I could only feel from Masterpiece figures like MP-36 Megatron. I especially like how they didn't skimp on the faux dino head details, and how the waist armor pieces integrate seamlessly as one piece of skirt armor.

Articulation is adequate. The armor pieces do bump into each other in some more dynamic poses though, and the ankle ball joint has quite limited range.














Overall:
Grimlock is a really strong start to the Studio Series. I'd long lost interest in the mainline movie figures and was gonna just cherry pick 2 or 3 figures from this new line. But just seeing them on the shelf in person and owning two figures, and how they look together completely changed my mind that I'm considering going completionist. Goes to show what HasTak are capable of when they're not being cheap.