Transformers Cyberverse Ultimate class Seismis Stomp Grimlock, aka the Leader sized Grimlock figure, was found in a Canadian Walmart last friday by yours truly. This toy has yet to hit the US (if it has, let us know) so I thought I could give you a pictorial review since there is very little coverage on this toy.
While it is leader sized, the Cyberverse Ultimate class is very much a thing of its own at its own price point. You get a toy bigger than any Transformers Siege leader figure for the price of a Siege voyager figure, so you basically get what you are paying for. For 4-8 year old kids, that can be a rather big value. They get a nice big toy and parents don't have to spend a lot for it. And the toy itself, isn't bad, for the money. It's basically as articulated and complex as any toy from the fabled Cybertron line from over 10 years ago. Of course, the sculpt is not as detailed, the plastic is lighter and it is more hollow.
Here is the imposing robot mode. The Jetfire in the images below is voyager sized.
While the legs are rather chunkier than usual for Grimlock, it goes with the overall bulky look, so I don't mind that. What I do mind is that head sculpt which while nice on its own does not invoke Grimlock enough. The eyes are too insectoid to my liking and instead of giving him either a mouth or a faceplate, they went with a merger of both with a teeth detailed plate (I think?). Either way, it looks nothing like the drawing on the box, nor like any take on G1 Grimlock I can remember.
The articulation is the same as the Age of Extinction voyager, or just about. So yeah, gorilla arms. But to be fair, this bot doesn't come with any weapons that would demand extra arm articulation and story wise, he fights more in beast mode than robot mode. Here is what I got to do for posing. You will also see the seismic stomp gimmick at play below. Stomping his feet does set off two spring loaded gimmicks where clear blue plastic stomp effects pop downwards onto the floor.
The transformation was surprising in the fact that there was at least one new thing to the classic G1 Grimlock transformation. The legs themselves make up his belly rather than mainly the tail. It's more complex than the transformation of POTP Grimlock when going from Bot to Dinosaur. The details of his robot chest line up nicely with the lower back of the dinosaur mode to make it seem like those robot mode details are not out of place on the dinosaur mode. The dinosaur mode is rather short when keeping it in a vertical axis (as was POTP Grimlock's), which is what official renders do. However, if you raise him up a bit, with a stance similar to the original Grimlock, it works much better. Especially since his tail is raised up permanently. While I do not like that about his tail, that particular issue ends up moot when posed upright. It also gives Grimlock a nicer range of poses for his neck. I do like the details in his mouth when you open it. The T-Rex mode has as much articulation as most Grimlock dino modes of the past. The gimmick here means those same blue pieces come out of the tail now.
In the end, if you want to give your kids a nice big Grimlock without breaking the bank, this does the job nicely. The transformation is not dumbed down and the articulation does the trick for this character. And for any Grimlock fans, this looks very nice and imposing on a shelf. It's just very much a kids toy, and I don't see anything wrong with that, especially at that lower price point.
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