Transformers FOC Grimlock

Presenting the Fall of Cybertron (FOC) Grimlock! One of the best - if not the best - thing to come out of the Transformers Fall of Cybertron is, hands-down - is being able to play the Mighty King, Grimlock!

And what a character he is to play! Grimlock is a walking tank, he shrugs off damage, grabs Decepticons and repeatedly stabs them with his Bastard Sword to recover health or use them as handheld weapons or thrown projectiles, and has a nigh-impenetrable shield to keep him safe. He's a tank! A Lord of the Battlfield! While playing him, you can't help but mutter "Me Grimlock, King!"

And of course he commands the Dinobots who are all similarly tough and unstoppable forces of nature


The Transformers Fall of Cybertron Grimlock's blister card reads "There was a time when the rage that boils inside Grimlock would have driven him straight to the ranks of the Decepticons. 

But while his flawed manner of speaking may make him sound strange, he's smart enough to recognize a bully when he sees one - and Grimlock doesn't like bullies. It's this that fuels his dedication to the fight against the Decepticons."

His only downside in the video-game is that Grimlock tends to be a waddling slowpoke - the price of all that armor I suppose.

FOC Grimlock's stats are listed as:

• Strength - 10 - no surprise there
• Intelligence - 7  - Higher than what I expected
• Speed - 5 - Yup. Really slow
• Endurance - 10 
• Rank - 9
• Courage  - 10
• Fireblast - 9 - we'll talk more about this later
• Skill - 8

What's to like about the Transformers FOC Grimlock? 

Unfortunately, not much. I like the overall basic articulation of FOC Grimlock but I'm particularly intrigued by the articulation of his shoulder blades. That was a pleasant surprise for someone so big.

If you have him, you'll find them a bit stiff, but, if treated with care, they are quite interesting and you make take a while just to familiarize yourself with just how much the new shoulder joints enhance FOC Grimlock.

The "racheting" sounds of his arms is also a pleasant surprise. You should be a bit wary though and do indeed take the time to familiarize yourself with the arms as these are not your standard ball joints that can easily be popped in and out. I'm not sure what happens if you overstress the joints.

Another really nice thing about the FOC Grimlock is that he's really, really big!!!  And given the fact that he doesn't have ball-joints in his shoulders, he can do all sorts of things:

His T-Rex mode also benefits greatly from Grimlocks improved shoulder joints and the T-Rex is quite a close tribute to his video-game version:

You can also clip on Grimlock's bastard sword and shield to the mounts on his sides, but I think he'd benefit more with a little long-range firepower:





But the best part of all is that he can be made to "Breathe" fire:

What's NOT to like about the Transformers FOC Grimlock? 

Here we go:

• Let's start with, while FOC Grimlock is quite big, he's just not "Big" and menacing enough. Take a look for example at the image of Grimlock being held captive by Shockwave. Now that's menacing:

From Transformers wiki

• It doesn't help that the Transformers Fall of Cybertron Grimlock tends to.... "Show his insides" a lot. He tends to be visibly hollow especially from behind and when he's upside down in Dinosaur mode:

• Speaking of his Dinosaur mode, Fall of Cybertron Grimlock's tail is swollen and huge in comparison to the sleek tail that he has in the video-game:

• By the way, the tiny arms that he has in robot mode? They keep popping out when Grimlock is in robot mode.
• You can actually also light up Grimlock's chest by activating the same button that activates his breath weapon, but it doesn't do much. I wish it lighted up his eyes but all it really does is light up the Autobot signal on his chest:

• Next up is Grimlock's shield. It's waaay to small to protect anything other than his arm. In the video-game, he uses his shield to protect his entire body as can be seen here:

Photo from Forevergeek.com

And personally I don't think he's "Metallic" enough. Perhaps the Takara version will be.

This particular Transformers Fall of Cybertron Grimlock was purchased from one of my favote E-bay suppliers Victoyoyoys for PhP 2,000 (Roughly US$ 47.61). He is available on Amazon for US$ 54.99 (Roughly PhP 2,309.58 plus shipping).

Despite all the flaws I suppose I still want him. Grimlock is after all, King.