TF4 Grimlock Platinum Edition

Presenting the Mighty King of the Dinobots Grimlock from the TF4 Platinum Edition set.

This is the Grimlock that accompanies the Evasion Mode Optimus Prime from the aforementioned Platinum edition set.

Let's get the big white elephant out of the way, this is a Bayformer, which means that, other than the name and (surprisingly) the ability to transform into a Tyrannosaurus Rex, this Grimlock has little or nothing to do with the original G1 Grimlock. We're actually surprised that he didn't transform into a scooter.

As with the Platinum Edition  Evasion Mode Optimus Prime  this Grimlock is obviously heavily stylized with Chrome parts.

The other big question that remains is as to whether or not Grimlock will actually transform in the movie - as none of the trailers show him in Robot mode - or if he will just remain in his dinosaur mode.


The TF4 Platinum Edition Grimlock's blister card reads:
"Grimlock is the ultimate wild card. The Dinobot Leader has the power to decide the fate of the Earth almost single-handedly. His ferocious strength makes him a devastating force in battle. If that strength can be focused and harnessed for good, it could be enough to turn the tide, if not, it might be what seals Earth's doom." 

And that's why, it's good to be King.

What's to like about the TF4 Age of Extinction Platinum Edition Grimlock?

Grimlock turns into a Tyrannosaurus Rex, what's not to like about that? The First thing we love about the Voyager class Transformer combines two childhood loves: Robots and Dinosaurs - and not just any Dinosaur, the "King of Dinosaurs!"

Granted the T-Rex's reputation has been tarnished of late what with people trying to downgrade his status to being nothing more than a scavenging giant vulture (Recent developments have revealed that the T-Rex is both a Scavenger and a Predator - or was at least quite aggressive), but it's still pretty cool - look at all those teeth!




It's a bit of a letdown that only AOE Grimlock's lower teeth are chromed. His upper grill maintains a grayish silver hue. We've seen some people transform Grimlock but forget to lower his "ears" which makes him kinda look like a dog. Movie-artwork suggests that the "ears" should be slightly raised so that they look like vestigial horns more than ears, but we prefer them flat (T-Rex got no damn horns!).




You can almost see him breathing fire.

The second thing we love about the AOE Platinum Edition Grimlock is his design. It's certainly... unique. We've talked about how the Autobots we've reviewed are looking more and more like Knights and Dragon Hunters - particularly the AD01 Optimus Prime and TF4 Hound that we've featured - while the Dinobots were looking more and more like Barbarians - check out Slag/Slug. If we described the AD01 Optimus Prime as a Knight Lord, Grimlock radiates his status as King of the Barbarian horde what with being festooned with spikes, that huge club and what looks like a lion's mane. Grimlock is the big kahuna, top of the totem pole, heyoudonof*ckwith: 

Some people hate the chrome, personally we like it, if it's not your thing, that's cool. Check out how lanky he is. He kinda reminds us of Kareem Abdul Jabar as he appeared in Bruce Lee's "Games of Death."

We would have given Grimlock points for how menacing his face looks, but like  Slag/Slug and unlike the expression filled faces of  AD01 Optimus Prime and TF4 Hound that we've featured, TF4 Grimlock's face is under-detailed. If you think the "glow" in his eyes is because of paint, think again, that menacing look is light glare.

His whole face is a plain glossy black - lending credence to the idea that Grimlock will indeed not transform in the movie because they did not bother to detail what his face will look like (Also, no one has been cast as "Grimlock" according to IMDB - so no voice. No "Me Grimlock King!")

It looks like a great Gundam pen project though.

The Platinum Edition Grimlock's articulation is so-so. Given all the ball joints, you'd think it would rank quite high, and he does have that lovely ability to twist at the waist. He also has another unique feature, the ability to cant his ankles from side-to-side allowing for better stability for the tall figure.

Unfortunately the Transformers Age of Extinction Grimlock cannot kneel (Grimlock kneel to no-one! He can try as you an see here, but it's not quite a kneel) and you have to unlock his forearms in order for him to twist his wrists - normally they are locked in position.

The same wrist locks limit his leg motion in T-Rex mode.

What's NOT to like about the TF4 Age of Extinction Platinum Edition Grimlock?

WTF IS THAT!!!!


Okaaay, we see the point that his tail becomes some huge sting, but no. No. No. No No. NIEN!!!

What's with Grimlock having a club anyway? He cannot dual hold it. He can appear to dual wield it, but he cannot in reality. In fact to position the club, you have to unlock his forearms so that Grimlock's wrists can turn.

Because he cannot grip it with both hands, the only way he can really wield the club if he was to stab people with it. In our more macabre thoughts we envisioned Grimlock beating Decepticons to a pulp and then when they are close to dying, he'd step on their backs and stabs them with his club. The staff then becomes a sort of vacuum that sucks up energon (blood) from the dying fallen and gathers it up into that cup (It's hollow after all), that he then drinks from.

Now that's cool.

Another option would be to remove the hammer portion of his war club and switch the grip, creating a rather thin sword that.... just isn't regal enough for Grimlock:

Or you can give him FOC Grimlock sword

For those who are interested, here's the FOC Grimlock side-by-side with his Bayformer counterpart. We have to admit that there's a certain 'majesty' to the AOE Grimlock that is not present in the more brusque warrior look of the FOC Grimlock.




This particular Grimlock was purchased as part of the Transformers AOE Platinum edition set during the Transformers Age of Extinction toy line launch by ToyKingdom in Megamall for PhP 3,499.75 (Roughly US$ 77.77). He is not available on Amazon as of this writing and Toy Kingdom will revert to it's regular selling price of PhP 4,499.75 (Roughly US$ 99.99) after the Toy launch - though we haven't seen him on stands since.