AOE Dinobot Slog - Sludge

Presenting the Voyager Class Dinobot Slog - Sludge - from the Transformers Age of Extinction toyline - AOE.

Slog is based upon the Dinobot Sludge. Michael Bay in his infinite wisdom decided that, as with Slug / Slag,  that it would be better to call Sludge, Slog.

To the uninitiated, Slog is actually a real character in the Transformers timeline. Slog is a Deception Pretender - a robot that hides within the hide of some hideous looking beast and one of the combiners who formed Monstructor. The Decepticon Slog also formed the artistic movement called Slogism which depicted the war between the Decepticons and the Autobots in mangled horrific forms.

Michael Bay decided to remake him as a Dinobot. To his credit, Bay also remade him from being a Brontosaurus - a creature that actually never existed and was created out of the erroneous combination of two distinct dinosaurs - to being an Apatosaurus. It's interesting how much our knowledge of dinosaurs has grown since we first saw the Dinobots in 1984.


The Transformers Age of Extinction Dinobot Slog's blister card reads: "Slog is low on brainpower, even by Dinobot standards. He's slow, lumbering and absolutely gigantic. When you're that big, most problems get stamped out pretty quickly, sometimes before you even know they're there. 


But what Slog lacks in brains he makes up for in brawn. Anything he tramples snaps under his massive feet. The Dinobots know that he can clear a path through any enemy line... as long as they point him in the right direction first."

Here's where we kinda disagree with Slog - Sludge's role in the battlefield. Grimlock is King; Strafe is your scout; Slug / Slag is your skirmisher; Scorn is your juggernaut/can-opener. Slog - Sludge is slow. Dim-witted. Yes, you can arm him with swords and let him loose, and that would truly be fearsome, but we feel he can serve a better purpose - artillery - a fixed/slow moving point that unleashes barrage-after-barrage of fire-and-forget.

An argument can even be made that the cavernous holes atop his forearms are cannons - which is why his forearms can crack open as if to dissipate heat.

What's to like about the TF AOE Dinobot Slog - Sludge?

FIRST: We really think that the artillery concept works for Slog - Sludge and we prefer him looking this way versus him waving his cannons around like swords - but then we've always had a bias for over-the-shoulder weaponry.

We can really imagine those two rail guns lighting up, pulsating and releasing hot plasma rounds at a fortified Decepticon position while AOE Slog - Sludge fires away at anyone that gets too close with the smaller rail guns on his shoulders or his forearm mounted cannons.

It really pays to be big sometimes. Naturally bearing all that firepower and being so slow makes him a prime target, but SECOND  look at all the armor that AOE Dinobot Slog - Sludge brings to bear! Thick! Scaled armor. Even the back of his head has additional armor thanks to the Cowl that he has. Finding a weak spot during combat should prove most challenging (Even his faceplate and butt are armored).

THIRD: We love the detailing that went into AOE Dinobot Slog - Sludge's faceplate and upper torso. It has a chitinous front-face-plate, a crowned bucket helmet that looks like it can be used to open doors, and that Chestplate! Clawed armor plating that proudly announces "Yes! There's something vital inside! Now do your worst to get through!"

FOURTH: Well if you don't subscribe to the artillery warrior theory and prefer the hulking troll, he still looks good:

FIFTH: Hey it's a ZOID! An Ultrasaurus! And it can do this! Now that certainly will open doors.

Now if only he was really 164 feet long (Zoid measurements) and hulking around with over 500 tons (Zoid weight). Nothing would stand in it's way.

A real Apatosaurus is smaller - 75ft long - and much, much lighter weighing only 35 tons of meat, bone and dense hide.

Sadly though Hasbro did not really give Slog - Sludge the full physique of an Apatosaurus. He certainly does not have a the proper length off tail or neck for that matter to be a true Apatosaurus. Maybe a juvenile.

And then of course there are the bony spikes on his back that say "Don't you dare fucking try to ride me!!!!"

Given how we proposed that his cannons were energy based then the AOE Dinbot Slog - Sludge has a heat dissipation problem so the spines are probably some form of heat sinks - which also explains why when he transforms they are closer to the ground (behind his legs) so that when AOE Dinobot Slog - Sludge fights close to water, he can dissipate heat faster.

Or you can suppose that they are supports should you wish to ride AOE Dinobot Slog - Sludge like a Lord of the Rings Oliphaunt.

Here he is armed up and running:

What's NOT to like about the TF AOE Dinobot Slog - Sludge?

FIRST: Unlike his brethren AOE Dinobot Slog - Sludge is extremely poorly articulated. Nowhere near as graceful as Strafe  nor as lethally beautiful as Scorn.

No Slog - Sludge cannot kneel. You can try, but nooooooo.

Slog - Sludge's hands are horrible. They pop out. That's it. They cannot turn unless you can twist his forearm and you cannot twist his forearm - you have to twist his upper arm to turn his wrist - which is why we really subscribe to the Artillery piece idea. He does not have the wrist-movement for sword play - even brutish swordplay.

Happily he can twist at the torso.

SECOND:  Despite how he's promoted in his blister card and the fact that he's a Voyager Class Autobot, he's tiny. Here's a comparison of dinosaur sizes thanks to bestinfographics.info:

Now size wise you can see that Slug / Slag is close to how big they should be, except for the fact that AOE Slog - Sludge is lacking a really long tail:





So he's slightly diminished when they transform:

THIRD: we do not approve of the soft plastic used to form the breastplate of Slog - Sludge in dinosaur mode. The one on ours is deformed.

This particular Transformers Age of Extinction Dinobot Slog - Sludge was purchased from Toy Kingdom in the Podium here in Manila, Philippines for PhP 1, 599.75 (Roughly US$ 35.55) He is unfortunately available on Amazon for US$ 29.90 (Roughly PhP 1, 345.50 plus shipping - not to be confused with the Amazon exclusive Dinobot Sludge which retails for US$ 34.99 - PhP 1, 574.55 plus shipping).