Power Core Combiners Grimstone with Dinobots

[cybernaut]

Transformers Power Core Combiners Grimstone with Dinobots

Grimstone
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Dinobot commander (?)

Bio
Grimstone has always dreamed of power and the privilege it brings. Despite his hunger for power, however, he has always considered the needs of others before himself. He believes it is the responsibility of the powerful to protect those less fortunate - a belief he intends to aggressively enforce now that he has his own Power Core team.

Tech Specs
Strength: 9
Intelligence: 6
Speed: 3
Endurance: 10
Rank: 8
Courage: 9
Firepower: 5
Skill: 5

Er… Okay. Grimstone is quite the contradiction.


Grimstone, in robot mode, with his team, the Dinobots

• Very unified colors as a team. The classic G1 Dinobot color scheme (grey / beige and black with silver, red and gold accents) really define the set.
  
• Being all prehistoric animals, the members of the set compliment each other very well. No one feels out of place, unlike PCC Stakeout and the Protectobots.
  
• Plastic is consistent all around, chunky but with a slight “cheapness” to it, but it’s pretty much the same with all modern Hasbro TF’s anyway.

Grimstone


Grimstone, robot mode.

• Very striking sculpt, kinda reminiscent of G1 Dinobot Snarl, with the red body, shoulder embellishments and the slim legs.
  
• Proportions are a tad off, with a rather tubby body, stubby limbs and a head unit that’s a little too big.
  
• It’s a shame Grimstone’s eyes are not light-piped, but the blue paint is nice. Plus it matches the colors of the PCC combiner ports and looks so G1… .
  
• Combiner ports fold out of the way quite nicely, so they’re not really noticeable EXCEPT in certain angles.
  
• Grimstone’s minicon port ends up on his back, which means no minicon chest armor for him, just minicon back packs.

Grimstone, robot mode, showing off articulation.

• Articulation is so-so by Scout-class TF standards (head / neck, shoulders, double jointed elbows, Universal hips and pseudo-double-jointed knees). Shoulder rotation is GREATLY affected and reduced by the placement of the shoulder pads. No waist articulation.
  
• Interestingly enough, only the elbow and a part of the shoulder joints are on ball joints, everything else uses pin joints, which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. .
  
• Cannot pass the kick test due to the way the legs are constructed.

Alt Mode



Grimstone, Dinosaur mode, front and back

• Transforms into a Styracosaurus though instructions wrongly label him a Triceratops.
  
• Small but er…cute.
  
• Relatively small as far as PCC altmodes go. Solid, though fiddly when it come to the shoulder / dino frill assembly.
  
• Bot arms form dino back, shoulders become Dino frill while robot chest plate become dino head. Robot legs rotate to become Dino hind legs while front legs are formed from Robot mode back pack, where dino tail folds out from.
  
• Very nice, very Dinobot-ish colors, though it would have been nice to have the dino head done in gold chrome with a smoky plastic shell just like the G1 Dinobots…
  
• Standard limb articulation (Shoulders, elbows, hips and knees), but no head or tail movement due to transformation.
  
• PCC combiner ports are VERY visible against color scheme, especially the ones in the hind legs, but not a that bad, overall.
  
• His Minicon port is at the tip of his tail though is better positioned than the one on the Dimetrodon drone.
  
• Robot head DOES NOT fold or retract. It just sits there, flush under the Dino head.

Drones


Parasaurolophus drone

• Forms either right or left arm. Port located on Dino chest
  
• Armed with two shoulder mounted-weapons, one on each shoulder, with a minicon port underneath each gun. Too bad the guns can’t be rotated…
  
• Very nice sculpted detail, but has no articulation except for the red dino limbs, which are on ball joints.

Dimetrodon drone (Note: The instructions wrongly label him a “Spinosaurus”)

• Forms either right or left arm. Port located on dino belly, near the tail.
  
• Only drone with no visible weapons, unless you count what looks like six sculpted cannon barrels on the front, under the neck. The minicon port is at the tip of his tail.
  
• Very nice sculpted detail, but has no articulation except for the upper jaw / head.

Ankylosaurus drone

• Forms either right or left foot. Port located on top of Dino shell.
  
• Armed with two shoulder mounted-weapons, one on each shoulder, with a minicon port on the dino back, above the shell. Would’ve been nice if the guns could be rotated… ;
  
• Very nice sculpted detail, but has no articulation except for the dino head and tail (part of transformation into PCC foot).

Pachycephalosaurus drone

• forms either left or right foot. Port located behind Dino neck.
  
• Armed with two shoulder mounted-weapons, one on each shoulder. There is a minicon port on its back, just above the tail. Too bad the guns can’t be rotated here either…
  
• Very nice sculpted detail, but no articulation except for the red dino limbs (part of transformation into PCC foot)

Power-Up Mode

The main event!

• Transformation to powered-up mode is simple, but involving. The drone transformations are nice too, no fiddly, springy bits that frustrate.
  
• Surprisingly, the limbs attach VERY securely. Too secure in fact, that it’s a bit hard, docking them in. But I prefer this to a set whose limbs are randomly ejected when you least expect it…
  
• Grimston probably has the LEAST elegant way of hiding his small robot head compared to the rest of the PCC's. I doesn't hide or anything, it just... folds back and sits there.

Grimstone, Powered up mode, with Dinobot drone limbs attached.

• Overall aesthetic is very nice, the combined mode is VERY unified thanks to the color scheme. The heavily armored look is carried well by the clever placement dino parts.
  
• Interesting bit: The moulding on the dino frill chest makes it look like Grimstone has a dino skull for a chest plate, with the frill horns looking like teeth. Can you see it?
  
• Proportions are great, he doesn’t look gimpy and his limbs are roughly all the same length and shape so he doesn’t look awkward when posed.
  
• Combined mode is VERY stable, the limbs attach securely, and thanks to the large feet, standing him up is no problem.

Grimstone, Powered up mode, posed.

• Articulation is standard PCC layout, (ball-jointed head / neck, rotating shoulders with limited sideways movement, universal hips, swivel thighs and hinged knees). Minor nit pick, the knees cant fold back far enough, but it’s no biggie.
  
• Thanks to a combination of tight joints, very stable legs and creative placement of joints, Grimstone can achieve a decent, if not good number of poses in powered up mode. In fact…

Grimstone, Powered up mode, kick test PASSED!.

• Just something to beware of: Due to the small pinjointed knees on Grimstone's powered up mode, he has a slight tendecy to tip over, usually backwards, due to the upper body weight. This is why I HATE pin joints...

Verdict

I’ve owned Grimstone and his Dinobot drones for hardly a day, yet I’m really convinced that, if the quality of this set is any indication, then the future of PCC’s are assured. While Grimstone is far from the best PCC scout commander, he’s one of the better molds out there, and he gets even better when you connect his drones! He’s stable, the limbs LOOK like limbs, and the overall effect is just awesome. My only gripe is that the Dino drone limbs probably wouldn’t look good with any other set EXCEPT on Grimstone, which kinda hinders the “interchangeability” concept of PCC’s..

But, definitely, Grimstone is, by far the one of, if not the best PCC to come out to date. This set was the only set I was willing to pay full price for, and if you can get him for lower, well, all so much the better.

Highly recommended to Dinobot, and PCC fans!

Grade

out of

Addendum


Grimstone, Dino mode, with the rest of the PCC Dinobots, with Tf Classics Grimlock


Grimstone, Robot mode with with Tf Classics Grimlock in robot mode


PCC Searchlight with Backwind minicon, Powered-up mode using PCC Dinobot drones beside Grimstone, Powered-up mode using PCC Protectobot drones

Jya na!

[pastafazoola]

thats a great review man.grimlock classics works real well with the group.