#59: Transformers 4 Age of Extinction - Strafe

Since today marks the release of Michael Bay's latest assault on the senses here in the US, here's the final Dinobot which appears in the movie: Strafe. Perhaps not surprisingly, not all the Dinobots that appear in toy form are in the movie. The movie line up is Grimlock, Scorn, Slug, and Strafe. And why do they have dinosaur altmodes in the movie? After having watched it, I couldn't tell you. They just kind of show up with no explanation for their altmodes.

Strafe's robot mode is pretty cool. He's got two swords and a crossbow. Since he can't hold three weapons at once, there is the option of plugging them into his back, or they can hang off of the "cape" that his wings form. I wish his wrists would rotate, which is an oddly consistent complaint about the Dinobots so far.

Getting him into pteranodon mode is pretty easy. Mostly it's just unfolding the wings, then reconfiguring the legs so they're shorter. When I first saw pictures of the toy, I thought that it was mis-transformed, leaving him with two heads. I really don't understand why he has two heads in dino mode, it just seems pointless. Same goes with the tails. Speaking of which, they are a soft plastic, and the way they're packaged leaves them bent, but I think they'll straighten out.

Given the substantial wingspan Strafe is sporting, it's fortunate that they can also be folded down as if he were crouched on the ground and using them to support his weight.

As for the movie itself, it was another Michael Bay Transformers movie. It was big, dumb, and loud. Like the movies or not, this one won't change your opinion. This outing seemed a little more joyless than the previous entries. Optimus Prime continues to be the least heroic Prime of the various media. On the upside, there was less cringe-worthy "humor" in this one, although it's not entirely gone. I keep watching them because it's Transformers, and I'm a sucker. At least this one had Dinobots!

#57: Transformers 4 Age of Extinction - Dinobot Slash

Depending on where you live, wave 2 of Age of Extinction toys may or may not be showing up already. My roommate picked one up for me while out of town since they haven't been spotted here in town yet. I've already decided to collect all the movie Dinobots, but even if I hadn't, I probably would have picked up Slash anyway because he's a velociraptor. Aside from Dinobot from Beast Wars himself, I don't think there have been any members of the Dinobots group that had a raptor for an altmode before. Robot mode is a bit dodgy. He's got massive arms with relatively puny legs, and the wrists don't rotate. He's armed with a pair of small axes.

Velociraptor mode is pretty cool. I really like his color scheme of bright blue and neon yellow/green with touches of black. It's just so bright, and really reminds me of the 90s. But in a good way. Another thing I like about the design is that they have incorporated feathers (or spiky mechanical equivalents) into the design. Hooray for keeping up with current scientific thinking about dinosaurs! The axes plug into the undersides of the arms with the blades functioning as feathers. Despite having a similar alt mode body shape to Grimlock and Scorn, he has a different transformation scheme from both of them. Scorn is still my favorite of the movie Dinobot toys, but Slash is a close second.

Clever girl.

#53: Transformers 4 Age of Extinction - Grimlock (voyager)

You can't have Dinobots without Grimlock. He's the leader, and he turns into a T Rex, which is perennially one of the most popular dinosaurs. The movie take on him is a lot more bronze than I'm used to, and robot mode is definitely carrying out that armored knight look that the Dinobots have for this iteration. It doesn't really feel like Grimlock to me, but it's an interesting enough design on its own. Grimlock's armed with a big staff/warhammer/mace thing, which has a handle for him to hold it with, as its shaft isn't smooth enough to fit into his hands. Arm articulation is kind of lacking, so it's a little limited in how he can hold his weapon.

Getting him back and forth between dino and robot is somewhat similar to the classic Grimlock transformation scheme in that the robot arms become the dino legs and the robot legs become the dino tail. From some angles it looks good enough in dino mode, but some angles aren't flattering at all. His weapon attaches to the tip of his tail, which makes him ridiculously long in this mode. There's a button on the side of his neck which makes his jaw close. But it won't stay closed if the button isn't being held down, so hopefully you don't mind him roaring. Also, for some reason he has horns. They can fold back while in dino mode, but leaving them up kind of reminds me of dog ears.

#52: Transformers 4 Age of Extinction - Slug

After I got Scorn, I pretty much decided that I'll be getting all the Dinobots. So here's the other wave 1 deluxe, Slug. He turns into a triceratops, which is interesting given the recent suggestions that triceratops may not be a distinct species, but rather younger fossils of torosaurus. So Slug may be a juvenile. Anyway, Slug is mostly purple with some red and grey/silver highlights. In dinosaur mode, there's no place to store the two swords, aside from having them stick straight out from the sides. That's kind of disappointing. The mouth opens, and the legs are somewhat posable, more so for the front legs.

In robot mode, the triceratops head doesn't really have anywhere to go, as it's split in half and makes up truly outrageous shoulder pads. They kind of get in the way of arm movement. Interestingly, the dinosaur's chest becomes the robot's forearms, so they're Popeye large. The dinosaur's front legs are kind of just hanging off the sides of the torso. It's mostly pretty cool looking, though. Of the two Dinobots I've played with so far, Scorn is the better one, but Slug is decent enough.

#51: Transformers 4 Age of Extinction - Scorn

Because I'm a sucker, I'll see Transformers 4. If nothing else, it will bring Dinobots to the big screen. Dinobots are of course the coolest because they combine the already great meeting of big robots that turn into other things and dinosaurs. I picked up Scorn first because he's a spinosarus, which if it isn't the first Dinobot to turn into one, it's at least the first one I've had. There is apparently some controversy over whether the Dinobots in the movie have robot modes, but the toy definitely does. The head is very different from the typical movie designs, so that could be evidence in favor of no movie robot modes. But otherwise, it has the usual busy spiky design of movie bots. I like the way the dino's spine forms small wings on his back, it's a cool look. He gets a sword, and his left arm is a spear made from the tail. With the other arm being the head, it's reminiscent of Beast Wars Megatron.

Dino mode is really cool looking. The sword tucks into the tail, so it doesn't get stuck laying around in this mode. The head has a lot of good motion, and the arms can move at the shoulders. It's my only movie toy so far, but I'm digging it. I'll probably end up getting all the Dinobots, especially since having learned my lesson on passing on the Animated Dinobots a few years back.