Transformers Generations Power of the Primes Dinobot Slug Action FigureHasbro, 2017
Day #1,874: January 9, 2018
Dinobot Slug Combiner Wars Returns!
Transformers Generations Power of the Primes Deluxe
Item No.: Asst. E0595 No. E0919 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Rifle, blaster, combiner hand, 1 of 12 random cards Action Feature:Transforms from Triceratops to Robot to leg/hand Retail:$17.99 Availability: November 2017 Other: Just Like the G1 Toy
As a kid, I had two dinobots. Sludge, and Slag - the latter of which was recently updated as Dinobot Slug because British people use "Slag" differently than Americans. The new toy is clearly inspired by the original, replicating some features closely and others less so. The dinosaur has a smaller head and tail, but the robot mode is a tiny bit taller. In either mode it's pretty close - sure, you lose some stickers and chrome, but it's part of progress.
The original toy's rocket launcher and sword are gone, but you do get a decent recreation of the original toy's blaster. Swoop and Snarl have swords, Slug and Sludge have blasters, and Grimlock gets neither. I don't know how this came to be.
The triceratops is cute, built around the same basic form factor as the Combiner Wars toys - there's a tab in the body that flips out, and the back half of the toy becomes robot legs, combiner shins, or combiner wrists. There's a lot of detail on this little guy, including faux-sticker tampos on the back and clear elements on the head, tail, and hips with gold paint to replicate the unusual vac-metal gold of the original. No effort was made to recreate the silver frill of the old toy, but Hasbro did add a couple of red eyes to the dinosaur head. I appreciate that.
The dinosaur has a few 5mm sockets to store accessories as well as a smattering of tabs so Prime Masters and Titan Masters can stand on him for some reason. It's nice - it wouldn't be missed, but it's a nice feature and shows someone remembered kids may actually play with these toys.
Transformation is easy, those familiar with the previous lines will figure this one out easily. The fists are a little hard to rotate out on my sample, so take care there. The tail tucks away in the back of the legs, unlike the original which just sort of hangs there. Good move, Hasbro. The toy was derisively described by fans as "G1 with knees", a not inaccurate take on the design. He now has decent elbows and knees, plus the robot head can actually rotate left and right inside the Triceratops maw. I'm surprised, because it really doesn't add anything to the toy and it's kind of tricky to move it around. It just shows somewhere in the engineering department cares about this kind of thing.
The figure has no problems holding his rifle, and can wear the combiner fist on his chest as "Prime Armor." It comes complete with a removable clear hand blaster, leaving behind a socket in which you can store a Prime Master and "power up" the figure. It's a daffy idea, giving kids trading cards to describe the powers you can imagine your figure now has. Meanwhile, your figure has a big bulky vest on it and looks dorky. I admire Hasbro for trying something new, but I'm elated the toys can combine as this is a boring gimmick that I won't miss when the line ends in about 18 months. Mercifully, Hasbro packs enough in here that it's still a good enough product even if you dislike some of its functionality.
As limb modes go, it's fine - as an arm, the dinosaur head stretches out. As a leg, it almost looks like he's eating the combiner leg. He fits right in with the toys from a couple of years ago, and I'm really happy about that. These guys are fun and weird, and may well be better stand-in limbs or separate toys than they will be parts of the Dinobot combiner, Volcanicus. I'm always happy to embrace functionality even if I don't necessarily use it, and in this case the early shots of the combined mode have me thinking I'll rarely keep my Dinobots that way. They look so nice as individual toys, the new and weird combiner mode just strikes me as a wonderful, unnecessary bonus idea.
This was the toy that had me the most excited from the first batch of Power of the Primes deluxe toys, but it turned out Swoop was my favorite. Who could have guessed?
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