Intro:
Welcome back to another review and today we will review a unique character named Gimlet, from the Beast Wars series. To be frank with you guys, as far as I’m concerned, Gimlet is one of those obscure figures/ characters. In fact, I had no idea that this guy even existed until I saw him one day at Dataran Pahlawan’s Robot Master Branch. Although the Canadian Beast Wars series received quite an exposure here, the Japanese Beast Wars series such as Neo received almost to none.
Gimlet is actually a remold of another figure called Sea Clamp, who is also 1/3 of the Tripredacus combiner team, also in Beast Wars. Since I do not have the other 2 figures, I have no way to review the gestalt robot itself. Still, at least we have Gimlet, don’t we?
Another thing that I would like to state is that the character Gimlet is supposed to be a Maximal, well, at least that was the info that I got from my various resources. Oddly though, the box itself states that this guy’s a Destron, with a Predacon’s logo. Now, based on the info I have, it is his purple-colored mould-brother Sea Clamp who is supposed to be a Predacon. If only I could read Japanese, then probably I would be able to decipher whatever that is written on that box.
Alternate Mode:
This has got to be one of the most unique alternate modes I have ever had in my entire collection – a crayfish. Predominantly dark gray and deep maroon in color, Gimlet’s alternate mode is absolutely lifelike.
Articulation-wise: the whole arm/ claw apertures are on a set of universal joints; bend at the ball-jointed elbows; the claws themselves swing inward and out, and are able to open and close, thus allowing Gimlet to hold small items in them; the four feet on the left and right are on a separate pieces; and finally, the tailfin opens and closes.
Despite the lack of articulation that I would normally hate in a Beast alternate mode, surprisingly I’m quite fond of this mode. I mean, what more articulation could you wish from a lobster, except probably a bendable tail. Anyways, I think the alternate is quite unique and convincing at the same, and it can kinda make you feel hungry at times, especially if you’re a fan of crayfish like me.
Robot Mode:
This is one of those rare instances where I would opt for the delicious crayfish… I mean alternate mode, over the robot mode. The robot mode just seems a little bit too awkward for me.
Gimlet got long hands – really, really long hands, and this is even worse than a gorilla’s hands!!! It’s so bad that you can’t even extend the hands straight downward. To make matters worse, instead of using the clayfish’s claws as hands, it has yet a set of smaller claw protrusions, which serve no purpose since they has no articulations at all. The full length of them will even exceed the length of the leg, thus it would have Gimlet standing straight up clownishly on his two hands instead!
Gimlet has quite a descent amount of articulations: ball-jointed head; ball-jointed inner shoulders, and the shoulder pads rotate; the real shoulders are on universal joints; ball-jointed elbows; claws bend inward and out; waist joint available; and finally, ball-jointed hips and knees.
Apart from the awkwardly-designed arms, my other gripe would be the shell flap behind the legs. The shell is currently locked in place, thus can be quite a hindrance to his lower body movements. If that flap is moveable, then it could’ve solved that issue.
Accessories:
Well, it’s not really an accessory for Gimlet per se, but a collector’s card. The front depicts Gimlet in his robot mode and made with reflective materials, while the back indicates his tech specs and presumably his bios.
Overall:
Uniqueness doesn’t guarantee excellence, and that’s exactly what can be said about Gimlet. I love his alternate mode, no question about that, but the robot mode could be better. As far as the original Canadian TV series go, Gimlet never appeared in it, thus remain as one of the many unknown entities.
Buy him if you’re really into collecting Beast Wars figures, or even if you’re a sucker for uniqueness just like me.
Final verdict: 7/10.
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