Intro:
Come
on, let’s admit it. Yeah, especially you Geewuners. You people loved the
Dinobots, didn’t you? Who wouldn’t? They individually big, big robots; and they
are Dinosaurs! Back in the 80’s dinosaurs were cool. All the kids love
dinosaurs-themed toys. So it was inevitable that dinosaurs were eventually
incorporated into the Transformers franchise.
Most
people would tell you that Grimlock is their favorite Dinobots – same case with
yours truly. But whenever it comes to the second most popular Dinobots, I’ve
always liked Slag.
Slag
was tough, and he has no issues in confronting Grimlock whenever he feels like
he needed to. Slag was awesome!
However,
due to trademark issues, Slag renamed as Slug in the AOE line. Honestly, the
name sucks. Can you believe that?!
Although
I was kind of disappointed of how the Dinobots were portrayed in the film, Slug
was still appealing enough to grant me buying him. If you’ve watched the movie,
you’d probably understand why.
Anyways,
let’s not waste any time and let’s get on with the review.
Alternate
Mode:
Slug
transforms into a Triceratops – a very weird looking one at that.
Slug
is predominantly purple and dark grey in color, with his mane (pardon my lack
of knowledge in dinosaur anatomy) painted predominantly red.
Maybe
it’s just me, but just like Grimlock, Slug has a little bit of skeletal-theme
going on here, even more so with its hollowness.
Slug
isn’t exactly very articulated. The ball-jointed front shoulders can move in
all directions, but very limitedly since it is severely hindered by its chest
piece and mane; the elbows bends up at about 70° or so. The head bends down and
back up, and it has no way to look up; the jaws open; and finally the hips are
on ball-joints, which again, their movements are severely limited.
 |
| With Mouth Open |
On
the sides of the body, there is a hole on each side where you can peg in the
swords. The overall look with the swords attached onto him is really silly. Maybe
Slug is supposed to use it to take out the legs of larger-sized dinosaurs?
 |
| With Swords Attached |
Visually,
the dinosaur mode looks good, but aesthetically, that’s another issue
altogether.
Robot
Mode:
Keeping
up with the “knight” theme, Slug is full on knight mode. Armed with a pair of swords,
Slug really looks like he means business.
 |
| Knight with a helmet |
I
have to admit, at first glance, I wasn’t really buying into the robot mode.
Coupled with how the movie portrayed the character, I was less than impressed
with the character. However, after fiddling with it for a while, it actually
grew on me. I like the overall look of the character. The
half-a-Triceratops-head-as-shoulder-pad surprisingly looks good – or at least
to me it does.
However,
the idea of using the dinosaur legs as a way to make the figure looks beefier
doesn’t quite work for me. The idea might be good, but the execution came a
little bit short, unfortunately. For some reason, or maybe this could just be
an isolated case, the peg and hole that is supposed to lock the legs to the
main body just aren’t aligned properly. Even if you managed to peg them in, any
attempt to pose the upper body would most likely result in them unpegging.
Articulation-wise,
Slugs is kind of good. He has all of the standard articulation points that you
would expect from a good deluxe class figure. The head is on a ball joint; the
shoulders move in and out; ball-jointed shoulders and hips; elbows and knees
bend; and finally the tip of the feet bend upward.
You’re
probably going to enjoy posing him, possibly even more, if you compare him to
the Voyager-class Grimlock.
Overall,
it’s a very decent robot mode.
Summary:
Overall,
Slug isn’t exactly a stellar figure, but he is good enough to warrant your
attention. If you’re a fan of the Dinobots, Slug is definitely a must have
along with Grimlock. Visually, both modes look good, while the robot mode wins
with his articulations.
Rating – 7/10
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