Transformers Kingdom Dinobot // Review
The yearly grind of Transformers figures from Hasbro has recently focused on re-creating a bunch of characters from the original 1984 iteration of the franchise. However, fans were shocked to see the 1990s finally represented in the new War for Cybertron: Kingdom line. The Beast Wars have finally returned, and fans could not be happier. Are they worth the wait?
Oh, my, yes.
We’re looking at the Voyager-sized Dinobot today ($29.99 USD MSRP), and it was an easy slam dunk for Hasbro to include him in one of the first re-creations of the Beast Wars franchise. Dinobot is so popular with fans that he actually was the only non-1984 character to be voted into the franchise’s Hall of Fame with the launch of the concept in 2010. He would remain that way until 2013, when the Beast incarnation of Megatron would join.
Also, this is the first affordable Dinobot figure in over a decade. Until now, fans had to either scrounge on eBay to find expensive 1996 originals, fragile and doomed figures from 2006 with doomed golden plastic, or a differently-colored new model from 2009. Dinobot didn’t even have a figure from 2009 until 2018, when the pricey but amazing Masterpiece figure came out.
The packaging is something of note. Hasbro had promised in 2019 that they would be making efforts to reduce the plastic they used for packaging. This is the first main line that makes use of their new packaging design, with a cardboard sleeve surrounding a cardboard mount. There’s a plastic window to preview the figure in their robot mode, and plastic straps keeping him mounted to the cardboard. The art is also awesome and eye-catching, which makes up for the smaller window.
Please note! Some Kingdom figures actually have accessories held on the back of the card insert, and can be missed by hasty fans. Dinobot does not have this issue, luckily.
The robot mode is incredible. Ankle tilts, a recent addition to the line, makes Dinobot incredibly flexible as a character. He can take multiple stable stances without issue, and his arms have a high level of options as well. The elbows are double-joined as the arms do double-duty as his legs, but the shoulder joints just make for some really increased range of motion. The hands look perfect when compared to his original CG model, and even his rigid grill structure shows up molded exactly how he appeared onscreen.
Dinobot also comes with his Cyber Slash Tail weapon and sword that he was infamous in the show for using to great effect.
Beast mode is also good, but nowhere near as good as his recent Masterpiece figure from 2018 in terms of becoming an actual dinosaur. Then again, Masterpiece is also a range that retails in the hundreds of dollars, so it makes sense. The Velociraptor head and limbs look fantastic, and his feet even feature his raised large toe-claw without potentially infringing on Jurassic Park designs. The pebbled dinosaur flesh texture is also amazing, and lets him potentially stand alongside the current Jurassic Park toys. However, the beast mode is an overall weaker representation, due to the limitations of the price range. This includes the robot mode’s legs obviously being mounted under the chest and stomach, as well as weird cyber-panels on the back of his legs. The tail also has a purple tip thanks to the sword and how it stores within the Cyber Slash Tail. However, the paint job does a great job representing the jagged colors of Dinobot without compromising the price range of the Voyager scale. Perhaps the one real weakness is that the front of Dinobot needs dentures, thanks to how the mouth needs to close and compress into the torso.
Honestly, Dinobot is amazing as a figure. He’s flexible as hell, and his accessories can easily be held in robot mode without issues - and they can even be stored on his back without looking overly obvious. Fans of Beast Wars who don’t have the budget to obtain Masterpiece figures need to hunt this guy down. He’s perfect to go face down against recent Voyager-scaled Megatron and Optimus Primal, as well as glaring down his smaller-scaled buddy Rattrap.
