Botch Wrote This
Transforming robots are awesome; dinosaurs are awesome; thus, transforming robot dinosaurs was a doubly awesome inevitability. THE DINOBOTS! And now we have greatly improved box art for all five warriors. Let's take a little tour through the ancient past and show off this formidable quintet.
We might as well start with their fearless leader, the Tyrannosaurus Rex: GRIMLOCK. Whereas the existence of mutinous Decepticons seeking to overthrow their leader was established at the very beginning of the mythos, mutinous Autobots was an unknown thing. Enter Grimlock, the unsympathetic and merciless Dinobot commander who rivaled Optimus Prime in strength and firepower, if not wisdom. Grimlock has been portrayed in many different ways, as everything from a brilliant military tactician (with an unfortunate speech impediment) to a stupid clown, and sometimes a combination of the two. He's never evil, but his ego, his rationalizations and his lack of optimism (pun?) have sometimes motivated him to make some foolhardy decisions with bad repercussions for his fellow Autobots. It doesn't matter -- we all love him. "Me Grimlock -- bad ass!"
SNARL is the unhappiest Dinobot. He hates everything, including his own Stegosaurus form. I got my first Snarl about ten years ago, and it wasn't long before I had broken his tail connector. I sought out and acquired a second "junker" Snarl with the notion of replacing the damaged tail piece, only to find that Snarl's mold had been revised over time: early versions used a metal pipe to hinge the tail pieces, whereas later versions remolded the tail to dispense with the pipe. So I had to get a third Snarl, of the appropriate type, to finally fix the first one. I perfected him with some reproduction stickers and he was finally complete! Until the tail broke again. I've given up on that shit for now. Snarl really is the unhappiest Dinobot.
By contrast, SLAG the Triceratops is arguably the most archetypical Dinobot: war-like, mean, insubordinate, and practically invulnerable. With a function of FLAMETHROWER his name is particularly appropriate. During the Beast Wars era, however, characters took to using the term "slag" as a form of profanity, somewhat appropriate for a robotic race. Being a nasty fellow, Slag would probably have enjoyed the dubious honor of having a profane name had he not been recently and ironically re-christened by the toy makers for this very reason: "slag", apparently, is a slang term for a prostitute in England. As such, in these parent-sensitive times, the recent Robot Heroes version of Slag, as well as his TF: Animated homage, have instead stolen the name of one of his Dinobot brothers: "Snarl". Which totally sucks. One wonders if they'll remove any human characters called "John", too, and of course they should refrain from naming any human characters "Dick" or "Peter". Anyway, where does this leave "Snarl"? Has that character been de facto retired from future releases? It burns me up. So let's move on.
Every sub-group needs at least one flyer, and with a dinosaur-themed group it's pretty damn obvious that means a Pterodactyl is on the way. SWOOP is the most good-natured of the Dinobots. Though very formidable as a bombardier and air-to-air combatant, he's the only member of the team that doesn't seem to relish combat. That said, he's wise enough to know that "fear can hit targets unreachable to bullets," and he will use his reputation and fearsome appearance to intimidate opponents. Swoop was the last Dinobot I acquired, only in the last couple of years, actually. With his fragile wings and beak, he is the rarest Dinobot to find unbroken, and therefore commands the highest price in excellent condition. Mine is 95% perfect -- the Pterodactyl head doesn't like to remain snugly in place over the robot head -- but I'm very happy with him.
Last but certainly not least is my favorite Dinobot, the Brontosaurus known as SLUDGE. Is he my favorite because he was the only one I owned as a kid? Is it because he's definitely the least intelligent of the bunch? Because I can picture him in his function of JUNGLE WARRIOR undulating through the swamp, a gentle and shy giant just like his dinosaur template was thought to be? Or do I enjoy imagining him using his massive bulk to shatter enemy fortifications in his other function of DEMOLITIONS? The answer to all of these questions is YES. Sludge is awesome. This is one sleeping giant you do not want to wake.
Did I mention that all the Dinobots came with swords? And guns? And spring-loaded missile launchers? Yeah. That's what's noticeably missing from today's Transformers: lots of fucking weapons. Whichever kid in the 80's poked his eye out with a sword or with one of those weak spring-loaded missiles really screwed the rest of us over. (Except in Japan, where they still sell toys that have swords and shooting things. Hell, I bet the Japanese sell toys that fire liquid streams of acid and stuff.)
A big round of applause to Prial who edited all of these Dinobots from the Japanese Laserdisc box set scans, except for Sludge, who was scanned from a transparency I own and cleaned up by JP White.
All right, everybody, who's your favorite Dinobot??
Replies
Unfortunately, Grimlock was the only Dinobot I had when I was a kid. I wanted them all, but to no avail. I suppose he's my favorite for that reason, and his rather darker side in the Marvel comics when he became leader of the Autobots.
Snarl is the reason I started with transformers. I love stegosaurus's (es???) and my mum saw him in the shop and from their an obsession was born :)
Managed to get the other 3 land dinos over the years but it took me till a few months ago to get my Swoop who was never available in the UK :( he's mine now though and sits centrestage on my dinobot filled mantlepiece :D
P.S. "slag" is more a general term for a person of...loose moral values and is applicable to both genders
basically prostitutes charge, slags don't :P
Swoop not being available in the U.K. Definitely made me want him more than the others and like Glyn it was many years before he joined my collection.
He was the first figure that I bought from the U.S. when I opened my ebay account and I fully blame that purchase on my resurgence in interest of TFs.
Being one of the original airbourne Autobots and a great back story in the comics (Divebomb stealing his name!) all contribute to him being my favourite Dinobot and one of my favourite Autobots...............Although they are all very very good.
Swoop was always my favourite toy and character as a kid, so he continues to hold a special place in my heart and collection.
Of the others, I quite like Slag -- good in both modes as well as being exactly the type of character you'd expect a Dinobot to be (shame he can't hold his sword properly though).
Grimlock is awesome in both modes as well as being a hugely pivotal character in virtually every iteration of the TF storyline/continuum.
I don't like how Sludge's forearms impose on his dino mode (but thats a bit of a petty gripe considering his mold pre-dates the release of TFs in 1984). I did love how on a purely-animalistic physical-fight level he could hold his own against Grimlock (who can match Prime who in turn is the "equal" of Megatron).
My least fav is Snarl -- I cannot love his robot mode proportions, and I don't care for his alt mode.
All in all the Dinobots remain my personal favourite TF sub-group.
Excellent, more Snarls for me :)
Is there anyone who can colour in the swords red?
Another dinobot sword related question, I've got a poster of the dinobots (by dreamwave IIRC) with swoop in pterodactyl form wings spread in the back ground and the other 4 in front. Grimlock has his fist out but with nothing in it. Am I imagining that at some point he had his sword in his hand?
And does anyone know where I can get the soundwave and the tapes poster from the same line from?
I'm actually a Snarl man, myself. Oh, the fond memories of cracking his stego head open and having him lament, "I have a splitting headache."
Anyway, to be a dinosaur geek for a moment...The G1 Dinobots stand as a fascinating testament to 80s popular armchair paleontology. If only Wheeljack had read up on some actual, cutting edge scientific studies instead of relying on a teenage oil rig worker who probably dropped out of high school for all of his data on prehistoric fauna, the cartoon might have featured faster, more intelligent Dinobots (a la the post Jurassic Park cartoon Beast Wars).
The comic book attempts to explain the Dinobots also seem to have some trouble creating plausible origin stories since the dinobots represent dinosaurs that did not live in the same time periods. (I guess Marvel is the most plausible by having them come from the Savage Land, which is a sort of trans-temporal menagerie of critters.)
And, of course, poor Sludge transforms into a dinosaur that technically never existed as such...
On a somewhat more tangential note, does anyone know of production shots showing the Dinobots using their compartments/cockpits?
Lovin the site and this is my first post. I have all 5 dinobots and only recently got hold of Swoop - Being in the UK we never saw him and as a kid in school never believed he existed!
~Grimlock is my favorite by far, me Grimlock smash!
Nice to see another paleontologist in Transland, Tresob. I always found their animal modes to be quite charming, especially with their transparent armour covering various bits, almost like the organic design was too complex to form from their bodies, so a special armour was formed into the shape, over an internal skeleton.
I think their robot mode bulk and proportions are better contained within the out-moded dinosaur designs. If they had been made as the lithe, agile dinosaurs we know today, I think their robot modes would have suffered a bit. Take BW Dinobot, for example. Kibble and a detachable tail, just so he fits into the 'skinny' raptor form. The 'tail-dragger' aesthetics allowed for a better robot mode, I think.
The origin stories are a mixed bag. They all seem to rely on the Dinobots having their alt-modes thrust upon them, where most often Transformers coming to Earth would simply choose their own. I'd like to think that the Dinobots would've just chosen their forms on arrival, to better serve their functions (what's better for swamp or desert warfare than dinosaurs evolved for the habitat?) and they just look damned cool.
My favourite is Snarl, in toy form, at least. And I've always loved Swoops personality.
- How's this for crazy, guys? Knock-off Dinobots, but they seem to be amalgamations of different types of dinosaur, or in Sludge's case, each other.
http://transformertoys.co.uk/content.php?/transformers-image/transformers-toys/nonofficial/horsemen/death/death-002.jpg/image.html
http://transformertoys.co.uk/content.php?/transformers-toys/toy-gallery/1414/Knock-Off/Death.html
I actually considered including in my post something about how the Dinobots' dinosaur modes reflected the popular understanding of dinosaurs at the time: slow, unintelligent, tail-dragging, etc. Even Snarl's solar-powered plates hearken to the now-disputed notion that Stegosaur plates were used for cooling the dinosaur off. But for the sake of brevity I left all that stuff out. I'm glad it was brought up in these comments for us hardcore enthusiasts!
So far I'm the only Sludge lover. That's all right, I like having him all to myself. ;)
Adam Prime -- You definitely make a good point about toy design. Grimlock would not have been the same if he was fashioned like T-Rex Megatron (you wonder how the guy ever used tools). And the tactical logic of taking modes suited to terrains certainly makes sense.
That being said, one could argue that the Dinobots marked an end of the "Robots in Disguise" gimmick of the Transformers. If you are trying to blend in with the local life forms, mechanical versions of long extinct creatures hardly seems appropriate.
Soldier: "Commander, we've detected something coming this way."
Commander: "What is it?"
Soldier: "It appears to be a herd of giant robot dinosaurs, sir."
Commander: "Well, thank goodness it's only giant robot dinosaurs! I was afraid they might just be giant robots!"
Meanwhile, imagine Sludge parallel parked on a city street between two SUVs with the thought bubble: "Decepticons never find Sludge in disguise."
@Tresob: It's really more a short-coming of modern life, i.e., the lack of giant robot dinosaurs.
I love the Dinobots. I remember a friend having Grimlock as a kid and it was even better than the Optimus Prime toy for some of us! I am a Sludge lover too. I am always quoting him in my best Frank Welker voice for my siblings and their spouses when we play Transformers Monopoly. In fact, the voice acting in the cartoon was what I really felt endeared them to many people. Gregg Berger as Grimlock was just as iconic as Peter Cullen or Chris Latta for Starscream. Michael Bell's Swoop and Neil Ross as Slag got a lot of lines as well. I really hated how their voices changed for the movie and season 3....making them sounds different in order to fit the roll of comic relief. That always pissed me off. The Dinobots would have continued to kick ass, if I had been running things. I do love the episode Webworld, where Sludge is the only Dinobot in battle against the Decepticons and he says, "Dumb Sweep". Haha he's calling someone dumb..I love it.
Anyway, Botch. I love your site, enjoy reading your entries and greatly appreciate the archive.
@Tresob: Haha! Y'know, I never really considered the 'disguise' thing... You make a good point. It's odd, long ago, I sort of forgot the whole 'robots in disguise' angle. I guess after the toyline started giving them "Cybertronian" vehicle modes, I began to think of transforming purely as a way to gain tactical advantage; speed and maneuverability, flight, firepower, and so on. And certainly, in the comics and cartoon, the adventures of the Transformers eventually spanned galaxies and planets where disguise wasn't neccessary. To be honest, I miss that feeling of secrecy and deception.
I'm putting my vote down for Snarl. Never got him as a kid, but did have Grimlock, Slag and Sludge between my brother and myself. Really liked how tough Snarl is and gosh, his toy is possibly the heaviest Dinobot toy... wham
Adam Prime -- read IDW Spotlight: Shockwave. See Grimlock and his Dynobots choose their beast modes in order to protect themselves from the energon on earth (aka Beast Wars).
Can't believe how many Snarl lovers there are.
These scans look GREAT! I can't decide which illustration looks best.
I've really enjoyed collecting the classic and universe reissues of Gen 1 characters. In some cases there is room for HUGE improvements over the original toy designs. However, some of the original Dinobots (Swoop, Grimlock, Slag) are nearly perfect toys in my estimation. Any contemporary reinterpretations (included animated) just don't stack up to them.
Slag was my fav, never seemed to get much of a gig in the comics or tv series. Underrated ha ha ha!!!!!!!
I was always a fan of the Triceratops, so I had my parents buy me Slag for my birthday in 85.
Changing Slag's name to Snarl is more dissapointing than seeing a remake of the Karate Kid, which should be called the Kung Fu Kid. Man, some things just eat you up inside!
As always, your page is always a pleasure to Read!
First off . your site is exceptional and is currently my favorite. As for the Dinobots , I (more than) adore them. They are , without question , bad ass. I had many TF's as a boy but never had a Dinobot. However , being an adult (mostly) I just purchased my first (and favorite) one : SLAG !!! He's hostile aggressive and nasty. Perfect. And although all of the Dinos appeal to me , Slag has the best robotic form (IMO). I was able to find a nice MISB G2 Slag on Ebay. And now he's on his way to my house MISB and factory sealed. A few hundred bucks well spent.
Okay, so everything you thought you knew about the Dinobots will change forever once you check out fenzy_rumble's custom:
http://tinyurl.com/3x6mmdx
And make sure to click the links to the customs of the individual Dinos...
I confess that I cringe every time I see a new kit-bashed Dinobot combiner. Frenzy_Rumble's work is amazing and top-quality as always, but the whole Dinobot combiner thing always makes me think the same thing:
It wasn't broke; it didn't need fixing.
I want those though I shudder to think how much he charges :)
Maybe I could try it myself, I've got a spare Grimlock and no talent, what's the worse that could happen ;)
I happen to know how much he charged for "Extinction" and who it was made for. heh. That's a nice piece of work but I gotta agree with Botch, "it's not broken, didn't need fixing". As a kid, I always thought that there is a reason why the Autobots, and Optimus Prime in particular (see his comments in SOS Dinobots), would not allow the Dinobots to combine. They are each incredibly powerful in and of themselves, but they are also not too bright (see how they were tricked in War of the Dinobots). As such, they would make and extremely powerful combiner, physically, more than a match for an army of Bruticus' and Predakings, but they would also be very difficult to control/command and may end of destroying more than they save (perhaps even destroying earth). So I told myself that that's the reason Prime mandated that the Dinobots should never combine...
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