General Information: Images:
Tech Specs: Rank: 10 Courage: 10 Force Knowledge: 5 General Grievous was introduced to the big screen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Also featured prominantly in the animated Clone Wars series, this character gained a prominance often associated with characters with unique designs. Grievous was a being who had organic and mechanical parts fused into one nightmare of a body. Being mostly robotic and a major villain, Grievous was an obvious choice to become one of the first Star Wars Transformers figures. Each of the first wave Star Wars Transformers were given write ups on The Official Star Wars web site, Grievous' read as follows: General Grievous has sowed enough metal-crunching mayhem to earn him a spot among the Decepticon ranks. Now, the evil Separatist leader can transform from robot to ground-tearing wheel bike and back, armed with twin lightsabers and a firing missile launcher.
Mini-Figure:
Vehicle Mode: The design of the Wheel Bike form is very well done. The central body is one large wheel section, with spiked edges. The vehicle rests on four thin legs, each with hyndraulic details and the angled covers at the end of each leg. On the right side of the vehicle is a triple barreled turret, on the right is the seat for the vehicle's driver. This is, of course, very much out of proportion with the vehicle shown in the movie. There, Grievous was about the height of the vehicle when sitting. Here the mini-figure included with the vehicle sits in a small chair that barely makes up the middle section. The control sticks for the vehicle swing up and allow you to put the figure in the chair. When swung down, the control sticks hold the mini-figure down fairly well. Other nice details are the series of metal plate layers on the wheel itself as well as the ridged sections of the lower legs, all details straight from the movie. The blasters on the right side are well done too, with the rectangular barrel ends so often seen in Star Wars vehicles. The central gun barrel is actually one of Grievous' Lightsaber weapons as well. Push the large button at the base of the cannons and it fires the missile! This was a nice touch, giving both a projectile weapon and a way of storing one of the robot modes' weapons. Color-wise, the vehicle is mostly metallic grey. Some parts such as the armor on the lower legs are painted two shades of brown, light brown for the outer armor, darker brown for the inner ridged areas. Gold is used for the ring details that run all the way around either side of the central wheel section. Grievous' vehicle has twenty six points of articulation in this form, mostly owing to the many points build into the legs and feet. Not only do they bend at the joints, but they also rotate on the forward lower legs and the rear upper legs. However, this articulation also causes one bit of weakness in the design. The swivel points that allow the legs to splay outward are not locked down in any way, so it is easy to just pull the leg off during play or transformation. Granted this is preferable to actually breaking the legs, but it is a bit annoying. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Robot Mode: The mech's central body is shaped just like the "real" Grievous, thin and sleek with details resembling rib cages with armor slapped on top. The arms and legs are appropriately thin and their shapes do resemble bones, albeit mechanical ones. His fingers are really nicely detailed, with each digit segmented off from the next by line detail. I am particularly fond of the neck details which range from curved parts to tubes running up the sides. With a form as relatively small as a skeletal frame, Grievous' mass had to go somewhere, and having the lower wheel halves "tuck" into the back was a very smart move. It gives the figure weight balance, but also gives it the appearance of having a backpack of equipment. The cannon on the right side can swivel to aim up or forward (under the arm). Having the control seat in the back with Grievous piloting it further makes the point of how this is a piloted mech designed to look like its cruel master. Grievous' primary color is silver, but a slightly lighter shade than the wheel bike's central body. Painted over that on the knees, head and torso are gunmetal grey, gold and bone white. On the head the eyes under the eye sockets are yellow surrounded by brown. Grievous' mech has a whopping thirty one points of articulation, again owing greatly to the arms and legs. This includes three points of articulaton on the hands and four points of articulation on each arm (not including the hands). The hand hold the Lightsabers fairly well for display, but under heavy play they will fall out rather easily. The instructions show that Grievous can hold his cannon, but it barely stays in his hand because the peg is too short to really let the hands get a good grip. The problem with the joints than can turn outword occur here as well. Yank a bit too hard and the joints come off. Granted they slide right back on, but if you're not careful you'll wind up with a bunch of Grievous bits instead of a complete figure.
Final Thoughts:
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