Fansproject Severo

In the war for "who can make the best third party Grimlock," Fansproject enters the fray with Severo, a T Rex loosely based on a design somewhere between Fall of Cybertron and G1.  And what an exciting entry it is.

I have been collecting the entire Fansproject Lost Exo-Realm line, which is their take on the Dinobots.  They are reasonably priced, high quality, and come loaded with all kinds of accessories, especially these mini warriors that transform into melee weapons which I lovingly refer to as "Dino-Target Masters."  Being the most current release, Severo was available in 2 versions- the first was the main figure with blasters, sword, and one target master.  The second (which is what I purchased) is a deluxe version with a bitchin' throne and additional target master.

While I think the little guys are cute, the weapons they form (for all the Exo-Realm releases so far) are a bit indecipherable in terms of "well, what the hell is it?"  In Severo's case, the best example I can come up with is a double ended hammer, similar to the one Ultra Magnus uses in Transformers Prime, except it doesn't really look like anything other than two squarish dudes hanging at the end of a pole.  And resulting weapon is a bit heavy for Severo to handle in a combat position, but more of that later.

The other accessories are self-explanatory once you see pictures of Severo in action.  He has this MEGA HUGE hand blaster that is almost twice the size of MP Grimlock's dual rocket launcher (which is kind of ironic since Severo is noticeably smaller than MP Grimlock and not designed for the MP scale at all), plus two identical blasters that can be used as hand weapons or combine to form one huge blaster for Severo in T Rex form.  As with all the Lost Exo-Realm figures, Severo has a huge sword with a blade made of translucent red plastic.  There is also a crown included as a nod to King Grimlock from the original Transformers Comic Run by Marvel from the 80's.  Lastly, there is the throne- which is clearly a nod to "A Game of Thrones" design.  Each Dinobot's sword can be attached to the back of the throne to make a neat fan design, as well as attaching all of Severo's other weapons.  However, fans will notice there is a current empty spot, since we are still waiting for their interpretation of Snarl to complete the original 5 Dinobots.

If you read Falldownthemountain's review of MP Grimlock (which you should have, otherwise shame on YOU), then you will be very familiar with Severo's form and transformation since the same basic principles of transformation apply to both, as originated from the G1 Grimlock.  Robot arms become Rex legs, Robot legs become Rex tail, Rex head flips up and over from behind the robot, and there are two distinct wings in Robot mode that become part of the upper torso with attached arms in Rex mode.  Granted, there will always be subtle differences here and there among the various companies making transforming T Rex Robots, but the concept has yet to change drastically.  Severo lacks the light-up weapon feature and auto-swivel motion of MP Grimlock, but otherwise remains on the same level in smaller form.  Most of this review will be based on the differences between the two.

 

In Dino mode, the first thing anyone will notice is the awkward angle at which Severo's neck is molded.  Aesthetically, it was kind of a turn off for me, but not enough to keep me from purchasing it.  I prefer the straight incline of Grimlock's neck.  However, this angle allows for maximum movement at the two points where the head meets the neck and the neck meets the upper torso.  Severo's T Rex arms are actually an improvement over Grimlock's- they have additional swivel and bending options, and are thicker.  They even have plug holes on the insides where you can fit an attachment, although I haven't tried that yet.  Moving down to the legs, they are chunky and provide substantial footing when the T Rex has his head low in attack mode (most of the weight needs to be right on top of the legs for him to remain standing), but unfortunately, the missing rear toe results in Severo always falling back on his tail when he is in more of a standing position.  Gotta say, though, those front toe claws look great. 

Between the short, stubby tail and meaty legs, I get the distinct impression of Hasbro's FOC Grimlock, and I was never crazy about that mold to begin with, although I like the toy overall.  It would have been nice if Severo had a nice long tail like MP Grimlock, but he just wasn't designed that way.  To make up for it, Severo has a very impressive battle attack mode where his two identical blasters come together and fit on top of his back, making him every Decepticon's worst nightmare.  You can also attach his sword and big blaster on the hips via pegs, which results in a tank of of a dinosaur.  Lastly, he also has a flamethrower nozzle in his mouth (watch out for those sharp teeth!) to match MP Grimlock's design.

 As a robot, Severo is damn cool.  He has all the standard articulation of MP class Transformers, plus a few additional details that make him worth your time and money.  I have no issues getting him into various poses, as his legs are extremely movable at all the joints (there is a very distinct ratchet sound when moving the thigh connected to the hip), and the plastic is tough graded stuff, so you won't catch him tipping over.  The hands are similar to the other Exo-Realm Dinobots- a simple design of outward-swaying fingers clumped together, and a permanently placed thumb, which gives the entire line good grips on their weapons.  Unfortunately for Severo, his single blaster is SO huge that fitting it in his hand without the finger portion moving out of place will be a common occurrence.  I'm not sure why Fansproject made the blaster so big; the other figures have perfectly fitting weapons whose size does not overpower their hand articulation, so I'm sort of stumped on that one.  And considering Severo is not MP scale, I would think his blaster would be smaller, but that's simply not the case, so this leaves you with the choice of using one of his twin blasters as a standalone piece, which can be done.  They weigh less and look better.

Even though I understand the inclusion of the crown, I could have done without it.  It's made of cheap plastic, unlike MP Grimlock's metal crown, and the way it fits over Severo's head reminds me of the classic dunce hat.  The crown comes so far down on his head that it almost covers the eyes.  In the grand scheme of things, that's small potatoes.  Sit him in his throne and relish the coolness he gives off.  Have a spare Optimus or Megatron head floating around?  Severo would look even better as the conqueror with his foot on one head and the other head being held in his hand.

A Battle of Epic Proportions

Oh, these were the stunt doubles used for Transformers:  The Movie (1986).  That explains the missing Snarl.