Star Wars General Grievous

Prelude: Episode III introduced lots of new things to the Star Wars universe. The Empire was founded, die Clone Wars ended, old characters died and new ones were introduced. One of these new characters is the evil General Grievous, a monstrous-looking cyborg, who would go down in history as a Jedi killer.

Even though Grievous only ever appeared in Episode III, he left a lasting impression. As the movie came to a close I was somewhat disappointed that we didn't see more of this character. As a cyborg he is, of course, predestined to be converted into a Transformer. And so Grievous became one of the first to upon whom this honor, or should I say, this fate was bestowed.

Robot Mode: Grievous' robot mode doesn't look all that different that the original version we saw in the movie, seeing as he's a cyborg with lots of robot parts even then. The only organic things you saw on him were the eyes. As a Transformer Grievous' is unusually lean and has long, very posable limbs. Especially his hands are worth mentioning, possessing a posable, finger-like mechanism, and his claw-like feet, which, thanks to an additional joint, remind me strongly of the feet of predator Dinosaur.

The biggest difference when compared to the movie version os the big backpack, which surprisingly doesn't cause any balancing problems. I would have expected some in a fragile-looking Transformer like Grievous, but I was pleasantly surprised. The backpack consists mostly of the folded-togehter claw-wheel from the alternate mode. On the right side you can fix the big cannon, which can fire one of the three included lightsabers. The General can also take the cannon into his hands, of course, but it's a bit too big there for my taste. On the other side of the wheel is the pilot seat of the vehicle. The miniature version of the droid general can take a seat there in robot just like in vehicle mode.

Weapon-wise Grievous has, apart from the big cannon, two additional lightsabers, which he can easily hold in his claw-like hands. Thanks to numerous joints he is very posable and can pull off various combat stances. A very nice robot mode. It would have been nice if Grievous' arms were capable of splitting, like they did in the movie. But even with two arms Grievous is a very good robot.

Alternate Mode: General Grievous transforms into the Wheel-Bike we saw in Episode III, a strange hybrid of a giant monocycle and a giant mechanical insect. Here, too, the Transformer is very close to his role model. The legs of this strange vehicle are fully posable, so you can position the alternate mode pretty much any way you choose.

Grievous is piloting this mode from a small control seat next to the big claw-studded wheel. On the other side the big cannon is providing ample fire power. There are no visible hints that this thing transforms into a robot. You really need to look very carefully to see Grievous' well-hidden robot head between the spikes of the wheel.

A very good alternate mode, which is as close to the movie role model as possible. The only slight drawback is the wheel's inability to turn. But seeing as the robot body is hidden away inside it, I doubt there was any feasible way to make that happen. Apart from that I have absolutely nothing to complain about this vehicle mode.

Remarks: General Grievous is in my opinion one of the best Star Wars Transformers. Both his robot and his alternate mode are close to the role model, offer lots of posability and, because of the many different ways you can position this figure, a lot of play value. Little details like a moveable wheel and seperating arms would have been nice, but don't spoil this figure through their absence. Grievous is really nice.

The only slight faux pas committed here is the fact that one of the General's three included lightsabers (the one you can fire from his cannon) is red. In the movies this colour is usually reserved for the Sith. But that's really just a minor thing.

Rating: In the end we get a well-deserved A-