Review – Rocklords Terra-Roc

WARNING: What follows is not an objective review. Hell, it’s not even really a review. This entire entry is me playing with a silly toy and taking several pictures. In fact, there are more photos than there are words. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.

Go-Bots, for me, were always a poor excuse for Transformers toys. Now I’ve been quite clear that I love the knockoff transforming robot toys of the eighties (this post makes it pretty clear, while my reviews of the Marchon Roadbots seals the deal), but for some reason Go-Bots have never excited me. Except, maybe, the terrible Rocklords (or, as some sites name them, Rock Lords). Sure they’re rocks, but they are kinda cool transforming robot rocks.

And they look goofy. We all know how much I love goofy toys.

I don’t own any Go-Bots or Rocklords toys, but earlier this week one wandered into the office and just begged me to play with him. You see, Ben — one of our production artists — brought a few toys in for the new production office (my old office, but that’s another story) and I immediately spotted Terra-Roc, one of the Rockasaurs toys released in 1986. Ben’s a good sport and let me take Terra-Roc home for a few days.

So after playing with Terra-Roc for a few days, what’s the verdict?

Pteradactyl Mode

Wow, he sure is fun. Constructed of a hard, durable plastic and standing about 5-inches tall — with a 7-inch wingspan — Terra-Roc feels solid in hand and, other than a couple of loose joints (which is to be expected from a loved toy that’s over twenty years old), is pretty poseable with his head/neck giving him a lot of character. Head/neck stretched forward, as if he’s hunting, is probably my favorite, but rearing back — in attack mode — is also great.

Terra-Roc’s pteradactyl mode isn’t all that realistic or believable, but for a robot dinosaur from the mid-eighties he looks fantastic in a silly, kinda retro way.

Rock Mode

He’s a rock. Weird-looking, like an alien rock, and shimmery (it’s a glossy plastic), you’re not likely to misplace Terra-Roc in your rock garden, but he looks okay.

Did I Mention that He’s Fun?

I’m not about to rush out and pay a ton of cash for my own Rocklords toys, but if I ever find a Terra-Roc for a good price — say $5 to $10 for a MOC figure — I’ll probably snatch him. He’s silly, poses nicely, and fits in nicely with the other toys in my collection. Unfortunately, he’s not mine so he’s gotta go back to the office so that Ben can play with him between projects.

The following sequence of photos, shot in my yard, shows a Glyos System figure — a Red Guardian Pheyden (reviewed here) — finding Terra-Roc. It’s a bad encounter for Pheyden, since he ends the meeting with his head scarred. Poor guy.

Enjoy the photos, guys!

Wanna Know More?

If you’d like to see more photos of Terra-Roc then visit this page at www.tfu.info and this page at www.toyarchive.com.

For more on Rocklords, visit this page at Wikipedia.

Philip Reed would say that he’s sorry for such a poor excuse for a review, but an apology would take time out of his limited time with Terra-Roc. So pretend that he apologized; he’ll be over here flying Terra-Roc around the living room.