Review – Fans Toys Grenadier (Unofficial Transformers Bombshell)

I continue to be immensely satisfied with the Fans Toys series of unofficial Transformers toys (find at Amazon.com*). The company constructs G1-styled toys with enjoyable transformation designs, sturdy construction, and every time I open and play with one of thier toys I get the feeling that the people behind the projects completely understand what makes a transforming robot toy fun. There may be more popular third party makers out there, but there aren’t many who consistently amaze me.

A Visit to Toy Dojo

As I mentioned yesterday), I visited Toy Dojo in Austin over the weekend and got a close look at the store’s physical location. It is incredible that Austin has such a fantastic toy store now, and seeing all of those third party toys up close like that was too exciting an experience for me to walk away without buying something. And that’s where the Fans Toys Grenadier joins the action . . .

Insect Mode

Grenadier, as you can tell by the pics, is a fantastic modern take on the classic Transformers Bombshell design. I know Hasbro and Takara have produced a Bombshell in recent years (Transformers Adventure Bombshell review here), but the Fans Toys release towers over and defeats that official release and holding Grenadier for only a second tells us right away that this is a work of art and superior to the official design in every way (except price, of course).

The insect legs are articulated, the rhino beetle’s horn semi-articulated, and generally Grenadier is as blocky as the original 1985 Bombshell toy. Sure the legs on this design are better than on the original toy, but it’s tough to say that what we’re looking at here is any more than a brick of die cast metal and plastic. Bombshell was never about infinite play value in insect mode!

Robot Mode

Robot mode is where all of the Fans Toys series of unofficial Transformers toys (find at Amazon.com*) really step out and grab out attention. The alt modes are great and all, but there’s something unspeakably rewarding about the company’s robot mode designs that make me trust their work, and Grenadier continues the excellence I’ve encountered in the company’s previous works.

Articulation

Grenadier is a modern transforming robot toy, and that means that unlike the original Bombshell toy that inspired it, Grenadier is loaded with articulation!

• Head – Ball-jointed neck.
  
• Torso – Swivel waist.
  
• Arms – Swivel/hinge shoulders, swivels above the elbow, hinged elbows, swivel wrists.
  
• Legs – Swivel hips with hinges that swing outward, double-hinged knees, ankle hinges.

That may not sound like a lot of points of articulation to some action figure fans, but trust me when I say that Grenadier offers up enough joints that the toy is highly playable and fun. And every joint is tight and works great, and those weighty lower legs/feet are perfect and make the toy nice and stable. This guy’s a lot of fun!

Closing Thoughts

I know it’s dangerous for Toy Dojo to be so close to my office, but when a store can offer me toys as remarkable as this Fans Toys Grenadier then I can only be happy about the store’s location, right? And while there have been earlier third party Insecticons (Fansproject Unofficial Insecticons pics here), those earlier toys were nowhere near as fun and bulky as Grenadier. This toy feels like it was made to capture the look of the original without bringing the puzzle-like mentality of some designs into the transformation process.

This is a fabulous toy, and now that I have Grenadier I’ll be getting the other two Insecticons from Fans Toys. You can find the Fans Toys catalog at Toy Dojo, and if you’re in the Austin area I suggest rushing over to the physical store to see this transforming robot toy in person. There are other Insecticon options out there, but in my opinion Grenadier is the best Bombshell toy I’ve ever held and played with. You can safely skip the other designs and go with this one; this is the best Bombshell in my collection!