Bot Reviews: Transformers vs. G.I Joe Vinyl Mini Series Destro, Starscream and Grimlock

I’m not super big into G.I Joe, except when it crosses over with Transformers, something that usually happens in comic-book-miniseries form. And there’s never been a weirder, more compelling crossover than Transformers vs. G.I Joe. To be specific, because there’s a lot of comics with a similar title, this is the 2014 one published by IDW, that ran for 13 issues, plus a one-shot “Movie” (it’s complicated.) It was drawn by Tom Scioli, who co-wrote it with John Barber, and it was strange.

The art was half Silver-age comics, half child’s notebook drawings. The story (the elevator pitch being “the Joes invade Cybertron”) was incredibly dense, remixing the mythologies of both franchises into this complicated, multi-generational tale, and it was just full of odd concepts, sometimes feeling like kids playing with action figures and making the plot up as they went along.

It’s not for everyone, you have to vibe with what it’s doing, but everyone should give it a try.

On the merchandise side, there’ve been a few Joe/Transformers crossovers over the years (no, the Collaborative Megatron and Baroness set that’s coming out soon is not the first one), though they’ve mostly been convention exclusives. And when it comes to this comic, there’s been no mainline figures based on it on either the Joe or Transformers front, but instead, there was a weirdly deep line of merchandise from Kidrobot, including pins, keychains, entire skateboards (?!), and the “Vinyl Mini Series,” which includes these three figures (there were a couple larger “Medium Vinyl Series” figures, too).

They were sold blindboxed, and there was no secret codes or anything you could use to cheat, it was legitimately luck of the draw.

Starscream and Grimlock the two I managed to pull when I saw them at Fan Expo one year, and Destro I found loose later on. Typically, I don’t go for tie-in, chibified vinyl stuff like these, but my residual love for the series meant I decided to give them a whirl. And it was a whirl, because I never saw them again at a convention after that. So, here’s my thoughts on the three I did get.

Destro

I’ll start with our one GI Joe (or rather, Cobra) representative, since he’s the closest thing to a “standard” figure I’ve got. Destro’s a scottish arms dealer that kinda-sorta works with Cobra (but also does his own thing), and wears a metal mask that (somehow) is able to perfectly emote like a human face (via cartoon logic). He’s one of the key players in the comic, and without spoiling it, the story slowly unveils an absolutely bonkers new origin story for him.

In vinyl figure form, Destro’s a little bit smaller than a Core-class Transformers figure. He is, of course, superdeformed, meaning he’s got a big head, and a small, stumpy body, but not to the level of Funko Pops (thankfully). He’s stylized, but just enough to work for me, if that makes sense. While he’s definitely not in scale with mainline Transformers figures (to say nothing of his exaggerated design), he’s short enough that you can kind of squint-test him into interacting with them.

For his design, Destro’s got that fully metal face, and a jacket with a humongous flared collar, plus a deep v-neck to show a ton of bare chest. It’s a bit silly, but it’s also faithful to his classic design, without much really being changed. His details are specific enough to make me, a fan of this comic, happy, but generic enough to work as a Standard Joe, if that’s why you’re interested.

Up top, he’s got a big toothy grimace on his mean mug.

A big upside of this figure is that it’s absolutely slathered in deco that’s specifically designed to replicate Scioli’s lineart. He’s got a black outfit, with grey portions to replicate comic book shading effects, a red collar and belts, a fleshy chest, and silver gloves and head. A lot of details on him are simply tampographed on, like his chest muscles, and a big red ruby on his chest, but he’s just three-dimensional enough in general that it works. I didn’t realize this until recently, but if you look really closely at his face,  the circles painted inside his red eyes are not pupils, but are meant to imitate a specific panel of the comic, where he stares down Megatron.

In terms of his build quality, Vinyl’s an interesting material. It’s solid like plastic, but the extreme edge of it is a bit soft, and you can slightly flex the arms. I’ll be honest, I’ve got no idea what specifically makes Vinyl the material of choice for Boutique Collector Stuff, but that’s not a knock against it, and the whole figure is a solid slab of it, that stands well thanks to his big feet.

Destro’s only got two points of articulation, in the form of shoulder swivels. Part of me thinks about how this is more of a display piece than a poseable figure, and they probably didn’t want to break up the sculpt. But, for a blindpacked figure, any articulation is good, I suppose. I’ll also note that while he doesn’t come with other accessories, apparently a few of the other figurines in this series do, and his sculpted-slightly-open hands seem like he’d be able to hold them.

Starscream

Everyone’s favorite Decepticon traitor, surprisingly, didn’t have a huge role overall in the comic, mostly just in the first issue. But he got a new altmode based on a Joe Skystriker, and after getting part of his face melted off, a Cobra-themed eyepatch, which is what this figure imitates.

Scale is fake in this toyline, but I do appreciate that he’s a bit taller and wider than Destro in size, as a giant robot.

Starscream’s sculpted in that same chibified style, but I appreciate that they made him a Block Person, and I like the comic-bookish squat his legs are sculpted in. He’s got a  dour, serious, cubic face, with a weird-looking eyepatch, and a head that’s a lot more square than his comic design, to my slight disappointment.

On the positive side, he’s got his wings sculpted onto his back, and his intake towers on his shoulders.

Starscream’s got a ton of deco on him, way more than Destro, it seems. He’s’s got a grey base, with red, blue, black, and dark grey details. Again, that deco’s doing a ton of heavy lifting when it comes to those details. His yellow cockpit, for example, is entirely 2D paint instead of sculpting. But again, it works for this figure, and it really evokes the comic’s art style pretty well. I like the little specks  painted around his eyepatch, where it was bolted on. The deco on his wings is a bit odd, in that he’s got a bunch of it, including faction symbols, barely visible on the inside, but the back is blank.

For poseability, Starscream’s got the same shoulders-only articulation as Destro. Unfortunately, his articulation is neutered by his wings, which knock into his arms and prevent the full range of motion. He can tilt them back, but barely tilt them forward.

Again, I’m mostly in this for the static figurine, but it’s a bit of a disappointing design oversight. He’s got extremely tiny holes in his closed fists, and I wonder if any other accessories in this toyline will fit them.

Grimlock

Grimlock is another character with a smaller, but pivotal role early in the series, which re-invented him as a barbarian warrior who usurped leadership of the Autobots from Rodimus (okay, so, basically Marvel Grimlock), before moving on to a more, let’s say, spiritual role as the series progressed.

This figure elects to render Grimlock in his dino mode, and let me tell you, this thing is adorable. He’s got a small body, and big head, with his jaw sculpted half-open, and a cute-looking face.

This really gets Cartoon Grimlock’s energy just right, particularly in his later, more comical Season 3 roles. He doesn’t really feel like the vicious character of the comic, but I really don’t mind. They also splurged for way more sculpted detail on him than Destro or Starscream, and he’s got a ton of panel lines across his body, with an impressive amount of detailing molded in.

For colors, Grimlock’s mostly light grey, with bits of black, yellow-orange, red, and white. He’s also got two whole Autobot symbols on him. Between his red eyes, and other small coloring details, it seems he’s loosely based around his G1 toy colors.

Grimlock’s sculpted as being about halfway between the classic vertical and modern horizontal T-rex pose, and balances well on his two legs and tail, which is sculpted with a nice curve.

Again, Grimlock’s only articulation is in his shoulders, making his tiny T-Rex arms flail about. This is wonderful and perfect, and is all he needs.

Overall

These figurines are an odd novelty, but I’m more fond of them than I expected. Part of it is that they’re from a comic I like, but part of it is also just that they’re well-made vinyls that are just stylized enough to be fun, are firmly out of the Funko Pop Zone of abstraction, and have lovely, intricate paint schemes. Out of the three, Grimlock is the strongest, I love this little guy, Starscream’s sort of the weakest (mostly due to his arms), and Destro’s in the middle.

Honestly, if you see some of these guys for a decent price, whether loose or still blindpacked, they’re worth getting. They seem a bit pricey (like 8 or 9 US dollars on eBay), but there’s enough density and deco to make it feel worth it to me. Heck, if I see any more of them at a convention, I’ll probably snap them up myself.

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