Reveal the Shield Grappel

Reveal the Shield - Bought this figure in 2012 or something. I did not managed to get Inferno before; so this was enough for me I guess. He did appear in the animation as an obsessed yet genius Autobot architect/engineer and were responsible to build the solar tower. Sometimes I do wish Grapple was a Decepticon instead. Now Hasbro has changed his name into Grappel instead of Grapple but I will just mentioned him as Grapple along the review. Anyway, here is my review of him.

Bio

Before the war, the skyline of nearly every city on Cybertron was distinguished by the remarkable silhouettes of at least one building designed and constructed by Grappel. His work embodied the spirit and culture of his world, combining perfect functionality with unmatched elegance. It broke his Spark to see his works destroyed, one by one, as the war ravaged the world. Now he builds without art, constructing buildings meant to last only long enough to shelter the Autobots while they plan their next mission. - Sources from TFU.info

Vehicle Mode

Somehow when I was a kid; I do love firetruck or in this case, a construction truck. And Grapple relived those childhood moment. Somehow it turn out that my son has a thing about firetruck. Although he is a repaint of Inferno; the only differences was the crane itself. Only Grapple and the exclusive Artfire is installed with a crane while Inferno and Hot Spot share the same hose gun.

Robot Mode

His transformation is quite easy. There is a contraption on one of the siren light where you have to slide it in order to put the head in or out. He looks amazing frontal but when you try to take a picture on the side; you will see his chest is quite thin without a proper back. I did make a mistake by not lowering the front guard and I have to re-shoot again. Anyway; his articulation is quite limited especially the shoulder parts. And its crane makes matter worst. The RTS insignia is located on his left shoulder.

Conclusion

Although this figure has a few minor weaknesses; it is still one of the sturdiest and most amazing voyager class figure. Takara United has released another version of Grapple. I never did like it due to its yellow helmet since G1 Grapple has a black helmet. So basically; Hasbro wins this round. If you are looking for Grapple; then this might be for you. For now; I am hunting down Universe Inferno.