Alright, so you might be wondering why is there Transformers post in a dinosaur-related blog, well the thing is, Transformers has a lot of connection with dinosaurs than what you have in mind. Transformers began in 1984 with the G1 cartoon and from the first show, they had a sub-faction of Autobots called Dinobots.
The first ever Dinobots ever brought to screen and they were as what Transformers are, robots turning into Dinosaurs and it was a massive hit. Kids and adults loved the idea of robots and dinosaurs together to the point where they made a sequel series to G1 and G2 universe called the Beast Wars universe where all the robots turned into animals or dinosaurs or bugs or birds and so much more. The library of creature-oriented Transformers is immense but for today, I will be going through the G1 Dinobots and the Jurassic Park collaboration.
G1 Dinobots:
If you have seen the G1 cartoon, then you would probably know these guys. If you haven’t no worries, I found a whole playlist in YouTube by the official Hasbro Pulse channel, so have a watch through the whole show if you have the time. Getting back on topic, Dinobots are a core ‘sub-team’ in the group of Autobots. They are always together through the whole show and they are the Autobots’ trump cards against the fight with Decepticons.
They are always larger than your average Autobots and their strengths and endurance are unmatched unless it is a way bigger robot than themselves. As for the design, I believe you can see that they are not technically realistic or accurate in dinosaur design. They look more retro now unlike when it was released. In the 90s, before Jurassic Park film was released, the Dinobots dinosaur mode was accurate to the image of the dinosaurs 90s had. At least for the G1 version, as newer Dinobots look very different now as they try to maintain the accuracy of the dinosaur design. Here are some character design sheets I found for the G1 designs.
The G1 Dinobots team consists of the members:
- Grimlock (Tyrannosaurus)—the leader
- Sludge (Brontosaurus)—a plodding bruiser
- Slug (Triceratops)—the bad boy
- Snarl (Stegosaurus)—a grumpy soldier
- Swoop (Pteranodon)—a good-natured bombardier
The mentioned characters are the core members for G1 and from time to time the team changes, either one would be replaced or a new member enters the team or not even appear in the show. To me, it seems like G1 had the most amount of characters ever shown. I do find it funny how Grimlock is the only carnivore based dinosaur and the other members are herbivores and Swoop is a piscivorous pterosaur and showing that even herbivore dinosaur modes are also strong.
Most of the time in dinosaur movies, herbivores are usually meat fodder for carnivore. I mean, an Apatosaurus can easily kill an Allosaurus with a stomp and which is why most carnivores would hunt weaker, sick, old or younger dinosaurs. It’s so much fun to see how sentient dinosaur robots can cause so much damage and the main job for Transformers is to be Robots in Disguise and here we have Dinosaur Robots fighting cars and planes, its just pure madness.
There are some other obscure members of the G1 Dinobots team in various different media like the comic books and if you want to learn more about those other media, let me know in the comments. So, I have compiled another list of Dinobots members from G1 universe who did not appear in the show but in other media.
- Paddles (Elasmosaurus)—a martyr with an awkward alt-mode
- Grimmaster (Styracosaurus)—the one-bot combiner Grimstone lookalike with his own crew of drones
- Skar (Ankylosaurus)—the team’s medic
- Strafe (two-headed monster)—an outsider with a mutated beast form
- Slash (Velociraptor)—the clever girl
The characters mentioned have very little screentime or page time in this case but they are part of the Dinobots. Grimmaster is probably the only member to appear in the Japanese Generation 1 continuity cartoon and yes, Japan received more cartoons/anime after the original 3 seasons of Generation 1. Paddles, Skar and Strafe had limited appearances in IDW comics which happens G1 continuity while Slash appeared in a toyline called Power of the Primes.
And that is not all, the Dinobots can combine into an even larger robot called Dinoking. This was the first ever appearance of a combining Dinobot form and this would also lead to inspire another combiner form called Volcanicus. Though Volcanicus has mainly been relegated to toylines or games most of the time but Dinoking has had a lot of appearances in the Japanese Generation 1 continuity. Grimmaster also has some dinosaur drones which allows him to turn into a combiner called Grimstone. Dinoking has a 6-robots combination while Volcanicus, sometimes has 6-robots combination or 5-robots combination while the combination for Grimstone is 5-robots.
And that is what you need to know about the G1 Dinobots and let’s move on to the exciting new collaboration Hasbro has been cooking up with Jurassic Park!!
Transformers X Jurassic Park:
For this collaboration, Hasbro released 2 sets of action figures, one in 2021 and other in 2023. The set released in 2021 was a big one where the set contained a Tyrannocon Rex and Autobot JP93. Tyrannocon Rex is a Decepticon and she transforms into a very, organic-style Tyrannosaurus Rex, reminiscent of the Tyrannosaurus Rex from the Jurassic Park film.
While Autobot JP93, transforms into a licensed Ford Explorer XLT, is a staff member of Jurassic Park and it is his duty bring Tyrannocon Rex back into her paddock and that is the official story of this set. Even though they are Autobots and Decepticons, they are not taking part in the war as the are members of the Jurassic Park and InGen will not be happy if the park fails. It is a fun set to have and looking absolutely similar to the Tyrannosaurus breakout scene is amazing in my opinion.
The next set consists of Dilophocon and Autobot JP12. This set is a little bit more affordable as it is 2-deluxe class robots unlike the earlier set which was a leader class and a deluxe class figure set. The story is also pretty similar, Autobot JP12 is sent out to capture the Decepticon Dilophocon for being out of containment and send her back to her paddock. The Autobot JP12 looks a lot like Dennis Nedry character from Jurassic Park film with even a shaving cream can accessory as a homage.
Both these sets are a fun addition to the Transformers lore and I hope to see more sets like this, maybe one with a Spinosaurus or a Brachiosaurus would be amazing.
I hope you got to learn a lot more about the history of G1 Dinobots as well as the Jurassic Park Collaboration. If you would like me to go over even more Dinobots from other timelines, you know what to do, let me know down in the comments below and I hope to see you again soon in other posts in Prehistoric Pedia!!