We have the reveal of two new Transformers: Age of Extinction figures, Slog and Snarl, which means a good look at both their dinosaur and robot forms! And they. Are. Bonkers.


Snarl is the radioactive green stegosaurus above. Slog is below, and he's... uh... covered in long, thin, cylindrical, ribbed, columns, I guess you'd call them? I thought at first they were cannons, but then robot mode Slog is holding them like swords, but they're shaped more like lances, but with a ribbed texture and a bulbous head at the end. I am happy to hear alternate theories.


And that;s not even mentioning the things jutting out of Snarl's back in dinosaur mode, which at best could charitably called "spikes." Anyways, here's a better look at Snarl in his robot mode. Note the crazy tail-turned-tentacle arm:

In case you were wondering if Snarl will be neon green in Transformers: Age of Extinction, the answer is no. Actually, the Hasbro team explained why the Transformers toys are made with such distinctive colors compared to their movie counterparts at Topless Robot:

When it comes to the movie Grimlock toys being predominantly gold versus the gray in the movie, it's a choice to make the toys pop out a bit more, and to get kids to associate that color with the character, like they associate yellow with Bumblebee and blue/red with Optimus. They heard a lot of feedback internally and from consumers about how it can get hard to tell who's who in the movies sometimes, with so many robots being black or gray. It's also useful for color palettes to be unique at retail - every kid knows a yellow sports car in the toy aisle is likely to be Bumblebee, for example.


This blows my mind. Transformers is a toy movie franchise, after all. Call me crazy, but it seems like the baseline limit should be if it's a bad decision for the toy, it is probably, by necessity, also a bad decision for the movie. But no, a distinctive color palette and giving the audience the ability to distinguish the characters is something Hasbro has add themselves, because they aren't even on Michael Bay's cinematic radar. After all, he has "Boom" to worry about!