As the Diaclone toyline grew, the scope expanded beyond the standard fare of the highly popular Real & Robo to keep the series from getting stale. Capitalizing on the popularity of dinosaurs among young boys, Diaclone introduced the Dinosaur robo, such as Tyrannosaurus, a robotic Tyrannosaurus rex.
Origins
Tyrannosaurus was designed by Koujin Ohno, the designer responsible for a great number of Diaclone toys, and later, Transformers. Early solicitations and catalogs show a smoother, sleeker test shot with rounded dinosaur hips, a smoothly curved body, arms that hang at a more natural angle, and simpler sticker applications. The robot mode of the test shot uses a silver chrome chest with a more organic shape, and a simple red light or window in the center, and a totally different head design, featuring a more traditional silver-painted face without a mouth guard. The design was altered significantly before production, and the US Patent for Transformers Grimlock shows the final version of the design.
Description
Tyrannosaurus’s dinosaurian mode depicts a robotic T. rex standing upright (a misconception of paleontology of that time) with its tail dragging on the ground. It features a large amount of silver and gold chrome, including the tail, toes, forelimbs, belly, and inside the translucent neck. He is otherwise entirely silver plastic. Tyrannosaurus also featured an inordinate amount of articulation among his contemporaries, being jointed at the hips, knees, toes, shoulders, neck, and jaws. His opening mouth was lined with interlocking triangular teeth. He features a translucent gray pilot seat in the center of his back. It rotates open, revealing a bucket seat that can either be left open with the driver “riding” the dino mode, or rotated shut to protect the driver inside either mode. Its pilot is the second type of Diaclone pilot with a green torso and black limbs, featuring magnetic feet.
His transformation is rather unique, but shares some traits with Brontosaurus, such as the head flipping down to unlock the wing panels, and the rear of the dinosaur splitting to become the legs. The fists extend from the bottoms of the T. rex feet, and the claws can be folded down onto the fists, but this precludes the use if Tyrannosaurus’s included weapons. The robot mode has a broad chest covered in gold chrome, with a translucent window showcasing molded mechanical parts. The robot’s head is small in proportion with his muscular-looking body, and entirely black save the eyes. He also sports his only major die-cast part, his blue hips. The robot can wield a combination of a chrome sword, black dual gun, or a handheld rocket launcher with small chrome missiles.
Collector Notes
Tyrannosaurus is relatively sturdy, but he does have some minor faults. The most notable of these are the small clips on top of the dinosaurian chest. These clips hold the dinosaur head in place, and due to the mobility of the two chest plates, misalignment could cause one or both clips to break off. Also, the translucent center of his chestplate can occasionally be pulled off.
Variants
Tyrannosaurus does not have any production variants. However, a number of knockoffs such as “Dinosaur Robo” and “Ancient Animal” were released in the US and Europe. These were nearly identical to the Diaclone Tyrannosaurs, and loose samples only differ in very minor details.
Availability
Tyrannosaurus was available in 1983, and again in 1984 until Diaclone’s cancellation.
Redecos & Retools
Tyrannosaurus’s mold was slightly redecoed in 1985 to produce Transformers G1 Grimlock. Grimlock’s redecoes and retools are discussed in his article.
