Dinobot really doesn't look very good in either of his forms, mostly because of poor design, because his sculpt quality is just fine from a technical aspect. In his animal version, he's reminiscent of a raptor, with huge back legs and short little arms, as well as an accurately shaped head. He just has a lot of ugly elements like his rear thighs which stick out way too far when looking from the front, as well as looking ridiculously disconnected from his actual body. The feet are comprised of a bunch of unattractive parts that aren't flush with one another, and don't even look like a dinosaur's anyway. The worst part of dinosaur mode (which I actually thought I had done incorrectly when transforming him back) is that his robot arms are just tucked into his chest, but they're still entirely visible, claws and all at the bottom of his body. He just has two blocky chunks dangling from his chest and it looks absolutely terrible. There are also a lot of very visible lines where parts meet up; they could have designed parts to match up more closely to save some visual appeal. Dinobot also has big screwholes in his back in both forms, and while no other possible options come to mind, I think a more attractive alternative could have been found somewhere. His robot form isn't quite as bad in the design department, his proportions are decent and his kibble is relatively limited. I actually like the look of his little arms poking out from his shoulders. I wish the dinosaur mode's head could be a bit lower on his chest to make his face more prominent and engineering some way to make the parts around his chest fit together better would have been a positive addition. As it stands now, it's difficult to get all of the parts in his chest to match up and stay where they're supposed to. The accessory is sculpted in a clunky way, proving too large, too heavy, and too ugly. The face sculpt isn't particularly good or bad, with a neutral expression and somewhat sharp details, though his chin does stick out a hair too far. Moving on to more technical aspects, Dinobot is quite detailed. Little scratches and grooves in his dinosaur skin give him a sense of much needed texture to avoid any toyish feeling. His head and tiny arms in animal mode look extra nice, with wrinkles and creases around his eyes and fingers. The claws on his feet and hands may not be very sharp, but they're sculpted individually and have a nice shape. One issue is his bottom teeth, which are much flatter than expected; where are the sharp teeth like the top? His robot form has panels and circuitry in a few places to add the robotic feel, along with visible fingers on his hands. Overall, this sculpt just leaves a lot missing in design, and a little missing in technical aspects, no matter which form you're looking at. 

Sculpt Score: 5 / 10

 With very few actual paint applications, Dinobot instead relies on the colors of his plastic. The brown/gray that makes up a majority of his color scheme is a good shade that approximates dinosaur skin well enough. He also includes some bright yellow and purple pieces that are visible in his robot form. The yellow is darker, almost gold and complements the purple well, but the purple looks terrible with the main brown/gray color. His skin is a nice muted shade that's easy on the eyes, and the purple and gold combo looks good too, but when you add all three together, it's ugly. Plus it doesn't match the previous toy or animated model, so I'm not sure why they went with this scheme. His applications are just fine, but nothing extraordinary either. The stripes on his back are appropriately varied in length and width and add some much needed variation to his look in animal mode. The eyes and claws are a clean white that's done without any slop and stays within the lines. His teeth don't fare quite so well, with some of the plastic color showing through in spots. The worst area is on his talons, where yellow paint was applied over the brown plastic, altering the shade significantly, so that it doesn't match the yellow on his legs at all. The blade of his accessory is molded in a translucent orange and catches the light nicely, as do his eyes which are molded in a clear red plastic. Dinobot's face isn't that well done, with purple paint either going too far or not far enough onto his eyes, making one look considerably larger than the other. The silver "mohawk" on his forehead is also a bit sloppy. When you look at Dinobot, he just doesn't have any sort of flow in his color design and it's a big weakness. 

Paint Score: 6 / 10

 Dinobot's strongest characteristic is probably his offering in the articulation department, although it has some holes too. He's a well articulated figure in robot compared to some Transformers toys, but he's also got some options in his alternate mode, which is rather unusual. He accomplishes this in robot mode with the following points: hinges at his elbows, knees, and ankles; swivels at his biceps, ankles and neck; and finally ball joints at his shoulders and hips. The only key spots missing are swivels at the thighs, which would offer so many more movement possibilities in the legs, and some sort of hand movement option. As a raptor, Dinobot has similar leg movement, arms that swivel up and down, as well as a jaw that can open and close. All of the articulation works well, including that which is necessary for his transformation, but his arms aren't tight enough to hold his accessory up in a pose because of its weight. That's a pretty disappointing problem if you're trying to find a good pose with the weapon in hand. It's a smooth transformation process over all, even if it requires some strange, unintuitive movements. The joints don' look bad with his sculpt, but they don't particularly aid its appearance either. The only limited motion range is with his knees in both forms, which have very little backwards movement available. His head can move in a full circle horizontally, but it can't move vertically much, if any at all, even though it seems to be intended to. He could use a few more points, though he's still fun to play with and you can find some exciting poses too.   

Articulation Score: 7 / 10

 Dinobot benefits from being two of kids' favorite things simultaneously--a dinosaur and a robot. Being able to transform is a built in action feature that provides a lot of extra fun over a standard toy. You have two options for displaying him, although neither is all that attractive. There is also a certain degree of nostalgia offered with Dinobot, but due to some significant design changes, even diehard Beast Wars fans (like me) just can't retrieve loving memories when looking at this figure. His poor visual design is also a limiting factor in his overall enjoyment because you just won't want to show him off, or even see him sitting peacefully on your shelf. The articulation he offers is just enough to allow for posing options in a display or battle options in play. An accessory is included (his transformed tail) and it actually fires a fire projectile by pressing a button on the bottom. This is a fun little diversion and it can even knock down other figures and achieve a few feet in total range. This missile can also function as a sword for Dinobot in his robot form, which actually looks much cooler than the hideous tail weapon. Little things like his opening mouth in raptor form also increase the joy you can get out of him. The packaging has a somewhat detailed biography and includes statistics too, so providing that story for a figure is a great setup for playing with him. In the end, Dinobot is just almost there when it comes to fun and barely misses the highest mark. 

Fun Score: 9 / 10

 With the newer $11-12 price tags on Transformers Universe Deluxe Class figures, I just can't confirm that Dinobot is a strong value. He's an average sized figure for this line, which sure doesn't help make a case for laying down your cash. If he were bigger or offered a better design then he might feel a little more worth while, besides the fact that his sculpt and paint aren't good enough to overcome the power of the tag either. The aspects that do make him valuable are that he's going to be a fun toy, depending on the person, and that it's almost like he's two toys in one. Despite how ugly he is, it's obvious someone had to spend a lot of time figuring out a transformation process, and any effort like that costs money. He's also well made, with strong plastic, various screws, and solid joints. He should stand up to plenty of playing or posing and even includes a built in accessory. Dinobot really has everything necessary to be a good value, he just costs too much.  

Value Score: 7 / 10 

Summary

 5 - Animal form looks really bad with numerous extra parts clearly seen, non-flush match-ups, poorly designed legs, but good front arms and head. Robot form has some technology integrated into his look, along with an okay face and proportions. The accessory looks terrible too.

 6 - Some good applications, a couple iffy spots, some colors work and others don't, face looks pretty bad. 

 7 - Has almost enough articulation, it all works, knees are too restricted, not tight enough to hold his own weapon, looks just okay with sculpt. Thigh swivels and more neck movement would be a good addition. 

 9 - You can play with him, you can make him look pretty good in displays, includes an accessory with an action feature, design is lacking so you won't want to show him off, but he transforms!

 7  - No broken parts, everything feels durable and like it will last, transformation process takes design effort, paint and sculpt aren't amazing, includes an accessory, he costs a couple dollars too much. 

Overall Score: 67 / 100 - This is an Okay Toy

Dinobot isn't an amazing figure, though he does have some strong points like how much fun he is, as well as having good articulation. 

P.S. This could be the figure I'm giving away this month, just leave a comment for a chance to win (if it's the one).

-The Articulated One