Rock Lords were a GoBots spin-off toy line and featured robots that transformed into rocks, with heroes and villains based on different stones and minerals. They were quite an unusual concept at the time, unfortunately being introduced when GoBots’ popularity was waning in favour of Transformers.
Name: Granite
Line: Rock Lords
Manufacturer: Kenner
Released: 1986
Price: $4.00 – $9.00 Now: $50 + MOC
Scale: 3-4.5 inches in height
Accessories: Gun
This is probably the Rock Lord that either everybody had, or everybody knew of. That’s pretty much the case for most of my collector friends. Everyone seemed to have Granite if they only had one Rock Lord – it was him. I’m not sure just how common he really was – I ended up receiving a Granite from my cousin when he gave away some of his toys to my brother and I – which included Granite, Brimstone and Stoneheart. I always thought Rock Lords were a lot cooler than Go Bots, but obviously not as good as Transformers. But they were happily welcomed into the Autobot and Decepticon ranks during playtime.
SCULPTING
Unsurprisingly, Granite looks like a rock – that also happens to be a robot as well. I think Bandai/Tonka did a good job with the sculpting; he’s very detailed, and unlike the Go Bots, the head sculpt has a lot of character and doesn’t look too generic.
PAINT
Not a lot of paint for Granite, mainly just the blue on his legs and head, and pink eyes. I’ve always liked the way the blue and grey worked well together. He really pops.
ARTICULATION
Just like with Transformers, any articulation is part of the transformation process. You can easily move Granite’s arms and legs quite well. His transformation from robot to rock is not too hard and pretty straightforward.
ACCESSORIES
He comes with his gun, which clips into his right hand only. Depending on what version you bought, the gun will be in either red or black plastic. My version is in red.
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
Not really anything to worry about. He’s a study toy.
PRICE
I bought this particular Rock Lord back when the US dollar was at parity with the Australian dollar; what a time that was. I bought a bunch of Rock Lords MOSC because they were very cheap. So hopefully they are still mostly inexpensive.
OVERALL
Granite isn’t a bad transforming rock robot. He’s got a good design and is fun to play with. He’s also a good size when compared to the much smaller Go Bots. There are definitely more interesting Rock Lord designs, but Granite is still good in his own right.
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