Transformers Officially Revives Grindor With New Cyberpunk-Inspired OVERGEAR Figure
Takara Tomy is bringing back Revenge of the Fallen Decepticon Grindor for a heavily armed new figure in its OVERGEAR line.
The “Transformers OG-02EX Grindor (CTC Technology Demonstration Model Specification)” reworks the recently released OVERGEAR Blackout with new detailing, graphics, and tactical equipment created in collaboration with Japanese design team Chuocho Tactical Crafts.
Chuocho Tactical Crafts specializes in industrial and near-future design, with its work spanning wearable accessories, tactical-style equipment, and collaborations with anime and game characters.
The studio previously brought the same aesthetic to Hatsune Miku through a cyberpunk collaboration later recreated as a PLAMATEA model kit complete with an armored mask and large mechanical speaker unit.
Grindor originally appeared in 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as a huge helicopter-based Decepticon who fought alongside Megatron and Starscream during the movie’s forest battle against Optimus Prime.
His design was closely related to Blackout from the first live-action Transformers movie, with Grindor’s original 2009 Voyager Class figure itself reusing the earlier Blackout mold.
Takara Tomy is now revisiting that relationship through OVERGEAR, once again using Blackout as the engineering basis for a separate Grindor release while giving the returning Decepticon his own visual identity.
OVERGEAR is a collector-focused Transformers series from Takara Tomy’s T-SPARK label built around the concept of “real mecha,” combining realistic vehicle forms with heavily detailed robot modes, extensive weapon options, and shared connection points for customization.
The line launched with Ironhide and Blackout in October 2026, with Optimus Prime already scheduled to join them in early 2027.
Grindor transforms between an attack helicopter and an approximately 18.5 cm-tall robot, retaining the overall mechanical structure of OG-02 Blackout while introducing a very different black, fluorescent green, and pink color scheme.
Chuocho Tactical Crafts created the typography and graphics covering both modes, filling the rotor blades, wings, and armor with warning markings, technical text, and other details intended to make Grindor resemble an experimental military machine.
One wing carries a tiger-stripe pattern, while the phrase “GRIND YOU INTO NOTHING” appears prominently across the design as a direct reference to the character’s name.
Takara Tomy has also altered the head compared with Blackout, giving Grindor a more enclosed gas-mask-inspired appearance and reducing the painted detailing around the eyes.
Within OVERGEAR’s newly created backstory, this version of Grindor is presented as a technology demonstration unit equipped with experimental stealth and night-vision systems for covert nighttime assault missions.
Both the helicopter and robot modes include numerous 3 mm and 5 mm connection points, allowing the weapons and other equipment to be repositioned depending on the desired loadout.
Included accessories consist of an assault rifle, machine gun, missile pod, rocket launcher, and fire-control radar, along with separate missile and rocket parts.
The package also includes a story sheet styled as classified documentation, a blueprint-inspired specification sheet, stickers, and a paper folder for storing the additional materials.
Takara Tomy has also used other specialist Transformers lines for more experimental releases, recently reviving its Evangelion crossover with an EVA Unit-02-inspired Rodimus Prime through the separate SYNERGENEX series.
Another returning crossover saw the Back to the Future GIGAWATT Transformer based on the franchise’s DeLorean time machine receive a new anniversary release.
Pre-orders for the “Transformers OG-02EX Grindor (CTC Technology Demonstration Model Specification),” priced at ¥19,800 (approximately $125 / £93), are now open in Japan through Takara Tomy and participating hobby retailers, including HobbyLink Japan.
The figure is scheduled for release in July 2027.
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