Review: DOTM Sentinel Prime Figure

[jetfire217]

Anybody else see this being re released with a different head mold. There has to be a faceplate type prime mouthpiece. I'm guessing with sentinel it'll make him look more like a complete knight

[Jason X]

When I first saw his alt mode it really reminded me of Animated Ultra Magnus. Maybe they can repaint him, give him a new head sculpt, and finally give us a movie version of UM. Plus he wouldn't be a repaint of Optimus for once (though still a repaint of a Prime) and that would be a HUGE plus.

[ShellformerV1]

Anybody else bored with Optimus? I'd just as soon somebody did a movie/animated series/comic/novel with Sentinel Prime being the focus. I want to know more about this version of him. He might--MIGHT--have the single best design in the entire Bayverse, and his LC toy does a better job of translating that than any $45.00 toy has a right to...balance issues and all.

 

He's got some ties to Animated Sentinel (the "knight" look and shield) and Ultra Magnus (as Jason X pointed out) and bears a fairly close structural resemblance to Optimus while also looking very distinct and unique. It's a remarkable achievment.

 

Also: there's just something about heavy-duty airport fire trucks that excites me.

[Blitz-Wing]

Anybody else bored with Optimus? I'd just as soon somebody did a movie/animated series/comic/novel with Sentinel Prime being the focus. I want to know more about this version of him. He might--MIGHT--have the single best design in the entire Bayverse, and his LC toy does a better job of translating that than any $45.00 toy has a right to...balance issues and all.

 

He's got some ties to Animated Sentinel (the "knight" look and shield) and Ultra Magnus (as Jason X pointed out) and bears a fairly close structural resemblance to Optimus while also looking very distinct and unique. It's a remarkable achievment.

 

Also: there's just something about heavy-duty airport fire trucks that excites me.

Like how it's never been done?

[ShellformerV1]

But none of that bothers me. What does bother me is his transformation sequence, which channels far too much of the horrible transformation layout of '07 Movie LC Brawl.

I really like leader Brawl, including his transformation. He's my favorite tank TF...

 

...even more than ROTF Bludgeon? To me, that figure is the quintessential tankformer. Even a fantasy "tank" like WFC Megatron? Unlike LC Brawl, the tank kibble on Bludgeon doesn't get in the way. As a matter of fact...I don't think that there really is any in base mode. There's the treads hanging off the shoulders and hips, but that is more of a feature than anything else.

 

Brawl's whole base mode is compromised by the poor execution of the legs and feet. The upper body is fine enough on its own merits, but 1) parts that should deform (the mine forks) do not and 2)the lower body is a mess of tank panels filed against each other and poorly-conceived and executed feet with an inexcusably small footprint. And the transformation is too dependent on panel-forming and shell-forming. He doesn't so much transform as he hides. I didn't like it when G1 Scourge did it; I like it even less now. I liked the DLX toy a lot better, a LOT better--even with the shoulder issues. It's much better conceived and executed and resembles the CGI more than the Leader toy. Even the transformation is better. The leader toy does have its good points (the arm sculpt is killer, he's armed to the teeth and he's huge), but not nearly enough of them to placate me.

 

But, back on topic: I want to have LC Sentinel Prime's babies. All of them. I'm just saying. This toy has got it goin' on and it's STRONG. God, he's just cool. Even with that gap in the side of his body. See, I don't even see that. I don't see it. I just see COOL.

 

The static, regal pose was invented for this toy.

[ShellformerV1]

Anybody else bored with Optimus? I'd just as soon somebody did a movie/animated series/comic/novel with Sentinel Prime being the focus. I want to know more about this version of him. He might--MIGHT--have the single best design in the entire Bayverse, and his LC toy does a better job of translating that than any $45.00 toy has a right to...balance issues and all.

 

He's got some ties to Animated Sentinel (the "knight" look and shield) and Ultra Magnus (as Jason X pointed out) and bears a fairly close structural resemblance to Optimus while also looking very distinct and unique. It's a remarkable achievment.

 

Also: there's just something about heavy-duty airport fire trucks that excites me.

Like how it's never been done?

 

A la Animated Wreck-Gar and '07 Payload and the ROTF Ice Cream Twins? YES. I am all for more nonconventional alternate modes. Where's my bus Transformer? And it's been 4 years already: where's the Mountain Dew-bot? Getting sick of SUVs and sports cars and jets and motorcycles and TANKS.

[FREEFALLL666]

When I first saw his alt mode it really reminded me of Animated Ultra Magnus. Maybe they can repaint him, give him a new head sculpt, and finally give us a movie version of UM. Plus he wouldn't be a repaint of Optimus for once (though still a repaint of a Prime) and that would be a HUGE plus.

Would make a GREAT Rodimus Prime with a flame paintjob, or give him head cannon antenna and you have Hot Spot if he was blue,

[Jason X]

Anybody else bored with Optimus? I'd just as soon somebody did a movie/animated series/comic/novel with Sentinel Prime being the focus. I want to know more about this version of him. He might--MIGHT--have the single best design in the entire Bayverse, and his LC toy does a better job of translating that than any $45.00 toy has a right to...balance issues and all.

 

He's got some ties to Animated Sentinel (the "knight" look and shield) and Ultra Magnus (as Jason X pointed out) and bears a fairly close structural resemblance to Optimus while also looking very distinct and unique. It's a remarkable achievment.

 

Also: there's just something about heavy-duty airport fire trucks that excites me.

Like how it's never been done?

 

A la Animated Wreck-Gar and '07 Payload and the ROTF Ice Cream Twins? YES. I am all for more nonconventional alternate modes. Where's my bus Transformer? And it's been 4 years already: where's the Mountain Dew-bot? Getting sick of SUVs and sports cars and jets and motorcycles and TANKS.

I'm still waiting on a Dew-bot myself, firing icy sweet refreshment at me at 120 feet per second. Pure win!

Edit: Yeah, but the same five alt modes are getting old. It seems like they took it to the extreme in TF Prime in that damn near every Decepticon has to be a jet of some sort (I believe the only exceptions so far being Breakdown and Knockout).

[Lord Atmo]

Yeah repetitive alt modes....

 

I still wanna see a bayformer that turns into a TRAIN

[ShellformerV1]

But none of that bothers me. What does bother me is his transformation sequence, which channels far too much of the horrible transformation layout of '07 Movie LC Brawl.

I really like leader Brawl, including his transformation. He's my favorite tank TF...

 

...even more than ROTF Bludgeon? To me, that figure is the quintessential tankformer. Even a fantasy "tank" like WFC Megatron? Unlike LC Brawl, the tank kibble on Bludgeon doesn't get in the way. As a matter of fact...I don't think that there really is any in base mode. There's the treads hanging off the shoulders and hips, but that is more of a feature than anything else.

 

Brawl's whole base mode is compromised by the poor execution of the legs and feet. The upper body is fine enough on its own merits, but 1) parts that should deform (the mine forks) do not and 2)the lower body is a mess of tank panels filed against each other and poorly-conceived and executed feet with an inexcusably small footprint. And the transformation is too dependent on panel-forming and shell-forming. He doesn't so much transform as he hides. I didn't like it when G1 Scourge did it; I like it even less now. I liked the DLX toy a lot better, a LOT better--even with the shoulder issues. It's much better conceived and executed and resembles the CGI more than the Leader toy. Even the transformation is better. The leader toy does have its good points (the arm sculpt is killer, he's armed to the teeth and he's huge), but not nearly enough of them to placate me.

Yep, even more than Bludgeon. What can I say, I just really like him. I like his huge menacing robot mode. I like his tank mode. And I even like the transformation and how everything fits into place in both modes.

 

 

:thumb There's definitely worse toys to like (ROTF SCALPEL!!!ROTF SCALPEL!!!ROTF SCALPEL!!!)...what the hey: I'll still tell anyone that will listen that the ROTF Wheelsnakes are the greatest thing since The Rock's first heel turn and Triple H's "My Time" entrance theme, so there ya go.

 

...finally gotten the hang of Sentinel's transformation, and it's not that bad. It's not a great one, but it is certainly better than the one ROTF LC Jetfire employs. Some of the elements that establish the cab and the front wheels are actually kind of clever, IMO. It's solid and heavy, and is very reminiscent of Animated Ultra Magnus not just in looks but in some of the elements of conversion. This is kind of where the toys fragility comes into play: I'm getting the feeling that repeated transformations will auger ill for the toy, and the rubberized bits definitely do not look like they will stand the test of time.