TF Views

Thought I’d start a proper review thread for this line to post my Sentinel Prime review in.

Before that though, I wanted to review the line’s primary “Mech Tech” gimmick which would factor into most, if not all, the toy reviews that we'll posy here in the months ahead.


DotM Toyline Gimmick: The Mech Tech Weapon System

Since the live-action movies’ toy gimmicks (‘Automorph’ and ‘Mech Alive’) had always revolved around the theme of self-moving machine parts, and these were usually executed through the use of clockwork gears and/or spring-loaded mechanisms.

DotM’s iteration of the “Mech Tech Weapon System”is a revisit of this same theme, but implemented on the weapon accessories instead of the main figures. Conceptually, this is a nice idea. Not only do the robots transform now; their weapons do too.

“Mech Tech” also goes 1 step further to ensure interactivity between the main figure and the transforming weapons. This comes through the use of Mech Tech ports, which allow the weaponry to be attached to both the alt and robot modes.

Here are my general thoughts on the gimmick, based on my fiddling with Sentinel Prime and the photos and video reviews I’ve seen on the Internet thus far:


What I like:
1. Added play value –
Anything that adds play value to a toy has got to be strength. Each Mech Tech accessory effectively provides a robot with 2 weapons in one. The movie trailers released so far have depicted scenes of vehicles in “battle mode” (for lack of a better term), and these battle-ready alt modes can be re-enacted on the toys via the Mech tech ports. Every figure contains multiple ports in both modes, providing a lot of options to customise the figure’s arsenal.

2. 5mm Mech Tech ports
Mech Tech ports are still based on the standard 5mm peg sizes, so there's a lot of backward compatibility and play options with other weapon accessories from previous lines. I've tested Sentinel Prime's ports on a number of weapons, including 3rd-party accessories, and all these have worked just fine:
- Classics Optimus Prime's Windvane rifle
- Generations Tracks' pistol
- Perfect Effect's Ejector / Rewindor (The Sun and The Night didn't work so well)

3. Interactivity with Scout (Commander) class Human Alliance figures –
All the commander class HA figures associated with the DotM line are slated to be triple-changers, with an additional weapon mode. It seems that these weapon modes also use the Mech Tech ports to interact with the larger figures. This is conceptually promising, but it really depends on the upcoming designs of Commander class HA figures and how well they can compliment the gimmick. I’ve already seen a vid review of a Commander class missile rack (speculated to be Sandstorm) that’s just too clunky to mount on another bot.

4. Concealment of Mech Tech ports –
This was something I saw on the Nascars (Topspin & Roadblock) and t I thought it’s a nice touch that the toy designs have made efforts to conceal at least some of the Mech Tech ports in alt modes. It improves the vehicle aesthetics, and makes them more distinguished from the battle modes. Of course, there still are some figures that have ports just sitting there in plain sight waiting for something to plug in. But, for the effort of at least trying to conceal some ports, I give them props.


What I don't like
1. Bulky Mech Tech accessories –
Personally, I value visual aesthetics a lot, and disproportion is always an eyesore to me. Though, admittedly, this may be just nitpicking on my part. The fact that the accessories incorporate moving parts forces a degree of bulk on them. Some weapons, like the Voyager class Optimus Prime’s gun, and Skyhammer’s weapon in sword mode, just look clumsy and obtrusive when mounted onto either robot or alt modes.

2. Déjà vu, anyone? –
This is where I have a real issue. I like the concept on it's own, but as a line-wide gimmick, it feels cheap to me. The universally-useable weapons thing has already been done.

The earliest rendition of this gimmick was way back in Armada, where Minicons were the transformable accessories that interacted with the main figures. There were also triple-changing Minicons with weapon modes, akin to DotM’s HA figures. I would even argue that the Minicons were better because they were sized more appropriately to the other figures, whereas the HA Commanders would look overly cumbersome even on some Voyager class DotM figures. Triple-changer Minicons could also get away with shoddy-looking 3rd modes more easily at their price point and size constraints.

Energon then started adopting the standardised 5mm fist holes, which is still the practice with today's figures. And recently, Recon Ironhide introduced the 3mm clip on accessories which has since become another standard. Both of these are essentially interpretations of the same basic concept of interchangable weaponry.

Mech Tech ports are essentially just additional 5mm holes located elsewhere on the robot besides its fist. From the figures revealed so far, at least, mounting weapons into the ports does just that; mount, and nothing more. This is exactly the same as we’ve seen on figures like the Generations line’s War for Cybertron Optimus Prime (which incidentally also had a spring-loaded transforming gun).

I can appreciate Mech Tech’s relevance to the whole self-moving machinery theme of the movie lines and its contribution to play value. It certainly works. and while I apprecate another revisit and improvmeent of this concept, it lacks the innovation I'd associate with the definitive feature of the entire toy line.

I can see this line have customizer appeal. That might actually sell me on a few.


Dom
-Minicon bases? Wooohooo!

I gotta say that one thing that's selling me on (part) of the line is Cyberverse. Today's kids have been way too playset-deprived, and now we're getting a bunch of Transformers playsets to interact with Legends figures. It's really going to be *fun* I think.

The higher-end "regular" figures have me less interested. Megatron looks great this time around, and Shockwave looks cool too, but I'm not as psyched for Alpha Trion-I mean Vector Prime-no, I mean Sentinel Prime (not that much of a joke; it literally took that full jumping thought process for me to remember what that guy was called), nor the new Leader Class Ironhide.

The new Human Alliance stuff looks cool though. I guess I'm all about play value this season.

So, DotM Sentinel Prime... It's been years since I attempted a review and I'm rusty.
I’ll start with the robot mode, since the toy is packaged that way.


Robot mode
Sentinel Prime’s torso is quite wide compared to his limbs and head, but it’s not likely to be a big issue in a line of toys that’s already seen many cases of insectoid legs, and arms extending to the knees. In any case, the proportions certainly add a sense of size and power, which works well on the figure.

Comparisons to Alpha Trion and Vector Prime arose quickly once Sentinel Prime’s pictures were unveiled, and there definitely are points of similarity. All 3 characters are supposed to be aged robots, though someone pointed out that Sentinel’s face resembles movie Optimus’ without the face plate, and I tend to agree.

Sentinel Prime’s primary colours are a deep red and grey, which are also 2 of Alpha Trion’s main colours (sans purple). Sentinel Prime also has a high collar that G1 cartoon depictions of Alpha Trion also had. The fact that Vector Prime’s toy from the Cybertron line was remoulded into Alpha Trion only further enforces any similarities this toy has to Vector Prime as shared by Alpha Trion as well – both toys use sword; both toys feature broad shoulder plates, have kibble on their backs resembling capes, and have angular crotch pieces pointing down.

In robot mode, Sentinel Prime has 6 Mech Tech ports in total. 2 Mech Tech ports are located above his shoulders. He has 1 port on each forearm. Each shoulder plate has a hole used to secure panels in alt mode, which – perhaps by design – are exactly 5mm and can be used as Mech Tech ports as well.

3mm clip weapons can also be attached along sections that would serve as safety rails mounted on the alt mode's top. In robot mode, 2 small sections of the rails are located just behind his shoulders, while the rest of the rails line the “cape” at his back.

Sentinel Prime comes with a double-bladed sword and a shield. The sword is hinged at one end of its handle to fold the blade over. This is only used to store the weapon under his "cape". The Mech Tech feature is found is Sentinel Prime’s shield. The section with the black lines (Cybertronian writing, perhaps?) works as a release button to expand the shield via a spring-loaded mechanism. The back of the shield contains 3 pegs for connecting to Mech Tech ports, and a handle which swings to one side when you want to store it. On a side note, the shield does not come with red paint applications that the photos portray, and this makes it look really plain.

Sentinel Prime’s fingers are moulded as 1 piece and are jointed to open and close his fist. He can hold his double-sword very securely, but the shield’s handle tends to roll around. There is an alternative way to mount the shield by using 1 of its pegs to attach it to the Mech Tech port on his forearm.


Articulation
There are only swivel and ratchet joints in the figure, and no ball joints.
- Head: Sideways rotation, but very limited by the way the neck is moulded.
- Arms: Shoulders swing forward and back on ratchet joints; lateral shoulder movement to horizontal; elbows bend both ways to a full 180-degree spectrum; bicep swivel just above the elbow joints
- Hands: Full wrist rotation and jointed fingers (all in 1 piece)
- Waist: No articulation
- Hips: Forward and back rotation on ratchet joints; lateral movement up to 3 clicks
- Thigh swivel: Located just above the knee joint
- Knees: Bend back up to 90-degrees on ratchets; the joints actually allow forward bending as well, but are blocked by the “kneecap”
- Feet: 4 swivel joints in each foot provide a wide range of ankle movement – whole foot swivels forward and back; toe section swivels up and down, and sideways; heel section swivels to support spread-leg poses.


Transformation
Sentinel Prime’s basic transformation scheme is a simple one. To convert robot to vehicle, fold the arms and legs behind the torso and box them up under the vehicle’s shell. Many figures from earlier lines have used this scheme. Among the more recent ones, are Classics Inferno and Animated Ratchet (Earth mode).

Such an old and simple transformation concept strikes me as a bit disappointing on a Leader class figure, but the overall complexity of the toy’s transformation is heightened tremendously by how the various panels unfold and fit together. This may not be a redeeming quality, however, as I can easily understand how some may find this simply being fiddly and unfriendly for play. My first attempt to transform the toy into alt mode took an hour of adjusting alignments. It’s been a lot faster once I got the hang of it.

Transforming from vehicle to robot is much easier, since it’s basically unpacking the limbs and collapsing panels. The transformation of the lower legs and feet presents some interesting ideas in the use of vehicle panels.


Alt Mode
Sentinel Prime’s alt mode is a Rosenbauer Panther 6x6. My country doesn’t have this vehicle at all, so I’m short of any real life references to compare against. Judging from online photos, though, the toy looks like a very close and faithful rendition. The cab’s shape is especially close to the real thing, and the over-hanging side mirrors (made of rubberised plastic) are a nice touch for realism. It’s worth pointing out that these side mirrors are attached to the main vehicle by a hinge, and have to be rotated out of away during transformation. It would’ve been easier to simply ignore the side mirrors on the toy, and it’s nice to note that additional materials and expense were put in just to make the alt mode more authentic.

This iteration of the Rosenbauer Panther features a top-mounted boom with 2 spray nozzles at the end. The nozzles are not articulated to swivel, however. The boom can rotate from where it is connected to the main vehicle, and has 2 points of articulation to deploy it from the rest position, but the boom itself is fixed in its length and does not extent telescopically. The vehicle also has a small nozzle at the front, which flips out from under the bumper, but this is for transformation purposes rather than a gimmick for play. Running along the top of the fire truck on both sides are grey plastic rails which are just the right size for 3mm clip weapons.

Sentinel Prime’s sword and shield can be stored within the vehicle. The sword attaches to the same peg under the cape, which now becomes the truck’s roof, and the shield is tucked under the vehicle, between the rear wheels.


Vehicular Battle Mode
It seems to be a theme among DotM figures to have a weaponized vehicular “battle mode”. Changing Sentinel Prime from normal fire truck to battle mode involves 2 main steps:
1. Mount his shield on top of the truck cab, and attach his sword to it
2. Fold down panels on the rear half of the truck

Sentinel Prime looks front-heavy in this mode. I’m honestly not too fond of its overall look. The expanded shield looks like a pair of giant scissors on top of the truck, and the double-sword mounted on top of that looks too much like an after-thought that isn’t really functional.

Opening the panels at the rear of the vehicle reveal 2 dead Mech Tech ports and 2 moulded guns. Adding additional Mech Tech weapons on to these ports may help offset the front-heavy appearance, but I don’t have any other DotM toy at this time to try on.


Gimmicks
Though I’ve already covered a bit of it in the earlier segments, I thought this deserved a dedicated section on its own in order to explain how the weapons interact with the lights and sound gimmicks.

Like all Leader class figures, Sentinel Prime comes with light and sound features. 2 exposed Mech Tech ports are located above the vehicle cab, along with 2 sound effect buttons. The rectangular button fires off the vehicle siren. The other sound effect button is located inside a Mech Tech port, and is triggered when a weapon is fitted in to fire off a noise depicting the weapon’s deployment. Attaching a weapon keeps this button down, and when the siren button is pressed in this instance, it triggers another machine deployment noise depicting the activation of the attached weapon. Removing the weapon to release the button witin the port fires off the transformation noise.

The light and sound features are fully utilised in the vehicular battle mode. Attaching the shield uses both Mech Tech ports above the cab, hence firing off and holding down the button inside the one port. Depressing the shield’s trigger button at this time will, in turn, fires off the siren button located directly underneath, hence producing the second machine noise as the shield snaps open.

All 4 ports and buttons are still accessible in robot mode, where the truck cab becomes the shoulders. However, Sentinel Prime’s head rests between the 2 Mech Tech ports in robot mode, and prevents attachment of the shield. In place of this play feature, the robot reveals another light and sound trigger. Pushing the spring-loaded button on Sentinel Prime’s chest depresses the trigger into his neck which fires off the “I am Sentinel Prime” voice with flashing eyes.


Additional comments:
I had to make this additional section, as there’s one last issue I feel compelled to highlight. Sentinel Prime’s lower legs and heels are formed by folding layers of panels together, and each layer of panels are secured to the next by only 1 pressure/ friction clip. And because of the transformation scheme, the sound chip and batteries are located behind the robot’s chest, and renders the figure not only top-heavy, but back-heavy as well.

In short, the figure suffers from uneven weight distribution, and it all rests on pieces of thin plastic leaning against one another. I can’t help but wonder how much strain the legs can take over time. For collectors, this is one figure that would definitely benefit from having the batteries removed if displayed in robot mode.


Final thoughts:
Sentinel Prime strikes me primarily as a toy for play, and may not live up to the longevity of being a collector’s display piece. The design doesn’t introduce anything new or innovative, but what it rehashes, it does fairly well. It doesn’t impress, neither does it disappoint – at least not as badly as some earlier Leaders might have. Transformation is fiddly, and the weight-distribution on flimsy legs is something to be careful about.

I can't recommend it with enthusiasm, but I won't condemn it either.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60761155@N03/5573938025/
Shit, Deluxes really are getting smaller. I hope this doesn't continue post-DOTM and it's only a cost-cutting measure because Hasbro figures they can get away with it for the cruddy movie line. (As soon as NEST started up, ROTF figures stopped showing the signs of cut features and abandoned gimmicks. Funny how that works.)

"Generations" deluxes stand a bit shorter than TFU deluxes. So this is likely to be a trend until the next price bump, when the toys will get larger and prices will go higher.


Dom
-seriously, look at Tracks next to Prowl.

Tracks isn't a good indiactor, I don't think, given that he's also Wheeljack, the short guy. Drift/Blurr is just as tall as Red Alert.

True. But, something about Drift/Blurr feels off, as if the toy were a smidge too simple. Jazz is a bit taller than tracks, but shorter than Blurr.

Does anybody have their toys and a ruler handy?


Dom
-needs to dig out his ruler and such.

Unfortunately I lack the toys in question. Damn it, cashflow and local stores!

I've got my CHUG figures still set up next to each other and thanks to all the renovations I have tape measures everywhere. I'll grab one and take a pic when I get home.