Just picked this guy up yesterday, and he's for the most part as good as I could have hoped. However, as much as I love him, he's not without his flaws.
Pros
- He looks amazing, great paint and a very sleek look for both robot and vehicle mode.
- Unlike Leader Bumblebee, his Mechtech weapons (Sword/shield) are not oversized and clunky, and they go well with the figure.
- Mechtech stores perfectly in vehicle mode
- Articulation is very good, though his head movement is somewhat limited by his collar.
- Kibble works well as a cloak in robot mode. It gives him, in combination with his swords/shield, a very authoritative appearance.
- Electronics are not easily set off during transformation, and he has a pretty wide variety of sounds (total of 7 unique sound effects).
- Durable (also, after a few days of toying with him, there has been no sign of any stress marks or breaks, and nothing has popped off during transformation either)
- Robot mode stays together very well
Cons
- VERY back heavy
- Transformation can be frustrating
- His transformation is likely too hard for most younger children.
- I don't see little kids having a blast with him, he seems more built for collectors.
He's got some flaws, but is a great figure overall. I recommend him to collectors, though some older children may still enjoy him. Transformers: Dark of the Moon - MechTech Leader - Sentinel Prime
As an action figure you get a solid, well articulated, stylish character. As a fire engine you get the potential of a cool vehicle, but you never can get it to actually become that cool vehicle. Transformation is not that bad, but not that good for kids. There are many frustratingly finicky tabs and parts that fail to stay together unless the alignment is perfect. Many of the panels that create the fire engine appear to be held in position by stress and not by good connections. Trying to align one side will cause the other side to come out of alignment. Never quite got the entire fire engine to look like the photos even after 20mins of effort. Its 95% there, but some panels refuse to align all the way leaving gaps.
As a kids toy this is difficult to transform and time consuming to achieve the correct fire engine look. It feels solid and durable, but will require much fine tuning of the panels to get it just right. Kids might like cheaper versions that have a simpler design.
As a collectors toy it makes a great figure, though it is back heavy and will require the fire engine nozzle arm for support in standing. The voice sounds nothing like Leonard Nimoy. It's not impossible to transform the fire engine perfectly, but it is time consuming to align all the panels and tabs. Somewhat disappointing at this price range.
This may be the worst designed toy I have ever seen in my life. The box says 5 YEARS OLD! Two engineers gave up after the better part of an hour trying to turn this thing into a jalopy of a crooked wheeled firetruck. Steer clear of this thing. More humane letting your kid climb out of a hole on a greased pole, if your looking for that kind of frustration (a lot cheaper too!). I challenge the designers to prove me wrong. It embodies all the worst aspects of design. I'm going to try to salvage the $40 by using it as an object lesson for my kids on how to avoid abject failure. Crap!
I was overall very pleased with this toy. I collect police/fire/EMS transformers toys, and this one fits well with my collection. Also my 4 year old son thinks its awesome too!
The vehicle mode is a bit tough to keep looking "smooth" though: several poorly designed tabs along back of vehicle do not always stay snapped tight. Also the small rearview mirrors are soft and flexible rubber. It is a very complicated transformation process, but not bad with instructions nearby.
I've collected transformers for a while, and I definitely found that I liked this one quite a bit. Unlike some of the other newer toys, it transforms fairly logically, but the instructions aren't that great. Overall it's awesome, just would like better instructions.
This toy was a gift for my 12 YO. I bought it more than 30 days ago so unfortunately I can't return it but I would if I could. It broke the first time he tried to transform it. Not worth the money. My son was very disappointed.
When I first saw the review of the figure I knew I had to get him. The only complaint I have is that he is a bit back heavy, but the mold and his accessories make up for it. Transformation wise is decent not too difficult but its no walk in the park either. His voice recording isn't bad either, lights and sounds are quite loud. Overall it has a few small hiccups but a fantastic figure, don't miss him.
okay every review I make is based first and formost on the authenticity of the look of the vehicle according to the movie it is based on. Sentinel Prime is at first glance a very authentic looking fire truck, although once again Hasbro has failed to recreate the slightest details. The paint job is almost accurate accept the real movie version was black red and grey. It had a black cab and the side pannels where red on top and gray on bottom. Shame on them for making such an obvious misatake. Then the Autobot face symbol is located at the back, much larger and bolder then the more minute Autobot door badges on the side of the cab in the movie.
but those details are minor and easily modified if one so chooses. What really torques my rear axle is the roof lights. They look beautiful blue lenses when they are off but press the button on his roof and YELLOW LED's shine through them. WHAT the freak were they thinking putting yellow or amber bulbs under a blue lens!? I can only imagine that Hasbro has working for them a bunch of idiots who never saw the movie, and doesnt care about the chars. On top of all this he was infuriating to transform into a truck. Every time it seemed I had his side pannel together the other side would pop loose. I finally got it all together though and the Firetruck mode (minus bad color scheme and lights) is a very decent representation of the real Airport Fire Rig right down to the hoze and nozzle attachments on the end of the crane boom.
All that and I am sorely disapointed in the scale of the rig. I thought it would look great beside my Leader Class Optimus but it turns out he is the exact same length as the Optimus rig and lower then Optimus in height in truck mode. I would rate his desighn as a 1/43 scale on par with most of the Deluxe class autobots and the so called Ultimate Optimus Prime class semi tractor truck.
The robot mode is another story. Accept for a few minor color details he is fairly accurate a replica of the character.
To say that I hate this toy would be overstating things. If I really hated it I would sell it on ebay and not be keeping it to put up with. I think with a little work the desighn has a 98.5% chance of looking like a decent replica of the movie char.
as it stands right now, I am not too pleased. - Leader - Dark Of The Moon - Fire Truck - Hasbro'
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