Toy Review - DOTM Leader Sentinel Prime

I managed to fix his stability issues somewhat by using the (retarded) missiles from the lame 'stealth force' mode. Basically they can swing out to elongate the heel. There's a little tab that stops them folding beyond 90 degrees, but it's pretty easily dealt with with some clippers. Then it can fold all the way down quite easily. I also took his batteries out which helped a little...I'd be interested in seeing if it's possible to remove all the electronics to further reduce weight, although that looks to be a lot more trouble than it's worth.

In the long run the best mod may be to remove the grey 'cape' from his back altogether and just reattach it when in vehicle mode, all the tabs along the side should hold it in place nice and snug...but that's cheating, right?

I can pose this toy and get him to stand on his own - even got a few action poses without him falling over. But it wasn't easy. Should take some photos and post 'em in the Action Pose thread. ;)

Finally got this guy yesterday (fishpond.com.au order arrived) and thought I'd post a few thoughts.

I'd start with the negatives as they seem to outweigh the positives (at least for me) and it kinda ruins the whole thing for me.

Cons:
- very top heavy (due to sound box and batteries)
- crap feet design (fairly unstable)
- difficult to pose (due to first two cons)
- annoying sound gimmicks (have removed batteries on mine)
- loose grip on weapons (shield flops around)
- pinkish red colour (would have looked nicer as a darker red/magenta colour)

Pros:
+ displays relatively nicely (has shelf presence)
+ nice transformation sequence (a bit fiddly, but ok)

Of the three DOTM toys I've purchased so far, I had such high hopes and expectations for this guy, but I actually enjoy DOTM Deluxe Starscream more.

And that's really all I have to say about this guy... I'm totally disappointed in him - wished I left him MISB instead of cracking him open to be honest. :(

Interesting to note that half of your Cons are related to the electronic sound gimmick. I really wish Hasbro would stop already with insisting that every "big" TF toy has to have an electronic sound gimmick... seriously... so many toys have their engineering compromised because designers are trying to accomodate a large, chunky, heavy and cumbersome electronics and speaker block. And movie Transformers are challenging enough to design as they are due to the fact that they're based on pre-existing movie designs... demanding HasTak designers to then incorporate an electronic sound gimmick on top of that really doesn't help.

I think DotM Voyager Megatron and Shockwave are really neat toys... but I suspect that they wouldn't be so cool if they were Leader Classes with electronic sound gimmicks in them. IMO Sentinel Prime is a pretty good Leader Class toy who is hampered by his sound gimmick housing. But nowhere _near_ as bad as say any of the Leader Class movie Megatrons.

Took some action pose shots of Sentinel Prime here. :)

I don't mind electronics. They add "cool" factor for kids and perceived value, at least as far as toy marketing is concerned. I love 2007 Movie Prime's head reveal (with the sounds and flashing lights.) I just wish the movie toys would have as varied sound effects as the Animated Bumper Battlers - those had quite excellent electronics that stringed together different combinations of phrases.

This is probably the only DOM toy I will get.... then also I will not be rushing to get it, hoping to get a nicer takara colour version or something like the jetfire prime combo.

Kids typically don't like toys where the engineering is adversely compromised by it's gimmick. Look at the G1 Battlechargers and Firecons -- a lot of G1 fans who grew up playing with those toys criticise them for their lacklustre engineering built around their gimmicks.

Gimmicks aren't necessarily a bad thing per se... it all depends on whether or not they adversely effect engineering. I've been pleasantly surprised with MechTech thus far -- when I first heard about it I feared that the engineering quality of DotM toys would worsen to compensate for the cost of the MechTech gimmick; but I've been pleasantly surprised to see that, for the most part, this isn't the case. :) And to be fair, HasTak engineers have the additional challenge of trying to make these toys screen-accurate to highly complex CGI models.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vector Prime

I'm totally disappointed in him - wished I left him MISB instead of cracking him open to be honest. :(

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We all have to learn that lesson some time :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Kids typically don't like toys where the engineering is adversely compromised by it's gimmick. Look at the G1 Battlechargers and Firecons -- a lot of G1 fans who grew up playing with those toys criticise them for their lacklustre engineering built around their gimmicks.

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Of course they would say that when they've grown up, that's the perspective in hindsight. But kids aren't nearly as critical about toys as us nerds are. Kids just want something cool and fun, and they don't care so much about "compromised engineering".

For example: Armada was very, very successful, despite having simplistic toys that were very heavily gimmick based, and whose main form of advertisement was a mediocre, badly-animated, rush-dubbed cartoon. I don't think kids bitched too much about how Optimus Prime's super mode legs couldn't move because they were a giant motorised block - they were probably having fun with it.