When DOTM toys came out, the only leader class toy I want to get is Megatron. But he isn’t there. We don’t even know if there will ever be a leader class Megatron or not. Only thing we got is that wonderfully designed but too small voyager class one. Now going back to browse the isle, the leader class toys available in DOTM line are Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Sentinel Prime. Totally no interest in Bee (and later my son got it, ugh!) and not a fan of Ironhide either. That leaves Sentinel Prime. I know he is a good toy, I also know he has some balance issue, so I didn’t bother pick him up even when he was on sale. He is just not in my book of plan. Later I saw him again on sale plus some helps from Hasbro, I decided to pick him up. So here comes the toy review.

Sentinel’s alternate mode is a Rosenbauer Panther airport fire truck. While looks very realistic and bricky, this truck is a fine toy. Most of the parts are connected tightly and he rolls well even with the big shield storing underneath. The firefighting boom arm is fully rotatable and extendable and the siren sound works well.  Color scheme is nice and he is well detailed. Even the circle thing on top of the truck is there as I haven’t figured out what to do with it but apparently it is there in the real truck as well. The stealth mode doesn’t mean much to me but it is fun for my son to play wtih. The only thing I would say wrong in this mode is the color. In the film, Rosenbauer Panther is in pretty much pure red but this toy’s red is a little more purple and pink-ish. Not to be picky but I also don’t understand why Hasbro didn’t do the red right either. Because in their product image, it is pure red and looks very nice.

I’m really not a fan of shell former and this Sentinel is almost there. Transforming him involves separating and connecting many panels which I normally don’t like. While not being as complicate as ROTF leader Optimus Prime, his transformation scheme is also not as fun as leader Starscream. The cab collapsing into chest part is super nicely designed and the legs transformation and design is unique. In robot mode, Sentinel is only a tiny bit shorter than Optimus. He really has back heavy issue due to the electronic part but if you adjust the feet well, he should stand okay (unlike leader Bee). Now with all the panels hanging on his back, he does look like wearing a cape (Alpha Trion anyone?) but at least they don’t bother his body movement. Sentinel looks very well like CGI design in the movie but again, the color is wrong. Red, red, red, please. He has two articulated hands which four fingers together can open and close. They are very tight so can hold things well, although the shield can still be flopping, I will have to find a way to fix that. Since the MechTech ports are standard size (nice), he can also adopt other weapons beside his own. So besides his hands, there are total 6 ports on his body. If you put them all on, he is quite heavy armed. Unfortunately this figure does not come with his rust gun. The shield converting to gun is rubbish so I’m not going to cover that. For now I just use HAB Backfire as a temporarily weapon until I find one, but Sentinel couldn’t hold him perfectly due to the short peg. Oh, about the electronic sound and voice, I think they are okay and they are fun for kids. There are additional sounds when you press down a button in the right shoulder port (or put a weapon in) and he also speaks differently when it is pressed (good, I’m really sick of Optimus only saying his name while everybody in the world knows who he is). In general, Sentinel is a fun toy if you have overcome his balance issue.

Transformation: 7 – Not that complicate as I can do it without instruction. But I don’t like to connect those panels.
Fun: 8 – He is a fun toy in all modes (truck, stealth, and robot). Only if he does not have the back heavy issue or if he has those big flat feet like Optimus has to support the weight, he will be even better.
Display: 8 – Displays very well in all modes. But if you look at the product image and then the toy, it’s a shame Hasbro didn’t do it like what they’ve shown. I know eventually I will repaint him and he will take out a lot of paints and time.
Value: 10 – I won’t tell how much and how I got him, he is just totally worth the purchase.
Overall: 8 – He is not as good as other leaders like Optimus and Starscream, but he is an overall good toy to play with.