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Series: Studio Series
Year: 2025
Allegiance: Autobots
Class: Voyager
Prelude: Across the various Transformers continuities, there seems to be one constant: Sentinel Prime is a dick! Sometimes a well-meaning one, sometimes a malevolent one, but always a dick. Transformers One’s version of the blue and gold Prime is no exception. Still, he featured very prominently in the movie and so he gets a few different toy incarnations, including this one here from the Studio Series. Many thanks to my buddy James, who gave me this figure as a gift. Let’s say go!
Robot Mode: I wrote a review about the Transformers One Prime Changer version of Sentinel Prime not too long ago, so there will be some comparions to that other figure, just so you know.
Sentinel Prime is a Voyager-class figure that strongly resembles the character from the animated movie. Mostly blue with golden highlights and some grey, he strikes an imposing figure with his Rodimus Prime-style spoiler-wings. As a matter of fact Sentinel displays quite a few elements of other Primes (the paintjob is pure Animated Sentinel Prime), but more on that as we proceed. The Voyager-figure is, of course, bigger than the barely-Deluxe-sized Prime Changer, but the two are pretty close in appearance.
Sentinel also carries mostly the same weapons as before, two guns and a shield. For some reason this figure here, too, foregoes the double-sided blade Sentinel was shown to wield in the movie. Unlike the Prime Changer, Studio Sentinel cannot mount his guns on his shoulders, but he can combine them with his bubble-gum-colored shield, which somewhat emulates the look of Dark of the Moon Sentinel Prime a bit. Articulation is pretty excellent, though I was a bit disappointed to notice the lack of wrist swivels. The big wings on his back are also on a multi-joint, so you can move them out of the way of whatever pose you want to achieve, no problems.
One thing this figure has that the Prime Changer lacked is the super mode that Sentinel assumed near the climax of the movie. He unfolds sculpted missile launchers from his legs, gun barrels flip out from his shoulders, a mouth plate covers his lower face, the breast panels swivel out, and thrusters deploy from his feet. He can also slide forward the gauntlets on his forearms to cover his fists and make it look like his arms end in big cannons. Very nice overall. The way the feet become jets kind of reminds me of Beast Machines Jetstorm, while the hidden arsenal is a nice nod to Animated Ultra Magnus, another leader this figure here homages.
Overall I very much like this robot mode, there are just a few minor flaws to point out. When you flip out the shoulder guns, the top panels don’t close all the way, making it look a bit unfinished. Also, if you want to unfold the mouth plate from inside Sentinel’s chest, you need to unhook the sides of the torso, otherwise you’ll never get that mouth plate out. Finally, the shoulder joints are a bit wobbly, but that might just be my version.
So bottom line for the robot mode(s): very nice. A great toy incarnation of the movie character with a lot of nice features, a ton of homages, and only very minor flaws.
Alternate Mode: Sentinel Prime still transforms into a science-fiction style jet, of course. Compared to the many features of the robot mode, the jet mode almost appears a bit simplistic, to be honest. It’s basically Sentinel Prime lying on his stomach with the shoulders flipped downwards and the cockpit from the robot’s back flipped forward. It’s a pretty sleek-looking jet, no doubt, with barely any underbelly, but if you look at it from underneath, it’s hard not to see that it’s a robot.
Side note: I really don’t like the modern trend of jet Transformers not having a landing gear anymore. Not sure when exactly that became en vogue, but it’s not something I enjoy. That yellow piece in the center of Sentinel’s chest in robot mode almost looks like it should unfold a landing gear, but it doesn’t. So instead Sentinel’s jet mode rests on his boobs and ankles. It works, mind you, but I really do miss landing gears in jet Transformers.
Sadly the jet cannot deploy Sentinel’s leg missile launchers and while you can unfold his shoulder guns to point forward, it something ruins the jet’s rather aerodynamic silhouette if you do. The grey guns are on the sides of the cockpit and look fine. The bubble gum shield goes on top. The finished product once again looks like it should actually be the alt mode of a guy called Dirge, but overall it looks fine. Except for the lack of a landing gear.
Remarks: In the Transformers One movie Sentinel Prime was the (seemingly) benevolent ruler of Iacon, who sought to keep his people safe from the Quintessons and wished to find the Matrix of Leadership to restore the planet’s Energon flow. Of course he turned out to be something very different in the end, but in case you haven’t seen the movie yet (why the hell not???), I don’t want to spoil anything. Suffice to say Sentinel Prime played a major role in the movie.
Now I gave the Prime Changer toy a rating of A- and I’ve decided to give this one here the same. Studio Sentinel is definitely better in some ways, but he’s also twice as expensive, so I’d say you get your money’s worth with both of them. Studio Sentinel has more gimmicks, is probably slightly more screen-accurate, and slightly more fun. So bottom line: you should get at least one of these two figures representing this character you love to hate. Which one you choose is mostly a budget thing.
Rating: A-
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