Sentinel Prime's alt mode is a rather hefty Rosenbauer fire truck. As is the case with most licensed vehicle modes, this mode is pretty spot-on accurate in terms of proportions, with only the ladder/hose (which can move at two points at the base and another point about a third of the way up) being a bit too short proportionally, likely so it doesn't stick out too much in robot mode. The only real extras are the parts that can be seen on the front of this mode-- the interior chest piece in particular sticks out a bit if you're looking at Sentinel from a relatively straight-on angle, and the clear plastic used for his windows makes his head incredibly obvious, just sitting there in the middle behind the window like it does. (There's also no molded interior, which is a bit of a bummer at this scale.) Sentinel's main shield weapon stores on the underside of this mode and can stick out a tad in front of the rear tires, but if it bugs you that much you can always simply detach it and put it aside. The color scheme is certainly appropriate for a fire truck, being mostly dull red, black, and gray. The gray's rather boring (if movie-accurate)-- I would've preferred white in its place-- but otherwise the color scheme is decent enough for the more realistic tones of the movie toys. There's a fair bit of silver paint on the red to change things around a little, like the Autobot symbols near the back, a silver line down the sides with the Rosenbauer emblem on it, and a bit of lettering like "316" and "FIRE RESCUE". His headlights and taillights are also painted off-white and yellow, and his transparent light blue sirens give a tad more color variation at the front end. I would've preferred a bit more paint on the gray or the black (like the wheel hubs, for instance) to make things a bit more visually interesting, however-- he's still a tad bare there. As far as electronics, pressing the small gray button behind the sirens will cause them to blink orange while a siren wail is emitted from the toy.
    Sentinel Prime's transformation is both straightforward and complex at the same time. A lot of his alt mode simply folds up behind his back or waist in robot mode, and his arms fold out in a very simple transformation. However, there's one sticking point no matter which way you're transforming him-- if it's from vehicle to robot, it's the chest that's rather difficult to remember how exactly to get everything to line up; if you're going to vehicle mode, it's getting the legs in just the right position to close up the back end. As such, I wouldn't recommend this toy to anyone who hates difficult transformations, as it'll take several times before you get the "gist" of it, particularly for the legs. An interesting bit here is that the difficult parts are the most ingenious parts of his robot mode-- the way the entire front folds up into his chest in such a "fragmented" look that emulates the movie model so well is incredible, and everything locks into place securely. The way the lower legs fold around themselves with only a little bit of obvious "vehicle paneling" forming the heels is also awesome, and his legs are pretty beefy without looking too blocky. He's remarkably movie-accurate in this mode, with his arms being a bit short but otherwise his proportions being pretty darned spot-on. Unfortunately, the entire top of his vehicle mode just hangs behind his back, along with a few large side panels hanging off the back sides of his shoulders and waist (though the latter looks like a "skirt"). Granted, in the movie this whole bit moves and acts like a "cape" of sorts, but in hard plastic it's just a bunch of backpack kibble. Even with his somewhat substantial feet and heels, he can fall over on his back quite easily, as back-heavy as all this stuff makes him. The ratcheting joints-- at least on mine-- are also a little weaker than they should be to hold up Sentinel Prime, which of course only makes this worse. The detailing is definitely more intricate for this mode, with the head, hips, and shoulders looking particularly well-detailed in terms of decorative mold and paint detailing. The addition of bronze and more silver really helps Sentinel Prime look less boring color-wise in this mode compared to his vehicle configuration. As for articulation, Sentinel can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), wrists, at the mid-points of his curled fingers on each hand (with all four fingers on one joint), and at the hips (at two points), knees (at two points), and ankles (at FOUR points!). Most of the major points are ratcheted too, with the only major articulation points missing being the waist and a way for his head to look up or down. As for weaponry, Sentinel comes with an awesome  (albeit a bit small proportionally) double-bladed sword that his hands can grasp fairly well, as well as a Mechtech shield that, with the press of a button, converts into a blaster (though it's admittedly not much of a transformation, just a few parts popping out or sliding further open). That said, this weapon can actually STAY in either mode, unlike most Mechtech weapons, which is certainly a welcome feature. The handle on the back side of the shield is also adjustable, though you'll need to use one of the pegs on the backside and slot it into Sentinel's lower arm if you want him to wield the shield as a blaster. For electronics, you can access his siren sounds by pressing the same button mentioned earlier, AND if you press the gray-and-copper button slightly below his neck, his mouth will open slightly, his eyes will flash orange, and he'll say "I am Sentinel Prime!" in a voice that is nowhere near Leonard Nimoy's-- just a generic deep-sounding hero's voice, sadly. I do wish he a greater variety of electronic sounds, as well.
    Leader Sentinel Prime has an incredibly accurate robot mode and a pretty impressive vehicle mode to boot. His weaponry is also pretty darned awesome, as is the way his legs and chest transform. That said, he's a bit of a chore to transform and all his back kibble is quite a downside in robot mode. If you want a simpler version of the character, I'd go for the cheaper Cyberverse version of the character. If you want a "mainline"-sized Sentinel Prime toy, though, this is definitely the one to go for. Recommended-- the best Leader class toy in the line.

Review by Beastbot

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