Transformers Bot Shots Sentinel Prime (Super Bot)

Hasbro has branched the Transformers property out quite a bit in recent years with the addition of sub lines like Cyberverse, Stealth Force and Robot Heroes, one of their newest variations on the franchise being Bot Shots. Bot Shots are small, roughly two inch figures utilizing a spring-loaded automatic transformation system and integrating a simple game in the style of Rock, Paper, Scissors for added play value. The line features a variety of characters drawn from Generation One as well as the live action movies and each wave of single pack figures includes a "Super Bot" version of a character cast in translucent plastic, symbolizing the power coursing through their circuits. Super Bots also have different battle stats in the game than their normal incarnations and are packed in less numbers per case than other characters. The first Super Bot available in wave one is Sentinel Prime.



Sentinel's proportions are exaggerated to make him a cute lil' mini betrayer of his entire race with an oversized head perched atop a stumpy little body. Articulation is zilch due to the way the figure transforms.



Based off how the character's appearance in Dark Of The Moon, but with a more friendly G1-esque face, Prime is cast entirely in translucent red plastic with literally two paint applications, a silver face plate and Autobot blue eyes. His expression is determined with a slight upward quirk of the right corner of his mouth.



Transformation is as simple as folding down the arms, folding up the legs and pulling the bumper down to lock everything in place. Be careful because the front bumper is the transformation trigger and also where you are most likely to try grabbing him because your brain hates you. Sentinel's alternate mode in the movie is a Rosenbauer Panther 6x6 fire truck, frequently used at airports, and the Bot Shots figure is a scaled down, super-deformed version of this vehicle.



While the figure may be simple, the sculpt is far from it. The Panther has multiple grid patterns, ladders, panels and hoses molded along it's length and it rolls freely on four black plastic tires, the central set of being sculpted on and sadly unpainted.



The game aspect comes into play via a rotating wedge set in their chest of each figure with a different sticker on each face, representing the character's strength in a particular fighting style and a number exactly defining that strength. Seen here is the Blaster image, for skill in ranged weapons.



The wedge rotates freely and the idea is that two kids each pick a figure and secretly choose their attack type by rotating to a certain side. The two figures are then crashed into each other in vehicle mode and upon springing up, the winner is decided by which attack type beats the others and in cases of the same attack being chosen by both players, number value of an attack.



This Super Bot version has much different stats than the normally colored Sentinel Prime, having much higher values in Fist and Blaster strength, while his Sword strength is actually much lower lower.

At roughly four dollars, it's hard to dislike this little guy. When first announced, I had planned to avoid Bot Shots as the more gimmicky Transformers sub lines typically don't appeal to me and I cared not a whit for the game, but translucent plastic is my Kryptonite and I can see how the game would be a quick, easy way for kids to play. The low price point also allows kids to build up a collection fairly easily, as four bucks is much easier for a parent to swallow than the roughly twelve dollars Deluxe class figures cost these days. Sentinel Prime was the first Super Bot available in wave one of Bot Shots and as such, should still be in stores near you. If translucent red isn't your color, you can also get a movie colored version that comes in a three pack with Bumblebee and Prowl.

Transformers Cyberverse Soundwave

One of the last Cyberverse Legion class figures released under the Dark of the Moon banner, Soundwave has recently been repainted with a darker color scheme and added weapon holes for the current wave of Legion figures. The treatment of Soundwave in the live action movies has been...unfortunate to say the least. Therefore, let's pretend this is a version of the G1 character and not the satellite rapist who gets killed because the writers needed to show how bad-ass Bumblebee is.

Cast primarily in black plastic, Soundwave also sports a purple nearly as dark as the black, silver on his shins and face and teal on the edges of the "speaker" details on his forearms. His mug is well sculpted, though it is in the style of the standard Bay-verse "face composed of a million tiny panels" Transformers. His tiny eyes are bright red and a small purple Decepticon symbol is tampoed on his right shoulder.



Soundwave's articulation consists of ball jointed shoulders and hips and the ability to splay his legs slightly at the knee due to the transformation. This doesn't allow for a lot of dynamic poses, but it's pretty standard for figures of this size class and isn't a huge deal. Soundwave comes with the weapon of the Legion class Vehicon in the same wave with no changes made to it. The weapon is a blaster with a blade mounted on one side of the barrel like a bayonet and is the same translucent purple plastic of all the Decepticon Legion figures in this wave. The weapon can either be held like a rifle or vertically like a sword due to a post at the end. It also features a post hole on one side, allowing for more custom creations using additional weapons.



Like in the movie, Soundwave transforms into a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, complete with tiny hood ornament. Usually I find it a little odd when Soundwave takes a wheeled vehicle as an alternate mode as it just doesn't seem to fit his character of espionage expert that well, but Soundwave looks pretty slick as a low, sleek sports car.

Soundwave's weapon can be mounted on the roof or either door of the car, though the blade can drag on the ground a little if put on the right side. The wheels spin freely and the vehicle has plenty of clearance off the road.



Legion Soundwave can be found right now at most stores for around five dollars and is worth it if you liked Transformers minibots as a kid or want some small, portable and cheap fun for your own children.

Transformers Cyberverse Breakdown

Normally I don't go for the smaller price point of Transformers, but this current wave of Legion class figures just grabbed me for some reason. Probably the fact that the wave is mostly Decepticons and an obscure Autobot we probably won't be seeing in the states again any time soon. So continuing the Cyberverse reviews, here's Legion class Breakdown!



Breakdown is a large, burly Decepticon that has a rivalry with Autobot bruiser, Bulkhead. Though Bulkhead is a Commander class and Breakdown is only a Legion, he is still a beefy figure for his size with broad shoulders and chest and hulking gorilla arms. Breakdown is mostly navy blue, darker than he appears in my pictures, with black and silver adding detail in the body. A small, light purple Decepticon insignia is centered on his chest and his scowling faceplate is painted bright orange with yellow eyes and a silver crest on his brow.



Articulation, as with most Legion figures, is limited but not terribly so. Breakdown has ball jointed shoulders and hips, hinged elbows that unfortunately only bend inwards and knees that only bend backward. OK reading that, it doesn't sound great, but I swear it's not bad. He can aim his weapon or swing a blade and he can make some interesting poses if you're clever (lord knows I like to think I am.) His weapon is a translucent purple cannon with some nice sculpted detail including a sight and lots of ridges along the length of the barrel, giving it a futuristic heavy machine gun look.



Since his weapon has a handle at the back in addition to the pistol style one, Breakdown can also hold it like a sword. The ridged barrel now gives it the look of a chainsaw sword and the barrel tip is pointed enough to support the image. Held sword like, it actually reminds me a lot of the mini chainsaw from the first Dead Rising game, though I think I'd still be more scared of Adam than Breakdown.



Breakdown's vehicle mode is large, heavy SUV/van combination. Though I don't think it's based off of any particular real world vehicle, it looks like the bastard child of an armored car and a Land Rover with an extremely high body, huge tires and the look of armor plating covering every inch. The vehicle mode matches his personality perfectly, you can easily imagine him ramming unsuspecting Autobots off the road and then transforming to finish the job with his chainsaw sword.



His weapon can peg into either on the two holes on the roof of the van, or into the spare tire mounted on the rear of the vehicle. Though it looks kind of silly there.


"There is no escape Autobot..."

This picture shows what I meant when I mentioned in Evac's review that the weapons in this line can combine to make larger ones. Here, Breakdown wields a giant sword composed of his weapon with a blade from Soundwave and a Vehicon attached to either side.



In the end, Breakdown is pretty decent. If lack of articulation bothers you, he might not be up your alley, but as a Decepticon skull-buster, he works well. He is one of the larger Legion figures currently available (I thought he was a Commander initially when pictures of him first started showing up) and for around six bucks, isn't a bad deal. I like the added play value of his weapon serving a dual purpose and I just really like the character design. I can't remember if Breakdown is slated for a larger class release down the road, but I certainly hope so.

Transformers Cyberverse Evac

Cyberverse is a fairly new subline of Transformers replacing the Legends class as the small, relatively cheap figures who are essentially the modern versions of the Minibots we all (most of us?) grew up with. There are "Legion" and "Commander" subclasses within Cyberverse itself, meaning five dollar and ten dollar figures basically. Today I'm going to show you Evac, a brand new Legion sized Autobot with an interesting back story.



Though the name has been used a couple of times in the past, this Evac is a brand new character. And I hope you like him at three inches tall, because unless you go to Singapore, that's all you're getting. You see, Universal Studios Singapore has a movie-verse based Transformers park ride and the cars patrons ride in are basically Evac's vehicle mode. And while the Cyberverse version of Evac is a US market release, the park is the only place where you can purchase the larger, more involved deluxe class Evac. A bit of a tease if you ask me, but Hasbro seems pretty intent on doing that to US collectors recently. If you've seen the ridiculous amount of Asian market only exclusives they have planned for this year, you know exactly what I'm talking about.



So how is he even though he's a runt and his big brother in Singapore never calls? Not too shabby really. He has ball joints at his shoulders and hips, his shoulders can swing forward and back a bit and his knees bend. Evac is primarily a really vibrant blue with silver, red and a bit of yellow highlighting areas. His face is a light grey with sky blue eyes and a small red Autobot symbol gracing the right side of the chest. A drawback to an otherwise very nice robot mode is that there is no way to lock his chest down, if you try to lift his arms, the chest will rise right up with them. A minor issue, but I feel like one simple tab could have remedied this.



The only other complaint I have with Evac is his weapon. Like his case mate Soundwave, Evac doesn't get a new weapon like the rest of the mostly Prime based Legion figures he ships with, but gets Arcee's dual-barreled blaster instead. The weapon is cast from an odd plastic; very slightly rubbery but still stiff enough that I'm afraid the barrels might break off if stressed too much. I'm always a fan of translucent weaponry though and the idea behind the weapons in this line is neat. Each figure's weapon has additional posts or the occasional hole in addition to the traditional handle you'd expect on a gun, allowing you to combine various weapons in a variety of configurations. Evac's blaster for instance has an additional post at the back of the rounded shield like portion and a hole through the center for attaching other bits. Weapons from earlier Cyberverse figures are compatible with these as well, I tested Commander class Guzzle's weapons with this one and built quite the cannon.




Evac's vehicle mode is very interesting, I can easily see this blown up to life size and fitting maybe four or so people in it as it runs through the ride's track. Outside the context of the ride, it looks like a very futuristic car/SUV hybrid. With a  raised body, flattened rear spoiler and a giant engine in the back, this vehicle looks like it could really build up some speed, even over rough terrain. The silver front grill has central details that could be interpreted as headlights or weapons and there are additional silver barrels that really look like weapons protruding from where most cars would have headlights. Where non Mad-Maxian cars would have them at least.


Here's a somewhat blurry rear shot. From this angle, you can see the giant turbo engine and fat tires. Since I bought him I've thought Evac's vehicle mode looked somewhat like Deckard's Spinner in Blade Runner, but looking at this angle, I can't believe I never saw how much it also resembles the Tumbler Batmobile from the Dark Knight trilogy.



Some of you may be wondering why I mentioned disliking his weapon without going into why. Well that's because it's not the weapon's use in robot mode that bugs me, it's how it interacts with Evac in vehicle mode. As the handle of the blaster is too short, most ways of attaching it results in it either striking his front fender or rubbing against one of his rear wheels, preventing it from turning. Again, this is a minor issue but it would be nice if it could attach in a way that didn't impair him. As easy fix (at least in my mind) would be to just swap Evac and Soundwave's weapon choices and recolor them in the correct colors.

Doesn't that look better? Just imagine the colors switched and problem solved. Plus, recoloring weapons previously only available to a specific "side" gives kids more options of play involving the weapon combination aspect. It's probably more cost feasible to simply throw a weapon in a color you've already got thousands cast in instead of paying to cast new colors, but it's a nice thought.



My final thought is that Evac is a pretty worthwhile figure. He has an interesting history, cool vehicle and robot modes and a really bright, eye-grabbing color scheme. At $5.37 at Walmart, I would recommend him if you enjoy obscure Transformers, loved Minibots as a kid or want a small, fun toy for your own kids at a reasonable price.