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.

PREDAKING!

OK, this post is a landmark for two reasons. Beside the fact that this is my first actual review, this item also holds a lot of personal meaning for me. To explain, we have to go back to '92 or so when a young Zarak visited his great aunt's house. We didn't stop by very often, but the trips were your typical murder-by-boredom family visits as my mother would chat with her forever and leave me to amuse myself. Which consisted of mainly staring at my cousin's Generation One, complete, shining, golden, Predaking. Always on display, always pristine and amazing, towering over the living room proudly on a bookshelf far out of my reach. Not that I was allowed to touch him, ever, but I always remembered that massive Decepticon and coveted him for myself. Of course, by that point, Predaking was long gone off of toy store shelves and even if he hadn't been, I doubt I could have convinced my parents to buy me five different, roughly twenty dollar toys in a row. My dad spoiled me sometimes, but not that much.

Fast forward a few years to when I was fourteen or so and trying to get a Generation One collection going through eBay and harassing my friends to check their attics/basements/etc. I hunted constantly and got some good deals from time to time, but there was still always that handful of figures that never showed up or were way out of my price range. Megatron, Sixshot, Piranacon, and of course, the King. Back then, his combined mode head alone went for fifty bucks, I couldn't swing that on my allowance.

So the years went on again and over time, I grabbed a Megatron reissue and then a Piranacon reissue and now finally, thanks to reissues once more, I give you PREDAKING!

The box is a very nice, fully printed suitcase style that lets you open and close it without having to damage the packaging in any way. The front has art of each individual member with their names in English and Japanese next to art of Predaking, his English name cutting across the entire front and grabbing your attention, the Japanese version being below his feet. The Transformers logo is present in the upper left corner in Japanese yet again flanked by a Decepticon symbol and a Welcome to Transformers 2010 logo as well. I neglected to take a picture of the back, but it again shows and names each member, this time with actual photos of the robot modes and combined mode as well as having small bios for each.

Inside the box is a slide out, two layered plastic tray, a top layer protecting the robots and combiner parts beneath. The Predacons are packaged in beast mode and already have quite a few stickers applied, though each member also has an individual sticker sheet if you want to add them. In a nice touch, there is an extra sticker sheet with red eye stickers for each member's robots and beast mode eyes if you prefer them that way. I kind of like them better with their painted gold eyes, so I didn't apply those


Beneath the main tray is a smaller, two layered tray containing the Predacons' individual swords and guns. There is also a baggie containing the sticker sheets, instruction sheet and bio cards for each Predacon and Predaking.

Here they are out of package with what weapons can be used in beast form attached. Note that Tantrum (the bull) and Headstrong (the rhino) use Predaking's feet in this mode as giant mounted cannons, clever reuse of accessories. Razorclaw, the lion, has a large dual-barreled cannon that can mount on his back.

Robots!  These guys are pretty heavy as each has a large piece of die cast metal in their construction. Which is awesome, just like the old days! Each Predacon has two identical black rifles and a golden sword, except Razorclaw who has just a sword and his giant cannon. However, trying to initially match up who gets which type of gun and which sword can be a bit confusing as there are four types of guns that all look almost exactly alike. The swords at least have very different hilts.

The main Deceptiking himself! Big, chunky, heavy, giggle-inducing. This here is literally the claiming of a collecting holy grail to me. He has a surprising amount of articulation for a Generation One combiner. His shoulders and hips ratchet, his waist and wrists swivel, there's a little bit of elbow bend in each arm and Divebomb's wings can ratchet up and down at the base of the backpack and extend a bit the "shoulders." Predaking carries Razorclaw's sword which is laughably small in his giant, spike-knuckled fists, and the dual-barreled cannon on his left arm. However, in a surprisingly clever move, the cannon itself transforms! Pulling apart the black sections at the back of the cannon and swinging them forward to clip together covering the dual barrels, you reveal a telescoping single cannon barrel that pulls out to form a totally different gun, very cool.

That's the quick once over, I'll get more in depth on the individual members soon but I wanted to get off a post before I had to go to work. For now, just bask in his greatness while I'm gone.

P.S., I got my Predaking from Big Bad Toy Store if you were looking to score one for yourself...