BADCUBE ROBOTS OLD TIMER SERIES SPECIAL-01 SENTINEL BLAZE REVIEW

BADCUBE ROBOTS OLD TIMER SERIES SPECIAL-01 SENTINEL BLAZE REVIEW 

 

Up for review is the Robots Old Timer Series Special-01 Sentinel Blaze action figure. This figure was released by third party company BadCube in April of 2016 and retails for about $84.00 USD.

Sentinel Blaze is part of BadCube's Old Timer Series of transforming robot action figures that compliment Hasbro & Takara Tomy's Masterpiece Transformers action figure lines.

This figure is listed as "Special-01" as it homages the Takara Diaclone red Lamborghini Countach LP500S Super Tuning concept vehicle first introduced for the Japanese market in 1982, and later in the North American market under the Diakron brand in 1983.

 

There are two reasons this is a considered an important figure. This was the first transforming car robot designed by Takara according to Hasbro, and the Diaclone/Diakron line was the precursor for the much more successful transforming robots line, "The Transformers" introduced in 1984.



Sentinel Blaze is a repaint of BadCube's Sunsurge which is based off the Transformers Sunstreaker character.

Some collectors who had picked up Sunsurge were hoping that a Diaclone version would be released. Takara Tomy had already released some repainted Masterpiece figures based on their Dialclone color schemes, so the thought of releasing a repainted Sunsurge was not lost on BadCube.



PRESENTATION
Sentinel Blaze comes in a very basic box with an illustration of Sentinel Blaze colored in bright red with most of the box along with some graphics depicting the name and designation of the figure. This version is designated with Special-01.

On the back of the box, some warnings and age recommendations are shown in several languages.

 

FIGURE

Once removed from the box, Sentinel Blaze comes in car mode inside his plastic tray along with his tech specs biocard, instructions, weapon accessories, and alternate face.







 One of the first things I noticed was the lack of additional parts compared to the Sunsurge release. Sunsurge came with alternate parts that you could swap out with the figure if you wanted to change the overall look. Mainly the chrome parts can be switched with silver parts depending on your preference. Sentinel Blaze doesn't come with the silver alternate parts.

Another change that stood out was the biocard tech specs. Takara Tomy had recently changed their biocards from just a colored illustration of the figure in a basic stance with some simple graphics to a painted illustration of the character in an action scene. BadCube has done the same with Sentinel Blaze's card. I'll be curious if they do this with future releases.

In robot mode, the figure stands about 6 and 1/4 inches from head to foot when the legs and feet are fully extended. I prefer to have to have feet collasped, because I believe it looks better aesthetically, and the figure scales better with some the official car bot figures as Sentinel Blaze stands very close to the same height. Your lose about a 1/4 inch in height when the feet are collapsed.
 
 

In car mode, the figure measures about 5 and 1/2 inches from the front bumper to the back end of the vehicle. It does a nice job scaling with the other car bots.

 

 

DESIGN
Sentinel Blaze is a repaint of the BadCube's Old Timer Series 08 Sunsurge mold. This mold was originally designed to look like the character Sunstreaker.

Sentinel Blaze's design has the winglike features adorning both sides his head that most Transformers fans associate with Sunstreaker while having his iconic air scoops behind his head in robot mode.


PAINT

Sentinel Blaze is mainly molded in red plastic with some silver, red, yellow, and black paint applications highlighting some of the sculpted details. The spoiler, scoop intakes, rims, and missile accessories have chrome paint applied. 

Badcube has been hitting it out of the park with their paint applications, and Sentinel Blaze is no exception. Paint apps are neatly applied with no bleeding or blemishes. I'm pretty happy with the paint quality!

One thing that I noted was the translucent windows in car mode. The windows are slightly darkened compared to Sunsurge. This is a nice touch as it helps hide some of the robot bits with the interior of the car.






ARTICULATION

Sentinel Blaze sports a sizable 31 points of articulation with the articulation being present in the head, neck, shoulders, arm swivels, double-jointed elbows, wrists, fingers, waist swivel, legs, double-jointed knees.ankle tilts, and feet. Overall,  it has a nice range of poseability as I was able to get the figure into numerous poses.


TRANSFORMATION

 Sentinel Blaze transforms into a Lamborghini Countach LP500S Super Tuning concept car. The transformation is not straightforward as some figures.

There is a lot of folding and unfolding of parts and panels, collapsing certain parts into the figure, and tabbing in parts to lock things into place.

It took me some fiddling and difficulty the first time transforming my Sunsurge, but after the second transformation, I was able to do it only a few minutes.

I recommend looking at BadCube's instructions and taking your time with the transformation. If you still have difficulty, I would check out some video reviews of Sunsurge to see the step by step transformation.

I will say once you get everything tabbed in, the figure is very solid, and won't come apart.

One part of the transformation that might be off putting for some collectors is the fake windshield chest in robot mode. The actual windshield folds into the back of the robot when transformed.

I don't have an issue with the fake chest as the proportions look better in robot mode, and the larger windshield would look off.


 
 
 
 
 

ACCESSORIES

Aside from the biocard and instructions, Sentinel Blaze comes with rifle, two missiles and alternate face.

The rifle and missiles can be used both in car and robot mode.

 In car mode, the gun can be tabbed into the roof of car, while the missiles can plug into both sides of the gun.

 

In robot mode, the rifle handle extends down to tab in either hand. The missiles can still be placed on the sides of the rifle.

 

The missiles can attach to Sentinel Blaze's arm when you fold the hand into the arm for transformation. A tab becomes available on the end of the arm that the missile can plug into.



The rifle and missiles can also be stored on Sentinel Blaze's back.




With the face plates, Sentinel Blaze can either have a standard looking face or have a slight smile. They are the same face sculpts that Sunsurge comes with.

The silver paint on the faces of Sentinel Prime appears to be slightly darker than Sunsurge's



QUALITY CONTROL

This is only the second time the mold has been used by BadCube and the quality has been very good. Paint is excellent, articulation works nicely for the most part, and transformation is the way it needs to be without stressing any parts.

I do have some minor nitpicks that go all the way back to Sunsurge.

The front bumper juts out just a hair more than the official Lamborghini Transformers, and doesn't sit flush to the front of the vehicle. I'm not sure if this was a design choice or oversight.

The other issue would be regarding the knees joints. The joints have a nice ratcheting mechanism, however they're a bit weak when attempting to getting either Sunsurge or Sentinel Blaze in certain poses, especially in a running pose. The knees will give when attempting to balance, and will fall over at the knee joint. I was hoping BadCube would have strengthened the ratchets slightly to accommodate that when Sentinel Blaze was released.

I'm hoping that can be corrected, if they decide to issue the police car version soon.






OVERALL

BadCube's Sentinel Blaze is a welcome addition to my collection and a nice homage to the Diaclone/Transformers legacy.

I think if the knee joints were a bit stronger and the front bumper was corrected, this would be a perfect release. I still recommend it as the quality, design, and paint seem to be some of the best for third party figures.




 For additional pictures of Sentinel Blaze, please check out my FaceBook page with the link listed below. Please "Like" if you want as well.

Thanks for checking out the review!