The wait is finally over! Thanks to the community at the Planet Iacon - Singapore Transformers Fans Unite Facebook group, we have information that Titans Return Wave 1 has hit our shore last Thursday. Having reviewed the prototype/test shot of Blaster earlier, my interest for the series was piqued. From the pictures released online, the figure that had me all curious was voyager class Autobot Sentinel Prime with Infinitus. Before I go on, I know the same mold will most likely be used for Astrotrain, just as much as we were sure that Blaster's mold will be used for Soundwave.
I would also like to address that because Hasbro Singapore does NOT send me stuff, these are independent opinions about the product. I don't rave about a toy for free products. I genuinely try to appreciate the works of others and I also understand that no product is and will ever be perfect. You are entitled to your opinions as much as I am entitled to share my opinions. :)
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| Front of the box |
We are getting similar box packaging with those from Combiner Wars. Off the bat, you will notice the awesome box art of the headmaster Infinitus hovering above the torso of Sentinel Prime. This headmaster-hovering-about-the-torso artwork is consistent with other packaging design of the wave.
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| Back of the box |
The back of the box provides a short description of Sentinel Prime and how Infinitus aids him in battle. I appreciate the simple summary of the transformations for the headmaster and different modes. It is also made known that you can purchase other bots from the same line to swop the headmasters around. Kind of like the swopping of limbs from Combiner Wars.
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| Out of the box |
I want to make it known that I do not enjoy removing the figure and weapons from the tray. It is a pain for an excited fan to cut the tough bands that were holding the content onto the tray. I am always panicky when I have to cut those bands with precision to prevent scratches on the paint.
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| Bot mode |
Sentinel Prime comes in the fiery-angel-of-justice shades of orange and red that seems to blind the enemies before he strikes! Jokes aside, the wings form a backpack makes him a little back heavy. The tips of the wings also hinder how far you can tilt the knees back when you pose the figure. It does help that the design of the feet allows you to tilt forward and backward which support the figure well enough for most poses.
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| Headmaster- Infinitus |
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| Piloting! |
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| Pew! Pew! Pew! |
Headmaster Infinitus shares a striking resemblance to the overall design of Sentinel Prime. It is reminiscent of G1 Headmasters when you fold and unfold the headmasters to get them into the desired modes. Like I mentioned in the earlier review on Blaster, the fun part for children having this toys is the interaction you get between the headmasters with the modes and accessories! It is fun when your imagination can multiply the value of play with just a figure from the wave.
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| Shuttle mode |
The shuttle mode is a gem as it resembles the design of the Ark or other space shuttles in the Transformers universe. In the process of transforming this figure, I noticed that there is a similar design idea going on for Sentinel Prime and Blaster- Hasbro is heavily utilising plastic flaps to enhance the visuals of the figure without adding a lot of plastic in terms of volume. The plastic flaps help to cover gaps in different parts of the figure to ensure that they do not LOOK cheap and skeletal. This is a pretty smart move to hook children and most collectors as they can essentially nail the aesthetic of the figures without complex design in terms of molding and engineering.
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| Space Train Mode? |
This has to be the weakest mode of the figure. It's basically splitting the legs and turning the torso to straighten the arms out. And of course, unfolding of more flaps! I don't get the space train concept since essentially it kind of functions similarly to that of the space shuttle? One can argue on the physics on space travel or loading capacity for both modes but the space train mode is really redundant here. Or it's just disguising as a highly weaponised train on the railway? Erm. Ok...
Overall...
This is not a sponsored post. I may like it more while some of you may absolutely hate this figure. We don't have to agree. I must still say that I stand by this figure despite of the weak train mode. I may even like this more than Blaster as Blaster's base mode hollowed the figure into a series of flaps. If you also look at the deluxe figures and leader class Powermaster Optimus Prime, there are lots of gaps in the under part of the arms in a cost-saving move. It is highly inconsistent when Hasbro opted to use flaps to cover gaps and left the arms 'holey'.
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