Marvel Legends BAF: Sentinel

Sentinel Series: Spidey, Omega Red, Cyclops, Black Panther, Sinister, Angel

I remember the first time I saw the Sentinel! It was from the Animated Series comic book of the X-Men. I thought he was a giant version of Iron Man! Truth to be told, it's hard not to think that with the fact that the Sentinels are robotic, repulsors signature beams on their palms, and they are Marvel characters! So yeah, there was a point in my life that I was naive about Marvel. I know right? Well the majority of us are aware of the Sentinels' story: the Mutant haters' answer to a society who can shoot beams out of their eyes, morph into any form, lift light poles with their mind, and manipulate metal… etc. etc. Whatever they are programmed to do, they will do and it does take a lot to kill these guys since there is a whole army of them! Armed with advanced weaponry, almost infallible mutant detecting capabilities, restraining devices, flight, strength, durability, and a myriad of other things… well, you can surmise that the X-Men don't have the greatest times fighting these handsome guys off.

Details, details, and more details! Toybiz outdid the Sentinels in their 'true' form at that time(comic books and the X-Men animated series)! For a while the Sentinels just looked like oversized tight wearing robots, but Toybiz steered away from that look and perhaps took lead to what the more 'robotic/mechanic' aesthetic that these mutant hunters should look like! Just from a quick glance on the BAF Sentinel, one can truly spot the extensive amount of details placed on every nook and cranny! Wiring set up, robotic-like muscles, ridges and metal plating designs… then if we just go on the painting itself, it adheres to the color scheme of the comic/animated style Sentinel but truly make it look battle worn with the metal, rustic, and armor tint from front to back. The eyes have a green tint to it as well that really tries to capture a robotic stare. Not overly impressed with the 'arc reactor' and the 'repulsor' pain job, but that's just me being an Iron Man fanatic I suppose.

I swear, the Sentinels have a lot of Iron Man influence to them because of their trademark moves; also a little bit of comic fact, Iron Man did take over the Sentinel designs later on. They were even called 'War Machines' at one point with James Rhodes piloting a couple of them.

Sentinel doesn't come with a whole lot of accessories except for the trademark tentacles that are the exact same as Omega Red's. On Omega, it looks long and very dangerous, on the Sentinel, it looks a little on the short side. But the good thing is that it remains to be the same bendable material that allows for capturing and all sorts of fun things one can do with a tentacle.

He's not extremely great in regards to the articulation side. He's not horrible by ANY means but there are certain things that makes him fall short on certain pose or what not. Perhaps it's the stiffness of certain joints that makes the said flaw, but I will point out that a 'normal' stand still pose is difficult because his right leg doesn't go in all the way; his ab crunch is a bit loose at times, and his right wrist swivel is slightly loose for having used it for such a small amount of time. Now for the figure's own imperfections: no ankle pivot(understandable), fingers don't close in a way to make it look like it has a fist, and not a big deal but his wrist doesn't bend with enough trajectory to give him a 'repulsor' blast look.  Though over all its an impressive in regards to articulation. The shoulder pads being very pliable hinders no movement for the arms, and most of the joints stay firm, giving the heavy figure enough stability.

This is the comparison to the recent Habro BAF: Ultimate Green Goblin. Pretty obvious that his stature makes this hulking Green Goblin look tiny. Also, for old reference to compare it to some of the giants of Toybiz Legends:

Apocalypse

Galactus

So pretty obvious that Toybiz made a few giants in their time. The impressive thing is that none of these three are complete recycled molds; as far as I can tell, all brand new and special for each one.

So here comes the ultimate battle of Mutants versus the Sentinel! Guess who is going to win?!

Yes, Sentinel wins!

Overall, I'm really happy with this BAF. It's probably pretty high on my list now with the characters he came with and the finished production! I'd say for all you BAF collectors out there who are both Hasbro or Toybiz fanatics, he is a must. He isn't cheap by any means and one must really find good prices online to get the full piece, but all in all, he is worth it. Toybiz, I miss your quality in details! This figure makes that thought more prominent. Oh, and yes, I am moving on to a new shelf. There are some movements in the Game Room because of lack of…. space. HA! Who predicted that?!

On a final note, this is on my new camera so there is a noticeable difference in my pictures I surmise. I'll try not to use as much photo effects from now on since the pictures look great without the affects I think.

ML Sentinel BAF: Mr. Sinister

Mr. Sinister is probably the second figure in this set that I was really excited for! And for any X-Men fan that knows about Sinister and happens to be a toy collector, there is a lot of nerd factor into this guy's plastic adaptation! I had high expectations out of him so did he meet up to it? Let's find out.

He looked really cool inside the box; everything about the intimidating visage that he carries sure transferred over to his toy version and it's obvious even through his container.

This is another figure that really shows off Toybiz's attention to detail. While Sinister doesn't have a whole lot of intricate details to him in the comic books and the animated series, Sinister does have signature style that definitely stands out to the majority of comic book fans. First and foremost, Sinister does have a very unique look that is a combination of dark red, blue, and white. Why he has certain designs like the ghastly white face and the red diamonds on his chest and forehead still remains an enigma to me, but regardless, Toybiz captured that quite well. Another thing that really impresses me to his detail is the frayed Dracula-like cape.  The cape isn't stiff it is indeed a pliable plastic that really gives a 'cape flow' to it! Of course Sinister is very well painted with some shadowing, some good sculpting, and again, he looks sinister!

To my knowledge, Nathaniel Essex(what an awesome name! Sure sounds a lot better than John Ulysses Klaw; But then again, Klaw Sucks!) doesn't fly. Unless they changed it in the recent issues of the comic books(and there is a female version of Sinister these days so you never know), Toybiz didn't need to add the figure stands but they did. Still loving Toybiz and their grace from way back when.Of course the BAF piece and the comic book comes along with him.

Where Sinister exceeds in detail he comes shorthanded in the department of articulation. It may not be Toybiz's fault because of Sinister design but his leg doesn't shift as fluidly as the figures before him in this wave. He lacks proper shoulder movements and no wrist swivel. To be terse with my critique in here, he is just awkward and it's hard to get him anywhere 'natural' except for "I am supreme" poses such as the one above.

All in all, he isn't a bad figure. He is probably the most disappointing one for me because I put a lot of expectation out of him. Articulation may not be elating but with great details, the figure stand included, and the BAF he is in, he is sort of a must. That and if one is really adamant about completing the 90's X-Men animated series, he is sort of a whole season bad guy. Yes, I'm aware that I'm missing the Jim Lee Cyclops in this pic. Jean Grey still fits well with X-Factor Cyclops, doesn't she? 

ML Sentinel BAF: Cyclops

People can say what they want about this guy, but Cyclops has endured, fallen, persevered, and remains to be one of Marvel's most recognizable figures. He is an X-man, an original X-Man at that, an X-Factor, a Phoenix Force, and probably an Avenger! Talking about the action figure realm, well Toybiz has made him plastic material since the greater days and during the realm of the Legendary BAFs. So here he is! The X-Factor variant of Cyclops from the Sentinel BAF wave!

Yes, the picture is crooked due to the fact I was very excited to get him out of the box and into my hands! Toybiz, got to love the way your toys smell after opening them though! Such nostalgia!

I'll admit it right now that I love this suit. Why? It's the first(or one of them) suit I remember ever seeing Cyclops wear. Seeing that one particular trading card way back when I always thought his glasses are cool, then I got to know Marvel and realize that he isn't exactly the one that I should be wishing I should be, but regardless, this figure has its victories in detail. He has a lot of paint work done to him and some good sculpting. Say what you want about the giant boots and gloves, but back then those things are cool! The combination of the white and the blue makes him look like Frozone from Incredibles, but still, it's classic.

Cyclops is NOT a flier, so why is it that he has a stand? That's because Toybiz was generous! As one noticed from the picture before the one above, Cyclops has a hole on his back and it's for this stand! He doesn't fly, yes, but it is for dynamic poses! Cyclops is pretty acrobatic to an extent. And this is standard: comic book and a Sentinel BAF piece.

For articulation, Cyclops falls short here and there. I would say it's the age of the toy and some articulation aren't given back then but that's not the case. He is clearly missing the ab cunch and the ankle pivot that Toybiz gave to some of the toys at this set. Both are pretty critical for some awesome pose, but the one thing they did get right is that he has flexible fingers/hands/arms to get his optic pose; and that's for both hands by the way!

"GENE SPLICE!"

Yes, Cyclops does the shoryuken like Ryu in the Capcom games he appeared in. For some reason he called it 'gene splice'. While he may not be adept in martial arts like Ryu is, he does add his optic blast at the end to make it more… adequate.

He isn't the highlight of the wave, but at the end of the day he wasn't the worst. If it's the costume design that people have qualms over then this figure won't please; he has the Second generation X-Men variant for this toy, but eve that may be a turn off for some people. Over all, I had fun posing him since he complied with most pose I thought Cyclops would do. All in all, I like this figure and it is my first Cyclops 6 inch! So no complaints here!