General Information:
Release Date: April 7, 2016
Price Point: $325.00 (Free figure with Golden Ticket Primus registration)
Retailer: Botcon 2016 Exclusive
Accessories: None
Botcon 2016 offered a "Golden Ticket" which was a high level registration that afforded the buyer all sorts of advantages. One of them was an exclusive figure only given to "Golden Ticket" holders. With a $325.00 price tag, this is one of the most expensive and limited of the Botcon 2016 exclusives. Special thanks to Nick Giangarra for loaning me this figure to review.
The sculpt used for Flash Sentry started as Legends Class Shockwave. At Botcon 2016 it was used for the Reflector 3-pack. This figure is a redeco of the Reflector sculpt, so check out that review for my detailed thoughts on the sculpt and design. This review will focus on the changes made to the figure for this release.
In one fun note, the name "Flash Sentry" is actually a reference to the "My Little Pony" character of the same name. The two even share a key color: blue.
Packaging:
Flash Sentry was packaged inside a sealed plastic bag along with his tech specs and instructions. Interestingly enough, his instructions have the name "Reflector" on them (since this is the same sculpt). It also features the "Combiner Wars" logo, setting this apart from other Botcon "Timelines" releases.
Weapon Mode:
Flash Sentry's weapon mode can also be seen as a "spaceship mode". Regardless of what you may call it, the true source of this mode was G1 Shockwave's gun mode, so I am running with it being a weapon mode. This is also how the instructions included with Flash Sentry describe the alt mode.
Flash Sentry is cast in translucent purple and solid lavender plastic. The translucent plastic makes up most of the figure from the barrel of the weapon to the middle to the back. The solid lavender parts are used for smaller sections like the fins on the sides, the targeting scope on top and the handle. The translucent plastic is absolutely gorgeous and I love holding it up to light to see the light shining through. It gives the figure an ethereal quality that I like a lot.
The figure is fairly light on deco, allowing the translucent plastic to really shine. There are light blue details on the sides of the barrel. Some red-orange details can also be found on the sides and towards the back. Across the middle of the figure are the words "Reflector GT" in red-orange. "Relfector" is a reference to the leader of the "Photons", the group that Flash Sentry belongs to. "GT" presumably refers to "Golden Ticket". The finishing touch is a tampographed Decepticon symbol on the top of the figure.
Like Shockwave and Reflector, you can use the handle on the bottom of the weapon to allow figures with 5mm ports to hold the weapon. Of course, he is really sized for a Combiner giant to hold, but other figures such as the Leader and Voyager Class figures should have no problem holding the weapon.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Swing the back section down, then straighten out the arms.
- Split the front of the weapon out to the sides.
- Swing the legs up at the hip joints.
- Straighten out the lower legs, then swing the legs down and rotate the lower legs around.
- Swing the arms out to the sides and down.
- Rotate the forearms around.
- Swing the handle back, revealing the robot head.
Robot Mode:
This robot form uses the Reflector head with its curved helmet, central crest and rather blank facial expression. No other changes were made to the tooling.
This mode mostly shows off translucent purple plastic. This time the solid lavender parts wind up on the shoulder joints, the thighs and feet. The translucent color is beautiful and looks really great up against a light. The paint appliations are all ones visible in weapon mode. His forearms have red-oranage lines on them. His eyes are painted the same color. The lower legs have light blue, red-orange and grey details on them. The finishing touch is a Decepticon symbol tampographed on the left shoulder. It's a nice deco overall, and it really does not need many more details since he translucent plastic is meant to take center stage.
All the joints on this figure are still relatively tight. The leg joints feel a tad more loose than those on my copy of Shockwave, but it is very slight and not worth worrying about.
Final Thoughts:
Flash Sentry is a fun curiosity among Transformers figures. This is really one of those pieces you only hunt down if you are a hardcore collector who needs every variant of a figure or you want to own a "rare" item. It is cool, but I would not run out to spend $300+ USD for it.
Pros:
- Beautiful plastic colors.
- Calls back to G1 mythology of "Reflector clones".
- Joints are still in good shape.
Cons:
- Some fans may want more paint applications.
- Price is extremely high for a Legends Class figure.
