For these "Sentinels", as we have called them, may very well prove to be humanity's last stand
against what I believe will be a natural corruption of the gene pool in the coming generations.
- Bolivar Trask
Hi guys,
Since a week or two I am the proud owner of the Sentinel Maquette and ever since it arrived it's been a red alert situation for all mutants in my display room.
This behemoth is for real and by the looks of it this robot means business!
No fake Danger Room simulations, no holding back of punches: this Sentinel has come to search and destroy and it won't stop until it has fulfilled its mission.
The war has begun; a war in which no prisoners are taken and the Geneva conventions are nothing but a ridicule and laughable reminiscence of days long gone.
The extinction protocols are in full swing causing mutants to fight for their lives with everything thy got. It's fight or flight, do or die; there is no other choice here unless you are
tired of living and are ready to find yourselves buried six feet under never to be seen again.
Besides having an overpowering presence there is a sense of imminent danger, merciless efficiency and cold, lethal destruction surrounding this statue.
Trask Industries has designed the ultimate weapon to get rid of the mutant menace and he has created a masterpiece of devastation,
a machine which will not stop, with which you cannot reason or plead, a machine which will stick to its battle protocols until there are no more mutants to catch or kill.
The world will never be the same anymore and it's going to be a rough ride from here one for everyone with the X-gene in their DNA.
Beloe you can find my review of this statue where I have elaborated a bit more about my thoughts about this statue. Please feel free to provide me with your comments if you would like to.
Of course it's no problem if you skip the review and immediately head up for the pictures...
Have fun for now but just a word of caution before you scroll down: please make sure there are no mutants in your vicinity since the Sentinel will not only detect and destroy them
but also take your whole house down while doing so...
My Verdict
Manufacturer: Sideshow Collectibles
Product Dimensions: 32" H (812.8mm) x 15" W (381mm) x 15" L (381mm)
Weight: 20.00 lbs (9.07 kg)
Artists Involved:
Kris Anka (Design)
Zane Yarbrough (Design)
Bigshot Toyworks (Design
Pablo Viggiano (Design, Sculpt)
Andy Bergholtz (Design, Sculpt)
Adam Smith (Mold & Cast)
Mike Najera (Paint)
Anthony Mestas (Paint)
The Sideshow Design and Development Team
Statue number: #638/750
There is a new enemy out there: mutants. You need a new weapon for this war.
- Bolivar Trask; X-Men: Days of Future Past
Sculpt:
9.5 - Outstanding
The Sentinel is one of the most iconic and dangerous adversaries the X-Men have ever faced. Besides the Sentinels a major role in the Days of Future Past saga;
one of the most tragic and horrifying comic book stories ever told.
A statue of such a character has a lot to live up to and I believe it’s only fair to say that Sideshow managed not only to surpass all expectations but also
to raise the bar to new, exceptional heights.
When the first pictures of the prototype were revealed I read some comments questioning the pose in which the Sentinel is standing.
The pose would resemble Michael Jackson’s famous moonwalk and as such it would not suit a Sentinel.
Now that I have the statue displayed at home I can honestly say that the pose does not look odd or strange at all.
On the contrary when you look at the statue you see a Sentinel scanning and analyzing his surroundings.
We see a Sentinel on the hunt for mutants patrolling its designated area.
When you take into account that a Sentinel can be up to three stories high the way it walks looks perfectly in line with
how you would expect such a huge robot to walk around.
There is much more to say about the sculpt though: the fantastic level of detail included on the body armor (look for example at the impressive chestplate with
the unibeam power projectors), the incredible way in which the Sentinel is constructed (look for example at the ingenious way its knee joints or fingers are constructed
or the engine parts constructed on its back) and the unbelievable level of realism caught in the sculpture (the two portraits each kick ass just like for example
the flamethrower on its left arm) and it’s clear that the sculpt is top-notch in every way possible.
A couple of years ago Bowen Designs released a great statue of the Sentinel and even though that statue was way cool as well and had its own unique selling points,
the level of detail in that statue simply cannot be compared tot he level of details which we see in this maquette.
It’s as if Bowen Designs released the very first classic prototype whereas Sideshow opted to release a hugely upgraded and powered up Mark III version.
The sculpt makes it easy to imagine that if a nuclear power cell would be inserted in the Sentinel, it would really come to life and start is lethal mission of search and destroy.
The sculpt makes a comic book character come to life and from where I am standing that is the highest praise which any sculpt can get.
Paint & Mixed Media:
10 - Perfect
There is no mixed media involved in this statue but there is enough to say about the paintjob of this statue.
The paintjob is simply superb and very impressive no matter where you look.
The characteristic blue and purple colours of the Sentinel’s outer hull are comic book accurate and the paint is very well applied:
I could not find any oversprayed parts or any parts where erroneously no paint was applied.
Two things which really should be mentioned are the cool way in which the battle damage effects are included in the paint.
This Sentinel does not look like it just came out of the factory. No, it looks like it has been part of many missions already and already encountered some heavy resistance from the X-Men.
On several parts of the Sentinel’s body armor you can see scratches, dents and superficial damage.
Another good thing to notice about the paintjob is the lifelike machine-grey colour in which the metal parts of the knee joints or the engine boosters at the back are painted.
This looks great and it makes you realize even more that the Sentinel is a robot following a merciless and inexorable logic while executing its orders.
The paintjob manages to convince on every aspect and as such it’s an essential part of the presence and look of this statue.
Sentinel:
A sentinel is a guard, a lookout, a person keeping watch.
Etymologists think sentinel stems from the Old Italian words sentina, meaning "vigilance," and sentire, "to hear or perceive."
It's a close cousin of sentry, which means the same thing.
Design:
10 - Perfect
As stated before the comic book Sentinel has come to life through this maquette. The Sentinel which we see here is not the classic first model which has been released by Bowen Designs.
The Sentinel we see here is an upgraded, powered up version with a more aggressive and intimidating look.
This Sentinel means business and when you look at it it’s immediately clear what it’s purpose is: the Sentinel is an engine of destruction built to eradicate trhe imminent mutant threat.
One thing which really worked out well is the light up function which creates a very special effect.
The eyes, unibeampower projector on the chest and the palm repulsors in both hands light up and the help create the illusion of the Sentinel being fully powerd on and active.
Usually I consider light up functions to be a nice gimmick but with this statue I really feel the provide a whole new level of realism and presence to this statue.
One last thing I’d like to mention is that I like the fact that two different heads are included with this statue.
At first I preferred the classic head with the calm expression but the more I looked at the pictures released by Sideshow, the more I began to appreciate the modern, ‘angry’ head.
I like the fact that fans and collectors are given multiple display options.
Bowen Designs did that by providing multiple, different arms with their Sentinel statue and Sideshow accomodates their customers by including two different portraits.
Cool stuff!
Production & Build Quality:
9.0 - Excellent
This statue is a heavy beast so please take that into account when lifting or unpacking the statue.
I am not one of the people who believe that the weight of the statue is somehow directly related to the quality of a statue
but at the same time I must admit that the high weight has reassuring feel with statues this big.
It gives you the feeling, justified or not, that Sideshow did not cut any corners when producing this statue and to be honest I really do think they did not.
Everything feels solid about this statue but that being said I would like to give you a small warning when assembling this statue.
In order to make its head and handpalms light up there are electrical contacts included in both the head(s) as well as the armpits and both arms.
The head is simply to assembly (just make sure to gently push the head in its place) but assembling the arms is a different story.
Each arm has, besides the regular pole to slide into a hole in the armpit, two metal rods which should make contact with two metal round plates in each armpit.
In order to make sure the light up function in both arms will work the metal rods should make contact with the metal plates and that’s the difficult part.
Once you start sliding the arm in you cannot see anymore if the metal rods touch the metal plates or not.
My LCS warned me about two customers who broke the light up function partailly of this statue since they pushed in the arms with too much force
when assembling it causing the metal rods to somehow damage the metal plates.
I therefore took my time and tried to shove in the arms as gently as I could but that turned out to be difficult since you really need to push the arms in
with some force in order to make sure they go in all the way.
At first I tought the light up function in both arms did not work in my statue after gently pushing in the arms but it turned out that the metal rods did not
make contact with the metal plates yet .
You need to use some force and that’s difficult is you do not see what you are doing and do not want to damage the statue internally.
So take care guys!
All-in all though this statue has a very high level of build quality.
This statue will last you a lifetime if you treat it worth the normal TLC and I think it’s as tough and robust as a real Sentinel.
Overall rating:
9.5 - Outstanding
This is as good as it gets! This level of quality in such an impressive looking statue is incredible and I believe Sideshow raised the bar a whole lot higher when they released this statue.
The Galactus Maquette was already a Masterpiece and Sideshow has done it again with this statue.
A truly superb statue which I can heartily recommend to every fan and collector out there.
Get it while you can now that it is still reasonably affordable; a new grail has been released!
Background Information
When you sent our soldiers to Vietnam without the proper weapons to win the war, you underestimated your enemy.
Do it with this enemy and it won't be some skirmish halfway across the globe.
This time, it will be for our homes, our streets and by the time you see the need for my program,
it'll been too late and you would've lost two wars in one lifetime.
- Bolivar Trask; X-Men: Days of Future Past
The Sentinels were invented by Dr. Bolivar Trask after he found that his own son had developed mutant powers.
After being unable to suppress his son's growing mutant powers, Trask studied the nature of powerful mutations and came
to the conclusion that mutants would eventually supplant normal humans as Earth's dominant race if no action was taken to control them.
Soon after, Trask and a team of scientists developed the first Sentinel prototypes in a secret laboratory,
intending to use them to capture and destroy America's mutants in an ambush.
However, Trask realised that not all mutants were hostile to humans, and helped the X-Men to destroy his Sentinel manufacturing facility.
Since then, the majority of Sentinel designs and manufacturing is now under United States Government control, being used to aid the US military
on some occasions in operations against mutants, and are constantly refined and improved in order to maintain
their high degree of lethality.
However, numerous cases exist where Sentinel designs and manufacturing secrets have fallen under the control of various villain organisations.
Though Sentinels are commonly seen as autonomous robots, some manned models have been developed, with the Sentinel's chest area housing a cockpit for the pilot.
In addition, the anti-mutant protocols developed for autonomous Sentinels require them to protect humans from mutants,
though their combat programming gives Sentinels a high degree of leeway as to how they do this. Thus, massive collateral damage is
often the norm when Sentinels are deployed to capture or kill mutants.
Powers and Abilities
Though Sentinels are constantly being updated with new weapons and abilities, all models maintain the following abilities:
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Darts: Sentinels carry ten steel javelin-like darts on the trunk that can be thrown to pierce an opponent.
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Electric Insulation: Sentinels are especially protected against electric attacks.
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Encephalo-Scanner: Sentinels are equipped with a scanner to read the brainwaves of a target and determine if it was telling the truth.
This device is not infallible.
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Energy Blast: Sentinels have various types of energy projectiles, including but not limited to plasma, electrons, stunners and heat, that could be shot from their chest or hands.
They are also armed with a disintegrator that only affects inorganic matter.
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Flight: Rocket jets built into their feet and hands allow for high-speed flight.
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Learning Program: A special learning program allows Sentinels a certain advantage when fighting an enemy, but only after at least some seconds of analysis.
This data can be stored for future uses against the same enemy, so that any Sentinel from any model can access the information.
Any needed modification takes at least one week. In the 21st century, data on all known mutants, living or dead, is stored for quick reference.
In addition, some Sentinels are manufactured for a leader-type role, being much more intelligent than other Sentinels and able to learn, adapt to, and counteract
the tactics and powers used by mutants to a highly developed, near instantaneous degree.
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Mutant Detection: Sentinels constantly scan all living beings in their immediate area and are able to determine if they are humans or mutants.
The "immediate area" can cover up to ten miles.
◾
Robot: Due to their nature, Sentinels are protected by the sheer strength of their hull. They cannot be affected by emotional or mental attacks, nor by illusions.
However, they are susceptible to attacks affecting machinery.
◾
Super Strength: Sentinels are known to lift at least seventy tons.
◾
Self-Repair: Sentinels are able to repair themselves with a built-in repair kit, provided there are sufficient materials nearby to effect repairs.
Rainer
