Why I Don't Like Sentinel Prime, Even Though He's Pretty Cool

The Dark of the Moon line is awesome.   I will say this despite owning only a single figure.  The downgrade in size puts me off a little bit.  My little bro has about half of the figures but, strangely, I'm the one who often plays with them.  Those Mech Tech weapons: I absolutely love those.

The one figure I have is the big Leader Sentinel Prime.  This guy looks so cool.  He's big and imposing.  He's got a double sided buster sword and a big ol' shield.  Parts of his design make me think, "Gundam," especially his shoulders, and his chevron(s?).  He's got a cape thing.  He's red.  He reminds me of Fire Convoy, one of the oldest and mostly undamaged figures that I have.  I could go on and on about why he looks so cool and why I love him.

It also helps that he has a psuedo-Stealth Force mode.

But, that's the thing, he looks really cool.  But, when I had him in hand, I was rather disappointed:

1. He Won't Stand
This reason is more concerned with my figure.  His right foot is very loose, and getting him to stand is a chore.

2. Why Do His Feet Sit Like That?
This reason has to do with pride.  Usually the first thing I do when I get a new figure, as I'm sure is the norm, is that I try to transform it.  I often do not use the instructions, and I figure out the transformations perfectly fine.  I was utterly confused with Sentinel, since his feet rest on top of each other in Vehicle mode.  I wasn't able to figure that out myself.

3. Panels, Panels, Panels
He is panels.  Sentinel Prime is panels.  Pretty much his entire lower half is panels, and transforming him to vehicle mode is a very arduous challenge, since they like to pop apart.

4. Tabs, Tabs All Over His Body
He is held together by a bunch of these little black tabs which I think will get warped and get bent up at some point.  Or they'll break.  I've already deal with that on my Leader Starscream.  That's a story for another time.

5. His Sword Looks Better With Sideswipe

I'm sorry, but he totally rocks that sword.

***

So, Sentinel has officially become a shelf figure, one that I'll seldom play with.  And, that's kinda sad, especially since he's the only Leader figure that I bought at full price.

I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from buying Sentinel.  It's more of a forewarning.