Astro Toy

Sentinel X T-Rex Black Getter

Sentinel X T-Rex Black Getter
Series: Shin (Change!!) Getter Robo
Maker: Sentinel
Price: ~$106

Welcome back, everybody! I was just looking at the stack, and then looking back at the order queue, and I've been thinking. The Titan thing shipped, but it's not in my hands yet. I've got a robot sitting here, but I try to get through the queue before-- no!! wait!  I have to get the robot out of the way now before more, even cooler robots come in about two months from now! Robots that combine and transform!

Last time on Robot Astro Toy, back in October of last year, we looked at one from Sentinel and I said I was looking at quite a few upcoming Sentinel robots, (even if I probably won't be able to fit Giant Gorg into the schedule.) Well, here's the first from the collab between Sentinel and the bad ex-Yamato dudes at T-Rex: it came out in early January, and I've been holding on to it since then.

This robot doesn't combine or transform, but it does have a cape. Black Getter isn't just a recolor: this is a fan favorite character from the series. Piloted solo by series hero Ryoma Nagare, who is sort of crazy, Black Getter is the beserker robot who tears through a shield of screaming human faces and disembowels a monster the first time we see it. Despite how memorable its appearances were in the Shin Getter OVA-- and the hundreds of figures of Mazinger and Getter that have been made over the years-- there was only a Revoltech of Black Getter prior to this. It's like how there aren't any figures of Texas Mack, even though he rules.

Like usual with Sentinel robots, this is a pretty short figure, but it is heavy enough that even I was surprised when first picking it up. This is a real-deal diecast figure, heavier than most Super Robot Chogokins. Body, legs, and the “belt” section seem to be metal. How to test for diecast: put it somewhere cold! See if it gets cold. That's it!

This design isn't like the intricately armored Blodia we looked at before: it's very rounded, with simple lines. That being said, where detail is called for, it does exist in the same obsessive capacity as in other robots from this company.

The articulation is really impressive: the simple-looking robot again belies the level of thought and detail that went into this design. Spots you might not notice at first move, like the armor behind the knee, the leg sockets, the way the forearm armor tilts open just a little bit. Even the cape-like armor at the chest moves a little. The tin-can torso is actually extremely flexible: it tilts and rotates at the middle. Even the joints on this figure look fantastic.

The belly part opens up (that's where Getter Beam!! comes from) with a cap, easy to snap off but pretty poorly secured. The part at the butt where the stand is supposed to connect is even worse, and you'll eventually leave it off in frustration.

The brass knuckles on the fists, Black Getter's trademark, are not removable.

They are replaceable, with brass knuckle claws. This guy don't half-ass it. These parts only attach to the closed-fist hands: the others have the regular knuckles as part of the mold. Hands are very easily replaceable on this figure. The wrist part even slides forward as you pull to make it easier on you.

The Getter One trademark, double tomahawks, are also included. These can be attached by a chain, as Black Getter's were in the anime, or they can even be clipped to the back. The bottom handles come off to make the chain thing happen. Be aware that these chains are made so that they can come apart at the first link. They came off inadvertently for me, and it took a few minutes to realize that they weren't broken. These blades too possess an impressive heft and sculpt: they look truly ready for bashing and tearing.

The cape is of real cloth, but that's not all that's impressive about it. That ragged bottom isn't me taking a boxcutter to the thing, that's how it really looks! The bottom edge even has a burnt-looking effect. Cooler still, there are wires throughout the cape that allow for dramatic, anime-style windswept posing.

The stand is the same as all the other Sentinel robot stands: heavy, rugged plastic that make the other brands' stuff look flimsy. This one has the copyright info for Shin Getter Robo (the anime) printed on it to distinguish it from your others. I didn't really have any use for it: this stands perfectly fine on its own.

So yeah, here's another great one. Sentinel's pieces are expensive, but the quality is undeniably in line with the cost. Every figure I see from this company is better than the last. The Soul of Chogokin line used to be at this level-- $80-100 for a super-high-quality diecast of a certain robot-- but the $50-70 Super Robot Chogokin “recession robo” line has taken over for single robots, and obviously those figures aren't quite as nice as the SOCs were. These days SOC is for huge $300 monsters (like a transforming Gaogaigar, holy lion god). Sentinel is definitely filling a gap here, and I look forward to future uncompromising works. Like Gorg, one day, if I'm lucky.

We got this for $106 shipped at Amiami when it came out, but it's already gone there, and at HLJ, and at Sentinel's own online shop. Over at Big Bad Toy Store it's $140, which gets into “I mean, it's nice, but...” territory. The regular Getter One in this line will be coming out in a few months with slightly different accessories.

When he isn't killing time on fighting games and mahjong, David Cabrera makes moe 4-panel comics about videogames atKawaiikochan.You can follow him on Twitter @sasuraiger.