Toy Review: Sentinel Riobot R-20 Shin Getter 1 Black Version

Hulkbuster gets the exclusive deco treatment but is it better in black? Check out the article and see for yourself!

Producer: Sentinel

Price: Approx. $350 USD

Release Date: July 26th 2018 at the Wonderfest Hong Kong Summer Convention with mass release in Oct. 2018

Where to Buy: Sold out (was put up for preorder for a short period on D4Toys)

Item Height: Approx. 8.25″

Item Weight: N/A

Batteries: N/A

WHERE TO BUY: D4Toys.

At this year’s Wonderfest Hong Kong, Sentinel gave us a first release of the latest in their Riobot line; R-20 Black Shin Getter 1. While it’s technically a repaint and minor retool of the previously release R-17 Shin Getter 1, this has enough differences in both the mold itself and its accessories to actually surpass the original release overall (IMHO.) Check out the video review above as well as my written thoughts and galleries below and definitely let me know what you think in the comments.

Presentation: The box is honestly the exact same as Shin Getter one but with alternate colors and using an appropriate picture of Black Shin Getter 1’s headsculpt on the backside. The figure itself however really stands out using a mixture of matte and gloss blacks to accent each other as only Sentinel can pull off on top of an absolutely excellent headsculpt and accessories gone into below that really put it in a separate space from its predecessor.

Build: The build materials are the same as Shin Getter 1 in being comprised of strong plastics and diecast throughout. What’s impressive however is that this one seems to have fixed the issue that Shin Getter 1 had with the upper waist where it would pop out of the ball socket if rotated beyond its stated limits. The fact that this one can pretty much just freely rotate to 360 degrees makes it seem as if whatever is connecting the parts has been completely changed over.

Accessories: Black Shin Getter 1 comes with all of the accessories of Shin Getter along with a “flaming scarf,” clawed fists, and a flame accent for its scythe weapon. The flame variation of the “Ryoma” scarf is an insanely nice-looking and creative touch along with the scythe’s flaming accent as well. These really bring out the personality of this particular mecha however I wish the cowl that the flame scarf piece attached to could be removed as it’d be a nice display option to have it without and let the really beautiful headsculpt shine.

Articulation: The articulation is incredible (see video) however I do still wish this mold had true waist swivel rather than just at the chest. I also wish that the legs could swing forward without having to swing a bit outwards (see video) as well. It’s definitely a situation where articulation was a major priority in terms of engineering but is definitely a few steps from the “perfection” Sentinel is known for.

Overall Score: 8.5/10 – It’s subjective but I feel that Sentinel’s Black Shin Getter is much stronger aesthetically than the original release while also managing to fix the limited upper torso swivel which gave some fans problems. The additional nuances like the flame effects and clawed hands are “small” but really help Black Shin Getter to stand out as its own iteration vs. just a repaint. I say with a very proud bias that in general I’m much more of a fan of the dark, Ryoma-inspired Getter 1 variants and this is honestly the best black variant of SHIN getter 1 that I’ve ever seen. Black Shin Getter is a very solid overall repaint with the lack of true waist swivel really being the major thing that keeps it from that 9.5-10 range. Pricey for its size but highly recommended from me.