Sentinel really took on a doozy when they decided to tackle Stick Bernard and the Mospeada Cyclone. Check out this review to get the skinny on how they fared out.
Producer: Sentinel
Price: Approx. $200 USD
Release Date: Apr. 2018
Item Height: Approx. 6.25″
Item Weight: N/A
Batteries: N/A
WHERE TO BUY: AmiAmi (sold out)
Sentinel toys dipped its foot into yet another property with the latest in their Riobot toyline; Mospeada VR-052F Cyclone with Lieutenant Stick Bernard. As soon as this was announced, the collector collective began salivating because over the past 3 decades we’ve had a lot of attempts at toys of the series consisting of motorcycles which transform into ride armor, but I don’t think many at all have felt like we’ve gotten that attempt that’s definitively satisfying. With this being my first Mospeada collectible, I was very excited and unfortunately came out of this experience significantly disappointed. Please check out the videos above as well as my written thoughts and gallery below and of course let me know what you think in the comments.
Presentation: The box is a straightforward one with no gimmicks to it (ie; opening flaps) and uses artwork of Stick and the Mospeada Cyclone on the front with pictures of the product and its various modes on the back. Overall it’s a very nice design/layout and I appreciate that the cardboard used seems to be more thick than a lot of the Sentinel boxes that I’ve owned (lines like Riobot and particularly all of the Re:Edit Iron Man lines have been prone to using a very thin cardboard.) The product itself is held in well by its plastic clamshell and it’s nice to see Stick (who’s in his CVR Armor) as well as the cyclone all in one clamshell rather than having to go through layers of plastic shell to see it all. I like what they’re doing with this line’s packaging so far and hope it remains consistent for their future Mospeada products.
Build: Stick Bernard is a plastic piece with real cloth over parts of his limbs. Overall he’s well-made but I will say that I had to glue the shin guards onto the ball joints because they randomly would just fall off as well as the left leg on mine coming apart at the hip. The Mospeada VR-052F Cyclone is a mixture of plastic and diecast with rubber tires and holds together very well in cycle mode. The wheels roll very well and give you an actual feel of suspension which is a really neat and unusual to see. It also has an adjustable kickstand. Stick is able to sit on the Mospeada just fine and looks good doing it.
The problems with this one come when the Mospeada is transformed into the “ride armor” mode and combined with Stick. I highly encourage watching the video review portion because words really can’t describe just how poorly the tabs, fittings, and general tolerances are done on this piece. It’s a very huge slight on an otherwise great piece and the only analogy I can give is being a teacher and having a student give you a two-part assignment to where one half is easily an A while the other is left blank; I can only imagine the same feeling of wondering what happened that I get while playing with this piece in its combined form.
Accessories: Stick comes with a variety of hands as well as his rifle which can store on the Cyclone when not being held. Since he also includes the transforming Mospeada itself, I’d say that this piece is jam-packed when it comes to this department.
Articulation: The articulation on Stick Bernard as a standalone is pretty damned good. There are some obvious limitations with the cloth like nothing being able to just twist his arm around for fear of tangling or tearing it, but he’s still got a great range of motion. The only thing I really wish is that he had a true waist swivel rather than just the upper “ab crunch” joint but I give it a pass even because it keeps the figure more in-line and stable when the armor is on. In fact, even the Ride Armor articulation is nice and is about as good as can be expected when it’s applied. The problem definitely isn’t what the piece **CAN** do in armored mode but much more so all of the errors that occur when getting it from “point a to pose b” (see video.)
Overall Score: 4.5/10 – I’ll say right off the bat that this score is mostly because of the armored mode. As a Stick Bernard figure and Mospeada Cyclone set as standalones, this is awesome. Stick looks great, has good articulation, and the Cyclone is a pretty piece to look at. However, when it comes to the Ride Armor mode, things just go to absolute hell. For $110 this would be awesome, but for $220 it’s an outright disappointment.
Check out the gallery below and even though it’s sold out at AmiAmi, keep your eyes peeled for a possible restock.
