Sentinel Riobot R-1
Piloted by the hot-blooded mecha Otaku (Japanese for geek) Ryuusei Date, the R-1 is the first R-series unit to be developed by Mao Industries under the SRX Project. Created to be an agile, close combat-oriented Personal Trooper (PT) unit, the R-1 is highly versatile in combat. It is also the only unit that can transform into an alternate high-speed aircraft called the R-Wing.
Outfitted with the nearly indestructible Zol Orichalconium armor plating, the R-1 is also uniquely equipped with both the T-Link System and Uranus System. These systems greatly amplify the pilot’s latent telekinetic abilities and apply them to the R-1, allowing it to perform devastating attacks and incredible offensive, as well as defensive maneuvers against its opponents. The R-1 is powered by a Nuclear Fusion Engine.
The default hands on this thing are really puny and not proportional to the figure, this is mainly due to the transformation design involved. Thankfully, Sentinel included bigger hands.
Swapping out the fists is easy, thanks to the interesting and unique peg design.
Be mindful of the position of the hip plates on R-1. They can get tangled up with the centerpiece of the plates.
The figure features double elbow joints. According to the mechanical data, the telekinetic field generators are located on the red forearm plates of the R-1.
Beautiful details with the paint apps.
Do note that R-1 has special coated paint on some areas of the figure (the eyes and fists). If you have a blacklight flashlight, you can shine it on these areas and it will give a really cool glowing effect recreating it’s T-Link system activation.
You can opt to plug this locking piece into the back skirt plate, though for me it only gets in the way of posing the figure. It is just meant to show that all the pieces go somewhere in both modes, but has no function in robot mode and is only actually used in R-Wing mode and SRX combined mode. I just leave it unattached to save myself the trouble.
R-1’s attacks
Head Vulcan Cannon – Twin Vulcan Cannons mounted on the R-1’s forehead.
Cold Metal Knife – Zol Orichalconium combat knives stored within the shoulder booster pods.
G-Revolvers – Short for Giant Revolvers, these guns can be equipped with various types of ammunition, even the highly destructive Zol Orichalconium bullets. Ryuusei can even use the T-Link System to telepathically control the trajectory of the bullets once he fires them.
The cylinders on the Revolvers can actually spin if you rotate them. Nice!
Boosted Rifle – A long-range rifle that fires standard rounds and on occasion, powerful beams.
Shield
Lol… I never noticed it before since the shield is rarely used in the SRW games, but SRX’s head gear is a part of the shield? Color me surprised.
T-Link Kunckle – The R-1’s signature attack. Using the T-Link System, the R-1 generates a Telekinetic Field to cover its fist before it launches powerful punches.
Tenjou Tenga Nendou Hasai Ken– Ryuusei uses the T-Link System and concentrates TK energy in between his hands, releasing the collected energy in the form of a sword and launches it at an enemy.
I really wish Sentinel included some sort of effects part to recreate the look of the T-Link Sword.
To transform R-1 into R-Wing, you will basically have to disassemble the whole unit by pulling it apart. This is where the engineering gets lazy and the figure is relegated to being a parts-forming transformer. In the games and Anime, the actual model transformations do not involve the R-1 going to pieces.
R-Wing
Unfortunately, there are no landing gear pieces for R-Wing.
Display base
As with most Riobot releases, a generic display base is included.
An adaptor piece is included to hold R-1 on the display base arm.
An alternate attachment is used for posing R-Wing on the display base.
Alternately, according to the manual, you can also opt to just pose R-Wing on the actual attachment without the base if you’re low on space, simply just remember to remove the optional base connector peg.
The Good
R-1 weighs 118 Grams and stands roughly 6.25 inches tall.
-Diecast parts include:
–Mostly the main joints
–Sections of the torso
-Great paint details! Every bit of the figure is practically painted.
-Pretty unique concept for swapping the fists.
-Love the blacklight effects paint. Pretty clever.
-While transforming R-1 involves disassembling, thankfully, the connections are decent and the figure won’t come apart or become wobbly that easily.
-Clever use of the display base attachment for the R-Wing to be used without requiring the whole base.
-Looks great in both modes!
-All of R-1’s weapons are included (the other R-series units aren’t as lucky).
-G-Revolver’s cylinders can actually spin.
The Bad
-Transformation is far from perfect. It’s basically a parts-former.
-No landing gears for R-Wing.
-No ratchet joints, everything is pretty much running on friction joints.
-No effects parts for T-Link Sword, that would’ve been nice.
The Ugly
While the new concept of swapping the fists is good, the secondary wrist plates (for turning the fists inwards) here are just terrible!! These plates tend to come off with little to no effort. It’s extremely annoying!
Overall, A fairly decent piece. While the transformation relies heavily on parts-forming, the overall visual effect makes somewhat acceptable, since it helps make it look great in both modes. The diecast parts tend to be on the lean side, but it is par for the course when it comes to most Sentinel releases. The lack of ratchet joints is also a running theme with the company, too.
The biggest issues for me here are actually the wrist connections. Those secondary connectors above the wrist are just really, really bad. 8 out of 10 times, expect the wrists to just come off while posing. Not the best execution by Sentinel.
Gold
