Collectible of the Week: Sentinel Robot Playset (Toy Biz; 1994)

Toy Biz released this gargantuan (fourteen inch tall) "robot playset" from Marvel's X-Men universe in 1994.  You'll recognize "Sentinel" as one of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's distinctive mutant-hunting super-villains (first introduced in the mid-1960s, I believe).

This toy, which was licensed during the era of the animated TV series (1992 - 1997), could "interact" with standard five-inch X-Men figures, and in fact, could capture them.  As the box art reveals, Sentinel's "chest plate blows off to reveal mutant prisoner" and the giant robot could also capture mutants with a "retractable claw hook." 

The mutants, fortunately, had a defense.  They could target Sentinel's "eject boots" to topple the giant robot.  In other words, if you hit Sentinel in the knees, his feet would shoot off. 

If you ask me, that's a pretty bad design flaw...

Other toys in this nifty Toy Biz line included the X-Men "blackbird jet" which could transform into three "action stages" and also house the X-Men and X-Men X-Force action figures.  

My five year old son loves the Sentinel toy, in part because he loves the internal circuitry you can see in the robot's chest, but I'm almost more enamored with the box art.