Space Warriors - BIKE-TECH-FIGHTER!

Space Warriors - Bike Tech Fighter (Energon Arcee KO) - Agglo Toys 2005

In 2005, I remember being in my local BigLots and seeing this Space Warriors Bike-Tech-Fighter figure (I will refer to her as BTF from here on). I immediately recognized her as a massively upsized Energon Arcee but with better proportions - notably with longer retooled legs and overall a more traditionally female design (The Hasbro/Takara mold was a bit squat and blocky). I bought BTF and was immediately disappointed. As an inexpensive knockoff, she was predictably a mess. Her joints were loose, pieces didn't fit, paint was sloppy, and she couldn't stand. I sold her on eBay (for a lot of money). But two years ago when I got really into collecting the Energon Arcee molds, I regretted that sale and began the hunt to reclaim her. It took a few years but I finally have her in hand. Luckily twenty years of collecting has given me patience, tools, and a bottle of joint gum. Now she is the towering giant of my Transformers collection. Let's check out the Agglo Toys Space Warrior BTF figure below!

Dr. Wu - NURSY!

Dr. Wu No. DW-MS32 - Nursy (3rd Party Paradron Medic) - Mechanic Toys 2022

Happy New Year! In the next few weeks I will have the new MS35 Alie (Elita-1) in my hands and it's inspiring me to finally post the backlog of Dr. Wu and NewAge figures I never got around to in the past. This Nursy is a straight-up recolor of the pink MS30 Amie in her Paradron Medic green deco. In a 1986 Transformers episode titled Fight or Flee, the Decepticons decided to plunder the peaceful planet of Paradron. The inhabitants of the planet had two simple designs for male and female. All the females were essentially green Arcees (without the shoulder wings). They were essentially background characters, but they make for fun variants of any Arcee mold. Note that the last few official Hasbro releases of this deco have been renamed Lifeline. I'm sometimes tempted to get them all, but there are several that pull in over $100 on eBay, so I'll just have to be selective. In the meantime, I'll appreciate the few seafoam green Arcees I've managed to collect so far. Let's check out Nursy below!

Super7 ReAction - ARCEE (PROTOTYPE)!

ReAction Action Figures - Transformers Wave 8 - Arcee Prototype - Super7 2024

Arcee has had a long history of neglect in the Transformers Universe. She was notable for being the only recurring female G1 character, yet she was underutilized and unmerchandized for 20-30 years. In 2004, she got her first unique transforming toy in the Energon line. But this was stylized for the Transformers: Energon cartoon. She didn't get her first classically-inspired G1 figure until 2014's Generations release. (And ever since, there have been a ton of Arcee toys). But in the decades in-between her debut and her eventual toys, collectors were continually teased with prototype reveals and cancellations. One of the most notorious of these was a very early mocked-up prototype from the 80s featuring an oddly-proportioned and oddly-colored Arcee. I often wonder if her orange color was meant as a stand-in for a chrome silver finish, because the orange and pink combination is not a very appealing look. But for fans like me, it has become iconic. This Super7 ReAction repaint is a great homage. Let's check her out below!

Transformers One - ELITA-1!

Transformers: One - Elita-1 (Cogged Mode) Advanced Model Kit - Yolopark 2024

These Yolopark model kits are a really fun line to augment all the Hasbro and Takara Transformers product. I've noticed solicitations for a while featuring classic Transformers, Rise of the Beasts, and Evangelion, but the two Elita-1 figures for Transformers One were my first purchases. They were fun to assemble and display great. The two different modes in the One line come at different scales and pricepoints. Cog-Less Mode is 5.12" and runs $21.99 and the Cogged Mode is 6.89" and runs $36.99. Surprisingly, I had multiple issues with the larger, more expensive one (details below). But none of the issues were dealbreakers, just surprising quality issues. I eagerly look forward to the next female Transformer they might make (I'm assuming Arcee) and will gladly make the purchase. This review is for the larger 7" Cogged version - after Elita is rejoined with her Cog of Transformation and gets powered-up and is able to transform. (Note this model does not transform. Only robot mode). Let's check her out below!

Transformers One - ELITA-1!

Transformers: One - Elita-1 (Cog-less Mode) Advanced Model Kit - Yolopark 2024

When the Transformers One product was revealed and started hitting shelves earlier this year, Elita-1 was depressingly absent from the character representation. As the primary female character in the movie, prominently featured in all the posters and trailers, this was baffling and disappointing. For a brief while, I thought the Burger King toy would be the best movie Elita figure. But things have turned around. When all is said and done, there should be seven new Elita-1 toys in this design, but the release schedule is very slow (The Hasbro Movie Masters figure currently has a release date of exactly one year from today, Nov 3rd 2025). But in the meantime, the first real articulated figures are two model kits from Yolopark featuring both versions of Elita, Cog-less (before she has the ability to transform), and Cogged (after her Cog of Transformation is reinstalled). Neither figure is transforming mind you. This review is for the smaller 5.12" Cog-less model kit. Let's check her out below!

Transformers One - ELITA-1!

King Jr - Transformers One - Elita-1 & Cybertronian Cycle - Burger King 2024

I ate Burger King a couple weeks ago for the first time in close to 20 years. The burger was actually great. The fries were not as good as they used to be sadly. I did the same thing with McDonalds a couple years ago and I thought all of it was gross and couldn't believe how much I used to eat it in my youth. But I digress. The whole reason I dabble in fast food as an adult is to fetch the rare female kid's meal action figure. Funny thing though, the highly astute BK employee assured me I was getting Elita-1, but underneath my Whopper was Orion Pax. I ended up ordering the whole set on eBay. When this Elita-1 figure was first shown, I feared she would be the only movie figure of her. There had already been a lot of Transformers One product shown, but all the early product was devoid of females (despite Chromia, Arcee, Elita-1, and Airachnid all being listed on iMDb). But luckily there now seem to be a ton of Elitas coming. Let's check out the BK Elita-1 and her Cybertronian Cycle mode below!

Transformers Earthspark - SPITFIRE!

Transformers Earthspark - 1-Step Flip Changer - Spitfire - Hasbro 2024

In Season Two of Transformers: EarthSpark, there is a fun storyline where new Terrans are created from shards of the Emberstone that have been corrupted. The resulting Terrans look just like the existing heroes, but they are actually polar opposites (dubbed the Chaos Terrans). I'm always a fan of this type of storytelling trope. Star Trek's Mirror Mirror was the first example I was exposed to. But even recently there has been Mirrorverse's Fractured characters, and flipped Miraculous characters. This is smart for merchandising too, because a simple repaint can be embraced as a wholly new character. In EarthSpark, the Chaos Terran version of Twitch is named Spitfire and was a surprise character when her first toy was solicited back in May (she didn't appear in the cartoon until June). I especially like her look because minty-green Transformers always remind me of Moonracer, who was my favorite of the original female Autobots from The Search for Alpha Trion. Let's check out Spitfire below!

Transformers Earthspark - TWITCH!

Transformers: EarthSpark - Warrior Class Figures - Terran Twitch - Hasbro 2024

The last few Transformers EarthSpark releases seem to be trickling out at a snail's pace. The unfortunate thing is that the big box stores seem to have largely abandoned the Warrior Class scale figures, skipping right from the smaller Tacticons and 1-Step Changers to the Deluxe figures. This is a shame because the Warrior Class line is probably my favorite of them all. Twitch is a new character created for the EarthSpark cartoon that transforms into a drone. She is notable because she has a figure in almost every line (except the Spin Changer line, but they only made two characters). I am nervous her Tacticon will never be released, but even more nervous for the last two Warrior Class ladies (Hashtag and Spitfire). Considering the scarcity of the Warrior line in general, I was really excited to find her at a B.A.M. (Books-a-Million) bookstore while on vacation this Summer. I guess I'll have to keep checking back for the final few. (Unfortunately, I don't have any nearby). Let's check out Twitch below!

Transformers EarthSpark - NIGHTSHADE!

Transformers: EarthSpark - ESD-05 DX - Nightshade (Deluxe) - Takara Tomy 2024

When buying my TakaraTomy EarthSpark redecos, I couldn't help but add Nightshade to my cart. As far as the Japan/US paint variations go, theirs is very minor. But I prefer the Japanese face deco that more closely resembles the unique Terran visage. Plus the torso deco, feet, and thighs create a sleeker, more hourglass, appearance. Which I think blurs the gender lines better than the Hasbro version (ironic considering how conservatively they were presented in Japan). I love a good scandal. Especially when the same folks upset about a gender-obscured character were the same ones screaming for years that female Transformers couldn't exist because they are a genderless species. So ta-daa, here's your first non binary robot like you wanted. I couldn't care less about Nightshade's gender. I just know I'm drawn to their design, name, and beast mode. Enough so that I jumped at the chance to buy a subtle variant just to get another Nightshade on my shelf. Let's check them out below!

Transformers EarthSpark - ELITA-1!

Transformers: EarthSpark - 1-Step Changers ESS-08 - Elita-1 - Takara Tomy 2024

When I started collecting action figures as an adult, fembots were basically nonexistant. But now there are a ton. Since January 2023, there have been 30 official female Transformers released (and that's not even counting the awesome 3rd Party figures). But along with the collector-friendly deluxe figures, these characters are also now released as gimmicky lower-level figures, too (a luxury that was limited to only the male characters for decades). These figures can look pretty cheap and cheesy (ex: Tacticons and 1-Step Changers). But I'm a completist for most fembots so they still end up in my collection. I recently splurged and bought all the TakaraTomy Japanese releases of the EarthSpark ladies and I was impressed at how a few added paint details can improve their visual appeal. This 1-Step Changer Elita-1 from TakaraTomy has paint on her forearms, shoulders, chest, and forehead (all of which were lazily unpainted in the Hasbro version) and it's a big improvment. Let's check out the updated Elita-1 below!

Transformers - FILCH!

Transformers Legacy United - Star Raider Filch (Robots in Disguise) - Hasbro 2024

In 2015, a single appearance-character named Filch was introduced in the Robots in Disguise episode S1:E7 "Collect 'em All!"  Filch is a gigantic robotic magpie who is single-mindedly obsessed with all things shiny to collect for her nest. The situation gets serious when she steals a conductor from an electrical tower and a metal beam supporting a bridge. I will state again that she is big.. roughly three times the size of the Autobots she encounters.. and animalistic, exhibiting almost no human-like traits. She reminds me of a blend of the G1 Insecticons with their all-consuming hunger and Nightbird with her single-episode fame. She is also monosyllabic, only uttering the phrases "Shiny!", "Mine!", and "Not shiny." I think she's amazing. This action figure is a fantastic retooling of the Kingdom Airazor figure. I never expected to see a one-off character like this get the full action figure treatment, but she is glorious. It gives me hope that other blink-and-you-miss-them characters could get toys someday.

Transformers EarthSpark - ELITA-1!

Transformers: EarthSpark - ESD-14 DX - Elita-1 (Deluxe) - Takara Tomy 2024

I've learned a lot about Transformers over the years, but I can admit the intricacies of the Hasbro/TakaraTomy relationship is a little vague to me. From my experience, when the two companies release the same product, the difference has been solely paint applications. So when I discovered that this EarthSpark Elita-1 actually had noticeably improved tooling, I was surprised. I really liked the 2023 Hasbro Warrior Class Elita-1. She has a great sculpt and scale. But when I discovered this Japanese version with an articulated head, sculpted hands with removable weapons, and added paint details, I was obsessed. As one of my favorite Transformers, I will be endlessly excited about new Elita-1 toys. With her prominent role in the upcoming Transformers One movie, I'm excited that she will be getting five new movie figures (and likely even more). But I'm excited this EarthSpark design got one final hurrah. It's pretty great, even though it will be overshadowed shortly. Let's check out Elita-1 below!

Transformers EarthSpark - HASHTAG!

Transformers: EarthSpark - ESD-13 DX - Terran Hashtag - Takara Tomy 2024

As one door opens, another closes. While not officially confirmed, there are abundant rumors that Transformers: EarthSpark will end after Season 2 - just as we're gearing up for Transformers One and all its merchandise. The cancellation rumors led me to splurge on the import TakaraTomy version of Hashtag. Modern Transformers figures are typically released by both Hasbro and TakaraTomy using the same general molds, but often sporting paint variations. I wasn't planning on getting this TakaraTomy Hashtag because she is a distinct dark blue instead of her on-screen purple deco. But I fear the purple Hasbro version may never be released. The most recent EarthSpark releases have been very scarce at retail, and I wasn't about to let this character pass me by. Hashtag is a bit of a modern character stereotype. She is the tech-savvy cool hacker character, which is a dime a dozen character description these days. But I am really drawn to her design and this figure is a very fun representation of her.

Transformers One - AIRACHNID!

Transformers One -  1-Step Changers Series One - Airachnid - Hasbro 2024

I always love a villain, especially when they are creepy and incorporate visual themes from one of the stereotypical "scary" animals like insects, spiders, bats, and reptiles. This isn't a rare character recipe at all, but I love them all anyway. Airachnid was first introduced as an antagonist in the 2011 Transformers Prime series. She has a lot of similar characteristics to Blackarachnia, but she was witchier and vampier and was a cool triple-changer alternating between robot, spider, and helicopter forms. My favorite thing about her was that while in her robot form, she would often walk on her spider-legs (aka helicopter blades) that protruded from her back Dr. Octopus style. I actually find this type perambulation terrifying at an instinctual level, so of course I am obsessed with it. I'm really interested to see how Airachnid will be portrayed in the upcoming Transformers One film. This toy offers the most clues so far. She has an interesting redesign, but I still have a ton of questions. Let's check out Airachnid below!

Transformers One - ELITA-1!

Transformers One -  Robot Battlers Series One - Elita-1 - Hasbro 2024

I'm pretty excited for the Transformers One movie in a few weeks. I'm not sure if I will actually enjoy it. I'll be honest, the tone of the trailers I've seen didn't thrill me. But I am excited to see Scarlett Johansson's portrayal of Elita-1. It's amazing that Elita-1 has been so prevalent in Transformers media in recent years after decades of underuse. She was a major player in War for Cybertron and EarthSpark, but her theatrical debut in Transformers One will likely be her biggest role yet. Of course, Hasbro has notably excluded her from most of the movie toylines so far. This Robot Battler figure is  Rock'em Sock'em type gimmicky toy, but I was still excited to find her in the store. There is an upcoming Burger King toy and two figures from Yolopark, but I hope some official Hasbro product is in the works too. In addition to Elita's role in the movie, Airachnid, Chromia, and Arcee also should have screentime. That kind of female presence will definitely get me to the theatre. Let's check out this first Elita-1 figure below!

Transformers - CHROMIA!

Transformers Legacy United - Chromia (Cyberverse Universe) - Hasbro 2024

When the Cyberverse Arcee figure came out four years ago, I was certain we would be getting a Chromia in the line. All the original engineering for that new female body seemed wasteful for a single release. Plus I really liked the Chromia design. But we all know that never happened. And that Arcee became a shelfwarmer with an unfortunate trait of turning yellow over time. But the current Transformers Legacy line is intended to merge together characters from different Universes with a unified design aesthetic (I've been especially happy to see Go-Bots and Rescue Bots in a deluxe Transformers style). Well years later this Legacy line has finally given us our first Cyberverse Chromia and she looks pretty great. I still find the females in this line to be a bit shorter and blockier that I prefer, but I can't deny the great assortment of figures we've received so far. I can't wait to see who will be revealed next (I have a million ideas). Let's check out Cyberverse Chromia below!

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - AIRAZOR!

Transformers Deluxe Class - Rise of the Beasts - Airazor - Takara Tomy 2023

I finally gave up and ordered this figure from a 3rd Party seller. When images of the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts movie products began being leaked online early last year, the very first item I saw was this Deluxe Class Airazor. The early images of this toy made me very excited for the movie and action figures. But ironically, this excitement was ill-founded because Airazor had no robot mode in the movie and this specific toy proved very hard to find. There was a US Hasbro release in a Target-exclusive "Jungle Mission" 3-pack (with Bumblebee and Mirage), but that set was scarce and the pre-listings for the (supposedly) upcoming single-packed Hasbro release were on every major site. Then one-by-one those listings disappeared. I panicked and got the Japanese Takara Tomy version on eBay. I'm really glad I did though because this is easily my favorite Airazor figure. The coloring is bright, her head sculpt is fantastic, and her beast mode is very well designed. Let's check out Airazor below!

Transformers Earthspark - Elita-1!

Transformers Earthspark - 1-Step Flip Changer - Elita-1 - Hasbro 2024

I love how every few years there is a reboot of the Transformers Universe animated for television. I rarely watch all of these, but I love the repercussions they have on the toylines - especially more modern series that don't shy away from including female characters. The current incarnation is Transformers Earthspark on Paramount+ and the show features at least five female Transformers that have received toys so far (nine figures total and two more on the way). The show includes original characters like Twitch and classics like Elita-1. I'm really glad Elita-1 had been rescued from obscurity. Her single episode appearance in 1985 could have been a one-and-done flashback appearance, but thankfully she was brought back as major character in 2020 War For Cyberton series, then again in 2022 for Earthspark, and I assume her role in the upcoming film Transformers One (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) will be significant. It's safe to say Elita-1 is now a staple of the franchise. Let's check out her Flip Changer below!

Sonic Prime - ROUGE TROOPER (THE GRIM)!

Sonic Prime - The Grim (2.5" 3-Pack) - Rouge Trooper - Jakks Pacific 2024

Sonic Prime is the most recent animated incarnation of the Sonic Universe. It airs on Netflix and has the unique gimmick of having a multiverse (the Shatterverse) that contains alternate thematic variations of all the characters we know and love. It's basically made for toy merchandising. The darkest and creepiest alternate universe (imo) is The Grim. The Grim is devoid of life and features dark robot inhabitants. This 3-Pack features the generic clones of Rouge, Knuckles, and Sonic. This is essentially a troop builder set. Each character also has a single unique (Alpha) Grim version as well featuring a slightly different design than these troopers. Alpha Grim Rouge is this singular version of Rouge (easily distinguishable by her red eyes). As far as I know, we will only be getting toys of the troopers (I saw the 5" Sonic Trooper in Target today). I would love to display an Alpha Grim Rouge flanked by two Rouge Troopers, but alas, it's just not meant to be. Let's check out Rouge Trooper below!

Transformers Earthspark - TWITCH!

Transformers Earthspark - 1-Step Flip Changer - Terran Twitch - Hasbro 2023

It's funny to think how I used to avoid collecting Transformers because there we so few female figures being made. Prior to 2014, there were barely any. But then the Generations Arcee and Chromia were released and the floodgates opened. Just last week I was in a well-stocked Walmart and I saw figures of Arcee, Airazor, Nightbird, Elita-One, Twitch, Skywarp, Hashtag, Windblade, Strongarm, Laser Cycle, and Shadow Striker. That is ELEVEN different characters with toys on the shelves simultaneously. And that's not even counting the same characters with multiple versions. Like four different figures of Arcee and three of Twitch. When you have this kind of abundance, you are naturally going to get figures in the less-impressive kid-oriented lines like the Tacticons or these 1-Step Flip Changers. While these aren't the most sought-after toys for collectors, I really enjoy the explosion of females in this historically-exclusionary genre, so I buy every last figure in support (especially the new characters like Twitch).