Name: Elita-1
Series: Movie Tie-ins
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: Motorbike
Thanks to Goktimus Prime for loaning me Elita-1 for this review
MOTORBIKE MODE
Height: 7.5cm Length: 15cm Width: 5.5cm
A black, silver and metallic pink )what I'd described as a metallic cranberry colour), Elita-1 has a colour of grey elements here and there and a white number plate at the back with "3L 174" in black text. There's more black here than any other other colour, but the cranberry is most distinct, despite being used fairly sparingly, on her front mudguard, above the transparent blue headlight and flanking the petrol cap. There are three silver Cybertronian glyphs on this bike - two on the left and one on the right side. There are no Autobot logos visible here.
This is a very detailed bike mode with some impressive aspects, such as valves inside the rims for her tyres, a chain and gear on the back tyre, brakepads on both tyres & grip on the handlebars. There's a blue missile protruding out the back, between her tailpipes - although you can always set this aside if you prefer. It's about the only notable kibble here. The handlebars & brake levers are composed of a soft plastic to prevent these finer pieces snapping off.
There's some play value here but also some loose elements. Elita-1 has a kickstand on the left side, although it's difficult to find the best position for it since the bike above this tiny grey piece is so heavy. The wheels both spin and while the handlebars turn, the front forks are fixed. Those handlebars are one of the loose elements I mentioned - the front wheel tends to splay forward as well. The stand, which is a somewhat random mechanical-looking thing, can fit underneath, lifting the bike maybe 2cm off the table. This same stand can attach on the top - it clips into the exhausts - as a twin-cannon of sorts.
A good bike mode with great detailing and a good shape, but the kickstand is frustrating and the front end a little unstable. The colours are simple & work well enough - as well as avoiding the standard pink of many female Transformers. Transformers bikes have come a long way, and this effort beats anything before the live-action movie era, but the loose elements & kickstand do hold Elita-1 back a little.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Set aside the stand. Pull out the sides, rotate the (uneven) halves forward, fold the saddle in. Pivot the chest halves forward, clip together to form her chest and rotate the head into position. Fold out the cranberry shoulderpads, rotate the headlight back. Collapse the rear wheel in, stand her using the stand. Rotate the smaller right arm into position, rotate away the side panel. Rotate the larger left arm into position and rotate its side panel as well.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 15cm Width: 11cm
The height I've listed includes the stand, since without it Elita-1 is lying down.
The cranberry is now more prominent, on her head, shoulderpads, chest and "groin", while the forearms, foot and waist are black. Her face is silver wit black eyes. There's no defined legs here really - below the black waist Elita-1 is basically a single leg that ends in her rear tyre as a single foot. This lower half is a mixture of black, grey and silver. There's no Autobot logo here either - that I can find anyway. The colours work well enough again, with the cranberry dominant again.
I'll come out and say that I don't like this concept of a humanoid torso above a single leg and a wheel as a foot. It's not so much a visual thing but a practical one - she can't stand without the stand, and this rules out a lot of dynamic poses. Okay, the look takes some getting used to as well, but I can accept it on this toy, given that's how the Arcee bots looked in the film. The left arm is oversized since it's the exhausts and back of the saddle, and it ends in a missile launcher rather than a hand - which makes her slightly less humanoid. Theright hand is moulded open, in a relaxed pose. There are a few motorbike elements here such as the tyres as her foot, the exhausts on the left arm and the handlebars on what I guess we can call the groin.
Her play value is mixed. The packaging refers to spinning gears, but I've looked and can't see them anywhere - there's a cranberry slider inside the left forearm with teeth, and I suspect this sliding motion is meant to look like gears turning (well, it's a rack-and-pinion, without the pinion). The shoulders and neck are ball jointed while her elbows are hinged with rotators below the shoulders. There's some twist on her "waist" but it's pretty minimal. The only real gimmick here is the transparent blue missile, which fires with some force when the grey trigger on her elbow is pressed.
A somewhat disappointing robot mode, simply because the lower half is a stalk that does nothing, and can only stand up with the add-on stand. While the toy is movie accurate, this accuracy does cost Elita-1 poseability and some display value here. There is some upper body poseability and some play value in the missile launcher, but this robot mode is limited by the concept we saw on screen.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of. Elita-1 is a repaint of Chromia.
OVERALL
A good bike mode and a poor robot mode make this a mediocre toy. The bike mode has excellent detailing along with some loose elements and a kickstand that's not as effective as it should be while the robot mode is static and too reliant on the stand for my liking - the shape might look cool onscreen where CGI allows for motion, but as a toy it's awkward. The colours are nice enough and poseability is okay given her restrictions, but you've really got to like the unicycle robot mode concept for this toy to work for you - 5/10
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