Hunt for the Decepticons Elita-1 Toy Review
in 2010, Action Figure Review, Autobot, Generation One, Hunt for the Decepticons
Accessories: Missile x 1, Weapons base
Card Scan
Vehicle Mode (Front)
Vehicle Mode on stand (Angle view)
Vehicle Mode on stand
Vehicle Mode on stand (Left side angle)
Vehicle Mode on stand (Right side angle)
Vehicle Mode on stand (Back)
Robot Mode (Left Side)
Robot Mode (Right Side)
Robot Mode (Close up on head)
Robot Mode (Close up on missile launcher)
Robot Mode (Close up on arm)
Robot Mode (Close up on right arm)
With Chromia (Robot Modes)
*Images and text from Hasbrotoyshop.com:
Though she is a sister to ARCEE, ELITA-1 has more in common with SIDESWIPE. She and the swordsman team up whenever possible - especially if it means they can get away somewhere nice to do a little DECEPTICON hunting. This time, the two AUTOBOTS have found themselves up against AXOR, who should present just enough of a challenge to make things interesting.Turn the tables on enemy forces when you throw this warrior into the fight!
Your ELITA-1 figure with spinning gears is dedicated to destroying any opponent and her launching missile accessory will help you two get the job done. If robot combat turns into a "street" chase, convert your hero into motorcycle vehicle mode, change the figure stand into "cannons" and send her racing off to rule the "road"!
Battle-ready robot-to-vehicle figure converts from robot mode to motorcycle vehicle -- and back again! Ages 5 and up.
"Revenge of the Fallen" introduced three new Autobots to the ranks of Optimus Prime's forces. What distinguised these three from previous characters was (for lack of a better term) their "gender". The tree Autobots were Arcee, Chromia and Elita-1. Arcee and Chromia were released early on in the "Revenge of the Fallen" toy line, but Hasbro waited until the latter part of 2010 before releasing the third "sister" of this trio. Unlike Arcee and Chromia, Elita-1 is not an original sculpt but rather a redeco of Chromia. Check out her review for a detailed look at this figure. This review will focus on the changes made to the figure for this release.
It is important to start this review by addressing a rumor regarding this figure. Early on in the development of the "Revenge of the Fallen" film, there was production art released showing a combined form for all three of the sisters. This never came to fruition on film, but rumors persisted that there was a way to do this with the action figures. To date, there is no offical set of instructions that have been released showing how to accomplish this. Fans have come up with a few different "fan transformations" to try to combine the three, but none have really come out looking like the production art shown online. My personal speculation is that there may be way to do this, but it doesn't quite reach the standards that Hasbro holds their figures up to. The combining rumor certainly fits the theme of "combination" in the film that was used for Devastator and it would be nice one day if some official transformation scheme for the combined form of all three "sisters" were released.
While she is technically a redeco, Elita-1 utilizes two of the same primary plastic colors as Chromia: black and light grey. Many of the blue parts from Chromia have been replaced with black parts, giving Elita-1 more black parts overall than Chromia. Her translucent parts are not clear like Chromia's, but instead are translucent blue. I really like the translucent blue color and the way it stands out from the black plastic. The paint scheme in this mode is different from Chromia's. The primary paint colors are silver and a dark metallic pink (almost looking copper under some light). The pink is found on various areas in the front of the figure while the silver is found throughout the figure. This includes replacing the blue paint on Chromia's wheels with silver. Silver is also found on several glyphs found on the middle and rear of the vehicle. Silver is also used to paint the engine details on the sides of the vehicle, which look particularly nice. Another cool detail (that was left unpainted on Chromia) is the license plate, which reads 3L 174, which is an alternate way of "spelling" the name "Elita".
Elita-1 includes the stand with weaponry sculpted in that Chromia had. This part is also cast in black. The motorcycle fits on it nice and snug so I'm happy to say there are no mold issues in this form.
Swing the seat panel up.
Swing the panels on the sides out.
Rotate the engine detail panels back.
Swing the robot arms (attached to the engine panels) out to the sides.
Swing the robot arms on their hinges up and back.
Move the robot head up.
Connect the two halves of the section under the robot head together.
Swing the front wheel down onto Elita-1's back.
Rotate the headlight piece around so it faces forward.
Swing the section with the arms and head down against the headlight piece
Swing the seat panel back.
Swing the rear wheel forward.
Straighten out both arms on the hinges.
If you wish, attach the tread/weapon accessory to the rear wheel section. This also allows the figure to stand.
Elita-1 shows off much more of a diversity in colors in this form than Chromia does. Here several of her light grey parts are revealed including the upper arms as well as the hinge pieces that connect the upper and lower halves of the body. By itself this would look rather plain, but the paint decos really add a lot of detail to the figure. Silver plays the biggest role, found on the engine panels on the arms, the face, the tubes on either side of the missile launcher as well as the panel underneath the motorcycle headlights. Not only does this add color, but it also accentuates a lot of excellently sculpted details that wound up being a bit lost on Chromia (as they were left uncolored). The dark metallic pink color is used on several parts including the middle of the torso, areas on the chest and the shoulder armor. A bit of gold paint is found on the vent patterns on the chest. Her paint scheme definitely differs a lot from Chromia and it looks fantastic.
All of Elita-1's joints are still nice and tight. This is especially important with her left arm since it is so heavy (containing both her missile launcher and exhaust pipe sections).
While I do like Elita-1, it's not a redeco I would recommend people running out to track down. Your main reasons for getting this figure would be to complete your Autobot movie cast or to be a completist with the variations of this sculpt. It's a good figure, but I think it's targeted towards a very specific audience.