"Generations" War for Cybertron Elita-1 Toy Review

09/30/22

General Information:
Release Date: March 2021
Price Point: $19.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: Wal-Mart Exclusive
Accessories: Blaster, "Back Pack"/Hoverboard

Official images and text below in italics are from Walmart.com:
Build the ultimate battlefield inspired by scenes from the Transformers War for Cybertron series. This pack includes a Deluxe Class 5.5-inch scale Elita-1 figure inspired by the character as seen in the War for Cybertron series. With over 40 deco ops and battle-worn details this is the most series-accurate version of the character. Elita-1, a fearless and powerful warrior, will stop at nothing to defend Cybertron.

This Elita-1 toy converts to her Cybertronian vehicle mode in 15 steps and includes 1 series-inspired accessory. Comes with a piece of a Teletraan-1 backdrop. Fans can collect other pieces from series-inspired Deluxe class figures to build the Teletraan-1 backdrop and pose out their figures in front of it! (Each sold separately, subject to availability.) Fun for adults and kids ages 8 and up!

SERIES-INSPIRED FIGURE: This Elita-1 figure is inspired by the character as seen in the War for Cybertron series
ENHANCED BATTLE-WORN DECO: With over 40 deco ops, this series-inspired figure brings fans the most detailed and series-accurate version of one of their favorite characters from the War for Cybertron series
SERIES-INSPIRED ALT MODE AND ACCESSORIES: Elita-1 toy features classic Transformers conversion from robot to Cybertronain vehicle mode in 15 steps, and comes with 1 accessory
TELETRAAN-1 BACKDROP PIECE: Deluxe Class figures come with a piece of a Teletraan-1 backdrop. Fans can collect them all to build the Teletraan-1 backdrop and pose out their figures in front of it! (Each sold separately.) Fun for kids and adults 8 and up!
SPECIAL PACKAGING: When fans see the iconic red and white packaging they know they're getting a figure inspired by the War for Cybertron series (each sold separately, subject to availability)

Background:
Elita-1 was introduced in the Generation One cartoon as the leader of a small rebel group on Cybertron fighting against Shockwave's forces. Over the years, she has popped up in both fiction and as action figures or collectibles. In the Generations line she has seen releases as a Power of the Primes Voyager Class/Combiner figure and more recently she was released as part of Legacy. In between those two releases however was a Wal-Mart exclusive Netflix War for Cybertron version of the character representing her appearance in the Netflix animated series. This figure is a redeco and retool of Earthrise Arcee so you'll want to check out that review before this one. This review will focus on the changes made to the figure for this release.

Packaging:
The packaging for the Netflix Wal-Mart exclusive figures was very different than the brightly colored main line boxes. In general they had the same rectangular shape with an angle on one side, but these had a white background with mostly red and black text on them. In a rare branding move, the Netflix logo is set over the plastic window that features the action figure. Other aspects including the Generations logo and vertical Transformers logo are still present. The angled side of the box shows Elita's artwork in a black and white sketched style with an Autobot symbol. The back of the box shows Elita-1 in both modes calling out a 15 step transformation with her rank symbol. I really love the look of these boxes. They're clean and eye catching while leaning towards (relative) minimalism.

Accessories:
Elita-1 includes two accessories, though technically one is a part of her that detaches:

Blaster: Elita-1's Blaster is a pistol shaped weapon made of the same frosted style plastic that is also used for the vehicle mode windshield. The handle is not a 5mm peg but rather a more typical rectangular handle. She can hold the weapon in either hand. You can attach a Blast Effect to the end of the barrel.
"Back Pack": I put "back pack" in quotes because that's not really the official name but rather more of a description. A large portion of the vehicle mode collapses and connects to the back of the robot mode. This means Elita-1 winds up with a gigantic back pack. However, on the left side of the figure there is a rectangular section of plastic you can push in to allow the back pack to be detached. It can then act as a hoverboard. It has two small pegs on it that allow Elita-1 to stand on it (using the ports on the bottom of her feet).

Robot Mode:
At first glance it would be easy to look at this figure and think all Hasbro did was replace Arcee's head on the original sculpt with no other changes, but that is not the case. As I took a close look at this figure I was very surprised by the number of parts replaced. Here's a rundown:

Head: The head sculpt is based on Elita's appearance in the Netflix series, which itself was inspired by her head sculpt in the G1 animated series. This includes a helmet section with angled antennae sticking up and a crest with what looks like a helmet light sculpted into it. The face sculpt looks great too with a very determined and serious look fitting with the mood of the Netflix show.
Shoulders: Elita-1's shoulders are different than Arcee's. Arcee has rounded shoulders, but on Elita the shoulder pieces have small extensions sticking up. These are inspired by similar design elements on the G1 Elita-1 animation model (which themselves were likely intended to emulate Optimus Prime's shoulder smokestacks).
Torso: The torso section is completely new. Unlike Arcee's torso design which features a distinct angle at the chest area, Elita's design is mostly curved with a collar in th eneck area. This design is based on the one seen in the Netflix show.
Waist: The mid-body and waist area is also different, which surprised me. They probably could have gotten away with just reusing Arcee's tooling for this but the design is different, matching the layers of angled lines seen in the animation model.

I'm really impressed by just how much was changed for this figure. For the most part she really matches up nicely with her animated counterpart and looks great!

Elita-1 is made up of red, beige and translucent blue plastic. Paint colors include an dark pink, beige, white, blue and red. White offers the heaviest contrast on the legs and torso. The pink is used on the helmet section of the head and parts of the torso and waist area. The eyes are painted blue and red is used for her mouth and the Autobot symbol on her chest. The beige paint alternates with white and red colors on the torso. Overall the deco is really nice. It sounds simple, but there are many layers to it that I really appreciate.

There are twenty six points of articulation on this figure including five on each arm and seven on each leg. Her legs include two points of articulation at the knees (a part of the transformation) and ankle rockers. Her fists are designed to fit 5mm pegs and her own weapon. She has 5mm ports on the back of her lower legs and on her heels to attach additional accessories. Like Arcee, Elita-1 can interact with Red Cog and/or Cog to attach a giant weapon pack on her back and over her shoulders. If you missed it, Hasbro designer Mark Maher posted how to do this on his Instagram.

Transformation to Vehicle Mode:

Detach the weapon if attached and set it aside for now.
Straighten out the arms and legs.
Point the robot feet down.
Swing the outer most section of the back pack down, then rotate it around.
Swing the back piece connected to the back out.
On each part of the back pack, swing the four wheel panels down.
On the rear part of the car mode swing the middle panel out (it is connected to the rear wheel panels).
On the back portion behind the head, swing up the middle of the car's front end.
Rotate the legs outward.
Swing each lower leg up so the feet wind up against the shoulders.
Swing Elita-1's body down to tuck it under the "shell".
Push the section with the seats and windshield down.
The weapon can be stored under the front of the vehicle.

Vehicle Mode:
Unlike the robot mode, no retooling was done for the vehicle mode. Interestingly enough, the vehicle mode somehow suits Elita-1 better than it did Arcee. In G1 Elita-1's vehicle form was a bit less streamlined than Arcee's so the look of this vehicle works for the character. As you'd expect, a majority of the car parts are red plastic with translucent plastic used for the windshield, the wheels and the decorative piece on the top of the rear section. White paint is used on the front half for detailing including an Autobot symbol. The seats are painted light grey. Elita looks good in this mode but had the budget for the figure been bigger I'm sure there would have been all sorts of extra paint apps they could have worked in.

Like Arcee, Elita-1 features four pegs to connect Blast Effects. Two are on top of the "hoverboard" section while the other two are in the back.

Final Thoughts:
Elita-1 is a really well done redeco and retool of the Earthrise Arcee figure. She looks like her on screen counterpart (for the most part) and the colors are really rich and look great. Fortunately you can easily find her on the aftermarket for about $30 USD at the time this review is being written. Recommended!

Pros:

Excellent retooling that does more than just replace the head.
Very nice deco.
The design represents the Netflix Elita well, but also calls back to many G1 design elements.
Gives us a Deluxe Class version of the Autobot Underground leader (though Legacy would follow this up a year or so later).

Cons:

The back pack is still very big and distracting in robot mode.

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