General Information:
Release Date: July 2015
Price Point: $42.00
Retailer: Transformers Collector's Club Exclusive
Accessories: Afterbreaker wheel, Jet Pack, Laser gun and display stand
Profile (from the TFCC Page):
EDC CYBERTRONIAN LIAISON w/ AUTOBOT PARTNER
With two parents on the elite interdisciplinary G.I. JOE® team, MARISSA was an army brat through and through. Growing up, she came to appreciate the beauty and fragility of the varied environments of Earth as she bounced from base to base, continent to continent. She attended the US Air Force Academy, to her parent's twin pride and chagrin--they had been hoping for West Point--and graduated salutatorian. She qualified for the intensely competitive solo orbital flight program and was among the first wave of pilots to qualify for extra-atmospheric combat. When GENERAL CLAYTON “HAWK” ABERNATHYTM formed the EARTH DEFENSE COMMAND to proactively address the DECEPTICON® threat, she was one of the first to sign up. MARISSA is a driven officer with a keen tactical mind, who understands the importance of seizing and maintaining the initiative. Teamed with the TECHNOBOT® AFTERBREAKER, MARISSA and her AUTOBOT® comrade patrol the streets of earth, looking to thwart and DECEPTICON (or human) who look to cause chaos and destruction.
Product Description (from the TFCC Page):
Keeping in the theme of the Hasbro summer convention exclusive G.I. Joe & TRANSFORMERS ® crossover action figure sets released from 2011-2013, MARISSA FAIREBORN and AFTERBREAKER come carded as a cross-brand team up! MARISSA FAIREBORN is a 3 3/4” scale G.I. Joe figure and comes with jet pack, heavy “laser” weapon, and hand-held “laser” blaster. AFTERBREAKER is a non-converting AUTOBOT motorcycle with firing wheel projectile. Add these figures to your existing G.I. Joe and/or TRANSFORMERS collection to start a new adventure today!
Afterbreaker
Afterbreaker is meant to be Afterburner, the Technobot introduced as part of the 1987 line of "Generation One" characters. However this is not actually a "Transformers" toy. Instead it is a repainted Wheel Blaster Bike from 2012's "G.I. Joe Retaliation" toy line. It's not hard to see why this vehicle was chosen to represent Afterbreaker. It has a futuristic look with a large front end and weaponry mounted on the sides. Unlike G1 Afterburner, this vehicle does not have an enclosed driver's section and instead features a more traditional seat on the top of the bike, with the driver leaning down and looking forward to ride the motorcycle.
Afterbreaker features some really nice detailing, all of which has little to do with G1 Afterburner's design. Still, good sculpting is good sculpting and this vehicle has plenty of it. Towards the back are engine parts on the sides. The guns mounted on the sides have bands of ammunition packs that curve and lead into the vehicle. There are also small machine guns sculpted into the front end. This is definitely one serious looking vehicle and I think it looks great.
Afterbreaker is cast in orange and black plastic. These colors are inspired by G1 Afterburner's colors. The orange makes up most of the vehicle with the black used for smaller parts like the handlebars, wheels and side guns. Paint applications are done in silver, black, yellow and a distinct champagne color. These too are all inspired by the colors on G1 Afterburner. The silver is used for the engine parts on the sides along with some detailing right above the machine guns. The black is used on the sides, the seat and the front end. Yellow is used to paint the headlights in front. The metallic champagne color is heavily used on the top, sides, back and front of the vehicle. This color in particular is very distinctive and quite beautiful. There are silver and red patterns painted on the sides, but something went wrong at the factory on my copy of this vehicle. The left side details are smudged on mine, which is unfortunate since it's a nice looking detail. Rounding out all this deco is a large, tampographed Autobot symbol in white and red on the front of the motorcycle.
True to the name of the source vehicle, this motorcycle can indeed "blast" its wheel. Push down the back of the vehicle, then pull it back and the front wheel will be launched and the middle wheel will slide forward automatically. Slide the front wheel back in to push the middle wheel back into place. It's a pretty neat action feature and quite different than anything you'd find on most motorcycle toys.
Marissa Faireborn
Marissa Faireborn is a character who was introduced decades ago, but aside from her G1 cartoon and current IDW Publishing comic book appearances the character hasn't received much attention. There have been other representations of her, but this was the first one as a full fleldged G.I. Joe figure. Marissa was created by mashing up parts from several different G.I. Joe figures into one. According to Yo Joe she uses:
- The head of Agent Courtney Krieger
- The torso and waist were from the 2010 Scarlett
- The arms are from the 2009 Baroness
- The hands and legs come from the 2009 Scarlett
The Transformers Wiki entry however lists some slightly different parts, so take that as you will.
Overall the figure does look like a good representation of the character as seen in the G1 cartoon. There are many distinct details that match up nicely with her animated counterpart including a ridged collar around her neck, straps over her shoulder area, straps on the hips of her jumpsuit and even pouches on her legs. The head sculpt works well for the character too with its long hair which is similar to the hair Marissa had in the cartoon.
Marissa is cast in white and flesh toned plastic. The white makes up most of the figure with the flesh tone used on the hands. The neck and head are flesh toned too, but I believe they are painted rather than cast in that color. Her hair is cast in a dark, reddish brown matching the character's animated appearance. A lot of detailing comes from two shades of blue paint. A light blue is used on details like her boots and a panel on her left forearm, white a darker blue is used on other areas like the collar on her neck, pouches on her hips and an EDC (Earth Defense Command) patch on her right shoulder. I really love the look of this figure. She's instantly recognizable as being inspired by the animated character and the combination of parts and paint job is really creative.
There are nineteen points of articulation on this figure, mostly relying on swivel and hinges which gives the figure a good amount of articulation. The only articulation that is partly obstructed is the head. Since the hair is a relatively stiff piece of plastic the range of motion on the head is somewhat limited. Marissa includes three accessories: a small gun, a jet pack with a weapon attached to it via a hose and a display stand. She can wield both weapons at the same time, but the hose piece is a bit stiff, so be careful not to bend it too much and break it when fitting the larger weapon into her hands. Finally Marissa can of course ride on Afterbreaker and hold on to the handlebars. Unfortunately due to the aforementioned hair piece, her head cannot be turned to look up and forward when she is on the bike.
Final Thoughts:
This set is not for everyone. For many "Transformers" fans, if the character doesn't transform often time that's a deal breaker and I totally get that. Indeed I would argue this set leans much more towards G.I. Joe fans since it features a more traditional "G.I. Joe figure with vehicle" arrangement. For me personally I'm just ecstatic to finally have a "proper" version of Marissa Fairborn to hang out with my Autobots. I definitely recommend this set if the concept appeals to you to begin with.
