Dr. Wu - ALIE!

Dr. Wu No. DW-MS35 - Alie (3rd Party Elita-1) - Mechanic Toys 2024

I find it endlessly amusing that the best Elita-1 figures come from unofficial 3rd Party companies. I've thought the various official Hasbro releases have been pretty great. But each one has something a little off about it. This Dr. Wu (Mechanic Toys) Amie figure is a prime example of how this character should be done every time. I'm a sucker for the original 80's cartoon designs so the modern interpretations that take artistic liberty with proportions and structure will always take second fiddle to a super classic look like this. The original batch of Dr. Wu fembots came out back in 2022 (at the same time as a competitor line from NewAge), and I was always sad that an Elita-1 homage was excluded from the lineup and replaced by endless Arcee variants. It took a few years, but they finally produced this late-release Amie and I couldn't be happier. This is quite possibly the nicest Elita-1 figure ever. If she were a larger 6-7" scale, she would be perfect. Let's check out this beautiful 3rd Party Elita-1 in detail 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!

Dr. Wu - NIGHT NINJA!

Dr. Wu No. DW-MS31 - Night Ninja (3rd Party Nightbird) - Mechanic Toys 2022

A few years ago there was an amazing surge of 3rd Party fembots. Two companies in particular, Dr. Wu (Mechanic) and NewAge simultaneously released nearly identical 3.75" lines of female Transformers. Both companies had an anchor "Arcee" (Amie and Maschinenmensch) and five retooled versions each, making twelve unique figures all at once. I was ecstatic, but overwhelmed. And at more than $50 each, I had to be selective. Luckily half of them were iconic characters, and half were character repaints. And iconic always wins for me so the decision was easy. Each line had a Nightbird homage. She is one of my favorite G1 characters, despite being a single-episode, non-speaking, non-transforming robot. I still remember being glued to the screen after school back in 1985, mesmerized by her stealthy ninja moves and mysterious nature. She was actually the character that got me to start buying 3rd Party figures back in 2012. So when a new one pops up, I just can't resist. Let's check out Night Ninja below!

Dr. Wu - AMIE!

Dr. Wu No. DW-MS30 - Amie (3rd Party Arcee) - Mechanic Toys 2022

Hot on the heels of yesterday's review of the Maschinenmensch figure from NewAge comes this eerily similar Amie figure from Dr. Wu/Mechanic. Both figures are well-designed and of very high quality, but it was just surprising to see two 1:18 scale Arcee homages released from different companies within a few months of each other. Another great thing is that each company announced five retooled variations of their respective molds to give us collectors a ton of options. Each company included an Arcee, Nightbird, and Paradron Medic, but the other three for both companies were unique. I'm also very excited for the Elita One homage from Dr. Wu shown in convention slideshows this past Summer and I hope this trend of retooling continues. I'm always surprised that these 3rd Party companies don't see the potential in a Chromia, Firestar, and Moonracer trio. Elita often gets some attention, but if for nothing else other than color variety I would hope the others would be considered. Let's check out Amie below!