KRE-O Transformers - NIGHTBIRD!

Botcon 2015 Exclusive "Earth's Most Wanted" 5-Pack - Nightbird - Hasbro 2015

Nightbird was the first real female character in Transformers. She appeared in episode #22 "Enter the Nightbird" in 1985 (Elita-1 and her clan of female Autobots didn't appear until episode #48). Nightbird was a robot created by the US Government that was swiftly captured and brainwashed by the Decepticons. She was a silent, non-transforming, ninja robot who was stealthily sneaking around and using her arsenal of weapons throughout the episode. I distinctly remember filling up notebooks drawing her as a child. I was totally obsessed with her. Not only was she the first female in the series, but she was seriously kick-ass. Both Optimus Prime and Megatron were fighting over her. I never expected to see any toys of her in my lifetime, but now we have three Third-Party figures, this Kreon, and a retooled Arcee being released this October from Tomy in Japan. It's so bizarre to be living in such a Golden Age of toy collecting. I feel like toy companies are reading my mind. Let's check out this Nightbird Kreon below!

Kre-O Transformers - BLACKARACHNIA!

Transformers Kre-O Age of Extinction - Series 2 - Blackarachnia - Hasbro 2014

Transformers Kre-O figures are some of my favorite collectibles of the last decade.  They're small, fun, and pretty prolific in the toy aisles.  Or at least they were.  The lackluster movie-themed waves from 2014's Transformers: Age of Extinction film kind of brought the series to a slow crawl.  This second series of Age of Extinction blind-bag mini-figures never even saw release in the United States.  I only hope the upcoming Robots in Disguise waves will offer some new life to the line.  I know I'll definitely be hunting down the Strongarm figure at the very least.  But in the long run, I desperately want more classic themed micro-changer waves.  Elita One and all the Cybertronian fembots would be amazing as Kreons.  I can only hope someone at Hasbro sees that, too.  At the very least there is potential for a ton of future convention exclusives in this format.  My fingers are crossed.  In the meantime, let's check out this elusive Blackarachnia in detail below!

G.I.Joe Kre-O Series 5 - ZARANA!

G.I.Joe Kreon Figure Pack - Collection 5 - Zarana - Hasbro 2014

Zarana is one of the very few female villains in the G.I.Joe universe.  Like just about every female character on the show, she was a master of disguise (seriously, think about it, they all had a remarkable talent for wigs and voices).  Zarana, however, has the family lineage to back up her skills.  Her brother Zartan and Zandar are masters of disguise and espionage.  The one skill her brothers exhibit that Zarana never did was the ability to change their skin color in a chameleon-like fashion.  Her original toy did this of course, but costumes and makeup were her main means of deception in the cartoon and comics.  This 5th wave of G.I.Joe Kre-O blindbags was a surprise to find on the shelves so soon.  Series 4 hasn't even appeared yet.  The inclusion of Zarana in this line is a great thing.  So far we've seen the requisite Scarlett, Baroness, Lady Jaye, and Jinx.  Zarana is a total bonus.  Although now we need a Cover Girl and Pythona.  Let's check out Zarana below!

Kre-O Transformers Machine Wars STRIKA!

Transformers Kre-O Botcon Exclusive Machine Wars Set - Hasbro 2013
 
Characters like Strika are a struggle for me.  She is pretty much the antithesis of every physical trait that I would consider "feminine."  On one side, I think this is great.  Who says being female demands an hourglass figure?  Who says a strong powerhouse character needs to be male?  Who says the typical masculine traits can't belong to a female?  Then on the flipside I'm thinking "Why does she need to be so 'unfeminine' to be taken seriously?", etc etc.  Then add that crazy debate to the fact that I am highly oversensitive to male action figures being reappropiated as females with no consideration to realistic body portrayals.  Robot characters in particular always seem to struggle with gender display.  From her very first incarnation, Strika was a large, stocky, powerful character.  She is also a former Autobot who now sides with the bad guys (always a cool dynamic).  She has had a handful of toys over the years (some of which are indeed repainted male figures), but this is the first one in line that that is so gender-neutral by default (i.e. this is the one figure of Strika that puts all my overthinking at ease).  Let's check her out!

KRE-O G.I.Joe LADY JAYE (with Lego Hair)!

G.I.Joe Kre-O - Kreons Blind Bags Series 3: Lady Jaye - Hasbro 2014

As much as I have been loving the Kre-O mini-figures over the past few years, a major bone of contention for me has been the hairpieces for the G.I.Joe ladies.  Scarlett's hair was a masculine looking bit of plastic that barely stayed on her head and Baroness's hair is ill-formed and keeps "squeezing together" to rise up off of her scalp.  The most recent travesty has been Lady Jaye: who just doesn't come with hair at all.  Instead she comes with her trademark cap that her vintage figure wore (despite the fact that any hat-wearing interpretations of Jaye have always had plenty of her signature brown wisps showing from underneath).  This Kreon version is just weak.  Way back when I reviewed Scarlett and Jinx, a reader mentioned that people have been using Lego parts to replace Scarlett's awful hairpiece.  Luckily I remembered this and immediately began searching for a good hairpiece for Lady Jaye.  It took a lot of research, but I think I hit the jackpot.  Check it out below and let me know what you think.

Kre-O Transformers Prime ARCEE!

Transformers Kre-O - Autobot Command Center Playset - Hasbro 2013

This little lady took quite a while to hunt down on eBay.  I've been seeing the super-expensive ($49.99) playset at Toys 'R Us since this past fall, but it seems like every set goes on sale except for this one.  The Autobot Command Center is themed after the Transformers: Prime continuity and includes 5 Kreons - most notable for me being the Prime Arcee in her cool blue design.  None of these Kreons appear to have transforming features - I guess that's why the Blind Bag figures are also labelled as "Micro-Changers" and these aren't.  It's no worry though because I personally feel that the vehicle modes for the Kreons are a little forced.  This Arcee is arguably the most feminine of all the femots we've seen in this line so far.  She has feminine lips, eyes, and chest design.  None of the others hit all three of those points.  (Although the G1 Arcee gets some girl-points for being all pink).  She's my new favorite Kreon for sure (at least until that cool looking Blackarachnia comes out).  Let's check Arcee out in detail below!

Kreon Micro-Changers SLIPSTRIKE!

Transformers Kre-O Mini-Figures - Series 4 - Slipstrike - Hasbro 2014

This little beauty totally snuck up on me.  Beyond the fact that I didn't know this figure was in stores, I had no idea this character even existed.  The Transformers of the Kre-O universe are actually considered different characters than the other properties.  Most of the time the difference is negligible.  But this time, there's a total name change that probably threw a lot of collectors off her scent.  Slipstrike is the Kreon version of Slipstream, who is a female clone of Starscream from Transformers: Animated.  Starscream made a lot of clones of himself, but it seems that Slipstream had the most staying power - making cameo appearances in video games and comics and even getting a Botcon exclusive toy (basically a repainted Starscream with lips).  I've been in a Transformers kick lately with the introduction of all these new fembots in the comics (and the new Windblade mini-series starting this coming Wednesday 4/16) so discovering this cool little lady was kismet.  Let's check Slipstrike out in detail below!

Kre-O G.I.Joe BARONESS!

Kre-O G.I.Joe Arashikage Dojo Playset  - Toys R' Us Exclusive - Hasbro 2013

There's nothing more disappointing than getting priced out of a hobby you love.  My female action figure hobby started with G.I.Joe characters.  As a kid, I was obsessed with all the amazing ladies on the show; Scarlett, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, Baroness, etc etc.  As a collecting adult, I assembled them all into my collection (even the uber-rare Glenda).  But in the past few years, there have been just too many convention exclusives, club exclusives, etc that have left me deflated.  I am many figures behind:  All three Jinx's, Daina, Night Force Lady Jaye, Ravage Baroness, Crimson Asp, and all the Club Exclusives -  Cover Girl, Jinx, & Quarrel.  They cost a fortune in the secondhand market and are just out of my league.  I pretty much gave up on the brand.  That is, until the Kre-O line was announced last year.  Finally some affordable Joes!  The Kreons aren't as charming as Legos or Mini-mates, but they are pretty cool.  I was also very glad to see a future Lady Jaye figure shown at ToyFair this year.  Now we just need Zarana and Cover Girl to round it out.  Let's check out Baroness below!

Kre-O Dungeons & Dragons - VANSI the Orc!

Dungeons & Dragons KRE-O - Kreon Warriors Collection 1 - Hasbro 2014

Kre-O keeps rolling out some pretty cool products.  I still haven't fully absorbed all the Transformers and G.I.Joe Kreon reveals from ToyFair last week.  Overall, I only have a handful of Kreons in my collection so far with a handful more on the horizon, but I see so much potential in the series. Dungeons & Dragons is the sixth Kre-O series and is off to a good start.  In TRU today, I saw several large building sets, the first series of blind bag army builders, and several "Kreon Warriors" packs like the figure I'm reviewing today.  D&D strikes me as a property with a huge pool of great characters to draw from.  There is an entire untapped fantasy world waiting to be made into plastic.  As far as I can tell, this character Vansi is the only female in the line so far.  I haven't taken a good look at all the building sets yet, but I'm pretty sure she's a loner for now.  Hopefully there will be more in the future.  I would love some elves, sorcerers, and barbarians.  I'll be keeping my eyes peeled.  In the meantime, let's take a closer look at Vansi!

Kreon Micro-Changers ARCEE!

Transformers Kre-O Mini-Figures - Series 2 - Arcee - Hasbro 2013

Hasbro has made me one happy camper with this little pink gem.  I've always been a big fan of classic fembots, and early Transformers females are some of my absolute favorites of the bunch.  Arcee is definitely the most-likely-to-be-made lady of the all the Transformers, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she is just the first of many  in this series.  (I think that including one Cybertronian female per wave is not asking too much!)  I'm hoping that we'll see Elita-One, Chromia, Firestar, Moonracer, and even Beta and Ariel.  These figures seem relatively easy to produce.  The line has been on the shelves for less than a year and already there are over 24 mini-figures out there.  They seem to sell out quickly so hopefully Hasbro will move forward with plans for future waves - just one of the many things I'm hoping to see revealed at SDCC in two weeks.  I've long ago given up hopes for official "normal scale" figures of these ladies, so these little mini-figs are my last hope.  Let's check out Arcee below!

Kre-O Blind Bag Collection G.I.JOE!

Scarlett & Jinx - Hasbro's G.I.Joe Kre-O - Kreon Figure Packs: Collection 1 - 2013

It seems like every company is trying to jump on the Lego bandwagon these days.  At this point, almost all my favorite properties can be found in block-figure form (still waiting on He-Man though...).  For the most part,  I'm loving this trend.  They don't take up much space, they're relatively cheap, they're quirky, and they come out on a more regular basis than larger-scale figures.  This G.I.Joe Kre-O line is still in its infancy and hopefully we'll see some improvements as time goes on.  Something about these Kreons just doesn't have the same personality as Legos, Mini-mates, Kubricks, or even MegaBloks.  The tapered cheeks are an interesting departure from the typical cylinder-shaped head, but I think the final result is that the heads end up looking too small for the bodies - which kind of goes against the classic winning formula of oversized noggins on block figures.  With the entire library of Hasbro properties as potential figures, the Kre-O line could be a major hit, and I certainly hope it does.  Let's check out these first two figure below.

Kreon Micro-Changers AIRACHNID!

TransFormers Kre-O Mini-Figure - Airachnid - Hasbro 2013

I love a good evil fembot.  Airachnid is a villain in the CGI animated Transformers: Prime series.  She's essentially a new iteration of Blackarachnia, but with a different personality and backstory - plus she has an additional vehicle form of a helicopter (in addition to her spider beast-mode and robot form).  Apparently the Airachnid in the Kreon Micro-Changers (Blind Packs Series 1) is intended to be a new character altogether.  This Airachnid is a Predacon with a spider mode.  I frankly don't see much of a difference besides the missing chopper form, but oh well.  Kreons are the Transformers of the Kre-O universe, which in turn are Hasbro's attempt at a competitive brand for Lego and Mega-Bloks.  This Airachnid figure is the first Kre-O figure I have bought (but not the last.. the GI Joe sets are on the horizon!) and I think it's pretty great.  For now, the blind packs have an easily-decipherable code so there's no true blind luck involved.  Hopefully we'll see an Arcee in the future waves.  Let's check out Airachnid!