Iron Factory - WING GUARD!

3rd Party Transformers - IF EX-27G Wing Guard - Seeker Trio - Iron Factory 2023

It's amazing to think that it's been six long years since the last (non-bishoujo) female Iron Factory release. Back in 2015-2018, it was these cool little fembots that first got me into the 3rd Party Transformers market. They were relatively inexpensive, very well made, tiny, and just a little bit cute. (Not so cute to be considered "cutesy" though). I got hooked pretty fast and had hopes that I would see all my favorite characters in this line. Once we got a great Elita One, I thought for sure Chromia and the rest would be coming. But no, the last new lady was 2018's Shrike's Feather (Slipstream) and then fast forward to 2023 when that Slipstream mold was reused in this awesome 3-Pack of female Seekers. I know Slipstream is considered a female Starscream, but seeing an actual properly-colored female Starscream is very cool. (This concept should totally carry over into the mainstream Transformers). I hope to see many more females in this line after the hiatus. Finger crossed! Let's check out the Wing Guard trio below!

Iron Factory - NIGHT ASSASSIN!

3rd Party Transformers - IF EX-16N Night Assassin (Nightbird) - Iron Factory 2016

I'm a little sad that this is the last of my Iron Factory mini fembots to review. From 2015 to 2018 there was steady flow of these little beauties. I got them all with the exception of some variants but I waited until very recently to finally open and photograph them all. They are 3" tall and very well articulated with fun anime-esque faces and great sculpts all-around. I'm very impressed with the quality and aesthetic. I don't know for sure that there won't be any more, but there's usually a ton of advance knowledge with 3rd Party Figures (often years) and I haven't heard a peep about anything new. The character selection was proving to be so interesting too. Windblade was the darling of the moment and Arcee was the classic. But then we got Elita-1, Slipstream, and Nightbird, which were very unexpected and exciting. Nightbird was a mysterious military ninja robot from the G1 Transformers cartoon - who coincidentally has been getting a lot of merchandise in the past decade. Let's check out Night Assassin below!

Iron Factory - WINDSABER!

3rd Party Transformers - IF EX-05 Windsaber (Windblade) - Iron Factory 2015

Windsaber was the first of Iron Factory's 3rd Party 3" fembots back in 2015. At the time, I wasn't familiar with the world of 3rd Party collecting and the price really threw me off. She was around $25 at a time when similarly-scaled Hasbro figures were only $5. I just didn't understand the appeal. But now that I'm a fully-indoctrinated fan, I can assure you that the sculpt, paint, plastic quality, packaging, and engineering is almost always top notch. The price is still an obstacle, but I can always budget for my must-haves. And coincidentally, my interest in 3rd Party figures has revved up my purchasing of official Hasbro and Takaratomy products more than ever before. A rising tide floats all boats as they say, and fan-made collectibles help raise my interest in fembots across the board. An interesting fact about this Windsaber figure is that, although unofficial, she is the second Windblade figure ever released. And considering how prolific she in the toy aisles these days, that's very impressive. Let's check her out below!

Iron Factory - SHRIKE'S FEATHER!

3rd Party Transformers - IF EX-27 Shrikes Feather (Slipstream) Iron Factory 2018

One of my favorite genres of character is female gender-swaps of existing male characters. My obsession with all the bat-ladies and spider-ladies are a prime example if this. But I've been getting really into Transformers in the past few years and this gender-swapping is almost unheard of in this universe. The biggest example, however, is Slipstream. Slipstream is a female clone of Starscream introduced in the Transformers: Animated series. In that storyline, Starscream had made a number of clones of himself, but Slipstream really stood out. Not only was she the token female, but she was wicked and funny. Each clone had unique traits: cowardly, prideful, obsequious, etc. Most of these traits resulted in comic buffoonery, but Slipstream seemed like a genuine villain. She became really popular and has since appeared in comics, videogames, and other animated Transformers franchises. Plus she's gotten a lot of toys! Let's check out this 3" Iron Factory Slipstream homage, Shrike's Feather!

Iron Factory - ALLERIA!

3rd Party Transformers - IF EX-16A Alleria (Elita One) - Iron Factory 2017

One of my favorite discoveries of the past few years was the 3rd Party company Iron Factory's line of tiny and adorable 3" fembots. And the absolute best discovery within that line was this Alleria figure. She is a fantastic homage to the G1 Transformer Elita One, but she was a sneaky release. Iron Factory only made her available as a bonus figure included with preorders of IF EX-14 Ultimate Commander (an Optimus Prime homage... that was twice as tall as her). I don't know what her actual production run was, but it must be fairly small. She is a simple repaint of the Pink Assassin (Arcee) figure with a newly sculpted head, but she is honestly one of the best Elita One figures ever released. I've had this figure for a while, but I only recently opened her in anticipation of the upcoming War For Cybertron Elita figure that should finally be released in the next month or so. I'm very excited that the original female Autobot has finally been getting some long overdue plastic representation. Let's check out Alleria below!

Iron Factory - PINK ASSASSIN!

3rd Party Transformers - IF EX-16 Pink Assassin (Arcee) - Iron Factory 2016

Iron Factory was really on to something special when they started this 3-inch line of fembots. Between 2015 and 2018 they released seven amazing figures. Granted, there are several repaints and several simple retools, but the overall effect is a nice little troop of pocket-sized female Transformers. I only wish they would release more. Chromia, FireStar, and Moonracer would make a perfect three-pack. The tricky thing is that two previous releases (the Elita-1 and Dark Arcee homages) were surprise pack-ins with larger figures. So this makes me jump with excitement for every single Iron Factory solicitation. But with no new fembots in the last two years, I fear the line may be done. I've owned several of these ladies for years, but I only started opening them recently. I'm excited to review them one-by-one. The scale, articulation, sculpt, and paint apps are top notch. And the anime-inspired faces might seem cheesy on a larger figure, but with these it's downright adorable.  Let's check out Pink Assassin below!