Bot Reviews: Transformers: Studio Series Deluxe Elita-1

It’s kind of weird how the Studio Series is chronically bad at actually getting the cast of each big new movie out onto shelves around the time of the actual movie’s release. Case and point, Transformers One came out in 2024, and only now, over a year later, are we seeing the release of the film’s leading lady, Elita-1. I’d call it gender bias, were it not for the fact that the rest of the cast is also still being delivered at a slow trickle. I’m definitely frowning at how she only had one singular other gimmick toy in the Transformers One mainline, though. 

Okay, despite my grousing, I actually don’t mind the slow, gradual release of the cast like this, because it gives me the time and money to slowly collect them. Plus, coming out later like this means the designers aren’t just working with concept art, as seemed to be the case with Studio Series Transformers One Optimus and Megatron (check the reviews). So, with all that in mind, here’s a belated look at the movie’s Token Girl Character. Okay, maybe that’s a bit mean to her. She got lots of good action beats, and fun lines. 

Robot Mode

Elita’s a lanky robot, all arms and legs attached to a smaller torso. It’s a design choice I’m fond of, making her read as a lady without being too exaggeratedly feminine. They could retool her into a lanky guy, if they wanted.

One benefit of this figure coming out so far after the movie is that she gets to be pretty screen-accurate, compared to Optimus and Megatron. The only real differences in her design are a “frame” around her torso, for the sake of the transformation, and a pair of huge altmode panels on her forearms, which, I guess, had to go somewhere. Okay, they’re really big eyesores, and get in the way of her crossing her arms normally. Maybe the big spikes they give her elbows are to keep annoying people away. 

Other than that, though, she’s nicely screen-accurate, and it was a good design to begin with, though that “other” is a big one.

Uptop, her headsculpt fits in nicely with Optimus and Megatron, in that it manages to thread the needle, and make me not automatically read it as being in the movie’s specific art style. That means I can pretty much pair her with any mainline Transformers, as an all-purpose Elita-1.

Elita’s got a pleasant shade of purply-pink as her main color, supported by bits of light gray, dark gray, and black plastic. She’s got hits of silver paint, and blue eyes on top of that. Not only does she look good on her own merits, but they actually seem to have hit basically every bit of color that her actual movie design had, which I was not expecting from a mainline Studio Series release, so, kudos to them for that.

Sounds good so far, right? But then, we get to the build quality, which immediately gave me a bad impression out of the box, because her shoulder joints just love to pop off when you move them a little too enthusiastically.

Similarly, one of her heel spurs keeps coming out on my copy, despite my best attempts to secure it. Meanwhile, the front plate of her upper torso is supposed to plug into the folded half-wheels inside of that torso on some tabs, but said tabs are way too loose. The torso itself stays in place on friction, but move or pose her, and it’s going to start flipping out of place.

Plus, just generally, her joints tend to feel like a combination of too loose and too tight, like none of the fits are quite correct. 

That said, I do think I’ve managed to get the figure “broken in” as time goes by. That, or I’ve gotten used to the trouble spots. The arms don’t pop off now, I can keep the torso in place, and it’s been awhile since the heel spur went flying. But still, it’s not a great set of problems to have, and it makes her not feel as good in your hands as, say, a modern Legacy or Age of the Primes figure. 

Her articulation, at least, is really good. She’s got ankle tilts, and the rare double-knee joint, thanks to the transformation.

Above that, she’s got universal hips with swivels for the thighs, a swivel waist, and old-fashioned ball joints for the elbows, shoulders and head. So, she’s a bit crummy to handle, but at least she poses well. 

Elita’s first accessory is a big, curved gun, of the sort the Death Trackers (a.k.a definitely-not-Vehicons) used in the movie, included with her because of how many times the heroes would steal and use them themselves.

It’s cast in gray, has some dark gray paint, and oddly, a handle with a joint that lets it raise and lower very slightly, for no obvious reason, since it tends to bump a figure’s arms because of its shape. Since this was a mass-produced generic weapon in-universe, it feels designed to be shared with the other Studio Series TFOne guys. 

Her other accessory’s a jetpack that you can stick onto her back, based on the flight packs that she and her fellow miners would wear in the film’s first act.

Now, I don’t think anyone actually used one after they got their cogged forms (I’ll need to give it a rewatch), but it’s still a good thing to include here. 

It’s a shame it’s really hard to actually tab the thing onto her back. I think the holes are either sized a bit wrong, or the details on her back bump the backpack. Either way, I get it on there by unfolding the panels on her back, and squeezing them together with my fingers. At least it stays on once it’s in there.

The really impressive thing about the jetpack, though, is that it’s also designed to be shared with Studio Series Transformers One Optimus and Megatron (and B-127, whom I don’t have).

It’s impressive, because the jet pack has a bunch of different bespoke tabs on it, specifically designed to fit on Op and Megs’s backs. In fact, I wonder how far back they were planning this functionality, as I can’t find any other obvious use for the slots sculpted into the two faction leaders, and it fits better on them than it does on Elita. 

Lastly, Elita lacks any 5-millimeter ports on her at all, which is a shame. She’s got two circular ports on her shoulders, which are smaller than 5 millimeters, but you can stash her weapon on either of them, through a small tab on its side. 

Transformation

I found this transformation tough and complicated the first time, but got used to it really fast. I think it mostly had to do with the instructions being unclear, though. This is one of those transformations where paying attention to tabs and the slots they go in helps you, because they’ll point you to where every part needs to go. That said, I still have trouble remembering what way to fold her robot knees to get them into altmode position, which means it’s time to take a photo for my own reference!

But other than that, this is easier than I was expecting, easier than that first conversion would suggest.

Vehicle Mode

Something I found out while researching for this review is that you basically never get a clear view of Elita’s bike mode in Transformers One. There’s an entire action scene based around it, where she drives through a building to catch Airachnid, but the bike’s always got motion blur making it fuzzy.

I had to consult a trading card to get a good look!

I was so determined to check movie references specifically because Elita’s Cybertronian bike mode felt *off* to me. But what I figured out is that, technically, nearly all the details are here, like the two split wheels in the back, the fins on the sides, and so forth, with only the jet boosters on the back of the bike missing from the plastic version. It’s just the proportions that are way off. The bike seen (blurrily) in the film is a narrow, lengthy thing. This vehicle is wider, and stumpier. Elita’s Robot Battlers figure did a better job of getting the shape of this mode right, but that was a tiny gimmick toy with an inaccurate shellformer of a robot mode. I guess it comes down to the needs of engineering the toy in physical space, but still, it’s no Bumblebee Movie Arcee Bike Mode.

For colors, there’s a lot more of the pink and purple, and a lot more silver paint, with the grays fading into the background, and the black wheels a little more prominent, but it’s otherwise the same.

To this form’s credit, it also holds together and feels a lot more solid than the robot mode.

The only loose bits are the two shins on either side of the front wheel, they don’t like to stay tabbed in, but they also don’t have anywhere to go, so it’s not a big deal. The bike doesn’t have a kickstand or anything for stability, but the whole vehicle has enough of a footprint that it can stay up while only slightly leaning to the side. 

For features, first of all, the bike rolls well, if nothing else. Next up, you can attach the jetpack to the back of the bike, and the gun to either side of it.

Technically, the jetpack isn’t accurate to the film, the actual back of the bike is, but honestly, the whole thing looks better with the pack back there, so I tend to leave it on. Meanwhile, depending on how you’ve got the weapon stashed, you can turn it around for a made-up attack mode. 

Overall

If only her build quality was better, Elita would be great. That’s the only really big issue here. And, to be fair, it’s an important one. There’s entire Transformers that are favorites of mine just because they feel satisfying to pose and handle, so her not having this feeling’s a big red flag. It’s not MLDX Rodimus bad, she’s just noticeably a downgrade from the highs of Age of the Primes and Legacy. Well, that and her bike mode being unflatteringly inaccurate, but that feels like a necessary sacrifice. 

Apart from all that, she looks like the movie character, she comes with a bunch of clever accessories, she’s got a good transformation, she hits all the other “good Transformer” high marks. If she was more fun to handle, she’d be aces. 

So, I guess I’ll leave it at this: If you’re not specifically collecting the Transformers One cast, or other Elita-Ones, or something similar, I’d call her a skip. But if you want the lady from the movie, this is a good representation in most ways. Just be prepared to keep your eyes on that heel spur, so you don’t lose it when it falls to the ground. 

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