TransFormers Collectors' Club 2017/Generations Lifeline

(Femme-Bot Friday #41)

With Fun Publications' loss of the TransFormers Collectors' Club license at the end of 2016, the fifth and final year of their Subscription Service hit the kinds of delays that members hadn't seen since the first couple of years, back in 2005-6. This didn't really bother me a great deal, as there was only one figure that interested me in the whole set - the almost inevitable green repaint of Generations/Legends Arcee as a Paradron medic, seen briefly in the G1 cartoon - so I hadn't subscribed. It's often a huge risk to not grab a Club exclusive at the earliest opportunity as their prices tend to skyrocket very quickly... but, given the cost of year five of the Subscription Service, it was a gamble I was willing to take.

Of course, the other gamble is, will the figure actually be worth even the first, very slightly inflated secondary market price?

Mastermind Creations Reformatted: R-08Z Zinnia (Parapax Medic)

(Femme-Bot Friday #37)

You'd think, by now, I'd be well and truly bored of Masterminds Creations' femme-bot mold or, at least, being rather more choosy about which ones I pick up now that I have both exclusive versions and the adaptation into the female Prime. In truth, I probably should be, but there's something compelling about this mold, and I really did want the Paradron Medic version, not least because the 'missing' backpack components/fenders were included with Salvia Prominon.

Of course, buying things second hand on eBay always comes with risks, so I'm sure you're all itching to know what went wrong with this one.

Superlink (Toy's Dream Project) Ariel Paradron Type

(Femme-Bot Friday #3)

Energon/Superlink is where it all started to change, both for motorcycle TransFormers generally and for femme-bots. Arcee/Ariel was a well designed character with an excellent toy for her diminutive size class. While Hasbro didn't get round to repainting this model until the live action movie toyline started recycling figures from older continuities, Takara - via Toys Dream Project - released a repaint inspired by the Paradron Medic who made a brief appearance in the G1 cartoon series.