2022 was a pretty crazy year for 3rd Party fembots. My count may be off, but I think there were around 16 new figures in twelve short months. I personally purchased ten and had a lot of difficulty choosing which variants to buy. NewAge Toys created this fantastic Arcee mold (named Maschinenmensch) and promptly announced five additional releases using the same general buck. The name Maschinenmensch is German for 'robot' or 'machine man.' I'm familiar with this word because it is often tied to the robot Maria from the 1929 German film Metropolis, which to the best of my knowledge is the first representation of a female robot in popular culture. So giving this name to an Arcee homage seems very appropriate, even if it's a mouthful. The NewAge mold is very impressive and has great proportions. Legs and arms in particular tend to look off at this 1:18 scale, but you could easily convince me that this was a deluxe or masterpiece sculpt. Let's check out Warrior Maschinemensch below!
One weird piece of kibble that Maschinenmench has is the small tail fin from her car mode that just sticks out of the side of her right wing. I had to watch YouTube tutorials to see if I was somehow missing a step in the transformation. But it seems like this is an intentional piece of kibble.
In profile, the position of her chest to neck is a little bulky and awkward. It almost seems like the chest piece should click backwards a few millimeters and her neck should be positioned a little farther forward. Other than this small thing though, the proportions of this mold are perfect.
Maschinenmensch comes with two sets of alternate hands, three guns, and a second faceplate with visor down.
Here are the six variations of the Maschinenmensch mold. It should be noted that the Nightbird, Solus Prime, and Elita-1 figures are heavily retooled with new heads, torsos, pelvises, and shoulders.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here are the two 2022 3rd Party 1:18 Arcees side-by-side.
On the left is Maschinenmesch from NewAge and on the Right is Amie from Dr. Wu/Mechanic.
And here are my three NewAge ladies (so far) together: Prime Sif, Maschinenmensch, and Commander Christine.
And a collection of my 1:18 Arcees. From Left to Right: Trumpeter Movie Kit, Super7 ReAction, NewAge Maschinenmensch, Dr. Wu Amie, DX9 Toys Leah, and Iron Factory Pink Assassin.
Cheers!
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