It's amusing to me that the best looking fembot figure I've purchased in years is not a Transformer and is in no way tied to any nostalgia for me. These non-transforming Astrobots toys were unknown to me when I spotted them for preorder on BBTS earlier this year. The toy line is designed by Aaron Thomas and will be supported by a comic series in May written by Simon Furman, writer of the original Transformers comic series (and creator of Marvel's Death's Head) with art by Heavy Metal artist Hector Trunnec. My first impression was that this Athenia figure had a fantastic face sculpt and a color palette reminiscent of one of my favorite Autobots, Moonracer. I also appreciated the non-sexualized body sculpt. A lot of recent 3rd party fembots tend to have exaggerated feminine features that lead me to believe their sole purpose is titillation. But while these figures are unmistakably feminine, I don't perceive any objectification. I can't wait for the other fembot, Artimis, to be released. Let's check out Athenia below!
Here is a blurb from promotional material for this figure:
"Venus class Astrobot units are tasked with the rehabilitation of comatose human colonists upon arrival at distant space outposts. However, something has gone wrong and unit 617, called Athenia, must make a choice. Will her intuition force her to take up arms and fight for the future of mankind?"
Athenia come with two distinct faceplates. They are both great and I may be tempted to buy a second figure.
If you're curious about the mechanism that attaches the different faceplates, here she is faceless.
Athenia comes with a ton of hands, a back-mounted halo piece, and a small figure stand.
The figure stand clips on the back of her heel and provides a lot of stability. Very smart design.
If this piece were made of clear plastic it would be perfect.
And here is a solicit pic showing four AstroBots figures. From Left to Right: Argus, Artimis, Athenia, and Apollo. (Additional figures include Vulkan, Prototype Apollo, and a drone 2-Pack of Wasp and Tarantula).
While preparing for this post, I discovered this solicit pic that shows the two arcs of her halo removed and being wielded as weapons. I didn't realize they could do that.
Time for some Comparison Pics!
Here is Athenia alongside the War for Cybertron Elita-One and Power of the Primes Moonracer.
Cheers!
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