So I did my normal check at the local Wally World for any new TFs, and among the piles of E-Ironhide and Alt Smokescreen sit two Nemesis Strikas. I passed this mold up during the BM era mostly due to the the Easter Sunday color scheme, but this one looks a little better at least, so I decided to grab her. Sounded dirty, didnt it?

 

Strika still has some of that pinkish-lavender and a new mauveish-copper, but this time around she's got a lot of mustard yellow, this color is at least half of the color used in vehicle mode. And they kept the weathering effects this time around too. Weathering is something I like seeing on this type of vehicle, a crisp shiny tank just looks a little wierd to me. I like the look of the front cab, its got some black with silver smears as if the paint has partially worn off due to age. On the rear quarter pannels, she's got these diagonal caution stripes much like you'd see on a construction vehicle, which look partially worn off and weather beaten. The look is pretty cool.

 

If youre not familiar with the mold, Strika is some kind of Cybertronian 6x6 armored assault vehicle. The reciprocating cannons mounted to the rear are a nice touch, just push the spark crystal a few times and the cannons alternate back and forth in a pom-pom action. The one thing about this mold that looks wierd is the shape of the wheels and tires. The wheels used are large diameter with long skinny spokes and real low profile tires. The tires are wide, but from a side view, the wheels look like something you'd expect to see on an old west steam locomotive. In fact from this view the whole thing looks a lot like that steam powered tank used in the movie Wild Wild West, mostly due to those wheels.

 

Strika's robot mode looks like nothing feminine you've ever seen. In fact the only thing that would suggest this is a female robot is the use of the pastel colors, but even that is pretty subtle. She has a massive upper body, the front fenders form her arms, and the shape of these is a little wierd. Her forearms actually sit outside of her upper arms due to the shape of her elbows. Her hands are fairly large looking for a female, and the mold is something different as well. Her fingers seem to extend all the way to her elbows, separated only by a band that marks where her wrist would be. Her front wheels become her feet, attached to long spindly legs that use a form of kickstand to keep her standing. At first I thought of removing these to clean up the look, but the rear 1/3 of the vehicle forms a bulky backpack housing the moving cannons which rest over her shoulders and the rearmost wheels swivel down to look like rocket thrusters. This thing makes her backheavy, so Im glad I didnt remove those kickstands, or she'd never stand up straight. And finally on to the head mold. Again this looks nothing like any female you've ever seen. Her face isn't quite the innocent girl next door look or even the creepy-yet-kinda hot look of BM Blackarachnia. She's got a slightly insectoid looking face with some sort of battle mask that has a vent over her mouth and two projections to the side looking something like the cartriges on a gas mask. The shape of her head looks a lot like one of the aliens from Independence Day, her face is sort of elongated with the top of her head flaring out in a kind of delta shape, the top of which has some exposed circuitry type sculpting on it. In a word, this chick is UG-LEEE! But if you think a female robot with a tank alt mode was going to be some delicate little flower of a bot, think again a couple times.

 

Overall, this is a pretty good toy, one of the better Universe releases. If you like something different, this is it. Definitely worth $10.

The one thing about this mold that looks wierd is the shape of the wheels and tires.

Her wheels always reminded me of those on the Mars Rovers.

 

Her hands are fairly large looking for a female

 

She has "man hands"! (reference to an old Seinfeld episode)

Great review man :) One question, I've heard that the Decepticon symbol on her chest is in fact a sticker, is it?

Awsome review, I picked that toy version up at a walmart last weekend, or the weekend before, I cant remember. But I was impressed with both versions, the BM one allows a little more room for a a female inturpretation due to the colors, but the Universe one gives her a more ruff and tumble take no crap, if you dont shut up I am going to turn this car around type.

 

She is the Soccer Mom of the Transformers and damnit if she aint a b@#$%.

 

But the over all look of the toy and the color scheme make this one worth picking up, especially since it DOESNT come with any minicons. A real selling point for me. I have enough of those little bots lying around as it is.

Great review man :) One question, I've heard that the Decepticon symbol on her chest is in fact a sticker, is it?

 

Yep, it is a sticker.

 

Trench, no soup for you! :thumb

 

And Im with you on that, too Duff. I got a bunch of those nasty little things myself. Some are cool, but once you get past 10 or so of them, it gets pretty redundant.

 

But soccer mom of TFs? Nah. I know...she's.....JANET RENO!!!!!!!!