Ariel Paradron Type

Ariel Paradron Type Tech Specs

Ariel Paradron Type Toy Information

Ariel Paradron Type Parts List

Ariel Paradron Type Review

-Submitted by: Demaar

For whatever reason they may have, Hasbro and Takara seem to be down on the female Transformer characters. So when I heard Toy's dream project was going to release a limited recolour of Super Link's female motorcyclist Ariel, I jumped right away.

Packaging
Paradron Medic's packaging is almost identicle to Ariel's. The main differences are: the name is in Japanese only, the model number has a gold foil sticker over it saying EX-02, there's a small "Toy's dream project" sticker on the front of the bubble and yet another gold foil sticker on the back with her model number and rank (in stars). Though I would have preferred recoloured packaging and a unique card (TDP's red Powerlinx Thrust had one), I'm glad they at least made as many changes as they had.

Vehicle mode

Paradron Medic's vehicle mode is identicle to Ariel's in every way, as this is a straight recolour, rather than a remold. Where Ariel had translucent red plastic, Paradron Medic has a dark green, about as dark as the energon weapons you receive with the Command Jaguar figure that is also from the Super Link product line. Her missile has also changed from grey to black, as well as the forks for her wheels and her knee joints. Replacing the bright pink on the back of Ariel's seat is a lime green colour, which is also used on the bike stand in place of dark red. While this might sound garish, it's not nearly as bad as the pink used on Ariel, and matches up with the rest of her colours quite well. Replacing black and red on the front of the seat just behind the Energon star and the black on the fuel tank is a dark teal colour, learning more toward blue than green. This colour is also used to add details to the rims on the wheels, something which Ariel lacked. Finally, replacing the metallic blue on the fuel tank is silver.

The play value for Paradron Medic remains virtually identicle to Ariel's, there doesn't appear to be any signs of mold errors or degradation. Overall, the colour scheme seems more suitable for a highspeed motorcycle than the pink used on the original toy.

Robot mode
In robot mode, Paradron Medic's colours are changed in much the same way the vehicle mode's were. First, there's the lime green on her head, wrists and ankles; then the teal on her thighs, chest and wheel rims. Finally, there's the silver on her thighs in the "V" shape pattern that was blue on Ariel. It may not sound like much, but it's a dramatic change. While Ariel's colours seemed firey and feminine, Paradron Medics are more subdued and sombre. Again, I feel this colouring better suits this mold, mainly because they're "cooler" colours, which suits the cool figure, the figure has (pun intended).

Conclusion

With so few female toys out there in the Transformer franchise, I would have probably put a positive spin on this review regardless. Thankfully, this is a recolour that definitely deserves the praise it's receiving. The colours take the mold to the limits of cool the original couldn't hope to attain, and then some. While the lime green wasn't the best choice, I feel it was still better than salmon pink, so even the downpoint of the figure is an improvement.
I managed to score mine for thirteen US dollars, if you're fortunate enough to find it for under twenty, I say jump for it. On the usual scale of "Lame" to "Awesome", I give Paradron Medic an "Awesome". Not perfect, but damn near close.
Please keep in mind that the shots below don't depict the teal as it actually is, it's more green than that.

Additional Ariel Paradron Type Resources