Our next in-hand Transformers toy gallery is the Robots in Disguise Strongarm! This latest female character to join the franchise is a police SUV and has a fairly boxy design which is refreshing, and it recalls the design of the 1980s Gobot character, Smallfoot, as much as anything.
Strongarm’s toy is pretty decent. While she lacks a few paint applications to be spot on to the show, particularly on the chest and head, she’s got decent articulation including a waist swivel, and she also feels like she’s a big, chunky toy. Granted for some this might play up how much she’s being aimed at the younger end of the Transformer buying public, but it feels like you’re at least getting a slightly more substantial toy. Plus, a bonus that is damning of the rest of the Warriors, there does not feel like there is anything on Strongarm that might wear down or break easily.
Overall, she’s a decent toy, and more female Transformers are always going to be welcome. Check out her gallery and see for yourself:
Robots in Disguise Strongarm gallery
Maximus Alpha
Even then, Strongarm's design in the show is pretty feminine. She's about on par with Elita-1's G1 character model and definitely isn't as blocky as this toy makes her out to be.
FruitBuyer
All excellent points. Apparently some people can't accept females unless they have the bodies of a supermodel.
femmebotfangirl
Yes she does.
Strongarm's body type is a very welcome thing, and she isn't completely lacking in feminine cues either, her eyes and lipstick/lip shape are all quite feminine and that's enough as far as I'm concerned. Fingers crossed we get five 'bots like her for the Combiner if the female option wins.
There is no reason to assume sh was a last minute change either, we knew about her the same time as we knew about any other characters and she has always been female since she was announced.
Chaos Muffin
Good call.
NektannNeighty4
Indeed. Female Transformers have too few body-types compared to males. It's nice that Strongarm doesn't fall into the stereotypes of being curvy or light.
Buford
For anyone saying that Strongarm is too bulky to be a female bot, have a look at Shale from Dragon Age, who also happens to be female:
Tman978
Does she come with that gun?
mcart
So they felt Strong-armed into making one of the characters female at the last minute?
ok joking aside, yes, promoting a strong female character in a predominately male line is a sign of progress. I would have preferred a few visual cues to the gender but as others have said, we all come in all shapes and sizes from feminine men to masculine women, why shouldn't our toys and cartoon characters?
Ash from Carolina
I'm going to have to disagree about Hasbro putting a gun to our collective heads and forcing female characters on fans. So often GI Joe and Star Wars fans have had to complain and complain and down right badger Hasbro into making figures of the female characters in the shows or movies. Even in the Marvel lines it's often slim picking when it comes to even prominent female characters in the Marvel Universe.
To get a female character without having to force Hasbro is a refreshing change. Just a gender change can bring about a good deal of character so while big strong male characters are a dime a dozen a big strong female character is something like a Valkyrie.
Plus it's robots so what exactly makes something a male robot and something a female robot? Transformers Prime Soundwave was thin but that didn't make the character female. It can't be limited to just color choices can it? I'm just not seeing the design rules that would say this robot can only be male and this robot can only be female, well except for well endowed Blenderbot and Devastator from the live action movies but that's a different topic.
Gingerchris
I kinda like the figure. I will agree with Split though that it's a little bland, especially in alt mode where it looks kinda cheap and knock-offy in my opinion, what with all the plain white plastic and the chunks of blue paint. The alt mode of the One-Step seems a little crisper to me. White is one of those colours that can suffer on a figure if the molding isn't interesting or detailed enough.
Strongarm seems to be the shelfwarmer around my neck of the woods. My Argos always has several of her when I do a view, and another store here has like ten of her on the shelf but only a couple of each of the others from this wave. What was the case assortment for this?
I'm assuming 'Strongarm' is a reference to the term 'long arm of the law', although I have seen a few examples where 'long' is switched out with 'strong'. Also, 'strong-arming' someone means coercing them by force, which Police have to do on occasion.
I've also seen the term 'strong arm' used as meaning to slap someone hard.
Strongarm keep citing regulations has gotten very tiresome very quickly though, but I suppose that happens with any eager by-the-book rookie character regardless of gender.
Toolverine
Mix in a little Officer Anne Lewis from Robocop but as a rookie.
Chaos Muffin
Almost feels like they got the Stongarm idea from Brienne (game of thrones)
Who pulls the giant woman warrior thing off rather well.
Toolverine
Why can't females be masculine?
Toolverine
That's exactly what they did with Ripley from the Alien movie. And now she's an icon because she wasn't made just to be the typical boring and sexually objectified woman role. Strongarm is perfect. More female characters like this instead of lipstick and hands on hips Arcee types. Please.
cirrusstratus1
I guess that's your hang-up because I can easily say the same about your opinion(s). But anyway, since I don't care for the entire RID line, I'll be the bigger man and not comment further in this thread.
Triceradon
Sure, you expressed an opinion. But just because its an opinion doesn't mean its a good one, or one that ought to be shielded against criticism.
And I don't know what Arcee's hips have to do with this. But since you brought it up, I'm not the biggest fan of them myself.
femmebotfangirl
Strongarm, the name, DOES sound masculine, and that's the beauty of it. We have a fembot with a strong sounding name who doesn't look stereo-typically feminine but who isn't a stereotypical 'Strong Female Character (as envisioned by men)' in her behaviour either. It's just a shame she's also the token fembot.
cirrusstratus1
Wow. Some of you are extrapolating way too much. I expressed an opinion about Strongarm, a toy, not with females in general. If you're a female that likes to arm wrestle, play football, etc., then that's your business. I really and truly don't care. Where were you all when people were complaining about/making fun of IDW's Arcee's big hips?
cirrusstratus1
I wouldn't care if you felt dissed or not. Strongarm sounds pretty masculine to ME. But It's just MY opinion.
Triceradon
(1) Well, you've got the problem right there.
We've got, what, around 15 prominent females in all of Transformers fiction? Arcee (and derivatives), Chromia, Elita 1, Blackarachnia (and derivatives), Airazor, Strika, Botanica, Thunderblast, Override, Slipstream, Airrachnid, and now Windblade and Nautica. Goodness knows I love Windblade and Nautica on both a design level and on a character level, but with the exceptions of Strika and Override, all of them are designed in some way on a stereotypically female frame, boobies and all (and Override's a dude in Japan!). There's nothing wrong with a feminine design on its own merits, of course, but when that's all there is…..
Thinking more on it, the majority of those characters had at least a plurality of their screen time to being either a clear sex object, or as a romantic "attachment" for someone else. Elita 1 for Prime, Chromia for Ironhide, Arcee for Rodimus/Springer in G1 and Ratchet in Animated, Airazor for Tigatron, BW Blackarachnia for Silverbolt and Animated Blackarachnia for Prime, Strika for Obsidian in BW and Lugnut in Animated, and Thunderblast for Megatron. Thats not a good thing.
This is the second female character on screen without an obvious female figure, the second to be without an obvious male love interest/foil, and the first to be both. And I think it's a sad indicator of their emotional maturity that such a vocal portion of the fandom (at least on this site) is shitting their drawers over that.
(2) We did. Its called Strongarm, its in Wave 1 of PRID, and its an OK little truck that turns into an OK little robot. Speaking personally, I might pick it up if I see it on sale, but I'm skipping on the PRID line.
(3) What makes a "female personality" might I ask? Simpering, lusty-eyed sexpot? Doe-eyed damsel? How is "by the book cop" an inherently masculine personality? Hell, how is anything an any-gendered personality?
"Yeah, well you're DUMB".