General Information: Images:
*Images and text from Hasbrotoyshop.com: Get ready to roll out with this AUTOBOT ally! This detailed CHROMIA figure unleashes a launching missile and shows off her spinning gears in robot mode before converting to a sleek motorcycle in vehicle mode where her figure stand becomes snap-on cycle cannons! The battle is on and this warrior is ready—are you
Vehicle Mode:
As with many other Transformers designs based on real life vehicles, there are some differences. Chromia's side panels and engine design are roughly based on the B King, but not totally accurate representations. Her side panels have vents in the front with two raised segments in the back. The real life B King's panels are a bit more smooth. The engine design on Chromia has a panel that angles downward connected to a section with a large amount of technical detail, the real life Suzuki B King has a more horizontal engine design, though both share the feature of having a large circle on the sides of the engine. There is a special effort put into the movie designs to add a lot of realistic detail since these are supposed to represent vehicles you could see on the street driving around. In Chromia's case, there is detail aplenty. My favorites are her engine details and the details on the sides of the wheels. The engines have all sort of intricate details including tubes and six sided cog like shapes. The wheels have the aforementioned panels with circles representing holes as well as tubes and chains. Chromia is cast in black, blue and grey plastic. Blue and grey are significant since both are colors that appeared on G1 Chromia (albeit in different shades). These three colors are a classic combination of course, so they look great together. Paint applications are done up in silver, blue and white. The paint is used rather sparingly since the main plastic colors already provide some nice coloring. Silver is used for enhancing parts incuding the exhaust pipes and the circular panels around the wheels. It is also used for an Autobot symbol on the seat. Blue is used to break up some of the monotony of the black on the wheels and sides. The white is used for Cybertronian symbols found on the sides, front and rear of the vehicle. All together these colors work very well, paying homage to G1 Chromia while being distinctive. Chromia rolls on both her wheels quite well, and a kickstand can be found on the left side to allow the vehicle to stand on its own. Chromia includes an accessory that you can utilize in vehicle mode. This stand is a single molded piece of plastic with treads sculpted on the bottom and two cannons. The right side cannon resembles a gatling gun while the left looks more like an energy weapon. The back has two angled, raised sections that clip onto the wheel base on the back, giving her some added firepower in vehicle mode, and presumable, more traction. The stand does not have any wheels or anything, so I recommend using it more as a stand than dragging it along the ground (unless you don't mind scratches all over it). I was particularly happy about this accessory since "Revenge of the Fallen" has been a series of figures that has gone noticably light on accessories (even missiles). What's great is that this piece also plays a role in the robot mode. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Robot Mode: I've had a few friends comlain that this form is rather dull and odd looking all at once. For me, it is neither. As I look at Chromia, I can't help but be reminded of the mythological creature Medusa as she was portrayed in "Clash of the Titans". I'm sure this association is coincidental, but with most of the bulk of the robot form in the upper body with a rather snake like "tail" from the waist down, she looks almost like she would be right at home in a technological version of that cheesy (but fun) 80's movie. Add to that her primary weapon, the large missile launcher that makes up most of her left arm. With the exhaust pipes sticking out at angles, the missile launcher almost looks like a futuristic crossbow, reminscent of the bow and arrow weapon Medusa used in that movie. This is an odd association to be sure, and I'm probably the only Transformers fan to have made it, but it helps me appreciate the aesthetics of this figure and look beyond her just having one wheel. Other than looking like an 80's movie monster, Chromia does have some very cool details. Her head is very intriciately sculpted, with a very pointed "helmet" section and a face that looks almost bird-like, complete with a pointed nose and chin that gives her the appearance of having a beak. The way some of the lines on her helmet sweep backward, she almost looks like she has metallic feathers on the sides, a design reminscent of Beast Wars' Airazor. Since her robot arms are the only other newly revealed robot parts, they carry a bulk of the details. The right arm has details ranging from rows of horizontal lines to circles to rectangles, some sculpted in as line detail and others as raised portions of detail on the arms. Her hand has three claw fingers, drawing the analogy to a bird even further. Her left arm is basically a gigantic missile launcher, with the details from her shoulder to the elbow mirroring those on her right arm. The rest of the arm is made up of the back portion of the motorcycle, now looking more like a missile launcher with two extra cannons flanking it. It's definitely a weapon that looks like it means business! Another detail I like a lot is the way the side panels with the engine details on them wind up on her forearms, sort of like small shields. All the same plastic colors from the vehicle mode carry over here, but light silver plastic takes a role in both her arms and the hinge that connects part of the upper body with the lower body. Silver, black and light blue paint are used mostly on the head, where they make up the face, details on the helmet and eye colors respectively. You'll find black paint on her chest as well, right where the silver hinge connects at the top. The colors are rather simple, but truth be told she doesn't need much more color. All I would have added are perhaps some spray ops to give her a more "gritty" look, but that's about it. Chromia has eleven points of articulation in this mode. Not surprisingly, most of that articulation is in the arms. I'm also counting the hinge her uni-wheel is on as well. You can launch the clear missile on her left arm weapon by pressing the trigger on the outside of the forearm.
Final Thoughts:
 |
|||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|
Chromia is a name that was first introduced into the Transformers universe in the original animated series. The original Chromia was one of the rare "female Autobots", a sub-group of near extinct Autobots who had remained on Cybertron to fight against the Decepticons when the Autobots led by Optimus Prime left in the Ark. the name really did not appear again until years later when it was used for the Botcon 2005 "Descent into Evil" set, where the character was given a new body that transformed into a motorcycle, based on the 
