FIRST LOOK: Transformers Combiner Hunters (SDCC Exclusive)

Arcee, Chromia, and Windblade join the Combiner Wars in Hasbro’s Comic Con exclusive triple-pack.

Whether it’s my love of building things, nostalgia for the Devastator I treasured as a kid, or just because I’m sort of obsessed with giant robots… this year’s Transformers theme, Combiner Wars, is really doing it for me.  The Generations figures released by Hasbro this year all fall under the Combiner Wars banner, and that includes this year’s Comic Con exclusives.  The Decepticons get a special edition of the all-new Devastator, with vac metal parts and an authentic G1 deco.  Not to be outdone, the Autobots also get an exclusive release to combat the giant– the Combiner Hunters.

The concept of this set is pretty cool– the Hunters are an all female team of Transformers packing some big, badass weapons that they can use to dismantle enemy Combiners, knocking them down to size.  The team is composed of an all-star squad of Autobots mainstays, including Arcee, Chromia and Windblade, all with eye catching new decos and the aforementioned giant weapons (a twin-headed staff for Windblade, Sword for Chromia and Saw Blade for Arcee).

Each figure in this set is a repaint of their respective Generations release, so if you’ve been collecting the modern era Transformers, there’s no huge surprise with any of these ladies.  Each features a solid range of articulation, and relatively basic transformations, clocking in at about 12 steps each.  I can’t tell which new colorway is the coolest… each is pretty awesome, to be honest.  I love the black and hot pink for Arcee, and it matches perfectly with her imposing, Cloud Strife-esque blade.  But Windblade’s gold and crimson pallet works wonderfully with her silver face and blue crest, giving her a distinctly samurai look.  The metallic blue and silver on Chromia works quite well, and her cycle mode looks even better, especially due to the high contrast of the translucent red windshield.

In story, I like the concept behind the Combiner Hunters.  Narratively, it makes a lot of sense that since not every Transformer can combine, there would still be roles for singular bots in this combat.  What I really love is that– even if yes, they’re robots– we’re getting a fully female box set, and a welcome influx of female characters to the Combiner Wars collection.  Would I have liked to see some more unique tooling, other than the Hunter weapons?  Sure.  But the new decos on these figures count for a lot, and this set certainly opens up a cool new avenue for this latest Transformers saga.

The Combiner Hunters set is a San Diego Comic Con exclusive, and will be for sale at the Hasbro booth.  A limited supply will also be available after Comic Con on HasbroToyShop.com.  If you’re getting into the Combiner Wars too, this set is a great addition to the collection.  Thanks to Hasbro for giving us the chance to review this awesome exclusive!