The Nemesis getting any representation in merch seemed nearly impossible to imagine, especially when the Ark was honored more often than not. Hell, the series finale of Beast Wars brought more importance to the show than the original cartoon! It did take Hasbro long enough, but surely, we would finally reach the point where the Nemesis would finally get a toy of its own. I liked how the Ark was not a needless playset but was instead meant to be a Titan Class figure that would make a nice centerpiece for any Autobot display. And of course, the same could be said for the Decepticons' flagship now that the Nemesis is here. Let's give this big momma the review spotlight!
The Nemesis comes disassembled out of the packaging, with the side fins and the bottom fin, as well as the stabilizers on the front and a tower that will go on the front of the vehicle. The four Seeker Jets and the six cannons (three of two designs included each) are on a sprue tree, a rarity for Transformers toys in the mainline.
Here we have the Nemesis in flagship mode. This ship design is much more abstract than the half-oval shape of the Ark, from the narrow main body to the addition of wings as well as fins that go on the top and the bottom of the vehicle, making for quite the contrast to what we normally see with spaceships in fiction, making this almost feel somewhat shark-like when you think about it. The bottom one can be split in half if you want to display the ship on a shelf. A whole lot of surface detailing is present throughout this thing, much like the Ark from Kingdom, giving this a satisfying level of appreciation that is put into a Titan Class figure like this. From the guns to the bridge, everything about the Nemesis feels like an accomplishment when it comes to bringing this underutilized design to life. One annoyance is that the figure doesn't always stay solidly in place in the middle region between the vertical fin and the tower. The plastic mismatching between the different shades of purple is another sign that it's also going through the same issue that the Ark went through from production. All over the body of the Decepticon flagship are some 3mm nubs meant for blast effect pieces, which can also be added on the cannons in the front section. The bottom vertical fin can be sandwiched back in place if you don't want it to be flat, though the reason why it's split is so it can be in a more natural orientation for display purposes. It's not entirely purple either, as a few strips of lavendar here and there as well as clear red bits and some gunmetal gray break up the mostly solid color. No atmosphere-entry scorches are included since this probably didn't land on Earth the same way the Ark did.
When the bottom fin is split in half, you can pull out a ramp for minifigures to enter, though it probably won't be the best way to store them if the transformation is anything to go by. And much like the Ark, you have some Allspark blue for the thrusters. The ramp has A.I.R. Lock compatibility.
The sides of the ship feature ramps that feature unpainted Seeker jets that can peg on securely, with this one featuring Coneheads Ramjet and Thrust while another has Thundercracker and Cybertronian Skywarp, seen here modeled after the Siege toy while the package had him look like the third party Prankstor figure for some reason. Why Skywarp is in his Cybertronian form while everyone else isn't is probably because he was revived in Legacy Season 2 if Netflix was going to make that show a thing.
If you really want to, removing most of the accessories (specifically, the cannons and tower) while folding the fins away makes for a passing resemblance to the Victory. Probably because the Decepticons would rather make a whole ass ship rather than find the Nemesis properly.
For a size comparison, here is the Nemesis net to the Ark, representing the signature trait of when the two giant ships clashed each other space while blasting each other. The Autobots trying to find energy resources while the Decepticons aimed to destroy them. It's cool seeing these signature ships turned bases (well, moreso in the Autobots' case) be immortalized as giant toys that are fairly accessible.
Transformation is similar to that of the Nemesis, but done with tricks of its own to make her stand out more from her Autobot counterpart. Firstly, the fins swivel around and either wrap onto the legs if we are to account them as shin guards or go on the back as a pair of wings. The arms also transform in a way that's more panel-based, especially with those pieces near the biceps that jut out. The torso transforms a bit similarly, but with the head hinging in place rather than the backpiece that would cover it. The resulting robot mode is a major contrast to the Ark's bulkier robot design. She is much lankier by ccomparison, no doubt thanks to the spiky shoulders, thin torso and arms, and how skinny her thighs are compared to how huge her lower legs are in comparison. She feels very much like TFP Soundwave mixed with Tarn and a bit of Airachnid. The only knocks against it would have to be how the more hollowed out sides of the shins and the wings look, though the shins are more noticeable than the wings are, actually. The kibble on the biceps can be an eyesore since they don't fold anywhere else. So be careful when posing her. Beyond that, I like how the chest bulks up a bit by shifting the panels as well as how claw-like the hands are by comparison to the Ark's more heroic digits.
Head sculpt is appropriately fitting to the Decepticon theme, with the shape of it being reminiscent of how Tarn wore the faction as a mask moreso than Soundwave's head did with resembling it. This figure has some red lightpiping underneath, and you can pretend the DEcepticon insignia can be a battle mask by shifting the forehead crown down and the cheek guards closer to the face. It's apparently meant to also resemble the coronation crown of Starscream, which is not bad comedy in this case. Her articulation consists of a neck hinge for looking up and down, a swivel built into the head for tilting side to side, and another swivel for the head to turn side to side. The shoulders move front and back, though because of how the shoulders are shaped, they move in and out far below where the shoulders actually are and instead swing out laterally where they'd bump into those pamnels. The elbows bend a two points, the wrists swivel somewhat due to the plastic they bump into, the fingers articulate in the same fused pose while the thumb can hinge. Waist swivel is heavy while the hips can move front and back, in and out, swivel at the thighs, bend at the knees, and the feet can swivel, pivot, and hinge upwards for more foot articulation than the Ark had.
The ramps are also accessible in robot mode, and much easier this time around thanks to the sliders having dedicated nubs for pushing them out of the arms. I bet this would be the accurate scale between the Nemesis and the Seekers if we saw her transform in the cartoon.
The two stabilizers are removable so you can have them be held as axesm which is nothing that spectacular since they look more like mini flags, but hey, maybe they might destroy some small towns.
Alternatively, the shins can be made into cannons simply by removing them and flipping out both handles and barrels for her to hold. It's neat how the hands are able to have dedicated slots for both the little hatchets and the guns, but calling this her Evo-Fusion gimmick proves how dumb of an idea it was. I liked the WFC Trilogy's use of Weaponizers, Modulators, and Fossilizers since they felt more creative than the Evo Fusion or the Energon weapons that felt nowhere near as cool as the actual weapons from Energon. I feel her claws would do enough damage.
For a robot mode size comparison, here she is next to the Ark, showcasing her to be a little taller, much spikier, and a whole lot more creative than the Ark when it comes to design, since she is a huge contrast to the bulkier trend we see on Titans. That being said, I feel the Ark felt more thought out when it came to his articulation placement and the kibble management. That and I like the little Mainframe partner he comes with, adding a bit of play value between the Ark as the bridge of the ship for those atomfigures to interact with (a la the Galvatron and Hot Rod ones that came with Unicron) and a Teletraan-1 for the normal-sized figures to stand around and look for Decepticon intel. Nemesis doesn't really have anything of the sort. In fact. the Legacy Titans have no mini partner of sorts for them to interact with despite that being the trend for a majority of the Titans (basically anyone that isn't Combiner Wars Devastator and Power of the Primes Predaking since they aren't baseformers). While I'm annoyed that Drill Bit didn't come with Cybertron Metroplex, I don't know who would really come with the Nemesis given how her design is made.
Do these faults put her down compared to the Ark? Yes. Do I still love the figure? Also yes. In fact, the moment this was announced, it dawned on me that my shelf was going to have these two standing next to each other. Not just because of their status as the flagship forms of transport for both the Autobots and the Decepticons, but also due to the head-canon I came up with: These two would have ended the war if they chose to get married. In fact, I would love to see a story where the Ark and the Nemesis had enough of the Great War and grew to love each other, forcing the smaller Transformers that man them both to attend their wedding. It'd be one way for Optimus Prime and Megatron to bury the hatchet! Overall, the Nemesis has her own share of problems, but I can't refuse to commend Hasbro for thinking outside the box once again as they have with the Ark. It'd be one thing to retool her from the Ark and slap some pieces on and say "DONE" because of how much attention got put into this big momma. It's the fact taht we get a transforming version of the Decepticon flagship that turns into a very different design from the Ark and is also a giant fembot that makes love at first sight for these two, and what makes Transformers one of the best franchises of all time. I hope you can get her because she is harder to obtain in most sites (hell her Amazon listing has her sold out by Hasbro proper), so you might as well get her on Hasbro Pulse. They offer free-shipping on orders $75 and more nowadays so you can't go wrong with her!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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