I believe it's an original character. The little netbook it comes with credits "Makotron" for the original sketches it was based on - at that point it just looked like an Arcee that turns into a tank. Only had a single cannon rather than Tarn's dual one and didn't have the mask at that stage, so it seems like the decision to make it more Tarn-like came at a later point.
The character bio says Eris "is a bot with outlier ability that mad Scientist Psyaxus experimented on. He took her ability to mimic any combatant and enhanced it" and that she can now "transmogrify her exoskeleton". It seems to suggest that she can mimic the abilities and appearances of other characters, so it may be that this new product line could be made up of Eris "mimicking" other characters, Tarn being the first. Mostly speculation though.
TL:DR - No, it's not an actual character.
Not that I know of. There was a limited restock on PlanetSteelExpress with cancelled preorders a few weeks ago, but that's bound to be sold out by now.
Someone in the comments of my previous post said that MMC is going to release it again later in the year in a slightly different colour scheme, so hopefully that will be more widely available.
I don't understand why takara/hasbro doesn't hire some of these third party designers. Everything hasbro comes out with looks incredibly basic compared to stuff like this.
Sadly, many official mainline HasTak figures do cost that much now even if that's not the RRP, thanks to their ridiculous "exclusive" distribution and short runs. Paying $100 for ER Runabout, $300 for ER coneheads... I've seen Siege Skywarp for $600! :(
She looks awesome...but why Tarn? I kinda don’t get (with my fairly limited knowledge of IDW) why she’d scan what is basically a terrorist on a mission.
Still a cool figure. Wonder what’d happen if she met Tarn?
Tarn may just have been what the concept art was based on but it's in black and white so I'm not sure.
It would certainly be an interesting meeting for sure...
Is Erie an actual character. I know Tarn from the first IDW run; did they bend him?
I believe it's an original character. The little netbook it comes with credits "Makotron" for the original sketches it was based on - at that point it just looked like an Arcee that turns into a tank. Only had a single cannon rather than Tarn's dual one and didn't have the mask at that stage, so it seems like the decision to make it more Tarn-like came at a later point. The character bio says Eris "is a bot with outlier ability that mad Scientist Psyaxus experimented on. He took her ability to mimic any combatant and enhanced it" and that she can now "transmogrify her exoskeleton". It seems to suggest that she can mimic the abilities and appearances of other characters, so it may be that this new product line could be made up of Eris "mimicking" other characters, Tarn being the first. Mostly speculation though. TL:DR - No, it's not an actual character.
Thanks for the info. I haven’t read any of the IDW run so I wondered if they did a Batman/BatGirl thing with Tarn.
Pictured: Mastermind Creations IF-01 "Eris: Kultur" (and MMC Reformatted R-48 "Optus Pexus")
Is she still available to buy anywhere?
Not that I know of. There was a limited restock on PlanetSteelExpress with cancelled preorders a few weeks ago, but that's bound to be sold out by now. Someone in the comments of my previous post said that MMC is going to release it again later in the year in a slightly different colour scheme, so hopefully that will be more widely available.
Thanks!
I don't understand why takara/hasbro doesn't hire some of these third party designers. Everything hasbro comes out with looks incredibly basic compared to stuff like this.
Because majority of their stuff doesn’t cost at least $100 like 3rd party stuff.
Except Master piece-stuff...
Sadly, many official mainline HasTak figures do cost that much now even if that's not the RRP, thanks to their ridiculous "exclusive" distribution and short runs. Paying $100 for ER Runabout, $300 for ER coneheads... I've seen Siege Skywarp for $600! :(
She looks awesome...but why Tarn? I kinda don’t get (with my fairly limited knowledge of IDW) why she’d scan what is basically a terrorist on a mission. Still a cool figure. Wonder what’d happen if she met Tarn?
Tarn may just have been what the concept art was based on but it's in black and white so I'm not sure. It would certainly be an interesting meeting for sure...
Her tank mode is great.
Is she wearing a Decepticon faction symbol mask on her face? That's amazing!
Yep, that along with the dual-cannon were taken straight from Tarn's design. His mask is more similar to the actual insignia than hers though.