I finally got my Paradron Medics set this past Thursday, followed up by the Autobot Alliance set on Friday!
It was worth the wait for me. Ironhide and Ratchet look great in their Earth robot modes, and mostly good in vehicle mode. The back end of the van is a total mess, but things look good from all other angles. I don't even really mind the "window" issue on the side panels. I just imagine it's a slider that is blocking half the window to keep the glare of the sun out, or it's providing security or privacy for what or whoever is in the back compartment.
Earthrise Ironhide and Ratchet are BEEFY Deluxe Class figures, and the roof/riot shield idea works well. You could almost say that the sub-theme to Earthrise is having a shield component from the vehicle to use in robot mode, much like the secondary gimmick of Siege was battle damage paint apps. This is in contrast to the advertised gimmick of these two lines, which are the A.I.R. Lock System for Earthrise and the C.O.M.B.A.T. System for Siege.
With Prowl now, I finally have the Earthrise Autobot Datsuns altogether. Funny story: when I opened up the box, I took out Prowl first, and his head immediately split apart, reminding me that I wanted to swap his head for the Siege Prowl figure's anyway! I was able to pop off Siege Prowl's head with just a little bit of force, though I had a tough time at first, as I was trying to very carefully split the head apart along the seem the way the Earthrise head had come apart right out of the package. Prowl looks great now with his unique head sculpt. Unfortunately, my Siege Prowl figure broke. The clear plastic piece around the pin that connects the hood and upper body assembly to the legs and torso broke. It literally just came apart in my hand. I didn't think I was putting any undo pressure on it. The figure is still entirely transformable, but it's now a "partsformer."
It's nice to have some Paradron Medics to army build with the new Lifeline figure, but a second run with a new paint job hasn't really corrected any of the issues with the Earthrise Arcee mold. WilliamJames, what do you think of Earthrise Arcee, now that you bought one on deep discount?