So hey, here's something I've been searching for for about a month. Surprisingly, unlike the next one I'll get, I DIDN'T have to resort to asking someone to send me one. No, Prime toys are now in full swing in my area, so if I need any I know I can find them eventually.
So yeah. Let's look at the best Autobot in this show.
Arcee's a female character that's been around since the 80s but her toys are few and far between. She was at her best with Animated with a toy that was as close to the G1 car design as it's ever been, but as her limited collection of toys and third-party incarnations tell us... she works so much better as a motorcycle. And since Prime's designs lean towards
the movies, this one is no exception.
Arcee is one of the characters who got a release in the short-lived Toys R Us exclusive First Edition series, with an entirely different toy designed by another design team at Hasbro. I don't have one for comparison, all I can say from comparison is that this one looks SO much more accurate but has a couple things it's a little bit better at. You'll see once I start addressing flaws with this one.
Now then, I took many pictures for this because there's so many things I like about this figure. So let's kick aft.
So yeah, motorcycle! Definitely borrowing from her red counterpart in Revenge Of The Fallen, but... not making the same design faux pas that poor, poor toy had to deal with. That unfortunate non-combiner is a story for another day, though.
Whenever I get a Transformers motorcycle I have to see how well it works with figures of the 3 3/4" scale. And in this case... she's small. Small enough to still work, however. But I'm finding that it takes a bit of luck to get them to look good due to how the seat area is shaped. One figure I couldn't really get to sit on her because his legs kept popping off. So that sucks.
Robot mode is really gorgeous, capturing the show design almost perfectly. Paint-wise, the blue is actually a nice vibrant blue with a very subtle glittery effect if you look closely at it. It's seriously just a few silver and silver-y pink paint apps away from being 100% show accurate.
Articulation is almost entirely unhindered due to the sleek design. Balljoints all around, only shy of a waist joint and better leg clearance (these legs are admittedly wide in the back.) Even the wrists have balljoints which you can probably make use of if you be creative with the forearm position. Lastly, a nice swivel at the top of the thigh, something I like seeing.
The figure also has an automorph that I must address because it's awesome. So, when you're transforming her and moving the pelvis into place, the head rises up. It's subtle, doesn't affect the proportions of the toy for sake of gimmick, doesn't break because you didn't notice it, and overall just WORKS. This is how you do automorph.
But I've spoken enough about the pros of this figure. Let's look at the cons for a sec...
Right. So. To make this figure so sleek... lot of stuff went to the back. A LOOOT of stuff. And as a result she has a backpack that's a couple inches out there. The shoulder wings are also twice as large than they should be. It's really hard to say this is not that bad, it's a definite flaw. Since you'd probably have her facing forward most of the time you won't see it, but it's still a bummer, though.
Going back to the mention of First Edition Arcee... with all the inaccuracy and lack of proper paint it had, it seemed to have less kibble than this. I don't think it's a major problem though, I've been able to deal with it. Just... keep her facing forward if you can.
Despite all this kibble I've yet to have her fall over due to poor balance. Her legs, with how wide they are, provide enough stability to keep her feet firmly on the ground. A plus with the design of those legs.
So for weapons, she comes with a huge gun not featured in the show! Plus an arm blade which plugs onto the bottom as well as on her arms. This gun may or may not be modeled after a weapon arm she had at some point, though she certainly wasn't carrying around this giant thing.
So, here's another flaw. She comes with an arm blade.
An arm blade. Not two like she has in the show. First Edition had a pair of them. However, I will point out now, there's two little pegs on both her legs, which match the ones her First Edition counterpart has. I've read this is for storing First Edition's blades, so perhaps they put that there for those who owned the original figure and want to put the blades here. Maybe? Anyway, the blade she comes with ain't bad, I'm sure you can think of some one-handed poses to work with.
So hey, is she worth it? If you're like me and seeing eBay prices for First Edition that are higher than you'd be willing to pay for a Deluxe, she's a nice alternative. The back kibble can be a bit of an eyesore at the wrong angle but I think she has more good going for her than bad. Oddly, she's in human scale with other Transformers bikes, so if you're into Arcee-on-Arcee action...
Anyway! Got more robot-y goodness coming as a familiar faceless fiend finds its way from the far reaches of the UK. Not enough Fs here. Anyway. See ya~
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