Arcee
[Deluxe] (Movie)
Another character that
was originally going to be in the Movie but was scrapped, Arcee's design
was instead kept and made into a toy to expand the toyline because... why
not? The more the merrier! In vehicle mode, Arcee keeps her Energon
version's alternate mode of a motorcycle. It's a pretty good vehicle
mode, too-- the proportions are pretty much spot-on, with only one particularly
visible robot extra-- the robot claws on the back end are rather obvious,
but that's it. The color scheme of black and violet with some bronze accents
looks nice, and gives Arcee a "feminine" feel in this mode without going
overboard and making her "girly girl pink pink PINK" like her G1 form.
(The sleek look of the motorcycle, especially the front, helps this look
as well). She also has a flip-down kickstand, so that she doesn't fall
over too easily in this mode. A few nice touches are also apparent in this
mode, as well-- her license plate says "7407", the date the movie was originally
going to be released (July 4th, 2007-- 7/4/07), and on the side of this
mode "RC 1100" is stamped on-- presumably meant to be the kind of motorcycle
model, but a nod to her name as well. The mold detailing is fair in this
mode, not being too detailed because of her sleek look, but she's got a
lot of paint apps to really break up the violet and black so she doesn't
look too bland in any one area.
Arcee borrows more from
her Energon incarnation than just the vehicle mode-- the transformation
is also pretty similar, with a few extra steps added to justify the deluxe
size of the toy so she wasn't too simplistic. In robot mode, Arcee looks
fairly nice for the most part, with a few features such as her aforementioned
coloring high-heeled boots helping to establish her as a femme, despite
her Movie-esque alien appearance. The proportions are decent, but still
off a little-- her arms are a bit too skinny and her legs too long. Also,
her front motorcycle windshield and wheel hanging off of her butt doesn't
look all that great, as it's visible from any angle except for a straight-on
view. I'm also not fond at all with her face design-- I'm okay with most
of the head designs from the movie line, but having her forehead represent
an asymmetrical '80s-style punk "comb-over" just looks weird, not to mention
tacky. The wheels on her shoulders, while plainly just kibble, still complement
the look of the mode in my opinion and add some much-needed mass to her
arms. (An alternate look for this mode, based on some concept art of Arcee,
is to fold the wheels onto her chest, but that just looks really, really
tacky, not to mention it severely restricts arm movement, so don't bother
with it.) The detailing on his robot mode parts is extremely well-done,
with little mechanical pistions and wires prevalent everywhere, especially
on the body and upper legs which have an especially eye-pleasing combination
of colors. Her articulation is also fairly good-- she can move at the neck
(at two places), the shoulders (at two places), the elbows, the wrists,
the hips, the knees (two points), and at the ankles. She doesn't have any
sideways knee movement, though that's her only really noticeable restriction
regarding this. Arcee's gimmick is that the back end of her motorcycle
becomes a spring-loaded missile launcher in this mode, with the gun strapping
onto the back of her lower arm rather than fitting in her tiny claws. When
you insert the missile into the launcher, the sides of the launcher fold
out to reveal that it's a crossbow-- a really nice automorph gimmick, there.
However, the missile fires WAY too easily, which is obviously pretty annoying.
Movie deluxe Arcee is
about average as far as the main movie line goes-- not quite perfect, but
not suffering from any debilitating flaws, either. Her proportion problems
with her legs and arms in her robot mode and the fact that her missile
fires far too easily are her main problems. Mildly recommended-- it's always
nice to see classic Transformers characters updated with the movie look,
and Arcee here is no different.
Review by Beastbot
*In addition to the normal release, a "Battle-damaged" version of Arcee, with some "worn metal" paint apps and some "charred, worn paint" applications, was available as a Sam's Club Exclusive packaged with Starscream and a Battle-Damaged Prime, or alone as an Online store exclusive.