Arcee
(Prime)
Arcee's "regular" Prime
deluxe toy again is remarkably on-model in vehicle mode when compared to
how she looks in the show, combining the Prime aesthetic of curved areas
and areas of little detail with sharp edges and occasional bits of very
intricate mold detailing (such as on her tires and even on some "dials"
in between her handlebars). She has her dark blue/black color scheme quite
prevalent in this mode, with bits of silver (particularly on the lower
half) helping to give a bit more contrast to her form. The transparent
plastic used for her windshield is a bit bland, though, and doesn't contrast
with her blue as much as I would like. The windshield/headlight bit itself
is a bit more proportional and show-accurate when compared to the First
Edition version of the toy, though, so there's that. The blue itself
is a noticeably lighter and paler shade than the blue on her First Edition
toy, though it does retain a semi-metallic look to it, so by itself it
still LOOKS nice. This helps in terms of lightening up Arcee's color scheme
a bit and adding a bit more contrast between the blue and the black, and
it's slightly more show-accurate, though I wish it were a tad less pale.
Her robot mode extras are also visible in much the same places on this
version when compared to her First Edition toy-- the bits of her upper
legs/hips can still be seen somewhat easily in the main body of the vehicle,
along with her black toes, with the arms poking out a bit from the back
end of those blue panels on the sides that help to cover up parts of these
robot bits. Her weapons are also partially different-- as opposed to two
of the arm-blade accessories that her First Edition version had, this version
has only one (relatively smaller) arm-blade accessory, along with a quite
large and long gun. They can be used separately, or put together to form
a bayonet-type weapon. You mount her weapons on the sides of her front
tire, which is admittedly a bit of a weird storage place-- I much preferred
the arm-blade storage on the First Edition toy. However, she DOES have
pegs on the sides of the vehicle mode and the right-sized holes in her
robot lower arms that if you want to store her First Edition blades on
this toy, you can-- in both modes. (WHY you would want to do this if you
have the First Edition toy with its own accessories and this toy with its
own accessories is a legitimate question, but hey, you CAN.) Some small
additional notes-- yes, she does have a kickstand on her left side in this
mode, and her front wheel can rotate right-left.
Arcee's transformation
to robot mode follows the same general, simple steps as her First Edition
version, though her windshield simply folds behind her back instead of
splitting in half to become her chest (her chest detailing is entirely
fake on this version), and the wheels that fold behind her legs split down
the middle instead of into two semi-circular halves of a wheel. Her side
panels also fold out to become "bat-wing-like" pieces behind her arms as
opposed to simply staying on her upper shoulders, as well. All of these
differences I don't find positive. For one, having her windshield and her
bike side-panels behind her back contributes to her already substantial
(and non-show-accurate) backpack, and is a bit bulky looking for someone
who's supposed to have a rather slender figure. Also, having circular wheel
sections behind her lower legs instead of half-wheels means that they stick
out behind her lower legs more, and just don't look as good. Plus, I thought
it was a nice little touch, having her windshield halves fold down to become
her breastplate; having it just be detailing just isn't as good of an engineering
touch. Her paint detailing is still decent in this mode, covering all the
parts it needs to, such as the detailing on her legs, her face, and her
abdomen, along with a bit on her arms. However, in direct contrast to her
show model, there's no silvery-pink in this mode; all of those accents
are now simply silver, which makes her color scheme a little less interesting,
never mind the show accuracy point. (Her face sculpt is still spot-on,
though, and the light piping in her eyes works wonderfully.) For articulation,
Arcee can move at the shoulders, knees, wrists, hips, and knees; most of
these are ball joints, so she ends up with pretty much the same range of
movement as her First Edition version. (And yes, her ball joints in her
arms ARE strong enough to hold up her large gun without any issue.)
The Prime deluxe "Robots
in Disguise" take on Arcee does a few things better than the "First Edition"
version- namely, the vehicle proportions are slightly better (particularly
in the front), her smaller size is a bit more accurate in comparison to
her fellow main Autobots, the blue's a bit more accurate, and she has some
ranged weaponry. However, unless those are particularly big bulletin points
for you, I'd try to get the First Edition version over this one-- it's
larger overall, has a slightly more intuitive transformation/smaller robot
backpack, and better accessories.
Review by Beastbot