Arcee's constantly getting attention throughout the 2020s, firstly in the form of one release in each main line that has a Deluxe (Studio Series, Earthrise, Cyberverse), each with varying degrees of quality. Then after just having reissues for two of the three figures, we get a return of form for two superior toys this time around. A while back, we went out of order with SS-86 Arcee, who was originally scheduled for 2023 before Hasbro decided to go back and push her release to July, and then this Arcee took a little longer to arrive (where is Sideways, Hasbro & Amazon?), so let's take a look at what may be my favorite addition to the line-up!
Here is Arcee in her robot mode. It's pretty much the G1 design with a Bayverse influence, given how the Beewun designs were meant to be as slavish as possible with a few "modern" tweaks here and there. The proportions are fairly thicc like the Thrilling 30 version of G1 Arcee, though this time they make for a more robust body frame that makes this version of Arcee feel less frail. In fact, she kind of feels more like she'd be as much of a good brawler as she would be a tactician. The back kibble is all on the back, but at least the figure doesn't have stability issues, nor does it take up too much of the vehicle mode. I can see how the side panels can work as a jetpack of sorts. And vehicle mode integration is present in the form of wheels, which are part of the heels. They don't make her slide around, and they are pretty cool references to the wheel designs we got from ROTF Sideswipe and Animated Blurr. Paint apps are minor here, mostly making room for the plastic colors used on the pink, gunmetal gray, and white, but they work alright.
The headsculpt does look pretty bad. The Bayverse look worked on character designs that were either made from scratch or were redesigns of existing designs like Optimus Prime in general or Jazz, and Arcee just feels like a creepier, elder teacher version of the G1 head. I'm also not a fan of how some of these characters have lightpiping and others don't. The SS line always had intricately painted and sculpted faces, so why half-ass it here? At least the pink is a lighter shade on the face, even if it makes here a little more organic-looking, but the antenna is there! Her articulation is par for the course with the line; ball-jointed head, shoulders that move front and back, in and out, bicep swivels, double-elbows, wrist hinges, waist swivel, hips that move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, knee bends, and ankle pivots. She comes with two generic pistols that do make her design a little more interesting, especially when she's got both of them at once. TFWiki said you can give one of them to Cliffjumper since he used the same blaster instead of the arm cannon Bumblebee got, but why do that when she looks cooler dual-wielding?! And by slightly adjusting the feet, you can flip them around and turn them into the wheels that she'd probably use to rollerblade around in Rise of the Beasts when we see this design get a makeover.
For a robot mode size comparison, she may seem taller than the other characters when viewed from this perspective. But she does have quite a sleeker look in comparison to the blocker Beewun designs, though some of that blame for BumbleJumper goes down to the kibble. She also helps break up the mostly red and white color scheme thanks to her addition of pink, much like how Brawn breaks it up with his green and Bumblebee with his yellow.
Transformation feels like a reverse version of the standard bikeformer conversion scheme. Usually, the upper body forms the front and the legs become the back. In this case, it's the reverse situation, with the legs becoming the front this time around while the upper body becomes the back. And new to the vehicle mode is a windshield that's practically there to make it look complete. If Thrilling 30 Chromia is Tron-esuqe, then this feels very reminiscent of the Batpod from The Dark Knight, especially with the front section.
For a vehicle mode comparison, she is definitely as unique as Brawn is if you ask me. The fact that she's a motorcycle instead of a car seems like a good way to show that Hasbro was at least a little more creative than the ILM guys were when making these half-baked designs have more of a purpose. Also funny how Optimus Prime is the only character to not have a Cybertronian mode, but I'd rather Hasbro just retool it for Rise of the Beasts instead of using the WFC game vehicle mode on a design that has no synergy with it. But if you were to choose one Transformer from this line-up apart from Optimus and the Cliffbee duo, Arcee is my choice.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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