Transformers Studio Series 86 Arcee review

Arcee refuses to go away in terms of merchandise for the Deluxe line-ups. In 2020, she was in Earthrise as well as Studio Series and Cyberverse, with the third entry being better than the other two. Now she's back and has one new mold that we'll get to and one retool that brings back the Thrilling 30 figure as we'll see for comparison sake. Now, I did like that T30 version, but I don't feel too comfortable with the Takara release due to it being a Japanese exclusive as well as its hands not being able to hold the weapons properly for some reason. So let's see how the SS86 version turned out.

Here is Arcee in her vehicle mode. It looks no different than what we've seen before in the other G1 offerings since it is practically a pink and white car from the year 2005. Their version of it, anyways. It's got the colors where they need to be, the interior, the curvature, and the windshield. There are gaps near each side of the vehicle, but the rest of it looks fairly decent.

As far as weapon storage is concerned, the only gun she comes with can store in the same spot it more or less had in the original toy, though now her hands can't grip onto it due to the altered transformation. It also doesn't stay on there too well, but at least the front wheels are pinned even if the back wheels aren't.

For a vehicle mode comparison, here we have Studio Series 86 Arcee in-between her Earthrise (left) and Thrilling 30 (right) counterparts, the latter being the Takara Legends version. I'm not sure which shade of pink is supposed to be accurate, though while I did kind of like the inclusion of robot parts on the T30 version for the vehicle mode, the other two are more accurate, with the SS86 one being the most accurate due to the proportions of the vehicle mode not looking like a soap bar as shown with the Earthrise version. And it also has that gray spot on the sides.

The dashboards are different from one another. The SS86 version is admittedly the worst of them all, but no one is able to scale with these anyhow.

The undercarriage between the three is also different with the T30 and SS86 having the same front region due to the torso being reused for the most part. Though the stomach is relocated elsewhere so as to streamline the robot mode. The legs are also repositioned this time around, as they now touch each other instead of being nearly parallel with the car. The arms are now from the center to now being within the front pylons. Earthrise just sucks.

Transformation is more or less similar to the Thrilling 30 version, with the main differences being kibble management now having the vehicle back section fit in much better with the rest of the backpack. The legs and most of the body are also retooled so that Arcee can have a streamlined body that is closer to the proportions of the character design. We'll get to a comparison in a bit. And her hands are 5mm compatible this time around, moreso than the original versions. And while her feet may look a little distracting at the ankles, those are modified for articulation reasons.

Head sculpt is the same as before, though without light-piping but at least the paint apps don't suck as I feared they would on recent releases. Her articulation consists of a ball-jointed head, shoulders on ball joints, bicep swivels, elbow bends, a waist swivel new to this release, hips that move front and back as well as in and out, swivels above the knees, knee bends, ankle hinges as well as pivots. Her sole gun can be placed on the hand and presumably on the shoulder pylons or hips.

For a robot mode comparison, here she is in-between the Earthrise and Thrilling 30 versions. Her proportions are much better than before, with the chest and thighs feeling much closer to the cartoon model while the backpack ends up being a little more streamlined. Her feet are also better this time around, thanks to not just the articulation but also the improved design they have. IDK what was going on with almost everything about the Earthrise release, but man does that thing suck compared to SS86. I mean, there is room for improvement for Arcee, but I think the retooling done on the T30 version is very appreciative.

Overall, this is probably the best we're going to get with G1 Arcee in the Generations line. I hope Hasbro leaves it there because this retool should be enough for fans that want a better done version of Thrilling 30 Arcee after the Earthrise version sucked. I'm sure you can remove some kibble on the back like PrimeVsPrime mentioned but I wouldn't recommend it. Shame she lost most of the weapons.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐