I may be biased, but I think Arcee had the most interesting redesign in Transformers: Prime. All the other characters were stylized in a standard way (which I love), but Arcee went further by changing colors, face shape, and vehicle mode. She essentially a new character with a classic recognizable name. I've always really appreciated it though. Something about a pink Transformer seemed unrealistic. I personally haven't seen a pink vehicle in years, so blue was a much more natural color. The Transformers Legacy series is intended unite different eras of Transformers media under a common design aesthetic. The tall and lanky Prime designs are made more blocky and squat to blend in with less stylized iterations of the franchise. I love the concept - and I instantly start imagining Rescue Bots characters like Quickshadow or Whirl in this style - I would love that. This Arcee reimagining is great. Her face is a perfect blend of Prime and G1 design. (The quality of the figure is another story). Let's check her out below!
My first reaction upon taking Arcee out of the packaging isn't good. She feels really cheap and flimsy. Occasionally I've picked up a Cyberverse figure and noted that the plastic was different and the overall feel was clunky. This Arcee feels worse than that. It's hard to put into words exactly, but quality-wise, I feel she is a huge step backwards from the recent Earthrise, Kingdom, and War for Cybertron figures. This is a major bummer because there are potentially a ton of great fembots coming out this year (Elita One, Override, Burnout, Minerva, and Antagony), and now I fear they will all illicit this reaction from me.
She does display very nicely though. The headsculpt is fantastic and the bright colors really pop (although it seems the large blue areas could benefit from a little paint deco... looks more plasticy than metal robotics).
Arcee has two weapons/accessories that are kind of repurposed kibble.
They both play a role in her vehicle mode and each have a transforming feature of their own.
The blue transparent disc can be held as a weapon or split in half and mounted on her forearms.
The front wheel can hinge apart and become some sort of dual-rotor weapon.
Her vehicle is well designed and is easy to transform.
Overall I think she look great on display and I'm glad to have her in my collection, but the plastic quality and flimsy feel is disappointing. Curious to hear from anyone who agrees or thinks I'm overreacting.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here are all my Prime Arcees together. From Left to Right: Robots in Disguise, Kre-O, First Edition, PVC Cake Topper, Legacy, R.E.D., Cyberverse, and Beast Hunters.
Cheers!
Great review. As someone who just got their Legacy Arcee figure I have to say I am a little disappointed. It does feel a little like they decided to save money on her, and decided no one would notice since female transformers don't sell as well to young kids, and the older ones tend to leave her in box.
ReplyDeleteHasbro is really screwing the pooch with this "open" packaging with no plastic window... Already found TWO of her wheels and her blue discs on the floor of the toy aisles. Poor kids... hope their parents returned them... HASBRO... ruining childhood memories of getting a shiny, new toy. V___V
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