The Energon Pub

[Munkky]

I always liked the Thrilling 30 Arcee mould, there are days when I regret selling it on Ebay, so it's nice to see the mould back and with some improvements. Granted, I'm a bit sad that she doesn't have her monster thighs any more, but the vehicle mode is a step-up from the original and I'm happy she has ankle joints. I'll see if I can get this, but I get the feeling she'll sell out fast.
I've never cared that much about Sideways, I'm semi-tempted to get him for my Multiverse display and pretend he's the dimension-hopping Unicron Trilogy Sideways in case we never get one in Legacy, but we'll see. That Bumblebee is surprisingly impressive too, that's one I will try to get, and maybe swap out my First Movie 08 Camaro Bumblebee for it.

[Immortal Starscream]

I always liked the Thrilling 30 Arcee mould, there are days when I regret selling it on Ebay, so it's nice to see the mould back and with some improvements. Granted, I'm a bit sad that she doesn't have her monster thighs any more, but the vehicle mode is a step-up from the original and I'm happy she has ankle joints. I'll see if I can get this, but I get the feeling she'll sell out fast.
I've never cared that much about Sideways, I'm semi-tempted to get him for my Multiverse display and pretend he's the dimension-hopping Unicron Trilogy Sideways in case we never get one in Legacy, but we'll see. That Bumblebee is surprisingly impressive too, that's one I will try to get, and maybe swap out my First Movie 08 Camaro Bumblebee for it.

I still have my t30 Arcee from the movie anniversary boxed set, which is similar to the release. In a way, it makes sense for them to return to it. the MP arcee is essentially an upscaled more involved version. Even the popular over-sexualized third party Nicee on is based off it's design.

[Till-all-R1]

Oy vey, yet another Arcee so soon I mean how many is that within just the last few years? Is she one that needs to constantly be out on shelves year after year despite having a previous version still readily available? This will make three Arcee figures available at the exact same time since ER and Kingdom still have stock at several online shops.

I like Arcee but that's overkill IMO meanwhile where is a Sunstreaker reissue instead of swimming in Arcee figures? That said the figure does look nice and a bit sleeker than ER/Kingdom but I already have ER version so I'm sticking with that.

[chuckdawg1999]

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I think they should've done a new mold or just released the Earthrise version with some better paint. Yes, the Earthrise version has a bland transformation. Yes, the backpack is an abomination, but that can be removed and you have a very, VERY, accurate robot mode. If I remember correctly the T30 version required the black gun to hold the arms in place, had just as big of a shell, and the hands were prone to breaking due to the thinness of the plastic in them. I'll wait to get this in hand since lately in hand has been WAY better than pictures but I'm not holding out hope.

[william-james88]

Oy vey, yet another Arcee so soon I mean how many is that within just the last few years?

4

This is the 4th deluxe G1 styled Arcee released in a Generations line sporting a "distinct" mold.

We had one in Thrilling 30, Titans Return, Earthrise (Kingdom rerelease) and now SS86.

But I like it, it means Hasbro sees Arcee as one of the main characters of the franchise now, always wanting one on the shelves be it either G1 or some other version (like Cyberverse or Prime).

Arcee is one of the stars of ROTB so Hasbro wants to hunker down on that name recognition

[Cyber Bishop]

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I think they should've done a new mold or just released the Earthrise version with some better paint. Yes, the Earthrise version has a bland transformation. Yes, the backpack is an abomination, but that can be removed and you have a very, VERY, accurate robot mode. If I remember correctly the T30 version required the black gun to hold the arms in place, had just as big of a shell, and the hands were prone to breaking due to the thinness of the plastic in them. I'll wait to get this in hand since lately in hand has been WAY better than pictures but I'm not holding out hope.

Never had any of those issues with my T30 Arcee especially the black gun holding the arms in place. I am sure a few did but they are in the minority.

[Tuned Agent]

And the surprises keep coming.

Bee looks great. They handled the chest detailing a bit differently than I thought they would, but it works. The deco is also really good overall, especially all the paint in alt mode, which just makes the RotF version's deco look that much worse. My only meaningful gripe is that they reused the clunker Bee head, but at least they didn't paint his face bright silver this time. I might have to pick this guy up.

I'll always be part of a (probably) small contingency that prefers vehicle integration over screen accuracy. Lady robots don't need shapely legs and tiny feet in my opinion; give me big chunky boots and wheels on the shins any day, or--call me crazy--wheels for feet like the Bayverse triplets. Still, I know that's not what the goal is here, so I think they did a decent job with adjusting the T30 figure to match the cartoon a little more.

I've said it before: there's no way to get Arcee 100% right, so you have to pick your battles one way or the other. In that vein, this is pretty good.

Glarryg

100% agree. I think this is about the best G1 Arcee that could realistically be made, and now it's time to let this design die and completely move on. An Arcee retool of Legacy Elita-1/Minerva would be great.

[primalxconvoy]

(From Top to bottom: - Studio Series, Earthrise and Takara Legends)

[RotorstormNZ]

Oy vey, yet another Arcee so soon I mean how many is that within just the last few years? Is she one that needs to constantly be out on shelves year after year despite having a previous version still readily available?

Are you at all familiar with the names Optimus Prime and Megatron?

[chuckdawg1999]

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I think they should've done a new mold or just released the Earthrise version with some better paint. Yes, the Earthrise version has a bland transformation. Yes, the backpack is an abomination, but that can be removed and you have a very, VERY, accurate robot mode. If I remember correctly the T30 version required the black gun to hold the arms in place, had just as big of a shell, and the hands were prone to breaking due to the thinness of the plastic in them. I'll wait to get this in hand since lately in hand has been WAY better than pictures but I'm not holding out hope.

Never had any of those issues with my T30 Arcee especially the black gun holding the arms in place. I am sure a few did but they are in the minority.

I don't think the gun part was shown in the instructions but many missed it. The arms tab into the side then it pegs into the chest/stomach area. Helps lock everything down.

[EvasionModeBumblebee]

So DOTM Bumblebee is my favorite version of movie Bee, who (as you all can probably guess) is my favorite Transformer! I've been really anticipating Studio Series' take on the design (thus my mold change breakdown I made a little while ago), and now it's finally been revealed!

And I am absolutely going to geek out about it!

Let's start off in alt mode because this completely blew me away:

They remolded every single tiny difference on the DOTM Camaro! The grill, hood, and spoiler are the big things I was hoping they would get, but even when I made the breakdown I wasn't expecting to see the tiny Autobot badges, the side vents, the tires, and even the doubled up exhaust pipes remolded! That last one in particular is really cool to me, since I didn't notice the dual exhaust pipes until I played the DOTM video game. By the way, the antennae on the back of the roof that's been around since SS-49 is finally accurate to this version of the Camaro!

To show how much was remolded, everything in green is new:

I don't take the paint into consideration too much with figures since I'll be painting it myself, but I am very glad that he has a cohesive grill all the way across, unlike the ROTF version. The gunmetal paint on the tires is accurate, by the way! I always thought it was gloss black but after seeing more pics of the actual Camaro today, it is gunmetal! The stripes are missing on the back of alt mode (as they were on the original DOTM deluxe), but that's an easy fix, especially because there's no pinstriping. A small additional note, you can see in bot mode that they painted the exhaust pipe area on the back of the Camaro in black, the first time that's been done with the mold.


Moving onto bot mode, it doesn't have the extent of remolding that alt mode does, but I'm happy with what they did do:

The central chest piece has been remolded to show some of the new chest details (which I was concerned may not happen because most promo renders of Bee from DOTM still have the ROTF chest). Now, on the CG model Bee's changes to bot mode include the abdomen as well, which doesn't appear to be changed from the ROTF version. Given that the abdomen panel has to be completely flat in order to stow in alt mode, I can see how this would have been very difficult to implement, and the chest piece does include some of that detailing, so overall I'm happy with it.

There are a few other small things missing: the collar pieces are different for the DOTM model (which is something I might be able to approximate with paint), and something I missed that someone else pointed out: there are new yellow details on his shoulders for the DOTM version which do not appear here. The secondary wings are formed by the spoiler in DOTM, but there is no way to achieve this with the real parts with this mold, and the use of faux parts would require altering transformation and allocating that kibble elsewhere, so I'm totally ok that they didn't do that.

Overall for bot mode, it's not perfectly accurate in the way that alt mode is, but I think they definitely accomplished what they needed to with that new chest piece. The picture below shows the updated bot mode parts in green, and the areas that are different on the the DOTM model but were not updated on the figure in red:

I was initially disappointed with the head sculpt, but someone pointed out that it is in fact slightly retooled (note the cheek area). Another interesting thing to keep an eye out for is the three arrow marks on the top of the helmet - they were included on the TLK deluxe based on concept art (though not in the final film), and have persisted to Clunker Bee, and they may have removed them with this release. I would've preferred a new sculpt similar to WWII Bee, but the slight update is appreciated and I can always swap in the battle mask head.
TLK:

TLK Bee head.JPG (15.15 KiB) Viewed 12946 times

SS DOTM:

SS DOTM Bee head.JPG (11.06 KiB) Viewed 12946 times

A couple notes on paint:
- The foream shields have both silver and gunmetal accents on them, a first for this mold (the black details on the edges are absent, but no DOTM/TLK Bee has ever included them, it's an easy fix)
- They FINALLY didn't paint the top of the door windows yellow! I don't know why they ever did that with SS-49/74, I've had to scrape yellow paint off the top of the windows 3 times now!

Finally, I really want to ask Sam Smith about the shade of yellow plastic used - the lighting plays a part in it, but it looks closer to SS-49's bright yellow than SS-74's more accurate orange-yellow. We'll have to see!

In total, they definitely did more retooling with this figure than I was expecting. Alt mode, like I said earlier, is perfect, and bot mode I think accomplishes what it needs to. I'm super happy with it and can't wait to get it in-hand and painted up!

[Till-all-R1]

Oy vey, yet another Arcee so soon I mean how many is that within just the last few years? Is she one that needs to constantly be out on shelves year after year despite having a previous version still readily available?

Are you at all familiar with the names Optimus Prime and Megatron?

Yeah but how long did we have to wait for the very first Arcee, and then how often was she released until recent years when she became more prominent?

Heck for a lot of years people didn't even know who she was and would ask "who?" whenever I mentioned her.
And lets be honestly real, she's not OP, Megs or BB to a great many people.

[Rtron]

Love seeing people excited about figures they were expecting for a long time. EvasionModeBumblebee, you just cleared up for me a question I had for years: What the heck those new black wing parts on DOTM Bumblebee were! I never realized it was the car's spoiler.

As for Arcee's notoriety, that will probably be quickly solved by Rise of the Beasts. Bumblebee wasn't that big a character before the movies either.

[Emerje]

My only real issue with Arcee is the lack of gray on the front of the car and the red area on her belly. Otherwise I'm looking forward to adding her to my T30 Arcee mold collection.

Emerje

[-Kanrabat-]

I'd be getting that new Arcee for sure.

[TOO MUCH ENERGON!]

I know that a lot of people seem to hate on Earthrise Arcee, but I have one and for me, it’s fine. No reason for me to purchase this one.

[DeathReviews]

Man - they just can't seem to do a decent Deluxe sized Arcee, can they? I'd like an Arcee that's somewhere between Masterpiece and Deluxe. Something big enough that we can get some decent quality out of it, without the flimsy cheapness that the Deluxes all seem to have. But not TOO big, complicated or expensive. So far, none of the Arcee figures of recent manufacture have accomplished this. Maybe they should step up to Voyager.

[optimeow]

My T30 turned yellowish. Great to get a better replacement!

[Till-all-R1]

Man - they just can't seem to do a decent Deluxe sized Arcee, can they? I'd like an Arcee that's somewhere between Masterpiece and Deluxe. Something big enough that we can get some decent quality out of it, without the flimsy cheapness that the Deluxes all seem to have. But not TOO big, complicated or expensive. So far, none of the Arcee figures of recent manufacture have accomplished this. Maybe they should step up to Voyager.

I think it's due to trying to mimic the very slender female form that the creators saddled her with early on, I mean in a real world aspect I doubt a female robot would need to look that way. That's part of the reason I like the newest Elita-1, they don't try to make it overly feminine and the parts look like they are from an actual alt mode. It's just a hint of a feminine bot. Of course if they were a real thing in the universe I would tend to think there wouldn't even be need for different genders for robots anyway being as they do not procreate the way organics do. So the very idea of it seems bit ridiculous scientifically. But they're trying to sell toys to humans who identify with genders and representation so in that sense is why they probably felt the need to go that route.

After all I don't know the sales data on how well the female bots sell or if they appeal to female consumers even, and that might have been the reason behind introducing them to gain more customers that just boys?

If they made a new Arcee similar to the new Elita-1 that's coming I would probably buy it and sell the ER version simply because I think it looks better in terms of form and function.

[Tuned Agent]

Man - they just can't seem to do a decent Deluxe sized Arcee, can they? I'd like an Arcee that's somewhere between Masterpiece and Deluxe. Something big enough that we can get some decent quality out of it, without the flimsy cheapness that the Deluxes all seem to have. But not TOO big, complicated or expensive. So far, none of the Arcee figures of recent manufacture have accomplished this. Maybe they should step up to Voyager.

TBH a voyager Arcee wouldn't really be any different, since 90+% of the car would still have to end up as a backpack. It's not really a size/complexity problem, it's a design problem, one that nothing can really be done about.

[Sowndwave76]

Is the T30 Arcee any taller than the ER/Kingdom version?

[TF-fan kev777]

Is the T30 Arcee any taller than the ER/Kingdom version?

Negligible, maybe 1/2 mm, if that for head height.

[Sowndwave76]

Is the T30 Arcee any taller than the ER/Kingdom version?

Negligible, maybe 1/2 mm, if that for head height.

20220511_191602.jpg

Thanks for sharing that!!

Imo, ER/Kingdom Arcee is too small compared to Kup & Hot Rod, & really every other ‘86 movie figure.
I was hoping the T30 mold was at least an inch taller…
That could’ve helped sway me to get this new version.
But as of right now, she’s a “maybe” at best.

[william-james88]

Is the T30 Arcee any taller than the ER/Kingdom version?

Negligible, maybe 1/2 mm, if that for head height.

20220511_191602.jpg

That pic reminds me of something I wanted to say. I read several comments, when this new Arcee was announced, that the Earthrise toy was still better in terms of accuracy when it comes to the backpack.
No, it is not. It looks nothing like the G1 character model. The toy is a failure from start to finish.

[Wolfman Jake]

Is the T30 Arcee any taller than the ER/Kingdom version?

Negligible, maybe 1/2 mm, if that for head height.

20220511_191602.jpg

That pic reminds me of something I wanted to say. I read several comments, when this new Arcee was announced, that the Earthrise toy was still better in terms of accuracy when it comes to the backpack.
No, it is not. It looks nothing like the G1 character model. The toy is a failure from start to finish.

Earthrise/Kingdom Arcee is just terrible as a Transformers toy. I don't know what exactly went awry with the development of that figure, but what we got was woefully disappointing. The Legends Arcee was pretty close to perfect already, and I loved that it was still at least somewhat of a traditional transformer, despite making the vehicle mode a little less accurate to the cartoon model. This new one is welcome, but still frustrating. I love that they improved the sculpt of the robot mode where possible, adding a solution resulting in an almost completely accurate vehicle mode, but then stumbling on the small details, like painting the seats gray, the hands pink, the buttons on her waist red/pink, and the "grill" on the hood/chest gray. Nailing those would then create something that truly surpasses the Legends release completely in my eyes.

I wonder if we might find something like this later in the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line. Mirage and Arcee are on the packaging art of the current "Studio Series Deluxe Class" assortment with Cliffjumper, Kup, and B-127. Maybe we'll get a slightly better painted release of this new Arcee retool in the future, along with an "Earthmode" repaint of the superior Siege Mirage mold (if not a remold of the Kingdom version with the ability to mount the shoulder cannon correctly restored). It may also be possible that these are not photos of the finalized production version, like we saw with Earthrise Optimus Prime in particular. But, as you would say, William, hope is just undiscovered disappointment.