Full Reveal of Studio Series 86 Arcee, DOTM Bumblebee and ROTF Sideways

Man that new backpack is definitely longer.. I'll still nab her on sight.

For reference, here's Arcee's cartoon model:

think i'd be tempted to buy one of the £8 shelf warming Earthrise Arcees over a £22 SS86 deluxe. They could have at least upgraded it like the oversized KO did.

Legends Arcee is still the best Arcee to me. While I totally get how this new one and the earthrise one are more accurate in alt mode, I always loved the attempt at Takara to offer more vehicle integration, which homaged the original design/conception of the character. She is more of a legit transformer toy to me rather than a shell former. Not knocking anything, just saying my preference.

Oh huh, that Arcee actually looks a lot better than I thought...
I'm not the biggest fan of that plank of a backpack...but no partsforming of the Earthrise version...and a way better body than the T30 version...I think I might actually pick this Arcee up!

Also wow that Sideways looks really good. Especially properly transformed. I am definitely picking this guy up too.

(The BB looks good too.)

william-james88 wrote:Legends Arcee is still the best Arcee to me. While I totally get how this new one and the earthrise one are more accurate in alt mode, I always loved the attempt at Takara to offer more vehicle integration, which homaged the original design/conception of the character. She is more of a legit transformer toy to me rather than a shell former. Not knocking anything, just saying my preference.

So jelly..

I'm glad to see they are going to paint Arcee's face and lips in this version. Her face in Earthrise was just kind of blah and boring.

Okay so I wasn't seeing things last night a 1am when looking at the silhouette. That is indeed a new lower torso with a trapezoid in the middle with new hips and thighs. Then they also redid the lower legs as well to have ankle pivots like I was hoping for. Those still look like the 5mm hand arms from the T30 mold though. So not only will they drop things easily, the hands will also be fragile. Great. Legacy Arcee has closed off 5mm hands so why can't all female Transformers? I hate the open hands they put on several female figures. That doesn't look like a new head though but the paint job on it isn't too bad.

So even despite not having a new fourth set of hands, this new "Frankenstein" Arcee looks like a fun action figure unlike T30 Arcee. Ankle pivots are awesome. The hips look and function like a normal figure. There's a waist swivel. There even appears to be an ab crunch. The backpack is what it is. It looks like the "best" of both T30 and ER Arcee function/look wise.

If this was a straight reissue of either T30 or ER Arcee I would've skipped it. This "Frankenstein" figure interests me though. I still like TR Arcee best so far for a G1ish rep despite not being the most accurate looking. I look forward to seeing if this can beat that figure for me. I also look forward to the 3D printed clavicle flap replacement to accept a Titan Master. I'd look forward to the DNA Designs kit featuring new arms with better hands for her but DNA sucks lately.

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

Man that Sideways looks incredibly cool. One of the best looking Bayverse car figures so far. Bee looks like every other movie Bee to me basically. Some of them would be pretty good looking if they just got rid of the wheels behind his shoulders. That always ruins the look of them I think. But I dont collect movie figures, except SS 07' Megatron and Evasion Optimus.

Arcee is a waste. I will still stick to my Legends Arcee. It still has the best/most accurate paint, look, alt mode and thicc hawtness for me. Only thing I didnt like bouts it was the little nub of plastic in her hands that wouldnt let weapons stick out the bottom and I just cut it out.

william-james88 wrote:Legends Arcee is still the best Arcee to me. While I totally get how this new one and the earthrise one are more accurate in alt mode, I always loved the attempt at Takara to offer more vehicle integration, which homaged the original design/conception of the character. She is more of a legit transformer toy to me rather than a shell former. Not knocking anything, just saying my preference.

I’ve been a longtime supporter of Legends Arcee being the best G1 Arcee transforming figure. I am impressed with this new Studio Series 86 version, because all of the new tooling is great, backpack woes aside. All of the right things have been changed for her legs, so the silhouette is better than ever. It’s just a shame they couldn’t give us just a few more paint operations. Really, it’s just the lack of red detail on the belt, gray on the chest/front bumper, and pink hands. I get that budgets are tight, and a lot of new tooling went into this, but they apparently are skipping most of the accessories from the T30/LG version, so I think they could have found the pennies for a few more dabs of paint, especially given that Arcee is still a smaller than average Deluxe Class figure.

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.

Munkky wrote: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.

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.

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.

Till-all-R1 wrote: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

chuckdawg1999 wrote: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.

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.

Glarryg wrote: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.

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

Till-all-R1 wrote: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?