Transformers Generations Arcee
This toy is a big deal. It took Hasbro 28 yearsto
finally give us a proper Arcee figure based on the character which
first appeared in Transformers: The Movie (you know, the real one; I
guess I just prefer the old animated train wreck to the newer series of
train wrecks). The reasons seem to be speculation only, though
the words "copyright loss" were thrown around a lot. There were
also several prototypes made and never finished for any number of
reasons. Now yes, the name "Arcee" has appeared on
several toys, and she's been everything from a spider to a motorcycle
(boy was she a motorcycle a lot), but she also managed to be a car a
time
or two. They did come close with her "Animated" version... but
that wasn't close enough.
The moment she went up for pre-order, I snagged her. I'd been waiting
for a picture, information, anything; and finally at Botcon 2014, she was
revealed. Minutes later, she was all over the internet. Had
to have her. She was shown alongside Chromia, and... well. (Chromia's page is here.)
Almost 30 years indeed. I was sort of stricken with the sheer number of weapons she comes with. Making up for lost time? I approve.
It must also be noted that apparently Arcee has a variant when it comes to her hands, as documented by "felzbug".
I'm really not sure what's going on there, but it'd be
interesting to know. I'm guessing the "open hand" proved to be
easily broken and was changed later in production.
A note on transformation: I'm going to have to pick over the instructions again. They would appear to have shown the wrong thing to do with the legs, though misunderstanding is possible. They don't need to be turned, just folded. It took me a while to figure that out, but luckily no breakage resulted. Whoo!
I've already heard some complaints, of course. You can't help but do so when you rely on message boards for release date rumors. Some people seem to have some complaints about her face, that it's too "1980's robot" or worse, too much of an "empty smile".
And then "the backpack". So many complaints about this. I actually have no problems with it; the way everything slides into place when switching between modes is somehow enormously satisfying, and I can imagine that she's much safer from getting shot in the back than most Autobots. Fools. My Arcee does tend to have a little trouble with her, er, "neck plate" staying snapped into place, but I think this is fixable. I'll have to tinker.