Transformers Prime: Arcee

Presenting Arcee from the Transformers Prime animated series. Arcee is a Cybertronian Scout - when is she never a scout? One of Optimus Prime's best actually.





Except this particular Arcee is suffering from a severe case of Survivor's Guilt. Before the Autobots in the Transformers Prime universe abandoned Cybetron in what would be later called the Great Exodus, Arcee was paired with an Autobot named Tailgate.

During a mission, Arcee was captured and tortured for information by the Decepticon Airachnid. When Arcee refused to reveal any information, Airachnid brought our Tailgate - who was apparently also captured. Tailgate was tortured will Arcee admitted that she did not have any valuable information. Satisfied, Airachnid killed Tailgate. Arcee was rescued before Airachnid could do her in as well.

After the Exodus, Arcee was again paired with another Autobot, Cliffjumper. He not only looks like Tailgate, he gets killed too - well later he gets re-animated as a psychotic Zombie, cut in half by Megatron and scattered in a mine. Anyway, this drives Arcee - understandably over the deep-end and Arcee ends up hating having to be paired with anyone. Ironically, she's assigned by Optimus Prime to protect the human Jack Darby. You can imagine her joy at having to protect someone from the Decepticons.





Transformers Prime Arcee's blister card does not mention much about her. Doesn't mention anything at all. However, her wiki reads "A former scout on Cybertron before the Great Exodus, Arcee is the least physically-imposing of Optimus Prime's crew, but she's also Optimus's most reliable solider, his go-to-gal when he needs somone he can count on. Whatever she lacks in physical form she more than makes up for it in force of personality. She is tough as nails at all times, always ready with a snarky quip even in the face of deactivation, not afraid to bend the rules every now and then, and seemingly never, ever scared." Click here for the rest of the wiki.


What's to like about Transformers Prime Arcee?

She's got boobs! If you're into anthropomorphic robot warriors who are slightly mentally unhinged and sharp of tongue - probably both literally and figuratively - then Transformers Prime Arcee is for you!. Let's admit that previous incarnations of Arcee to appear in this blog: TRNS-01 Valkyrie, and Transformers DOTM Arcee, both have their feminine wiles, nothing come quite close to proud the feminine form of Transformers Prime Arcee. 

Now that we've gotten that obvious particular proclivity out of the way, let's talk about what else makes Transformers Prime Arcee such a nice figure to collect. 

Probably the nicest thing about Transformers Prime Arcee is the ability to do something that MOST Transformers cannot do -  which also greatly enhances her flexibility: Transformers Prime Arcee can twist her torso which provides for some pretty agile poses:

And as you can see from above Transformers Prime Arcee's flexibility is incredible! 

You also have to love Transformers Prime Arcee's bike mode. While it may be argued that she lacks detail in her bike mode, certain portions are finely sculpted - particularly the handlebar area:

What's NOT to like about Transformers Prime Arcee?

I have three issues with Transformers Prime Arcee. The first of which is.... she's blue. Arcee has traditionally always been pink and white. What we have here is... Chromia I suppose. I'm not sure why the animators of the cartoon felt the need to change her color - probably so it's less girly (Though it flies against tradition). Let's note thought that there is a pink version of Transformers Prime Arcee. She comes in a two pack along with a "taxi" version of Bumblebee. They were released as an SDCC2011 exclusive. This Transformers Prime exclusive sells for around US$72  (Around PhP 3,000 plus shipping) on ebay. 

Second is her shoulder pauldrons/wings. They tend to get in the way of everything that involves her arms and, without much cajoling, you will have some difficulty getting to raise Arcee's arms above her head - though it can be done. 

Last is Transformer Prime Arcee's balance/feet. Her feet are pretty pointed and, while they can be moved a little bit up-and-down, there is not much in left/right support. As a result, if you review most of the images in this review, you'll note that Arcee is leaning against the wall. She'd probably look best on a shelf if you provide her a stand for pose-ability.

All in all, a solid, flexible Transformer that doesn't come by every day. A definite must have for a Transformers Prime collector. I purchased Arcee at retail price here in the Philippines - Toy's R'Us for PhP 699.75 (Around US$ 16). For some strange reason Transformers Prime Arcee is available on Amazon for nearly US$ 70 (PhP 3,000 plus shipping). I guess she's rare abroad or the market hasn't saturated yet.  She's quite common here in the Philippines.