When Todd Matthy interviewed Transformers: The Movie (1986) writer Ron Freidman, he told the interviewer that he had to fight Hasbro to get a female character into the film. While Arcee wasn't the first female Autobot seen in the cartoon, she quickly became an icon. Clearly inspired by Star Wars character Princess Leia and voiced by the fantastic Susan Blu, Arcee was caring, quick witted and deadly. Beyond the movie she had a prominent role in later Transformers UK comics (the controversial Prime's Rib story-line by Simon Furman being a classic, tongue in cheek example) and fans took her to their hearts. Since then she's been re-imagined for the CGI Transformers Prime cartoon as a blue motorbike, featured in a "hi and die" fashion by Michael Bay as 3 combining motorbikes and released, finally, by both Hasbro and Takara as a deluxe figure that was a faithful adaptation of her original design.
But fans of Masterpiece Transformers wanted more, and Fanstoys have finally delivered on a promise made in November 2017. Die-cast parts, comprehensive articulation and a faithful recreation of her original movie look combine to be arguably the best Arcee figure released to date, official or otherwise.
My impressions in brief? Lovely weighty feel thanks to the die-cast in the legs, great overall sculpt and I love the anime accurate head with the slightly larger eyes and smaller mouth (pictured). I'm also a massive fan of the finish on the legs, they're stunning. Negatives? I'm still not sure about the chest options (curvy or straight lines), the kibble nature of the shoulder wings is necessary but a bit ugly, and man is she a sod to stand! Not even a port on the back for a Tamashii Nations stand, so careful how you pose her!
Judge for yourself below.
Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook to get all the latest site updates
Metal parts and lavish detail make this a souvenir to pick up - if you could only get to Yokohama's Gundam Factory...
