Transformers Prime: Arcee Robots in Disguise (RiD) Deluxe Review

Tuesday, February 28, 2012


"Tell it to someone who cares."

Having lost two partners in the war against the Decepticons, Arcee carries the most emotional baggage of the Transformers Prime Autobot cast. Her toughness, loyalty, and strong will make her a formidable fighter for any Decepticon.

After a whole season of Transformers Prime without any toy line and Hasbro canceling the First Edition toys prematurely, Hasbro releases the Robots in Disguise (RiD) deluxe wave 1 with Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Wheeljack, Soundwave, Arcee, and Ratchet. It's the second time Hasbro is releasing Transformers Prime Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and Arcee.

Package front:


Package Back:

You too can make a big gunned cycle as you'll see later in the review.

Tech spec on the side of the package:

A weak yet courageous Autobot.

Alt mode front and rear:

A fairly sleek motocycle profile with minimal kibble visible from the rear.

Alt mode left:

A big 5mm peg hole at the front wheel ensures guns from other Transformers Prime toys can be mounted on Arcee in alt mode or you can plug the blades in there too.  A kick stand just like the First Edition helps Arcee stand upright in alt mode.

Alt mode right:

The disc breaks are nicely painted in silver.

Alt mode top:

A sleek top that doesn't reveal the robot in disguise! Yeah that was cheesy.

Alt mode bottom:

The bottom is fairly packed but you can easily tell her legs form the bottom of her motocycle mode.

The dashboard:

Some added stickers would complete the dashboard.  It's not soft plastic this time around.

The blade and blaster combined:

The blaster features two pegs, one for holding it like a regular blaster while the other acts to cover the hand.

The blaster and blade separated:

You can separate the blade from the blaster for some added fun.

Power up blaster blade Motocycle mode!

The included blade and blaster can be plugged into the round peg holes in the found wheel for this awesome new mode.  It's not even featured in the cartoon!

Mid-transformation:

Yes, Arcee was also in the Transformers movie looking very much like this. The transformation for TFP RiD Arcee is very much like TFP FE Arcee except the front of the bike no longer becomes her chest.

Bot front:

RiD Arcee is much more screen accurate than the previous mold with a tighter chest area since it's no longer the front of her bike mode.  The silver at the sides of her legs should be pink. Compared to the First Edition, she's a lighter brighter blue, the red diamond is now painted on her head piece, her arm is now blue like the cartoon, the wings properly go backwards rather than along her arms, her eyes are larger, and the chest area matches the cartoon exactly. Against most other opinions, I prefer this version.

Bot left:

Here you see RiD Arcee's main weakness. Since the front of her bike no longer turns into her chest, her backpack is even larger than before with the entire front of the bike folding onto her back. The backpack is as big as her body.

Bot right:

Her wings connect by her backpack which is further back than the cartoon. Her wings are also a lot larger in this toy than the cartoon. 

Bot Rear:

The front wheel, handle bar, and windshield are huge kibbles on Arcee's back. The show has the wheel go into her back.  Her feet are quite hallow.

Bot top:

The blue lightpiping on her head nicely matches her blue color. The backpack continues to look bad at this angle.

Bot bottom:

The bottom is slim. Her large foot gives her added stability to support her large top backpack.

The blaster:

Somehow this really large blaster is supposed to mimick her cartoon small dual pistols that replace her hands. At least the blaster can cover her hands.

Fan-favorite Megatron mode:

Since Arcee's arms has peg holes and her blaster has two pegs, the blaster can be mounted on her arm just like Megatron!

Articulation:

Articulation on Arcee is fairly good but a little less than TFP First Edition.  Her hands can no longer bend backwards.

Front Comparison of RiD Arcee to First Edition Arcee:

First Edition (FE) is darker and taller.  RiD has painted arms like the cartoon but missing all the pink highlights found in the cartoon and FE.  The fake chest and wing direction on RiD is more accurate to the cartoon.

Side Comparison of RiD Arcee to First Edition Arcee:

The wings on FE cover her shoulders which isn't accurate to the cartoon.  Both toys have the wheels hang on the back which is not accurate to the cartoon.  FE has a slimmer profile but RiD isn't too bad.

Back Comparison of RiD Arcee to First Edition Arcee:

From this angle, RiD's wheel looks to fold up much better than FE.  Both have hollow legs.

RiD Arcee and RiD Ratchet:

They look good together. Ratchet is too small while Arcee is still a tad big

The full Autobot Transformers Prime toy cast:

A mix of First Edition Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, Cliffjumper with Robots in Disguise (RiD) Ratchet, Arcee, and Wheeljack

Transformers Prime RiD Arcee has a fairly simple transformation and a really clean vehicle mode.  She's better looking from the front and smaller sized (better scaled) compared to her First Edition.  Sadly the backpack ruins the look of her bot mode. Her mold is better looking that the first edition and more TV show accurate. I wasn't a fan of the Transformers Prime show but the toy line definitely has me hooked. It's a great looking toy of one of the main cast. If you missed Transformers Prime First Edition Arcee then Robots in Disguise Arcee is a fairly good alternative.  If you already have the First Edition, like I do, I prefer this version and still recommend picking up RiD Arcee!



Eric Toy Score: 4 out of 5

Publisher: Hasbro
Year: February 2012
Price: $14.99


4 comments:


Wow, that's a honking big backpack she's sporting now. Glad I was able to find the First Edition version.

I think you have FE Arcee's feet mistransformed in robot mode a little bit. The wheels in her feet can still be completely vertical, not diagonal inwards like in your picture. Just keep the black parts straight (almost the same as in bike mode but with the wheels rotated so the blue clip in the bottom of the leg fits into a group on the inside of the wheel).

I still think I prefer RID though... The transformation is simpler, but the look and size works better in a group than the FE one, so I'll probably sell my FE one.

@anonymous You're right about FE Arcee's back wheels. I was in a rush to get her from alt mode into bot mode. I did transform her right foot better than her left foot.

I agree with you on the RiD better than FE. But a few people on TFW2005 think FE is slimmer and thus better.

Just picked this up today and I gotta say, I agree with you that RiD is better than FE. Yeah, FE has lots of detail, which is always nice, but RiD has a nicer over all sculpt, head and body, especially her chest, the FE chest just looked weird and not right (heh, it sounds so pervy to talk like this about a toy :P). And the wings of course, much better on RiD.

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