New one is likely the best. Legends has better painted details, but the new one is very good for a Hasbro general retail release.
Studio Series discussion
- Thread starter Paladin
- Start date
I just got my own T30 Arcee in January, which I'm pretty happy with but I think I'll get this new SS86 version. There are enough differences to interest me.
It's still funny that Thrilling 30 Arcee is STILL available on Big Bad Toy Store. ($25 by herself, or $40 in a twopack with T30 Chromia)
This looks like the best one to me. T30 transforms but the robot looks like a hodgepodge. ER is possibly the laziest shellformer we've ever seen but the robot mode does have nicer proportions than T30, and the car mode is more accurate (for what it's worth). The new one seems like the best of both.
If you're not impressed, compare the backpacks. This new one is more a shellformer than T30 and has a bigger backpack as a result, but the backpack sorta looks tidier. It's chunky, but it's one chunk.
If you're not impressed, compare the backpacks. This new one is more a shellformer than T30 and has a bigger backpack as a result, but the backpack sorta looks tidier. It's chunky, but it's one chunk.
I mean, it's better than a Earthrise repaint, I'll give it that. I don't view it as an improvement over the prior uses of the mold, and as noted, BBTS STILL has her in stock nearly a decade later.
I think it's more disappointing because Studio Series, as a whole, has been very good about giving REALLY good interpretations of these characters. Hot Rod, Scourge/Sweep, WreckGar, Gnaw, Jazz, they've been pretty good to fantastic iterations of those characters, even with prior iterations. To see Hasbro, basically, repaint an old figure for this line feels like a poor precedent.
Even more so considering the multiple Arcee figures being released this summer, I think it would have been more practical to drop doing another SS Arcee until they were willing to invest in new tooling to do a really GOOD one.
I think it's more disappointing because Studio Series, as a whole, has been very good about giving REALLY good interpretations of these characters. Hot Rod, Scourge/Sweep, WreckGar, Gnaw, Jazz, they've been pretty good to fantastic iterations of those characters, even with prior iterations. To see Hasbro, basically, repaint an old figure for this line feels like a poor precedent.
Even more so considering the multiple Arcee figures being released this summer, I think it would have been more practical to drop doing another SS Arcee until they were willing to invest in new tooling to do a really GOOD one.
I don't know what more we could expect if they made one from scratch. It does some things better than the Masterpiece, and that's a very Studio Series 86 thing to do.
Let's face it, G1 Arcee was a design that was never meant to transform in the real world. Outside of Masterpiece complexity and pricing, we are always going to get Arcees that integrate vehicle mode parts and compromise the look of the robot mode, or prioritize the robot mode at the cost of being shellformers.
It looks to me like this SS86 version takes the better parts of the T30 and improves the accuracy of the robot mode, without being quite as shellformery as ER. Sure, it's a compromise, but I'm not sure anything better is possible at the deluxe price point without completely abandoning accuracy to one of Arcee's modes.
It looks to me like this SS86 version takes the better parts of the T30 and improves the accuracy of the robot mode, without being quite as shellformery as ER. Sure, it's a compromise, but I'm not sure anything better is possible at the deluxe price point without completely abandoning accuracy to one of Arcee's modes.
Very true. There just isn't any way to get that car to turn into that robot in the real world. I think Animated Arcee's toy did a very good job of using design cues from the G1 design and turning it into an actual transformer, so in a line that didn't focus on looking as much as possible like the cartoon it IS possible to do a good Arcee. But for Studio Series, this is probably the best that could be hoped for.
There was a time when it was "impossible" for Arcee to get a toy, now we get 2 or 3 every year. Crazy.
You know, for all the complaints that you hear about getting too many Optimusususus or Bumblebees, it's amazing how much we get these days that was declared "impossible" years ago.
I remember a time when getting any Dinobots other than Grimlock was considered, if not impossible, very unlikely due to having too similar alt-modes and color schemes. The very idea that we would get a Quintesson, let alone MULTIPLE Quintessons would have been considered madness. I have Spike in an exo-suit in-shipment to my house right now. I have a Scrounge in my collection. I have my choice of Impactors depending on which comic version I prefer most. I don't think anything is off the table.
It really shows what a change from Aaron "NO!" Archer to John 
Warden can do for a brand.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: It's like Warden and Friends (and now whoever's currently in charge) all took notes about everything Archer ever said "NO!" to (G1-accurate designs, Headmasters, full Combiners, Sky Lynx, etc.), and just decided to give us exactly that.
Warden can do for a brand.I've said this before and I'll say it again: It's like Warden and Friends (and now whoever's currently in charge) all took notes about everything Archer ever said "NO!" to (G1-accurate designs, Headmasters, full Combiners, Sky Lynx, etc.), and just decided to give us exactly that.
It is nice that things that were deemed impossible or unlikely, usually with valid reasons, are no longer that way.
Wait, there was? When was that?
Sweet. So now, about that $80 Rodimus Prime I passed on . . .
Longer. Thrilling 30 Arcee was released in 2014.
