Transformers Arcee Toy Review: A Target Exclusive

With the new Transformers movie due out on the 4th of July of this year, there are new Transformers toys that are being released in stores now. One of those is Arcee, a sporty motorcycle that turns into a female robot. This particular figure can only be found at Target stores because it is a Target exclusive. It retails for $7.99 which is more expensive than other similar Transformers sold at Target. The mold is an old mold from the Transformers Energon series. Because of this, it is not in the same style as the movie Transformers. The good thing is that the old version is rather expensive on eBay so if you missed this Arcee the first time around, here is your chance to get a near identical one.

Arcee is a character from the original Transformers: The Movie that came out in the 1980s. Arcee is the only female Transformer in this particular toy line, and there are only two figures set to be released of her. This is one of them.

If you're considering buying this for a child, it has a difficulty rating of two on the package, and is fairly easy to transform from vehicle mode to robot mode. Also, it can be difficult to tell how large the figure will be when transformed, because in the package it is in vehicle mode. I measured it, and it measures about four inches from head to feet.

Now for the technical pros and cons of this figure:

Arcee has a new color scheme that consists of black, metallic silver and metallic blue. The paint application is a bit spotty. It could be that it's just a fluke and is only like that on the particular figure that I picked out. The paint is spotty in places, and the blue seems to be chipping even though I just removed the figure from its package. Also, the Autobot logo on Arcee's chest is smudged, but as I said, that could just be this particular figure. Despite all of this, the face is painted well.

The poseability of Arcee is good for a scout sized figure. Her head can turn from side to side. Her shoulders are partly ball jointed, and the elbows can bend. Her hands bend at the wrist, but with a really odd range of motion that is a little strange, but I like it nevertheless. There is no waist articulation. She has ball jointed hips but their range of movement is somewhat obstructed by her windshield which hangs down off of her back. Her knees are double jointed and bend both ways. Her feet resemble cowboy boots, which I think is pretty cool.

Arcee also comes with some accessories, and they are the same accessories that came with the Energon version of this figure. She comes with an Energon chip which attaches to her chest. It's a gimmick item. She also comes with a crossbow-like weapon that consists of four parts, which when she is in vehicle mode, turns into giant cannon-like weapons. The one draw back is that although it's a nice looking weapon, it seems out of proportion to her. It's too big for the size of her arms, and so it's impossible to set her up to where she's pointing it straight ahead. Instead it has to be pointed at an angle slightly to one side.

One cool accessory that accompanies Arcee is a retro Robo-Vision Decoder like the ones that came with the original Transformers toys in the 1980s. Unlike the originals that revealed stats and history about the figure, this decoder reveals a code that can be entered on the Target website.

Despite some minor flaws with Arcee, like the mediocre paint application, I would still recommend buying it. For one, it's a female figure, which can be hard to come by. Also it's an exclusive, and they can also be expensive and hard to find later down the road. I give it a 4.5 out of 5.