Botcon Dragstrip (The Stunti-Con Job)

Prelude: Dragstrip is a straight-up repaint (no new head mold) of Animated Arcee, so this review here will focus mainly on the differences between the two figures.

Robot Mode: Unlike some of the other Botcon 2011 figures Dragstrip did not get a new head mold, so the robot mode is unchanged except for the color scheme. G1 Dragstrip served as template here, of course, so the basic color is yellow. Now G1 Dragstrip was pretty much all-yellow except for his wheels (black) and his engine/chest (silver), but Botcon Dragstrip was allowed a bit more diversity, breaking up the yellow with black and adding lots of purple highlights.

The Arcee head mold makes for a surprisingly good Dragstrip, though, once the colors of the G1 figure (blue face, purple helmet) are applied. And while there have been no changes to the facial features, either, the new colors somehow manage to turn Arcee’s rather neutral expression into one that looks sufficiently pissed. Add the blood-red swords and you’ve got one dangerous-looking dame. So the bottom line here: great new paint job for a great robot mode. I like it.

Alternate Mode: The challenge here is, of course, that G1 Dragstrip transformed into a Formula 1 racer, while Animated Arcee transforms into some kind of futuristic / alien car thing. Still, both cars have a black cockpit, a big spoiler, and are mostly yellow, so there is a good deal of similarity. Not a whole lot more I can say here. The vehicle mode looks good, no complaints.

Remarks: When the Botcon Stunticons were announced my money was on Animated Blurr being repainted into Dragstrip, but instead they made Dragstrip a girl and used Arcee. I don’t have a problem with that, though. Dragstrip’s appearance in the Botcon 2011 comic book was rather short. She was your basic sarcastic, angry female warrior, capable of kicking ass with the best of them, but had no personality beyond that (and no resemblance to the character profile of G1 Dragstrip beyond the signature phrase, either). Oh, and she played the role of the damsel in distress in the Stunt Convoy Show (not very convincingly at that).

I’m a big fan of the Animated Arcee figure, so I have absolutely no problems with getting a repaint of it. A new head mold would have been nice here, too, but the existing one does a bang-up job as well. So really, no complaints. Just a slight downgrade from the straight A rating I gave Arcee for the simple fact that Dragstrip is “just” a repaint. Still, a very nice figure.

Rating: A-