Energon Arcee

Series: Energon
Allegiance: Autobot
Categories: Basic Omnicon
Year: 2004

I know only two speeds... fast and faster
Arcee is a fast and feisty young Omnicon. She is a dedicated warrior who has proven, time and again, that she can fight alongside the best of her Autobot teammates. Her skills with an Energon bow are unmatched. In vehicle mode, Arcee becomes a super fast sport bike and can outrun anyone who dares to challenge. Her loyalty to the Autobot cause is unquestionable, making her one of Optimus Prime's greatest warriors.

Robot Mode: Arcee's robot mode is a good fusion between her very curvy Transformers the Movie body and the more bulky exteriors most male Transformers have. As a result she still manages to look female, but not feeble. Her head is a direct translation from her G1 incarnation, but the rest is new. She is relatively flexible (though there are more posable toys in her size category), only her feet (which look like spike-heeled boots) are a bit unstable. All in all, though, a good robot mode that is recognizable as an Arcee variant. One drawback is that her weapon, the energon bow, is almost again as big as she is, meaning she can only hold it out sideways, not to the front. This makes for a nice archery pose, though, so no big complaint here. Oh, and they could have given her some actual hands instead of those tiny, tiny knobs she got.

Alternate Mode: Arcee transforms into a bullet bike that wouldn't draw much attention at your local Honda dealership. The bike looks good both in its basic form, as well as when enhanced with parts of the energon bow. With the cannons on each side and the exhaust pipes jutting out back, Arcee looks like a bike taken in for some serious tune-up. A very nice mode.

Remarks: Many Transformers fans have waited nearly twenty years for this toy. Ever since Arcee first appeared in Transformer the Movie we wanted an Arcee toy. We didn't get it. Apparently Hasbro and Takara figured that boys didn't want toys based on female characters, though how they could think that, seeing how toys like Princess Leia and Teela regularly sold out and are prized collectors' items nowadays, I don't know.

Anyway, just like with Unicron, it took us a long time to finally get an Arcee toy (not counting a Botcon exclusive that came out some years ago), but now we have it. All in all it's not exactly the toy I would have wanted, but it's still pretty good. It retains enough of the classic G1 Arcee to be recognizable, but was redesigned with a better alternate mode and less pink, which is good. I would have preferred more similarities to the Movie version, but all in all I'm pretty satisfied.

Rating: B