Toybox REVIEW: Transformers Studio Series 86 Arcee

Release Date: July 2022

RRP: $24.99/£25.99

The Studio Series 86 line is rapidly running out of characters that prominently appeared in Transformers: The Movie, particularly when you take the ones that have recently appeared in the War for Cybertron trilogy lines into account as well. However that clearly isn't going to stop Hasbro from celebrating this landmark piece of Transformers media, as Studio Series 86 Arcee has arrived while the Earthrise (also re-released as part of Kingdom) version is still in recent memory. However contrary to what you might think, this Studio Series version is not just a cartoon-accurate repaint of the Earthrise version – instead looking even further back in Arcee's toy history alongside some brand-new tooling.

"When the DECEPTICONS launch their attack, ARCEE converts AUTOBOT CITY."

Arcee is among the first of the deluxe class Studio Series 86 releases to appear in Hasbro's new "plastic free" packaging, which takes away the transparent window of the older boxes so the figure itself is unprotected. Many have (correctly) argued that this could cause all kinds of issues when it comes to buying figures physically in store, but for those who mostly have to buy online (such as myself) it doesn't really present any real change. Other than that the design of the packaging remains exactly the same, with new artwork of Arcee adorning the front and sides of the box while the back features images of the figure (in both modes) alongside a very short character bio. Inside the moulded plastic trays the figures have previously been housed on have also been dropped – replaced with a cardboard backing card that the figure has been tied down to.

Like all Studio Series figures Arcee also comes with a backing card that doubles as a display diorama, and even though it's one we've previously seen before there is one little difference this time around. Due to Hasbro's new plastic-free packaging, Arcee technically comes with two "Battle of Autobot City" backgrounds – one that acts at the backing card the figure is attached to and then the real one behind it. This diorama was previously included (at this size no less) with Studio Series 86 Blurr but it does make sense for it to show up again here – after all this is the scene where we're first introduced to Arcee in the movie.

Rather than a completely new figure, Studio Series 86 Arcee is in fact a reworking of the Generations/Thrilling 30 figure from 2014. "Extensive retool" would be putting it lightly though, with the figure sporting an all-new lower body, forearms and back half of the car in service of becoming a better representation of the G1 animation model. Granted it still has a lot more car hanging off the back of it than Arcee did in the movie, but it's unlikely that a figure of this size and price point would ever fully overcome that. Overall it's a very good looking figure that on first glance might not seem like it's doing too much differently from the Earthrise figure, but the slight differences in sculpt and proportions come together to make a much sleeker-looking figure. But great as she may look, there are some minor issues when it comes to stability. One step of her transformation requires folding out the torso, but when compressing it back down into robot mode the parts don't lock together – leading them to frequently (and frustratingly) stretching out when handling the figure. It isn't a deal breaker, but I can't imagine it would have taken much to get these pieces to lock together and make a solid torso.

Side by side with the Earthrise figure and we can see that there is a fair bit of difference between the two. Admittedly both are wearing quite a lot of car parts on their back, but while the Studio Series' hangs a little more down the body it's nowhere near as obtrusive or bulky as the Earthrise's backpack. That said, you can remove half of the Earthrise's one to make the hoverboard so your mileage may vary there. The Studio Series figure adopts a far more muted shade of pink compared to the Earthrise's loud colour scheme, while the head sculpt strives for more cartoon accurate with its coloured face and painted lips. Most other deco differences purely come in the name of cartoon accuracy, but thankfully the Studio Series has much better feet than the Earthrise's godawful clown shoes. While it would perhaps be a little unfair to say the Studio Series does EVERYTHING better (the Earthrise head sculpt is a little more generic and a lot less creepy so might be more appealing to some), it definitely does most things better – all while fitting the Studio Series mantra of being as close to the cartoon design as possible.

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