MP-51 Arcee

[Philip Ayres]

www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/masterpiece-arcee.1188468/#post-17639718

[Dezzeh]

Gooooood.

[Llama God]

Now I *was* going to come in here saying "Oh SHIT, now here's a Masterpiece I can't not buy", because I generally try and get every version of G1 Arcee I can, just to prove 1986 Hasbro wrong in that I, a boy, wouldn't want a toy of a... a... a... *gags slightly* GIRL. Ew. Girls. Ew. Etc... It always pissed young me off that I couldn't get one... So yeah, this was going to be a must-have.

But thanks to the post that I'm sure Phil'll also put in here any minute now, I'm not entirely sure. It looks like, as with Bumblebee, that they've not entirely gotten the face sculpt right. But we'll see...

[Philip Ayres]

This one?

https://twitter.com/s250_MKII/status/1226075040912855043

[Llama God]

That's the one! Good man.

Very concerned now that they couldn't even be bothered to photoshop that stand out. I mean, given the design she was never going to be the most stable of characters, but... yeah.

[Pinwig]

Interesting choice! I should think if they've gone for Arcee that Blurr and Kup won't be far behind. I'd be more interested in seeing some movie Cons though.

[Jaymz]

I hope this means a Headmaster Arcee a few releases down the line.

[Toph]

I can't be sure at all, especially with such bad pictures, but I think Arcee might be reusing parts or engineering from Blackarachnia.

[Philip Ayres]

[Stomski]

C'mon guys, pics from the side / back. If recent MP figures are anything to go buy, it ain't gonna be pretty (although Hound's back was excellent). And whilst Arcee should have a little backpack, this is likely panel city.

[The Doctor]

I'm quite happy with TR headmaster Arcee.

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

That's quite impressive, maybe even better than the FT one. Not sure about the chest though. It looks too low. The white neck piece is very long compared to the animation model. It'll be panel mayhem though to hide those legs.

It's weird, the RFC crew a few weeks ago were predicting what MP50 would be and Don Ferguson said Arcee, but everyone laughed at him. I did too. This is about as left field as masterpiece gets.

[Llama God]

Feb 8, 2020 13:11:12 GMT Jaymz said:

I hope this means a Headmaster Arcee a few releases down the line.

Yep, this thought occurred to me last night - will they do an MP-51+ that is also a Headmaster? If there's the danger of that happening then that gives me a very good excuse to hold fire on this one. The question is how likely is it? Takara generally refuse to acknowledge the existence of The Rebirth. However the Targetmaster Hot Rod that they put out was done in Rebirth colours, so maybe they will. But it is a gamble.

I'd wager it's more likely that the next mold re-use will be Paradron Medic, since that's just an easy colour swap. And maybe I'll just wait forever for a Headmaster Arcee, but it's a risk that I and my bank account are just going to have to take...

[Llama God]

Feb 9, 2020 9:32:43 GMT Stomski said:

C'mon guys, pics from the side / back. If recent MP figures are anything to go buy, it ain't gonna be pretty (although Hound's back was excellent). And whilst Arcee should have a little backpack, this is likely panel city.

Et, viola:

Side only, of course, so no idea how much of a mess the back's actually going to be. But this is definitely a panel-folding nightmare.

[Benn]

As long as they don't look as bad as new Bumblebee's feet

[Pinwig]

Wow. That is one large backpack. Infact, do you think it needs the stand to stay upright? That looks like quite a balancing act to keep on its feet.

[Philip Ayres]

Cropped and larger

[Shockprowl]

Panel forming fun for all!

[Llama God]

Certainly looking like *all* poses will require additional support...

[The Doctor]

Feb 9, 2020 11:08:41 GMT Llama God said:

Feb 8, 2020 13:11:12 GMT Jaymz said:

I hope this means a Headmaster Arcee a few releases down the line.

I'd wager it's more likely that the next mold re-use will be Paradron Medic, since that's just an easy colour swap. And maybe I'll just wait forever for a Headmaster Arcee, but it's a risk that I and my bank account are just going to have to take...

You don't have to wait! A headmaster Arcee already exists!

-Ralph

[Bogatan]

Not certain about the face sculp. Its not bad like some o the recent ones, but it doesn't seem cartoon accurate.

Odd.

I think everyones assumed the chest moves up now that clearer photos have come out. Pretty sure it'll look more like this.

[Toph]

Feb 9, 2020 19:07:23 GMT Bogatan said:

Not certain about the face sculp. Its not bad like some o the recent ones, but it doesn't seem cartoon accurate.

Odd.

I would really thibk she's done by the BW team instead of the G1 team, were it not for that backpack. I think the BW designers would have integrated the vehicle parts better.

I think everyones assumed the chest moves up now that clearer photos have come out. Pretty sure it'll look more like this.

I'm not so sure. There are sculpted details between the collar and hinge that line up together, to match details on her animation model collar.

[Stomski]

Y'know - part of what's interesting about toys that change from one thing to another is how parts of both are integrated into both modes.

A lot of G1 worked so well because things like car bonnets or roofs were used to make interesting parts of the bot which still maintained a good human like proportion and aesthetic. Prime's cab windows narrowing into his waist due to where his arms pull out from giving a powerful broad shoulder look is a great example. Crossing over to animals and you have similar successes - something like Tigerwawk where the claws are clearly visible across the shoulder doesn't detract from the aesthetic, it adds to it. You understand that this is something which has changed from something else.

When you deal with figures that have no discernible alt mode parts in robot mode visible, you gotta ask yourself what the point is.

[Pinwig]

That's the problem with Arcee generally. Remember she was one of the first characters who went animation model -> toy as opposed to the other way round.

[Bogatan]

Thats the main reason Im likely to buy Arcee unlike most other G1 MPs being made now. With no G1 toy theres no desire for a toy accurate MP.

I do feel like the back pack could fold up a bit better. Hoping its slightly mistransformed like the chest.

[Philip Ayres]

[Toph]

Feb 9, 2020 20:11:39 GMT Bogatan said:

Thats the main reason Im likely to buy Arcee unlike most other G1 MPs being made now. With no G1 toy theres no desire for a toy accurate MP.

Maybe that's why Arcee appeals to me more than practically any other G1 MP for the last several years

[Pinwig]

Hard to say this without sounding like a perv, but the more you look at the careful definition in the shape of that body, the more obvious it becomes that the chest plate has to be mistransformed. It's virtually sat over the stomach. There's too much definition in the legs, hips and stomach to ruin it with something that anatomically doesn't work with the rest of the figure.

[Pinwig]

At current exchange rate, if that 16,000 yen in the FB post is right, this is £113.

[Llama God]

Which is weird, 'cos I saw on Twitter somewhere that Tigatron was going to be $220 - which would make him more expensive...

Anyway, from an updated photo dump on TFW2005 (news.tfw2005.com/2020/02/09/tfw2005-reports-from-wonderfest-takara-tomy-representatives-declarations-extra-images-from-the-event-404884) here's a couple of more shots of her back:





It doesn't look all that horrible, actually. But it does still look very back-heavy.

And Pinwig, consenus on 'tInterwebs is that her chest is not mis-transformed - if you look at the white stripe underneath the pink bits (ahem) you'll see it matches all the way around. Which means everything is indeed in the correct place...