Bot Reviews: Transformers: Missing Link Arcee (Prototype)

Despite being such an important, central character in the 1986 Transformers movie, the post-movie cartoon, and the rest of the Transformers franchise in general, Arcee actually didn’t get a toy back in the original Generation One line. She was supposed to have one, though, and we’ve seen pictures of an unproduced prototype for many years, based on a preliminary animation model and colorscheme.

This original Arcee figure would have been the fourth 1986 Autobot Car, alongside Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr, but 1980s Hasbro got cold feet about including a Girl Toy in a Boy Toyline. These were, after all, the same people who got weird about Hot Rod being pink, so no surprise there. 

The 21st century, meanwhile, would belatedly grace us with many Arcee toys based on her classic design (like the Earthrise and Studio Series 86 versions that I’ve reviewed), but this new one from Missing Link is something special, because it’s specifically trying to make the 1986 dream come true, and replicate that original lost prototype.

So, Missing Link. It isn’t a Transformers line I’ve really dipped my toes into, mostly because of how expensive it is. The big idea behind this fancy Takara-only set of figures is to literally give us “G1 with Knees,” or perfect 1-to-1 replicas of G1 figures, but with modern articulation. It’s a neat idea, but, again, it comes with a hefty price tag, which is why I was happy that Legacy Deluxe G1 Optimus Prime (reviewed here) offered basically the same thing, just a bit smaller, and for normal Deluxe prices. Missing Link Arcee, though, she was one I absolutely had to splurge on. I love the prototype Arcee colors (see my review of Ocular Max’s Masterpiece-scale take on it), but also, I wanted it for headcanon original-character reasons. And, well, TFCon’s the place to get it, even if the price was substantial. Also, Takara simultaneously released an animation color version of this figure with a different headsculpt, emulating what a final-production version of 1986 Arcee might have looked like, but I like this version better.

Either way, let’s see if she’s worth it. One thing’s for sure, the packaging and presentation is trying really hard to make you believe she’s worth it, with her replica G1 box, complete with styrofoam tray. 

Vehicle Mode

An immediately interesting thing about Missing Link Arcee is her scale: She’s basically the size of a modern Deluxe Carformer, and fits in nicely with them. She’s a hair shorter, and a good deal thinner than Studio Series 86 Arcee, but plenty bigger than some of the smaller modern Deluxes, like *glances at shelf* Origin Bumblebee, Selects Hubcap, those guys.

More importantly, she just seems like a mainline figure at a glance. If I didn’t know what she was, I’d believe it was a new Age of the Primes release, at least until I picked her up (more on that later).

As for her design, it’s Arcee’s Sunbow car mode put through a funhouse mirror. All of the details and shapes are there, from the vent at her bumper, to the clear windscreen in front of two seats, to the big fin at the back. It’s the proportions that are way different. The middle’s very tapered, and the front stretches and extends, like the tongue of a shoe. It takes the “retro-future 50s dream car” look that she already had, and enhances it even more. It’s also very faithful to what the prototype looked like, with the only changes being extra seams and holes for the transformation, the windscreen being added, and her wheels being a hair smaller. 

The colors, though. That’s where the real story is, because they’re just gorgeous. They look like how certain types of Synthwave or Retrowave music sound. The car’s decked out in a more vibrant pink than usual, mixed with accents of fiery orange, some deep red cherry towards the rear, and an off-white bumper, with dark gray seats. What did I say the last time I looked at these colors? “Myself and others have compared this layout to: A sunset, the fires in a forge, summer in general, the 80’s, the Vaporwave aesthetic, Generation 2 before it existed.” Yep, still holds true. These should just be Arcee’s normal colors, that’s how good I think they look. They even pair surprisingly well with a properly pink Hot Rod. 

I’ll also note, at this point, that she comes with a sheet of foil stickers that you can apply, which are newly-invented for this release, and resemble the kind of random made-up detailing so many 1986 figures were slathered with. I really appreciate what the designers did here, but I’m going to leave them off, both because I think she looks better without them, and because that’s not what the prototype looked like. Cool idea, though.

Build quality is, again, surprisingly good and solid. This doesn’t feel fiddly or fragile, or too much like a collector’s piece, as opposed to a toy. Maybe a real mainline release would have made the fin at the back semi-removable to prevent breakage, but it doesn’t feel like that’s a potential problem. I’m still going to handle her carefully, but I don’t feel like I actually need to.The big surprise, though, is that there’s diecast metal in her construction, like an actual G1 toy.

The two “headlight” projections on either side of her hood are cold to the touch, in a way that, I guess, is imitating how a G1 toy might have been built. 

For features, despite her tiny wheels, Arcee rolls really well, with no ground clearance problems. Up on her hood, she’s got an old-fashioned G1 rubsign, something that wasn’t present on the prototype, but which I appreciate here.

She’s also got a lone accessory, in the form of a very small, pea-shooter pistol. At this resolution, I’m not sure if it’s copying her animation model design, or is something original.

It’s meant to stash in a dedicated slot underneath her car mode, but you can also pop it into a pair of holes at the car’s rear, for a bit of an attack mode.

Her car’s seats, meanwhile, don’t quite offer enough clearance for Titan Masters to sit comfortably, but I wonder if some of the Diaclone pilots other Missing Link figures come with would work instead.

Transformation

All in all, surprisingly simple and painless, despite a couple of initially worrying bits. In the abstract, this is a G1-simple transformation. You flip out the legs from underneath her, shorten her spine, flip out the arms, fold down the front of the car, adjust the backpack, and you’re done, with the rest just being fine details. It’s actually pretty similar to her Studio Series 86 transformation, but far simpler, and less fiddly. As for the trouble spots, I was initially sweating when moving her clear windshield down into its folded-away position, because it was extremely tight, didn’t want to move, and was, again, made of clear plastic.

After that first nerve-wracking time, though, it’s since been easier to reposition. Meanwhile, I’d heard reports of possible breakage on her legs, due to a funky little step where you slide her knees down and sideways, along a pair of plastic rods. In hand, they don’t seem especially fragile, though, but I do handle that step a bit carefully, on general principle. 

It’s interesting, also, trying to analyse this transformation through a G1 lens. I can imagine a version of this where her spinal compression is done by a big yank, rather than folding a complicated ligature around. Also, while most of her car parts move into the corresponding locations in her robot mode, she fully has a fake set of wheels at her knees, and this wasn’t the done thing in G1, they’d have been real. On the other hand, I’ve got no idea how they would have engineered the transformation to make them real, and I suspect the 1986 figure they didn’t produce would just have been redesigned a bit by the time it hit the market. 

Robot Mode

Missing Link Arcee’s now taller than her Studio Series 86 version, but still really firmly at the Deluxe scale.

And while she’s a detailed replica of a G1-era design, it’s again astounding how she slips seamlessly in with my modern mainline figures.

Like her car mode, nearly all of the details of G1 Arcee’s character model are here, just shaped and positioned slightly differently. The major exceptions are shoulder pylons instead of backpack pylons, and those fake wheels at her knees. She’s less of a stereotypically skinny girl-with-a-backpack, and more wide and bulky, in a way that sort of feels progressive, design-wise, even if they still gave her an exaggeratedly hourglass-shaped lower torso, complete with bikini bottoms. Little steps, I guess.

Her weird arms also look better in person than I expected. I thought they’d read as shrunken and vestigial, coming out of the sides of her shoulder pylons, but they’re very carefully shaped in a way that suggests normal arms beneath the armor. I am annoyed that her forearms have visible hollow bits on them, though.

In this premium line, that’s a cost-cutting measure you’d think they wouldn’t need. She also does have a bit of a backpack behind her, some of the car’s roof at the small of her back, but it’s extremely minor. In terms of fidelity to the original prototype, a few more liberties were taken here, including visible wheels on her shoulders, and forearms and feet that are generally shaped a bit differently, but it all feels like realistic stability and transformation needs dictated these changes. 

The headsculpt is also great, especially because the actual prototype’s face is a bit fuzzy and indistinct. She’s still got the Leia-buns-helmet, but it’s bulkier and more oval. Her face, meanwhile, reads as a bit sterner and more serious than Arcee normally is, between her more chiselled jawline, fuller lips, and more serious expression, compared to the softer face her cartoon model (and most modern figures of her) actually have. It’s recognizeable, but I could totally buy that this is a different character (which is what I use her for).

The colors are, of course, still that wonderful Retrowave/fiery forge/80’s Miami sunset type deal of vibrant pink, orange, and cherry red, with bits of off-white and dark gray. Her face is where most of the new deco is, and it adds a little bit of blue to her eyes. It’s basically perfect. 

In terms of build quality, she, again, doesn’t feel flimsy or fragile, but about as good as a modern mainline Deluxe. Besides the diecast on what’s now her shoulders, there’s also some metal in her feet, which is good, because it adds to her stability. Between that, and flip-out heel spurs, she manages to stay standing far easier than her shape would suggest, though, sadly, she can’t pass the “stand on one foot and kick” test.

Her articulation is interesting, because of what it is, and what it isn’t. A true G1 Arcee would have had minimal joints, probably just her shoulders and hips, going by the prototype.

But Missing Link is all about adding crazy-elaborate articulation to G1 figures, instead of literally reissuing them, so they’ve instead given her a somewhat-modern suite of jointage, with some odd limitations. For her lower torso, she has impressive omni-directional ankle tilts, swivelling knees, and universal hips. There’s no kind of thigh swivel on her, though, and her waist is totally immobile, due to the transformation.

Uptop, her head’s got a double-jointed neck, giving her side-to-side and up-and-down motion, albeit a bit limited by her helmet bumping into her backpack. Meanwhile, her arms are very carefully articulated as much as they can be, with shoulder swivels inside her armor, sideways swivels where her arms meet it, and both bicep swivels, and swivelling elbows.

No wrist swivels, though, which is a bit vexing, as there’s no obvious reason not to include them in this high-budget toyline. Between that, and the missing waist and thigh swivels, we land on something just a little below modern Age of the Primes articulation. It’s not bad, but it’s an odd place for them to have landed, and I can’t help but feel they could have done a bit more.

For accessories and features, again, she’s got her little pistol, which fits securely into either hand, or stashes at her back, in the vehicle mode’s attack configuration.

Again, I appreciate all the effort taken to make her arms as mobile as possible (even without wrist swivels), so she can aim and dramatically pose with that weapon. 

Overall

Okay. So. I really, really like this figure. Conceptually, firstly, it’s great that they made the impossible dream real, and produced the G1 Arcee prototype, it’s an idea I was immediately into. Plus, I just think the design, especially the colorscheme, looks really, really cool, and it’s well-rendered here. And if you don’t like the colorscheme, firstly, what’s wrong with you, and secondly, there’s an animation-colors version also available, with a headsculpt that’s more toon-ish. 

Beyond that, Arcee manages to just be a fun figure. Missing Link has a reputation for feeling fragile and fiddly, but that’s not the case here, and, besides some complaints about missing a few obvious points of articulation, she feels as solid and fun as a modern Age of the Primes Deluxe, and, again, slides nicely into a shelf next to them.

And therein lies the big issue, in my opinion. This is an *expensive* toy, like the rest of Missing Link. Obviously, price depends on where and when you get her, but she’ll definitely cost more than a Leader-class Transformer, will definitely crack triple digits, at least in Canadian Dollars, and probably start to hit Commander-Class price levels. Now, some of that I get. She’s a limited-run Takara thing, she’s got diecast metal parts, and they went ham on the packaging and presentation. But, well, I can’t shake the feeling that she doesn’t feel *worth* the premium price tag she commands, that she ought to be closer in price to the Deluxe-class figures she fits in amongst. Now, I’m not personally experiencing any buyer’s regret, partially because she is a really fun figure, but also because, as a dealer at TFCon, I funded the purchase with my sales. So, I guess it really comes down to your financials. If you ignore the money, she is absolutely worth getting, kind of a must-have, in my opinion, but that price tag is a very big thing to ignore.