More images of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" Deluxe Class Arcee in robot mode after the previous posting on Chromia. ^^
Closeups on the details:
[Head]
[Body]
[Right arm]
[Left arm]
[Legs]
Taking "unsymmetrical weirdness" (the description I used on Chromia in the previous posting) to a whole new level, not only are the arms disproportionate in terms of their size, the official look of Arcee has the multi-jointed waist "concentrated" more on the left hand side of the robot mode, right where Arcee's large left arm is at. It's so "crowded" on that side the positioning of the waist joint made the upper body looked like it's trying to escape from there. XD
Echoing my sentiment regarding the robot mode design of Chromia, it's unique, but not necessarily nice-looking. While I do like the glorious display of mechanical details on the waist block, as well as the nice glossy sparkling shade of paint on Arcee's chest, its overall design is just too weird for me to really like it. ^^ Like Chromia again, Arcee doesn't move very well either, so all those unconventional design elements seem either just for show, or are actually hindrance to perhaps better articulation capabilities for Arcee. Either way, there's very little practical application from Arcee's unique robot mode design.
Since I'm already talking about it, here's a look at the articulation design and some special features of Arcee:
Since it's part of her transformation design, vertical and horizontal movements for the head can be done very easily.
The entire waist has four movable points incorporated.
The large abdominal ball-type joint allows very flexible swivel for the upper body, but it's limited to movement to the front of the body, as the ball-type joint's cap behind the waist block prevents the joint from going backward.
The large vertical piece can swivel on the bottom block to give the upper body added range of movement.
Third joint of the waist block: swivel joint that allows the waist block to be raised or lowered.
Fourth joint of the waist block: hinge joint connecting the waist block to the lower body that allows the upper body to swing forward or backward.
Lots of joints for the entire left arm, but their movements are very limited thanks to all the large armor parts. ^^;
Hinge-swivel joint combo for the shoulder.
Another hinge joint inside the shoulder allows the arm to be folded upward.
The bicep and elbow are both ball-type joints.
The wrist is fixed.
The much smaller right arm only has two movable points: shoulder and elbow which use ball-type joints.
Arcee's unique weapon gimmick: an energy blade that is activated by pulling the lever on top the launcher backward.
As you can see, most of Arcee's movable components are enabled by ball-type joints. It's perhaps the simplest yet most versatile type of joint an action figure can have. I can definitely see the application of so many ball-type joints on Arcee, as its unconventional robot mode design makes it quite hard to really understand how the parts are supposed to move. ^^ The armor clad left and right arms are prime examples of such a dilemma, and having ball-type joints certainly makes adjusting them much easier. Then again, even tons of ball-type joints are unable to do a lot to bypass the restrictions posed by those large armor panels on the arms. ^^; Arcee's poses must be very "dramatic" to give more room to all the components to be adjusted. For the large left arm, the lower body must be moved out of the way first so that it won't obstruct the arm before the latter can be adjusted. ^^
Personally, I like the ball-type joints for offering the tremendous convenience of fixing detached components. ^^ I can't remember how many times I popped off the right shoulder during the first few transformation attempts. ^^; Since it's on a ball-type joint, I just picked up the part can pop it right back on. ^^
Another special feature of Arcee has to be with her two sisters. Not shown in the movie (unfortunately ^^;), the three sisters can indeed combine, and the connector is available on the figure itself:
A large connector behind Arcee's body that can be bent downward
Chromia has one on her back as well, and it's exactly the same in terms of design. The connector features a slot and a peg, and looking at the angled cut of the edge, I think the three sisters combine by forming a triangular base using their connectors. ^^ But since I only have Arcee and Chromia, I don't think I want to try this "hidden" feature out, especially when there's no official instruction for it. ^^;
The last posting for Chromia coming up next. ^^
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