She does look tiny! Half the reason I put her on her own riser I did decide to switch her face out and add a gun to slightly disguise her chest And yes! Haslab is definitely on the way! Plan is to have Haslab in Planet mode with Cell in robot mode because I feel that’s where they both shine the most! I’ve got a few ideas that will come into play, one of which is Skywarp changing into Cyclonus (may not be your head cannon, but the clear figures existed haha)
MP-51 could use more diecast to help her stand straight. Rouge having the chest piece in metal and more metal in the legs really helps. I got mine to stand up in a reasonably straight position, but it was really difficult. My backpack seems transformed correctly (I had trouble with it and made sure it matched the appearance of the Youtube video exactly at the end). She just wants to tip back in the standing straight pose that I favor for all my Transformers (really all my action figures in general). The comments about Rouge not being feminine are almost laughable (especially given that a lot of the anti-3rd Party crowd criticized her for the opposite reason when she came out). Rouge has a few issues, but not looking like a fembot is definitely not one of them. If MP-51 could fix its chest issue (covering more of the white collar and having a less sharp angle), it would outclass Rouge, but I still think Rouge is the superior looking figure.
A local shop got a few of these, I had a few bucks burning a hole in my pocket and a need for retail therapy to cure my blahs. So I picked this up. Very glad I did so far. I have two versions of the MMC Arcee, but was still left wanting a bit more. Particularly as far as the alt mode, which is tiny and just a bit off on that one. The MP absolutely nails the alt mode. It’s beautiful and a nice size. Transformation was pretty enjoyable as well. After the soul-crushing self destructing disappointment of Hound, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this feels robust and sturdy. I didn’t have any concerns that something would break when transforming it. On to robot mode. Articulation is superb. Even better than Azalea’s which was very good. The backpack is fine. Not as clean as Azalea’s but it compacts up pretty well back to front and doesn’t screw up the silhouette. I find the complaints about that to be little exaggerated, but I’m not as bothered by backpacks as most. I found Prime’s and Bumblebee’s to be non-issues as well. You do have to take a second to find her center of balance, which is a tad narrower than the MMC. Not difficult to balance by and stretch, but so far I’ve found you need to find your pose, set her down, then tilt her ankles back to front until you find the sweet spot for balance. Colors are beautiful. Face looks much better in person, and I like it, but prefer Azalea’s. On to the big issue, the chest. Definitely looks bad, nobody can convince me otherwise. However, I feel like she gets enough right everywhere else that it’s not all i see and the figure as a whole still looks good enough to me. When I first got her to robot mode she looked much bigger to me than Azalea, but when I put them side by side I was surprised to see that they are almost exactly the same height to the top of the head. Maybe she just looks like more figure because she’s not as slender. This is still too new for me to pick a winner, just got it 3 hours ago, but it’s definitely a good figure and I don’t regret the purchase. The alt mode is perfect, the transformation is really good, and the accessories are great. I like the inclusion of 3 different kinds of weapons and blast effects for each. MMC’s cleans up substantially better, has a better face, and obviously doesn’t have the grandma boobs. And one massive complaint I have with MMC’s is that unless you want closed block fists that can’t hold a weapon, you have to partsform on a different set of hands to even have her hold a weapon. It wasn’t a deal breaker for me but it was close and I absolutely hate that. More than I mind anything aesthetic about the MP. With all that said, I don’t mind trading some looks for a bit better of a personality. Which I feel like this one does pull off.
Glad you like Arcee. Check my quote above for photos showing how to do the neck, backpack, and taillights properly.
So bizarre. She has massive, red lips and a fragile-looking, upturned nose. What could possibly be more feminine? Maybe you think all Arcees need a goofy smile to be feminine? Weird sentiment.
Thank you for that. I knew I didn’t quite have the backpack right, the collar armature was sitting in its slot at a slight angle, but I couldn’t put my finger on why it wasn’t sitting right. I usually take pride in getting my transformations right. I even watched TMan’s and Emgo’s reviews, both of whom take a lot of time to do the same, and couldn’t figure out what I did wrong. Planned on looking at Paik’s review as well, he’s the champ at that, but didn’t want to take an hour plus to watch it. Your pictures were a big help. Much appreciated.
No just a masculine jawline. And an overall ugly face. She looks like a dude in drag. And I said nothing about a smile, don’t put words in my mouth nor thoughts in my mind please. Thanks.
I got mine yesterday and even though I said I would remember your post, I completely forgot to reference it when I transformed her. Popped in the thread and thanked you for quoting yourself since it saved me the time searching for my quote of your post. Seemed I didn't push down her neck down enough to make her backpack solid. Now she is much better and I can try posing her like the photos in this thread.
I feel like the flexible plastic on Arcee was what they were going for in 2019 (Hound, V2 Bee, V3 Optimus). I'm glad they got it right (possibly with "Leo the Lion Prime", but I didn't grab a copy so I'm not sure). Looking forward to a Hound reissue and the new seekers!
I prefer Arcee over Rouge, however to be fair, the fembots were kinda blocky in most frames (not just Arcee). Rouge is okay in that aspect for sure; her fans have a leg to stand when it comes to accuracy. We all know it depends on what frame you use to make the comparison, as Arcee sometimes appeared curvy on screen as well. As far as I'm concerned, astectly they're both screen accurate, just the real Arcee feels more like the fully realized character. As someone else mentioned, she has an actual heartfelt presence to her unlike Rouge who feels like more of a "shell" of Arcee. The "3p curse".
All jokes aside, Rouge is fine. I agree that it's overall more screen-accurate than 51, even if it's not necessarily the better overall figure. As always, at the end of the day, to quote BSF: "if you like it, you win"