I want them to toss the old Arcee design in the trash and never look back. It's boring, doesn't have any of the standard aspects of a Transformer that actually make them interesting (actual parts of vehicle mode integrated into robot mode rather than sitting on the back), and it can't be done well on a toy for a reasonable price. The best you can get is what ER Arcee did (which I think is an awful figure), or T30 Arcee, who has a gigantic backpack (Even if I like that mold).

Like, make a design like this her new standard. It's still very recognizable Arcee, but you can actually get a feel for how she would transform just by looking at her.

 

I'm totally comfortable declaring removing 3/4s the alt mode and setting it aside a "bad transformation scheme". ER Arcee is just unacceptable as a Transformer to me. She's only a step or 2 above the Movie die cast cars that flipped up and had the robot mode on the bottom. An Action Master under a car shell.

Her sculpt is real nice though. Wish the paint was too.

that they could have done a fully-or-mostly integrated transformation like they did half a decade ago in T30?

I like that design, but it's a bit too IDW-busy for my tastes... I think the Energon Arcee was nearly perfect, would love to see that executed as a deluxe to allow for better details, proportions and a more complex transformation scheme. (although I do love when bikes are in the Scout/Legend/Core type classes for accurate 'relative' scaling.)

 

I chose that design because it's the best one I can think of with properly integrated alt mode parts in robot mode. I'd prefer something far simpler, but I just want an Arcee who is still very recognizably Arcee, but with an alternate mode and transformation that can't be summed up as "stuff a human in a pink, vaguely car-shaped coffin"

 

You can like ER Arcee all you want. There’s nothing wrong with liking a figure and nobody else’s criticism invalidates that. I mean, hell, I own her too (though I got her for $9 at Aldi).

That said, using the “she looks like her cartoon model” defense as a way of invalidating the complaints of others is pretty lame. These are Transformers and a major focus of their design will always be based around transformation. SS86 Hot Rod uses a fake chest piece while integrating its employment in a satisfying and unobstructive way. SS86 Scourge is thoroughly a shellformer and his wings interplay with his body in a solid and aesthetically-pleasing way. Siege Starscream has an entire jet on his back and even he integrates his shoulders and legs as part of the vehicle. Arcee crumpled up an action figure under a car mode shell is not satisfying to many people. Removing her kibble and saying she looks like her cartoon model does not make her objectively successful and shielded from criticism.

 

Even her ER toy is not totally accurate to her usual G1 appearance (Her face being white instead of pink with a lipstick for example).

 

PvP mentions in his review that SS86 Jazz “breaks all the time”, but is this true? I’ve only realistically heard one or two reports of roof breakage.

 

It's true. On YouTube, Facebook and here I've seen reports. Heck, mine is cracked.

 

Warning: First half rant, second half other

Spoiler: rant

I finally got around to watch the review and dear gawd, he's going to be getting plenty of future upgrades on the leg gaps alone. I'm still hating clear plastic and REALLY wish they'd just stop using it! Seriously, most, if not all, car modes with clear plastic are useless because there's no car details under the windows to help the illusion that it's not a robot under there! I'd vastly prefer solid plastic painted over instead! or, at the very least, just make the windows clear and not the rest! Stop making me fear that I'm going to break my figures by touching them! *tries to roar intimidatingly but comes off as dumb screes*

Now that's out of the way,

Spoiler: other

I'm loving how he looks in all three modes and I'm looking forward to owning... two of him... and Road Rage... one for each mode... like Stealth Mirage... Anyways, in customizing land, I'm seeing that his legs are majority connecting by mushroom caps so thicc thigh leg swap/mods for Road Rage are out of the question (if recent leg mushroom caps are anything to go by) but the way the chest is connected might be able to be removed if you do the heatpen trick in a similar manner to CW Warpath and PotP Slash so I'm hoping someone at Shapeways can give RR a rounded chest piece similar to that comic panel where she says "Bodyguard, remember?".... I lack the pic right now, so if anyone is kind enough to quote me with that pic, I'd be grateful.

 

Continued use of translucent plastic is less about seeing through it and the details underneath, and more about the visual "texture".

 

People always say this, but the T30 figure achieves the same goal while looking a bit better in robot mode (at least, compared to when you leave the backpack attached on ER Arcee) and way, way, way better in alt mode and incorporating a few actual parts of the alt mode into the transformation. Sure, the poseability's a bit lacking, but a figure with similar engineering could likely be made today that incorporates a waist swivel and ankle tilts.

 

That stinks but it isn’t surprising. I bought a second Jazz just in case, and as much as I prefer to convert my Transformers from time to time, I’ll probably keep one in each mode indefinitely.

 

Tracks is the #1 figure I wanted the most in my CHUG collection. I will get Kingdom Tracks but I’m disappointed in all the large gaps. However, having a CHUG representative of Tracks is better than not. I do have MP Tracks but not the same. The last CHUG Tracks in the US was in 2011 !!!!

 

I have all 3 versions of the earth van mold and not a single one of them looks like they’re going to break. I think that one’s fine.

 

Same. I do transform it, I just don't fold the backpack all the way. I leave the rear window as a tail (because of a lot of the cracking is under the paint) and I sanded down the connections where the windshield meets the hood and no further cracking has occurred. I have the second, just in case. I'll be ordering two Tracks for this specific reason alone, not because he's that great of a figure, sadly.

 

I just got Tracks and I’m going to help you guys settle which the worse figure is - Tracks or Arcee…….
Tracks’ legs transformation pissed me off but Arcee’s ridiculous transformation (or lackthereof) made me laugh.
Objectively, just talking about transformation, Arcee is BY FAR the worst toy in WFC.
Sigh I did have high expectations for Tracks.

 

Tracks has been my favorite Autobot car since G1. I'm still really looking foward to this version, but I will admit his feet are a HUGE minus. Here's hoping someone comes up with an upgrade kit that fixes that.

 

The thing this Tracks does right is that head sculpt. I'd love to put that on the RTS figure somehow. Otherwise, it's a definite pass.

 

Not sure about you guys, but I didn’t remember RTS Tracks to be so…………..

 

He's got a nice looking vehicle mode, but his robot mode sure hasn't aged well with those proportions. Like most of the pre-T30 carbots.