PE DX01 Motobot (1)RC(5-5)

Because you demanded it! (or because I said I would) Another converting toy not made by Hasbro or TakaraTomy! And this time, it's from Perfect Effect. Perfect Effect is notable for doing really tiny figures absolutely crammed with stuff and engineering, mostly based (loosely) on Soundwave and Blaster's micro cassettes. Their previous offering was a take on a trio of dudes that form a camera, namely Reflector. (Spectro, Spyglass, and Viewfinder if you wanna get technical) Their next offering in that lineup is...the same trio, with retooled heads and bodies to reflect their original toys this time. But, Perfect Effect has tried something a bit different. The figures in their DX lineup are much bigger than what they've done before, being about Deluxe size. And what do they start the line off with? A girl. A girl in two flavors, pink and blue. A girl carrying an army's worth of weapon accessories.

I'm of course talking about Motobot RC. Pink version for me, but the only difference between this and the blue one (called RC Battle) is the color. For the vehicle mode, RC is a motorcycle. And mine has a slight problem...



You see that kickstand there? You see how it's not reaching the ground? That's the problem. I have to have the bipod piece pointed downward in order to have her displayed in bike mode without falling over. This might just be mine, and it doesn't affect the figure in any other way whatsoever. The vehicle mode is generally pretty solid, and there's lots of little details molded and painted in. A bit of her pelvis shows along with one thigh, foot, and a bit of her upper arms underneath the seat. Her hands are partially visible from the back. Given how good the robot mode looks, I'll forgive the gaps in this mode. Does she roll? Kinda. She fares better on surfaces that aren't smooth so her wheels have something to grip. For a size comparison, I thought to show her against three different Arcee toys I own.



Slightly shorter than Movie and Animated Arcee, (counting the latter's spoiler parts) about the same length as First Edition Arcee. I do really like how different her bike mode looks next to the others, as though futuristic or alien. There's a few tiny paint over-sprays here and there on mine, and frankly I just don't care enough to rage over 'em. But it may bug some people, so I point it out.

And now for the transformation. This is where a possible major downside of the figure appears. She's a partsformer. You have to take several pieces off and reattach them elsewhere later. In RC's case, the rear part and the side parts will reattach. The rest goes into making the weapons. But first, how about a look at her without anything on? Just the base figure as she comes in the package.



Not very exciting is it? So let's stick her wing boosters and backpack on.



Much better. Her ears deploy simply by tilting her head back, as though looking up. They compact into her head to keep her neck in the proper position when going into bike mode. This is because if it's not done right, the head won't fit in right and if you try to force it, it'll break. There's a pair of nubs on her ankles that are supposed to lock into holes inside her lower legs...but mine didn't have the holes and make trying to get the foot up into there frightening, with a distinct possibility of breaking the silver armor piece on her foot. I cut the nubs right off and it affects nothing other than making her legs much less frightening to transform. Speaking of which, the knee guard locks her knee in position but shouldn't be forced to move if it isn't turning. Instead, check her leg and make sure everything is pushed in and bent as far as it'll go or else things may pop off and/or break. Now, her swords and pistols store on her backpack. There's one little thing everyone seems to encounter...



You see that pistol that's not on all the way? That's as far as it'll easily go. And it's the same for either pistol when going on that one peg. It'll go on fully, but unhappily so. Also, nice look at her back. My copy's swords also happen to be bent. One's worse than the other. And while they're a slightly flexible translucent pink plastic (blue for the blue version) and could probably be straightened out by methods that can straighten PVC bits on other figures, I don't really care enough to do that. She has a visor, and on some it's very difficult to get it to stay on her face. Mine stays on just fine once pushed on, but is easily knocked off. And given its size, it could be easily losable. But here's a look with it on, and off.





I appreciate the idea of the visor, but I like her face without it on. Though a touch of darker pink would have been nice on her lips just to pick them out from the rest of her face. Aesthetically, she's definitely feminine to me. Granted, not as...*ahem* well endowed as some others like G1 Arcee's character model, but this fits her. The wing boosters are attached to the handlebars from bike mode, and have a couple of places where they move to keep out of the way of a pose. And boy can she pose...but I'm getting ahead of myself. Size comparison with three Arcess, before I forget.



Yeah, about a head shorter than First Edition and Movie Arcee, but taller than Animated Arcee. But she has something they simply don't have: sheer useful articulation. 33 points, virtually none of which is doubled up to work in the same direction. And only four total is in her hands. That's insane. What's more, her elbows and knees bend well past the standard 90 degrees. RC also has die-cast metal plates on the outsides of her lower legs to weigh them down and make her very stable when posing. THIS is her strongest selling point.



RC holds both her pistols extremely well. Which is good, since that's how the backpack attaches to her in vehicle mode.



The swords are cool, if a bit scary to get in and out of where they store in bike mode. Just be careful, and don't try to pull them out of there. They lightly peg in to their scabbards in robot mode, so drawing them out is easy. She can actually reach and hold the sword handles while they're stored on her back, but I don't advise trying to have her draw it. Also, her right elbow and left knee are bent as far as they go in that pic, and there is nothing supporting her in that pose.



Six parts combine to make her sniper rifle. The ammo clip/magazine stores under what forms her chest panel in robot mode, but only in vehicle mode. It can be a bit touchy getting it to stay there, and has to be done before bringing her leg up to peg into position. You can take the rifle apart and store most of the pieces on her, but it looks a bit awkward. The bipod though makes it look really good just sitting beside her when she's not using it. Or placed on top of cover from where she's using it. And she's articulated enough to hold both handles at the same time. Laying down to use it is harder because her neck simply doesn't bend back far enough to look like she's aiming with it.

So, do I recommend this? It depends. If you need your Arcee homage figures to be more feminine physically, or can't accept one not turning into a car, or simply don't like partsforming, then I'd pass on this and instead hunt down iGear's Delicate Warrior. (while avoiding Impossible Toys TRNS Valkyrie like the plague) Perfect Effect RC has great quality plastic and finish, if slightly marred by a few relatively minor hiccups here and there. What may hurt the design more is the sheer amount of stuff crammed into a Deluxe size figure. There's a lot of tiny little joints and things that may break if mistreated. That said, as long as you don't get rough with her and try forcing stuff without checking to see where it's getting hung up, she should be fine. One other thing that may scare some people is the price, which is roughly $100. (before shipping and whatnot. After if bought from RobotKingdom) For this price, you could buy MMC Knight Morpher Commander/Annihilator, or preorder one of the Airborne squad guys. You could also just about afford a Hercules limb for the price. Given the sheer mount of accessories that come with her, the finish, and even the die-cast content in her legs, I can understand the price. But I can also understand some people's hesitance on pulling the trigger on it. If that doesn't deter you, then buy in good faith.

Oh yeah, RC also came with a comic. The comic is full of wonderful, wonderful Engrish. But it did show another female robot character, albeit briefly. One who shares some similarities with RC, but resembles Animated Black Arachnia. Why do I bring this up? Well, Perfect Effect has announced (and shown pics of more recently) the next entry to the PE DX line, the DX02. And this one has spider legs along the sides of the bike...

she looks pissed off the way her forhead is shaped.

She definatly can strike a pose though. That's a great review Detective Barricade.

Another great review, DB! I like the fact she comes with plenty of interchangeable weaponry, ankle tilts and lots of articulation from the looks of things and what appears to be a pretty unique transformation process. The only thing that I think could use work is the head sculpt (which could have been more feminine) and maybe an aftermarket sticker/decal set just for added flare.

Galvatron wrote:she looks pissed off the way her forhead is shaped.

She definatly can strike a pose though. That's a great review Detective Barricade.

Her face though in person isn't that of anger. It's a neutral expression, just you need to see it a bit more closely.

@Sixshot I think what's really needed is like a darker pink on her lips to bring them out better. (and match her appearance in her included comic) There's really not much room in her body width-wise for her head to go, so...maybe the same sculpt, just wider 'Princess Leah buns'?

I am tired of Arcee being only a motorcycle! I have a third party versions her as a car. I would like to see a MP Arcee car/robot figure.

AlphaTrion878 wrote:I have a third party versions her as a car. I would like to see a MP Arcee car/robot figure.

 I do too, but it's a POS, lol! (Impossible Toys Valkyrie) Passing on this version, but will definitely be pre-ordering Mastermind Creations Azalea!  So much win with that sexy fem-bot. 

AlphaTrion878 wrote:I am tired of Arcee being only a motorcycle! I have a third party versions her as a car. I would like to see a MP Arcee car/robot figure.

Go buy yourself Animated Arcee if you're sick of her being a motorcycle. It might have to do for awhile as far as an official Arcee is concerned, as it doesn't seem like Hasbro/TakaraTomy are in any rush at all to do a car version of her. Takara might get to her in the MP line...after they've done just about every other character from the '84/'85 lineup of Autobot cars. So either that, or proceed to hug your iGear Delicate Warrior tightly, and/or preorder MMC Reformatted Azalea (based on IDW Arcee) once those go up. (which will run you about $60. Pretty fair price honestly)