It really is a fascinating depiction of how the design approach went in (and probably had to go in) the opposite direction from the previous releases. Those had existing transformation schemes and the game was just in fitting more joints into existing shapes, while this one had to have a transformation scheme figured out first, with just a guiding look for the finished robot mode. And I think it's fair to say that transformation scheme
was figured out with more contemporary engineering bits. So sure, it's not
quite what the G1 toy would have been, if that were the only design remit. But it's fine.
It does keep the conversation going about how a G1 Arcee actually would have gone, especially knowing that the G1 design seems to never have actually been engineered. Many of the elements used in her contemporaries are fair game, but ultimately I feel we'd have gotten an Arcee that was bulkier than the animation model and prototype (which is fine). That 3D-printed one is good food for thought and a neat take if not for the partsforming.
Hmm. Basically fold the car in half. If the transformation hews more closely to the animation model than the prototype: like Springer, the hood folds down to reveal the head, and the front wheels are flipped around in exchange for folded arms; the front fenders stay vertical in robot mode. Bottom half of the car still becomes the legs (maybe thinner/more slender static lower legs pull out of what will stay in place as waist/thighs). Seats and rear of the car fold down as a panel to be a backpack or add to the boots (see Scourge) for stability.
(While writing this out, I was reminded at this point of
the cancelled Titanium Arcee -- similar to what I describe above except for where the arms go in altmode and a different execution on the waist/hips. A neat take which is itself kind of the missing link between the prototype and T30 Arcee.)
Closer to the prototype: maybe the hood/head turns on a mushroom peg before folding down so the tops of the fenders can end up as the fronts of the upper arms. But that seems like quite a bit more than G1 would bother with, and in a universe where this all happened and there
was a toy, I can see this being a reason to change from the prototype's arm setup (fender panels facing forward, and in front of the arms) to the animation model's (fenders behind the arms).
In all this, the thing I am newly curious about is what wild stickers she would've gotten...
