Review: #92
Name: Bumblebee
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Prime - First Edition
Year of Release: 2011
Size Class: Deluxe (First Edition Wave 1)
Variations: repainted into SDCC 'Taxi' Bumblebee and another version in a 2pk with Starscream in the normal Prime line
VEHICLE MODE:
So, a new toyline, and hence a new Bumblebee toy. What we have here today is the First Edition Bumblebee, and, the only First Edition figure so far not sold out, despite the popularity of this short lived line. Why? I'll tell you later. Anyway, focus! Bumblebee once again transforms into a yellow sports car, which bears more than a slight resemblance to a Camaro.
Bumblebee also has black racing stripes of sorts, they give him a tech feel. One thing that I really like is that they painted the rear lights red, which breaks up the blandness. He does have molded exhaust pipes, license plate and some sort of car logo.
The hubcaps are painted silver and he rolls along really well. He sits fairly low on the ground, and all his windows are transparent blue plastic, which would look better if they were a shade darker. Anyway, as per usual, the yellow paint on the transparent bits don't match the yellow plastic, being lighter in this case. Thankfully, the places where it has the yellow paint is limited.
While the rear of the car is bland, the grill can be regarded as too 'busy'. There's a huge amount of detail, which clutters up the look a lot. The molding on the grill is complex and primarily painted black, with some orange (for indicators) and transparent blue headlights. He also has an exposed engine, which, unlike the normal Wave 1 figure, you cannot plug his gun on top.
The underside shows off a figure that has all his limbs packed and convoluted. You can store the gun by plugging it on the underside. It's not terribly secure, and it was hard to make it stay in place (and if you don't plug it in properly, it will scrap the bottom when you're trying to roll Bumblebee).
Bumblebee is a decent size unlike Prime Wheeljack, Bumblebee feels heavy enough to not make you feel ripped off, even though he is smaller than most Generations Deluxes.
A detailed car, and not terrible by any means. It's a good car, some noticeable seams, yes, but a good mode nonetheless.
TRANSFORMATION:
This is where most of the complaints of this figure are. It starts off fairly okay, with the back of the car turning into Bumblebee's legs like you would expect them to. However, the way the hood contorts into his torso is another affair. There are a few surprising and unexpected twists, to the point where you might think they had over complicated this figure. It might throw you off the first time, but I actually thought it was quite neat and kept the transformation interesting. After multiple playthroughs with this figure, I was surprised to find that I kept transforming his chest wrong. It wasn't until I checked the instructions did I realise his chest plugs together very securely (before, it was an unstable mess). Bumblebee is very well designed. I wouldn't say the transformation is fun, especially going back into vehicle mode, but it was interesting. One major flaw is that he has too many pegs holding him together in vehicle mode. That might sound like a good thing, but it's not when you spend some time prying out pieces since they're pegged together so well to the point where you're getting frustrated. I find that the transformation seems somewhat inspired by the Movie versions.
ROBOT MODE:
This is where Bumblebee's greatest strength lies in. His show accuracy is just amazing, there are a few elements that they incorporated as tiny extra steps to mimic the show model. Once again, I stress that his chest all pegs together and stays together solidly. It doesn't dislodge the moment you fiddle around with it (which was a lot of complaints about this figure).
Some might be put off with the proportions, with the long (gorilla like) arms, big feet, small waist and huge upper body, but I like it, and that's how Bumblebee looked in the show anyway. Bumblebee has a small amount of kibble, the most noticeable being the roof of the car folded behind the door wings.
Bumblebee might look bulky, but he is fairly hollow, especially his feet, due to the automorph like transformation.
Like all the other First Edition figures, Bumblebee comes with a stand. It's made of cardboard so it's nothing special, and wastes a lot of space if you decide to use it for display. Also, the stand is not 'deep' enough for you to display the car mode on it, only the robot mode fits.
The torso has a heap of detail. Luckily on mine, the little hood pieces that move down were easily moved, other people had theirs stuck. The Autobot logo is somewhat obscured by the hood pieces.
The head sculpt is good, but the star must be the lightpiping, it is wicked. It catches the light very easily, as you can see in the photo above (and I wasn't even trying).
The only gimmick Bumblebee has is his double barreled gun. In each forearm guard (which has some nice sculpted elements) is a hole for the weapon to plug in.
Bumblebee only has one gun, which is a shame, would have been nice to have both his weapons available. However, the guard is angled downwards in such a way that he cannot really aim it (unless it's aiming for the ground).
Bumblebee's fairly tall, well, as tall as you'd expect of a normal Deluxe. He is paired with a 'standard' Deluxe in the photo above.
The articulation is good, and Bumblebee even features a waist swivel. The shoulders are jointed a bit weirdly but it doesn't affect much. Interestingly, the hands are jointed such that they can fold inwards, I would have expected they would be able to rotate but nup...
Bumblebee can be put into a wide variety of poses, his big feet allow him to be stand solid, without fear of falling.
There's not many additional paint apps here, but the yellow plastic works well, and Bumblebee doesn't come off being bland. Mine had a defect out of the packaging, his left shoulder wheel cover was reversed, and it was when I was trying to fix it did I realise Bumblebee had a LOT of pins. So that's something to watch out for, because if you get a defect, chances are, you'll need to punch out a pin to fix it.
A robot mode that has grown on me a lot, and I have taken a huge liking to it. It looks great displayed and infinitely better than the RiD version. He's great fun to pose around.
OVERALL:
The number one most understated and under loved figure in the Prime First Edition line. Honestly, this is considered by many the weakest figure, but I find Bumblebee to be amazing. Sure, the market's saturated with Bumblebee's, but most of them aren't good figures, this one is. However, it's not one for people who likes simple figures, as Bumblebee is undoubtedly complex, but rewarding at the same time. Grab this toy if you like the aesthetics, I didn't let the many complaints of this figure put me off, and I did not regret it one bit, an excellent figure.
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