Review: #769
Name: Bumblebee
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release: 2023
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 19)
Mold Status: new
Mold Status: new
VEHICLE MODE:
Rise of the Beasts Bumblebee is the 100th numbered figure in the Studio Series line, and a somewhat fitting one.
He transforms into a modified 1977 Chevrolet Camaro, and it looks ready to go offroad.
However, he is fairly well painted in this mode, since the rear has black paint with painted red taillights. The robot gun pegs onto the back, while the other weapon actually stores beneath the vehicle.
This is a good mode, although if you looked from the side, you can see that his robot arms are very close to the ground and they just kind of hang there, so they can get in the way of rolling the vehicle.
Nevertheless, there aren't any major flaws in vehicle mode, which makes it quite decent.
TRANSFORMATION:
Bumblebee does things a little bit differently compared to previous Deluxe figures, and it's a fun transformation. The general layout remains the same, that is, the rear splits to form the legs, the doors open and the arms unfold out. The front becomes the torso. The legs are simple yet works very well with just a few panels moving around.
ROBOT MODE:
The end result of the transformation is that we get a short but stocky robot mode and it is actually a fairly good look for Bumblebee.
As you'd expect though, he wears a fair number of panels from the vehicle mode on his back.
The head sculpt is also quite nice with the bright blue eyes and silver mouth pieces.
Unfortunately, he is small in robot mode, even smaller than the already somewhat short Siege Sideswipe.
As part of the Studio Series line, he comes with a cardboard stand. As mentioned earlier, he is the 100th figure of the line and he's wave 19! It's surprising that a single line of Transformers managed to go this many figures and years without some sort of packaging refresh.
Articulation is good, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
He comes with two weapons, a gun and his stinger blade.
He holds the gun in his hand but the gun is shaped in such a way that it covers the fist to make it look as if his hand had morphed into the weapon.
While the blade just pegs outside his forearm. Unfortunately, the blade itself is left unpainted and this is disappointing. If only the designer could have used less black paint in vehicle mode to have enough budget for the silver paint that the blade desperately needs.
Both weapons can peg onto the door wings when not in use.
A benefit of being shorter than most Deluxes means that Bumblebee is quite solid and doesn't feel too flimsy.
This is a good robot mode, where the major flaw is just the unpainted blade. Given that's an aesthetics thing, this means that the robot mode is pretty good.
OVERALL:
Surprisingly, despite the huge number of Bumblebee figures we've had over the years, ROTB Bumblebee still manages to pack in a few surprises. The vehicle mode and robot mode is strong, and they're connected by a simple but fun, and a familiar but still different, transformation.
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