Bumblebee
(Activator) [Autobot Alliance]
This is Movie Bumblebee!
You remember Movie Bumblebee, right? Chevy Camaro, orange, gray and black?
Well, since this is like the bazillionth release of this character, I'm
gonna skip past the comments about his color scheme, alt mode choice, and
robot design pecularities. I've already been there, done that many, many
time-- this review is more focused on what makes this version of Bumblebee
unique. This version, with its spring-loaded transformation, is more about
being a bit more kid-friendly of a toy design. In robot mode, the proportions
are quite realistic, particularly in comparison to many "kiddie"-aimed
Transformers. It's a TAD wider proportionally than the real thing (or not
as long, take your pick), but generally the proportions are spot-on. All
of the necessary paint apps are there-- the stripes, the front grill, the
windows. The rather flat blue used for the windows is a particularly attractive
shade on this verion, and contrast quite well with the yellow. There are
a few paint apps missing that tend to be a bit noticeable, though-- namely
the lack of painted headlights, taillights, and tire rims, but that's not
too big of a deal.
Being an Activator,
to transform Bumblebee to robot mode you simply push in on the Autobot
symbol on the top of his vehicle mode and he'll unfold into robot mode
pretty much by himself, with only a minor fiddling with the shoulders and
legs needed to finish the job. Getting him BACK into vehicle mode is slightly
more difficult, as given the spring-loaded part you have to position the
arms and back-piece in the correct position BEFORE clicking it all together
to "set" him in his alt mode again, but it's not that big a deal compared
to normal transformations, certainly. (Occasionally people have reported
getting a "dud" that refuses to set in vehicle mode-- this doesn't seem
TOO common, but fair warning.) In robot mode he has slightly "superdeformed"
proportions, with a rather comically large head and "eyeballs" and a relatively
small chest. I'm not a huge fan of this look for Movieformers, as it just
doesn't work very well given their intricate design, but it does work better
on Bumblebee than on other TFs in the subline. Speaking of mold detailing,
Bumblebee's got an impressive amount of it, particularly in the legs and
chest/head. A fair amount of it is painted, too-- particularly on the chest/head.
A few more paint apps on the arms couldn't have hurt, though. The paint
on his legs is noticeably more orange than the "cheese yellow" used for
most of his plastic, though-- it definitely sticks out a bit in a way it's
not supposed to. Bumblebee's only big piece of kibble is the front of the
car hood on his upper back-- otherwise his vehicle chunks tend to stick
behind/to the side of his appendages pretty well and don't get in the way
of movement. I do like that Bumblebee's shoulder-guns are molded into the
top of his backpack, though-- a bit of a nice touch to try to not make
that backpack TOO unsightly. His arms are too skinny compared to the rest
of his body-- he doesn't look like he could take on Decepticons effectively
with those things. As far as articulation, Bumblebee can move at the shoulders
(at two points), elbows (at two points), neck, hips, knees, and slightly
forward-and-backward at the ankles. He really could've used a swivel joint
at the knees, but otherwise it gets the job done fairly well. The ankles
are molded at a slight angle so he can stand with his legs spread slightly
out, too.
Activator Bumblebee
is a fine enough toy, given the gimmick-- though of course, with the simplistic
gimmick comes a few sacrifices, such as small arms, a big piece o' backpack,
and a superdeformed head (though the last is obviously intentional). A
fine toy for young 'uns who like the kid appeal character, so long as they're
old enough to understand that they need to hold the pieces together in
place for a bit to get him back into vehicle mode.
Review by Beastbot