Bumblebee's alt mode for his "regular" version is the newest version of the Chevrolet Camaro-- as it's been ever since the first movie. The only huge change that I see (I'm not a HUGE car aficionado, so I'm sure I'm missing some things) is that the front headlights and grill have been slimmed down quite a bit-- if the car mode had a face, it'd be a bit more "mean-looking" with this version. The vents on the front are also much more obvious and angular. Another change that's a bit different with this version of 'Bee is that instead of having multiple stripes, he only has one stripe down the center of his vehicle hood, with a much smaler line surrounding said stripe. (No doubt this was to help lessen the paint apps needed.) Otherwise, he's very much your typical deluxe Movie Bumblebee toy in this mode, with a rather "cheese" orangish yellow base color plastic and transparent light blue windows. The paint and plastic colors for the orangish yellow are at a REALLY obvious mismatch for this toy, though, with the paint noticebly lighter/brighter than the rather dull and pale orangish yellow used for the plastic. Given how many of the car parts are painted and mixed together with the plastic bits, this is a bigger negative that it'd usually be. Luckily, other than just the tiniest tip of Bumblebee's feet sticking out the back end of the car and the couple of minor parts (like the abdomen) you can see through Bumblebee's transparent windows, there's no robot mode extras at all in this mode-- he's pretty darn proportional, as you'd expect from a toy with a licensed alt mode. The dark metallic silvery blue on the headlights looks mighty fine, but Bumblebee is missing paint on some fairly major details here-- none of the details on his back end are painted at all, and neither are the bits of side windows near the rear or the wheel hubs. Given all the aforementioned mismatched yellow paint apps, it's a bit of a bummer.
    Bumblebee's transformation is NOT your usual deluxe movie 'Bee transformation, though, and neither is the end result. This new version of "bee is meant to be a bit more "modern", sleek, and slightly more alien-looking-- a look that I generally like, but it only translates partially to toy form. Below the waist, he looks great-- I love the new leg transformation, with those fiddly car bits that usually just stick out above the knees folding behind his heels, while his other car parts fold behind his lower legs. The detailed yellow angular bits on the black legs look mighty good. It's from the waist up where 'Bee gets a bit weak-- instead of being more movie-accurate, 'Bee has a faux "car front chest" this time around, with the actual car front actually mostly on his shoulders. Granted, these parts are angled a bit to make them SLIGHTLY less obvious, but only just so. The big shoulders aren't on the CGI model, either. The roof is on his back like normal, but it doesn't fold up quite as well as it usually does, being fairly obvious sticking out from behind his rather slim waist and chest-- though at least the parts don't get in the way of articulation. The middle part of his actual car front actually folds in BEHIND his faux car chest, which is a bit odd, and his lower arms are mostly molded onto the inside of his car door pieces, with the side windows just folding partially behind said lower arms. For the most part it just doesn't look enough like 'Bee's movie model for a "mainline" toy from the waist up-- too many compromises were made, whether it was for budgetary purposes or for a slightly simpler transformation than usual. On the plus side, the yellow and black break each other up very well in this mode (with a bit of blah gray plastic added, though thankfully only for minor parts), so we don't have the "unpainted, mismatched" feel in this mode that the vehicle mode has. The mold detailing is also great, with little pointed and curvy bits everywhere, along with the usual pistons near the waist and a few other things that make movie 'Bee movie 'Bee, like the face (though unfortunately, the changed forehead mask doesn't slide down-- a shame, I really liked how that new mask looks-- more "insectoid"). For weaponry, Bumblebee comes with two spiked wheel-like things, stored on the bottom of his vehicle mode. Here, he can either hold them in his hands or they can store into little peg holes on his back, albeit not quite in the splayed-out way that they are on the CGI model. For articulation, Bumblebee can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points; three if you include the shoulder "armor" bits), elbows (at two points), hips (at three points), knees, and ankles (at two points). I'm not sure why waist movement wasn't included-- there's nothing in the transformation preventing him from doing so-- but otherwise, he's pretty poseable in this mode.
    The "new, upgraded" version of deluxe AoE Bumblebee, as a toy, isn't as good as his "High Octane" version. The vehicle mode is alright, but with greviously mismatched yellow paint and plastic, and his robot mode isn't all that accurate from the waist up, with very obvious roof bits, overly bulky shoulders, and hands that should've been more than just molded into the car door pieces. He's still not a BAD toy by any means, so if you want a Movie Bumblebee toy that's more "new", this is a mildly recommended pickup-- but as far as the actual mold goes, the "High Octane" version may be more tried-and-true, but it's a better design.

Review by Beastbot

*Thanks to Matthew B. for supplying me with the bio.

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