Bumbleebee's vehicle
mode is probably one of the least "kiddie-fied" of all the Bumper Battlers,
primarily because Bumblebee's vehicle mode in the cartoon already pretty
much has those proportions. The different number of colored paint apps
on Bumblebee is surprising-- things such as headlights, tail-lights, and
the like are all painted different colors, which helps make him look more
broken-up. There's really no large area of him that's just unrelenting
yellow, which is good for a guy like me who's not a huge fan of the color
in most cases. Bumbleebee's also got his signature black stripe down one
side, of course, though he also has three black stripes on each of his
car doors, which is another nice touch to help break up the yellow. As
with all Bumper Battlers, he has his name imprinted in a stylized manner
on his vehicle mode-- in this case, the windshield. Also like all Bumper
Battlers, pressing down on the Autobot symbol on his hood will activate
anywhere from 1-4 sequential sound effects which are played out in a semi-randomized
manner. It's amazing the sheer number of different ordered sound effects
you can get out of the toy, and they're never played in a manner that doesn't
make any sense-- and yes, the show voice actor does Bumblebee's voice on
the toy. Pressing in on the front bumper of his vehicle mode will automatically
transform him to robot mode and also play some of these random sound effects.
Here's a list of all the different sound effects I got out of Bumper Battler
Bumblebee after a couple dozen button presses (though again, with the vast
number of different random ordering of sound effects he has, I may have
missed a few):
-"Engine revving up" noise
-"Crashing" noise
-"Tires screeching" noise
-"Electric blasts" noise
-"Quick fire" noises
-"Horn beep" noise
-"Transforming" noise
-Laughing (which sounds HILARIOUS)
-"Hey guys!"
-"Ow!"
-"Vehicle mode!"
-"Suh-weet!"
-"I'm Bumblebee."
-"Too slow!"
-"This calls for speed!"
-"I'm the fastest thing on wheels!"
-"Let's motor."
Like all Bumper Battlers,
Bumblebee's "robot mode" isn't anything particularly special-- just his
upper body poking out of his vehicle mode-- but the robot mode is more
of a side-gimmick for these toys as opposed to the main reason they exist
(sound effects and crash-transformations). The paint and mold detailing
on his robot parts is fairly nice, with no large detail being left unpainted
(though the unveiled parts of his lower body have no paint at all). Articulation
isn't Bumblebee's strong point either, sadly-- all you can move is his
electro-arm piece down at the elbows, though they snap back up as soon
as you let go.
Bumper Battler Bumblebee
is one of the better toys of the subline given the number of paint apps
and his relatively normal proportions on the upper part of his robot mode,
though no toy in this line is obviously going to be up to par with the
"big kid" Transformers, as they're not this subline's target audience.
If you're a huge Bumblebee fan and love sound effects, you may like this
toy-- just keep in mind that it's targeted at the little 'uns.
Review by Beastbot