Set Price: $20 U.S.
Also Contains: "Autobot Alliance" patch
Overall Rating: 8.9

(NOTE: Because this set is composed of repaints, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the set and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original versions of these molds. For a review on the original DotM Backfire toy, go here. For a review on RotF Cannon Bumblebee, go here.)
 

Backfire w/ Sam Witwicky

Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Human Alliance Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation to Weapon Mode: Easy
Difficulty of Transformation to Robot Mode: Easy
Color Scheme: Light milky gray, black, transparent green, and some metallic silvery blue, silver, metallic copper, and moderately dull red
Individual Rating: 9.0

    Backfire's redeco keeps mostly the same colors as his mass-release version-- black and gray-- but the shade of gray is noticeably lighter and less greenish-tan on this release, and it's a secondary color this time around, with black being the main color. I've never been a fan of the light milky gray plastic, and I think it's used way too much on Movie line TFs-- but other than that, Backfire's color scheme looks pretty boss. The black wouldn't look all that great by itself, but the transparent green plastic used for the barrel of the weapon mode and the windshield and bumper of the vehicle mode is a particularly striking shade of the color, and complements the black and gray extremely well. (Given Backfire's excellent light piping in robot mode, it looks especially great on his robot optics.) There's also a few other colors used as accents- namely silver and copper for the headlights, and some red for his fuel tanks and the middle of his engine block on his robot chest. Both also contrast against the black quite well, and keep any of Backfire's modes from looking boring, but the vehicle mode in particular. There's also a bit of metallic silvery blue on the sides of his windshield and around the wheels, which, though subtle, looks quite slick as well. As for Backfire's Human Alliance partner, it's a straight repaint of the Sam Witwicky figure that came with Human Alliance Bumblebee, but with paint apps that make him look like he's wearing bulletproof armor and an "Autobot Alliance" symbol on his chest. (I honestly find this funny, picturing that semi-goofy character all decked out in military armor.)
    No mold changes have been made to this version of Backfire.

Bumblebee

Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Orangish yellow, moderately dark metallic gray, and some black, transparent light bluish green, silver, metallic copper, light green, light sky blue, and light red
Individual Rating: 8.7

    It's rather bizarre that they included a redeco of the Cannon Bumblebee mold in with this set as opposed to a redeco of the Human Alliance Bumblebee toy-- this toy clearly isn't scaled with Human Alliance figures, being too small overall, and can't really interact with the Sam Witwicky minifig in any meaningful way. That aside, this color scheme seems to be a bit of a "Stealth Bumblebee lite" switcheroo scheme, with most of the orangish yellow bits relegated to robot mode while the gray parts are now mostly on the vehicle mode. The orangish yellow is of a slightly brighter, louder shade that on most other Movie Bumblebee toys, but it does make for an okay brighter color to contrast against all the gray. Speaking of the gray, you'd expect from the description of Bumblebee's vehicle mode for it to be exceptionally dull-looking, but the shade used is actually darker than normal, with a bit of a metallic swirl in the plastic-- this makes it look considerably more eye-catching, though it still doesn't quite fit what I would call a truly exceptional color scheme. The vehicle mode is where the bulk of the paint apps turn up on this release; Bumblebee still has his characteristic black stripes, but they're outlined with that orangish-yellow in vehicle mode, which looks quite nice. He's also got the "Autobot Alliance" symbols that are on the K-Mart DotM exclusives on his side doors, but what really looks great are the combination of the silver grill, red and green headlights, and bronze Chevrolet symbol on his front bumper/robot chest. The combination of those accent colors in such a small space looks a bit wacky, but not overly so, and gives a bit more uniqueness to Bumblebee's color scheme. (His taillights are painted light red, too.) In robot mode, his paint apps are mostly gray or black to help make the orangish-yellow not so prevalent, as well as the usual silver paint mask on his face and blue used for his eyes; nothing particularly noteworthy paint-wise in that mode.
    No mold changes have been made to this version of Bumblebee.

    The "Daredevil Squad" set is admittedly a bit odd-- with a Human Alliance-scaled deluxe figure paired with a non-Human Alliance-scaled one-- but both toys are pretty good molds with great-to-excellent color schemes. The only issue many may have is that, yes, this 2-pack has ANOTHER deluxe Bumblebee repaint. At least it's a bit different this time around, with some unique paint apps. Plus, retailing for $20 U.S., it's slightly cheaper than if you were to buy the two molds separately, and you get a cool patch with the set. If you don't have a Cannon Bumblebee toy (or simply don't care about having a ton of Bumblebees), than with the great-looking Backfire this set is an easy recommendation.

Reviews by Beastbot

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