This is movie Bumblebee. You know what movie Bumblebee looks like by now, and-- wait a minute! Okay, there are a FEW differences this time around when it comes to his Chevrolet Camaro alt mode. Just as he appears in the movie itself, Bumblebee's gotten a bit of an upgrade, becoming more "rally car-ish" with a rear spoiler, a thicker front section, and the little racing car window nets instead of actual "glass" for the windows. All are positive upgrades to his look, in my opinion. The proportions are spot-on-- as you'd expect from a mainline toy with a licensed alt mode. There's a few minor robot extras-- namely his heels on the back end-- that are a bit visible, but other than that he's kibble-free in this mode. His color scheme is the same as it ever was-- a dull, slightly orangish-tinted yellow with black stripes and transparent blue windows. THere's also a bit of silver detailing on his headlights and tire rims, and some dark red detailing on his taillights. It's nothing spectacular, but everything necessary is there-- which is also pretty much how I feel about his mold detailing in this mode. Bumblebee's Mechtech weapon can be stored on his roof. It's one of the better Mechtech weapons, transforming from a bottom-heavy blaster to a more elongated blaster with a bigger barrel and scope. Both modes are nifty, but like with all Mechtech weapons, I wish it could lock into its "activated" form.
    Bumblebee's transformation is fairly typical for his movie design, and results in a robot mode that shouldn't be all that surprising if you're familiar with his design. There's the same placement of the "alt mode parts" as there's always been, it's just that a few of them are slightly different due to Bumblebee's "upgraded" alt mode. The proportions are generally alright in this mode, though his arms are a bit on the skinny side. The mold detailing is fantastic on his robot bits, and his face sculpt is particularly well-done-- unfortunately, Bumblebee is really bereft of paint in this mode. His face is literally the only "robot part" on him that has any paint-- the legs in particular are begging for some paint detailing. Some dark gray is added to his color scheme, but tonally it's not that different from the black, so his color scheme isn't anything to get excited about in this mode, either. This version of Bumblebee also has some moderate kibble problems in this mode, such as the entire top part of his vehicle mode folded up behind his back-- it sticks out quite a bit, doesn't lock into place anywhere, and is an eyesore from a side view, but at least it doesn't get in the way of movement. There's also the usual fiddly panels on the sides of his upper legs and the rear ends of the car on the back sides of his lower legs, those these are fairly minor in comparison. To be fair, there are some pretty nice little bits done with a few parts of his transformation-- namely, his wings have "fake" windows that fold up so that they look like they have in previous movies (remember, this toy doesn't have any normal car door windows in vehicle mode), and by folding up two little parts at the bottom of his hood-chest, the rest automatically "fragments up" in a nifty manner. Also, this version of Bumblebee has great articulation-- he can move at the neck, shoulders, elbows (at two points), at the base of his four main fingers (at one joint) and at the base of the thumb on each hand (extraordinary for a deluxe figure), as well as at the waist, hips (at two points), knees, and ankles (at two points). On one final note, Bumblebee has a bit behind each hand where you can put on C-clip weapons from other toys if you so desire-- something always appreciated.
    DotM deluxe Bumblebee has a pretty nice couple of upgrades to his vehicle mode, and a few other minor nifty things about his transformation (such as his chest), but given the big accordion of car parts on his back and a lack of paint in robot mode or features to really distinguish this version from other deluxe Movie Bumblebee toys, I'd get the "Battle Blade" version if you're looking for a "definitive" deluxe movie Bumblebee.

Review by Beastbot

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