(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original RotF Human Alliance Bumblebee toy. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original RotF Human Alliance Bumblebee toy here.)
For the second outing
of this mold for the Dark of the Moon line, Bumblebee gets his typical
"stealth" reverse color scheme that his repaints have often been lately.
Black is now his main color in vehicle mode, with his stripes now being
yellow. In vehicle mode he looks quite nice, though to differentiate them
a bit more I wish his stripes weren't of the EXACT same style as the first
usage of this toy's. What really makes the mode pop, though, isn't the
black or yellow stripes, but rather the non-translucent blue used for the
windows, which really contrasts well with all of the other colors. Granted,
the fact that it's NOT translucent plastic means that you can't see the
Sam Witwicky mini-figure inside Bumblebee-- and that Bumblebee's eyes don't
shine with light piping in robot mode-- but considering how well it looks,
I really don't mind. The silver paint apps on the wheel hubs, stripes,
tailpipes, and parts of the robot mode all also really look swell. The
one thing I don't like about this color scheme, though, is how prevalent
the orange-yellow is in robot mode, along with all that dull milky light
gray. Neither color goes all that well with the other, and all that yellow
in robot mode makes Bumblebee look a little too similar to how he looked
originally-- not to mention, if he still looks about half (or more) yellow
in robot mode, how is that "stealth"? A lot of paint apps are used up to
make Bumblebee more yellow in robot mode as well, whereas he really could've
used some more silver paint detailing on some parts like his shoulders,
instead.
No mold changes have
been made to Human Alliance Bumblebee (or Sam Witwicky).
DotM Human Alliance
"Stealth" Bumblebee has some excellent color placement and paint apps in
vehicle mode, but unfortunately in robot mode he loses a bit too much of
the black for a shade of yellow that doesn't look all that great to begin
with. Recommended over the original RotF Human Alliance Bumblebee, primarily
because of how great the alt mode looks.
Review by Beastbot