Nitro Bumblebee-- because there just haven't been enough deluxe movie Bumblebee molds already. All kidding aside, this version of Bumblebee does something uniquely different from most of his other toys, in that his vehicle mode is in a sort of "meched-out" state like the "Stealth Force" gimmick seen in the movie and the subline toys of the same name. More specifically, Bumblebee has big bronze nitro boosters sticking out his back end in this mode, with some meched-up gunmetal gray detailing tracking in lines down his roof, the rear sides, and his windows. These "tech" details really add to this mode, really making the Camaro alt mode stand out among most of the other DotM toys. The tech lines also have another purpose-- they "connect" four out of Bumblebee's whopping five Mechtech ports in this mode, which means that you can pimp Bumblebee out with a TON of Mechtech weapons in this mode. As for the rest of the mode outside of the engines and the tech detailing, it's pretty standard fare for his Camaro alt mode, with the yellow/black coloration and transparent blue windows, along with his stripes having some neat "racing paneling" detailing on them. You either like Bumblebee's color scheme by now or not; this version isn't going to change that. His paint detailing is pretty good in this mode for the most part, particularly with his aforementioned "tech" detailing and nitro boosters all painted. The front grill and stripes are also painted, though the rear bumper and license plate aren't painted, and neither are the wheel hubs-- all things considered, however, these are minor details compared to what makes Nitro Bumblebee "Nitro". No robot mode extras are present in this mode either, and the transparent dark blue is dark enough where you can't see the parts behind his windows. Also, even though the very rear of his side windows are actually painted and not transparent plastic, the shade of dark blue used is so close to how the transparent plastic looks you really have to pay attention to notice, so kudos to the color-matching there. As for his Mechtech weapon, by pressing back on the light gray switch near its back end, the weapon transforms from a thick-barreled shooter to a a longer, two-barreled gun. However, at least on mine the gearing doesn't line up well half the time and the two side barrels don't swing out all the way, which is a major bummer. Like most Mechtech weapons, you also can't "lock" Bumblebee's weapon into its activated (two-barreled gun) mode, which combined with the other issue makes Bee's weapon rather underwhelming.
    Bumblebee's robot mode tries a few different things in the transformation-- specifically, in terms of how the doors fold back and how the legs fold out-- but unfortunately, they should have stuck to the "tried-and-true" method of previous deluxe Movie Bumblebees. Bee looks way too bulky in some respects and mis-proportioned in this mode. For one, his side chest pieces fold forward, which makes his chest look accurately fragemented, but it also means that the sides of his hood come up too close to his head, and it makes his chest stick out too much. His windows and hood also fold up behind his back in a very haphazard and inefficient manner, his door/front wheel assemblages in particular not splaying out behind his shoulders enough and getting in the way of arm movement. His arms are also a bit too skinny proportionally, though they're admittedly not all THAT bad. The legs generally look okay, except for the large pieces hanging off his upper legs, which don't even fold onto the legs or anything and just look unsightly. The mold detailing on Bumblebee's robot parts is very good, however, with his arms and waist having particularly intricate movie-accuarate detailing on them. His headsculpt is also spot-on, though I figured given how "pumped up" he is his face mask would be slid down. His robot parts are also almost completely bereft of paint apps, with only a few on his shoulders, lower legs, and head. His lower arms in particular really need some paint. As for articulation, Bumblebee can move at the neck, shoulders, elbows (at two points), hips (at two points), knees (at two points), and slight forward-and-backward motion at the ankles. He could really use some more movement in the shoulders, but otherwise it's adequate for the size class. One last thing worth pointing out-- Bumblebee gains ANOTHER two Mechtech ports in this mode, one on the backside of each of his lower arms.
    Nitro Bumblebee has a really unique and original vehicle mode design what with the turbo boosters and tech detailing, and he's got a lot of ports to really arm him out the wazoo. However, his robot mode design is a bit oddly proportioned with some obvious kibble that gets in the way of movement more than it should have. If you want a "meched-up, beefed-up" Bumblebee, this is probably the way to go-- but the more "normal" deluxe Bumblebee molds are better designs overall.

Review by Beastbot

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