Bumblebee
(Gravity Bot)
Bumblebee's alternate
mode is pretty much what you'd expect from a Gravity Bot. It's a bit "chibi-fied"
with some more rounded and chunker proportions than the actual Camaro he's
based on, with larger wheels and smaller windows. He's got a ton of mold
detailing like exhaust pipes on his bottom side, but top side is somewhat
sparse on the mold detailing, both to keep it looking more "kiddy" and
just because he's a fairly aerodynamic car in the first place. The front
bumper is still very well-molded, though, as are the wheels. He's also
got quite a fair number of paint apps, like his black stripes, almost all
the necessary details on his front bumpers (except for the turning signal
lights), painted windows, and taillights. About the only real extra is
the robot feet detailing on the back end, though it's not as obvious as
you'd think due to the nature of his transformation and the fact that his
legs in robot mode are a big stump anyways.
Bumblebee's auto-transformation
to robot mode is standard Gravity Bot fare, but with an added twist-- a
small piece of his car hood also flips around to become his face, which
is pretty cool in addition to the normal "sides of the car become shoulders/arms,
windows become chest, back end becomes legs" transformation. The faux chest
flap on the front doesn't quite fold down to be flush with the piece behind
it, which rather bugs me. Otherwise, he's got the normal pluses and minuses
of Gravity Bots-- overly large shoulders and arms that are too hidden,
no articulation, and a big stump for a leg, but hey, it's a completely
automatic transformation, and it's a toy aimed at kiddies-- what do you
want? The detailing on such things as the robot legs, the chest, and the
head are done very very well, though, and not at all "chibi-ish" like his
vehicle mode.
Gravity Bot Bumblebee
is a bit above-average for the subline, with a nice "twist" to the auto-transformation
and some great detailing in both modes. He still has the usual pluses and
minuses that come with being a Gravity Bot, but there's nothing better
for a young Bumblebee fan who wants a transforming version of the character,
but is still too young to actually figure out how to do it himself. Otherwise,
you can probably pass in favor of a "true" Transformer. Or if you don't
care about movie-accuracy, get the cooler-looking Bolt Bumblebee redeco
instead.
Review by Beastbot