Bumblebee's old '70s-era Chevrolet Camaro alt mode is pretty much spot-on proportions wise. The colors are also spot-on Bumblebee, with black and yellow being the primary colors. I've never been a fan of yellow, but it's so associated with Bumblebee that it would be weird if he WASN'T almost all yellow, so as long as fits the character... The windows are painted a nice color that fits in well with the yellow-- some are rather bothered by the fact that he doesn't have transparnet windows like in some of the early prototypes of this figure, but I don't mind, as I actually prefer painted windows if there isn't a full-fledged detailed interior-- otherwise, you just see robot parts inside, which hardly makes for a convincing vehicle mode. I also think it's pretty cool that the ends of the missiles double as the exhaust pipes on the rear end of this vehicle mode. The main problem I have with this mode, however, is that it's just rather dull. There's very little detailing on the main body of the vehicle, and there really needs to be more paint apps on the figure, both in this mode and in robot mode. The stripes help some, but three little black spray apps don't really make the illusion that Bumblebee's a beat-up old car clear enough. Some silver-and-brown rust spots or something here and there really would've helped.
    Bumblebee has two different "automorph" features in his transformation to robot mode-- the first involves his hood swinging down and his headlights popping out slightly on his robot chest to look more like his chest does in the movie. This automorph can get stuck rather easily-- be careful, regardless of whether you have the "defect" version or not*. His other automorph feature is rather cool-- when you move his robot feet downwards to their correct position in robot mode, the panels on the backs of his legs slide upwards and out of the way. Bumblebee has pretty good articulation in this mode-- he can move at the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and elbows, and about half of those are on ball joints so you can get a good range of motion out of him. Some of the vehicle mode kibble sticks out a bit too much and is obvious in this mode, though, like the windows and front windshield behind his upper back and the pieces of his car mode on the sides of this arms and upper legs. His appendages are also a bit too skinny, especially his arms. The mold detailing on Bumblebee's robot parts is excellent, though, especially on his face, which is covered in detail. As mentioned before, though, he really could use a few more paint apps, especially on his appendages. As for Bumblebee's action feature, he has two spring-loaded missile launchers that he can either hold in his hands or can be mounted on his shoulders. (I wish the yellow used for the "missile fire" pieces were a different color besides just the same yellow used for most of Bumblebee, though.)
    Bumblebee is a rather average toy, with a somewhat boring vehicle mode and a decent-looking, if skinny, robot mode. Still, he's a fairly fun toy, and certainly not a bad one. If you're only getting one Bumblebee figure, though, wait and get the '08 deluxe Camaro version instead.

Review by Beastbot

*NOTE: Later releases of this figure have a rather fatal flaw-- the tabs that hold the "automorph" feature in place in vehicle mode are too thick, and are prone to snapping, though it's not a foregone conclusion that they will. If one of the tabs under the front hood is thicker than the other, be extra careful during the first stage of transformation from vehicle to robot mode! If the tab snaps, Bumblebee won't be able to transform back into vehicle mode!

(Pictures taken from Transformers.com.)

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