(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 Prime Weaponizer Bumblebee. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original Prime Weaponizer Bumblebee figure here.)

    Talking Bumblebee's color scheme is a near-exact match to his colors in Season 3 of the Prime TV show; that is, it's the oft-used "reverse" color scheme, where black is the major color and the orangish yellow is used instead for the stripes. As is almost always the case with this color scheme, I think the flipped amounts of black and yellow look better than Bumblebee's traditional color scheme. It should be noted that it's not a STRAIGHT "flip" of the colors, however,; Bumblebee now has a thick stripe across the top of his vehicle flanked by two much narower stripes, and the stripes on his sides are more straight and less angular and dynamic. (Some of his plastic is also an odd bluish shade of black; I'm baffled why they gave him two ever-so-slightly-different shades of the same color.) He still has light gray, but it's of a slightly darker shade than the normal super-blah light milky gray, though in large unpainted places (like his robot feet) it still looks rather dull. In addition to a bit of silver on his face, Talking Bumblebee also has quite a lot of nice-looking metallic gunmetal gray paint on the top of his robot chest, his front bumper, and his waist, which helps to provide a color "in between" the dark black and the lighter orangish yellow, and is just generally a great color that looks a lot like the "metal" it's trying to replicate on the parts it's painted on. He also has a shade of blue for his transparent plastic, roughly the same color but a bit darker when compared to the original Weaponizer Bumblebee toy.
    Talking Bumblebee does have a few mold changes, both to help him fit in with Beast Hunters and help him earn the "Talking" part of the product's name. His face has been resculpted to look like it does on the last episode of the show and the "Predacons Rising" mini-movie, in which he now has his mouth fully visible. It's straight-on show-accurate, and looks quite nice. The top of his chest has also been retooled; the revolving guns have been removed, and in their place is some rather nice robotic detailing, with bits like pistons and vents visible and painted that nice gunmetal gray. If this were the only remolding done, this would be a definite negative, but this was done to give the mold enough room in the chest for a voice box. Pressing down on Bumblebee's head (or his engine block in vehicle mode) causes him to say "Ready to fight!", "Okay, let's get moving!", "Here, special delivery!", "On it!", "Ye-heah, now we're talking!", "Just watch me!", "One target down, courtesy of Bumblebee!", or "Ye-heah, ready now!", in a set, rotating order. It's not done in Will Friedle's voice, but it's not a bad voice-- your typical "young guy with something to prove" kind of voice, so it's not totally off. I do have to say that in terms of my interests, I did like the rotating weapons a bit more than electronic phrases, though. Bumblebee also comes with a rather huge bow, styled very much like a more simplistic, larger, non-firing version of his deluxe Beast Hunters toy's weapon. The bow itself has some nice edgy detailing that's typical of Beast Hunters weapons, but it desperately needs some more paint behind just the arrow head. Worst of all, it doesn't fit in his hands easily at all, and its only point of attachment in vehicle mode is on a hole near the front of his hood, where it looks extremely odd and doesn't stay pegged in that well. Generally it's just an annoying large extra that's best forgotten.
    Talking Bumblebee has something that Bumblebee fans have likely been wanting for a long time-- a Bumblebee toy with actual phrases that aren't radio clips. The new face and chest sculpt are great, as are the colors-- his weapon is super-weak and the victim of some very bad planning, though, given how hard it is to get the toy to actually hold onto it. I'm not sure the better color scheme and talking gimmick are worth the $10 U.S. price hike when compared to the original Weaponizer Bumblebee toy, but if you want a Bumblebee toy that's actually accurate to Bumblebee's look in Season 3 and "Predacons Rising", this is pretty much your only choice.

Review by Beastbot

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