For the "Combiner Force" sub-line of the RID2015 toyline, Bumblebee gets another brand new 1-step mold to keep him on the shelves without re-upping the same mold over and over again. In this version, Bumblebee's yellow sportscar is replicated pretty well proportionally-- I would say the best out of all the three different RID2015 1-step molds of him. He's got those angular rear bits behind 5fedeesfc \his rear wheels far more apparent and show-accurate than any of the other one-steps; his roof is above the level of the front hood a fair amount (and certainly better than on the 2016 1-step); and the front section sticks out a pretty far amount in front of the windows, again replicating his look pretty accurately when compared to the show model. There is one definite robot mode extra in this mode, and that's the feet, which are pretty obvious on the back end. There's also a few unsightly lines/creases in the vehicle mode, specifically around his front grill and down the middle of this mode due to his transformation. The mold detailing is a bit more sparse than on his other one-steps; even for a RID2015 toy he's a bit smooth in this respect, with some angular lines along his grill, on his windows, and the RID2015 dual trio of divots on his front hood, but that's about it outside of the barebones stuff. (Well, his wheels are fairly well-detailed for the size, too.) As is unfortunately the case with many of the smaller RID2015 toys in particular, he needs more paint; in this mode the only paint apps are a moderately light blue on his windows and on his headlights. The vast majority of this mode is a milky, somewhat dull shade of yellow, which looks a bit better in my opinion than the lighter yellow on most of his other RID2015 toys, but it still needs more to bounce off of than just blue and the black on the tires.
    To transform this version of 1-step 'Bee to robot mode, you basically "peel back" his vehicle mode at the sides, essentially splitting the toy and turning it inside-out to reveal the robot inside. The "core" robot proportions are decent enough, if a bit overly 2-D on the legs and arms if you look at them from the side. All of the basic mold details are here, like the "vents" on his lower legs, the large kneecaps, the angular shoulders, the faux car front-chest, and the black crotchplate. His headsculpt is also pretty spot-on accurate, with a stern look on his face, though it may be just a BIT small proportionally. Unfortunately, beyond those core robot parts, he's got a LOT of vehicle kibble in this mode-- basically all behind him, with the car top halves behind his arms and the car bottom halves behind his main body. That's quite a lot to overlook, though it's still not as bad as his 2015 1-step changer toy's robot mode kibble, and doesn't interfere with his general robot mode proportions. As with his vehicle mode, Bumblebee has too little paint in this mode-- it's entirely limited to his waist, chest, and head. There's some silver paint on his abs, upper legs, and face, some metallic black on his crotchplate and the faux window on his chest, and a bit of moderately light blue on his eyes and his forehead vent. (That's the downside of essentially turning the toy inside-out; no parts, and thus paint apps, are shared much between the two modes.) For articulation, he can move forward-and-back at the shoulders, but that's it-- standard articulation for 1-step changers, given that movement isn't the focus of these toys.
    Whether I'd recommend this or the 2016 mold more for you or a kid you're buying this for comes down to one question: What matters more for a 1-step, the transformation or the proportions in each mode? If it's the former, I'd go for the 2016 mold, which has that great "jackknifing" transformation. If it's the latter, I'd go with this toy instead, which has a considerably more show-accurate vehicle mode and-- though the robot mode is a bit worse than the 2016 mold's due to all the kibble-- the core robot proportions ignoring that kibble are better.
 

Review by Beastbot

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