Bumblebee is released
in a super-deformed form with his TLK alt mode, though compared to many
of the other Tiny Turbo Changers, it's actually not THAT superdeformed.
Sure, the windshield is a little over-sized and the rear spoiler and front
wheels a bit under-sized, but it's definitely recognizable as a Camaro
with that front grill, which is surprisingly well-detailed; you've got
the little vents and headlights detailed in there, and even the Chevy symbol.
The rest of this mode is considerably more simple in its detailing, with
some basic car doors, wheel, and window detailing, and some minor notches
here and there where appropriate, like the front hood. He's almost all
an orangish "cheesy" yellow, as you'd expect, but with some glossy black
paint on the windows, wheels, and on a short fat stripe on the top-- which
frankly is more paint than most Tiny Turbo Changers get, so it's actually
not that bad for the price point. Although he looks great from a frontal
view, there's no real back end to the toy--you can see the top of Bumblebee's
head there, along with hollow areas where the tops of his arms slide out
for transformation.
Bumblebee's transformation
is similar to a lot of other car Tiny Turbo Changers-- open up the top,
slide the sides out to form the arms (though don't pull too hard, or they
might slide all the way off-- you can just plug them back in if this happens,
though), and then flip the front hood down and around to form the legs,
with most of the robot mode detailing on the bottom of the car mode. (Though
it should be noted-- the Series 1 & 2 releases of this toy have the
legs misassembled. However, it's easy just to peel off the bendy-plastic
feet/car hood, turn the upper legs around, and then re-attach the feet/hood
piece.) Given how kibble-free his alt mode was, this mode suffers a bit
for that-- there's the entire car hood on his back, his arms are merely
molded in to the side sections of the car, and his feet have the car hood
behind them. Still, for the simplicity and price of the size class, it's
not that bad. What IS weird, though, is that despite having TLK 'Bee's
car mode, the toy as AoE Bee's robot mode-- you
know, the most obviously different robot mode out of all Bumblebee's various
movie designs! What kinda mixup was that!? Anyways, the detailing for much
of Bumblebee's robot mode is excellent with lots of little bitty details,
given the superdeformed proportions with a small body and large head. There's
the curvy, wiry legs, the little hinges 'n whatnot in his arms, and the
faux hood-chest and wires for abs. His face is one of the most-suited of
the Movie 'bots to the superdeformed look, with his large baby blue eyes,
his silver mask, and a bit of black on top of his "helmet". There's also
some black on bits on his chest and abs, so again-- though he may be under-detailed
with paint compared to most other TF toys, by Tiny Turbo Changer standards
he's above-average in this department. For articulation, Bumblebee can
move back-and-forth at the shoulders, and his waist can rotate. He can
also rock back-and-forth slightly at the ankles, though that car hood on
his back makes him a bit back-heavy and easy to tip backwards unless you
lean him a bit forward.
Tiny Turbo Changer Bumblebee
does definitely have a few kibble issues in robot mode, and it's really
weird he has his AoE robot mode, but his solid vehicle mode and relatively
high number of paint apps for a Tiny Turbo Changer make him a slightly
above-average toy for the size class. Mildly recommended if you like these,
though I'd get the "Knight Strike" redeco over this version.
Review by Beastbot
*Bumblebee was re-released in a very *slight* deco change for Series 3 of Tiny Turbo Changers, labeled simply "Movie Series" instead of having the TLK branding. The only differences between the two are: A- the yellow plastic is an ever-so-slight shade darker; B- The black paint on the front wheels has been expanded to cover the little "hub" piece; C- The legs are assembled properly out-of-the-bag. Absolutely no need to buy one if you have the other.