Bumblebee here is another Animated character that oddly is packaged as a Universe toy, even though the Animated toyline was out at the same time. Regardless, in vehicle mode Bumblebee is a very cartoon-ized compact sportscar. What's interesting is that it's a bit less cartoony than the mainline deluxe toy-- this seems to be a trend with the Animated Legends. Whether this is because of the restrictions of the size class or just something to help make them fit ever-so-slightly more into the Universe 2.0 line, I'd say in this case it looks a bit better. Having Bumblebee's car mode being a more realistic length and not so "smushed up" looks well. He has the typical yellow-and-black Bumblebee colors, though gray windows for some reason. That's the only complaint I have about Bumblebee's paint apps-- gray windows just don't look good against the yellow, there's not enough contrast. A darker color--preferably some shade of blue--should have been used instead, methinks. The necessary details are all here, such as Bumblebee's one black stripe, painted police siren, and some other minor mold detailing (though given that he's an Animated-style toy, he doesn't have much mold detailing, of course). There's no robot extras whatsoever in this mode, though there are two rather unsightly gaps in the front of the vehicle mode due to the transformation.
    I rather like Bumblebee's transformation, it's rather unique for something as simple as a Legends class toy. He has the traditional "doors become arms, half of the vehicle mode becomes feet" look of many of the car-mode Legends figures, but his entire roof piece (and the connected legs) spins around during transformation, which is pretty cool on this size figure. In robot mode, Bumblebee has an odd mix of Animated and "traditional" styling when it comes to his proportions-- the legs and arms are definitely traditionally styled (though the arm detailing molded onto the car doors is more exaggerated in style than usual), but his chest and head are definitely pretty much spot-on show-accurate. (As a side note, the gray used for his face is really dark-- it's hard to make out his trademark smirk amid a color that dark.) And even though his legs are made up of different parts of the car mode than the deluxe toy, they're still close enough to the show model to pass off as looking fairly show-accurate. As far as articulation, Bumblebee's is fairly decent for a Legends class figure-- he can move up-and-down where the head meets the neck (but not at the base of the neck), as well as at the shoulders (at two points), hips, and knees, and the shoulders and hips are on ball joints so you can get increased movement from those points.
    Universe 2.0 Legends Animated Bumblebee is a pretty good Legends toy, looking pretty decent in both modes despite the small scale and limited budget. His proportions are solid, he has enough paint apps, and he still manages to look fairly show-accurate despite his size. Easily my favorite of the Animated Legends toys.

Review by Beastbot

Back to Transformers: Universe 2.0 Index