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Thread: Toy Review - MP-45 Bumble ver.2.0

  1. #1
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    Default Toy Review - MP-45 Bumble ver.2.0

    Bumblebee
    Series - Masterpiece
    Released here - no (JP release late November 2019)
    Approximate Retail Price - 13,000JPY (175AUD)
    Approximate Size - 12cm
    Allegiance - Autobot
    Alt-mode - Volkswagen Type 1 (Beetle)
    Main Features/Gimmicks - show accuracy, opening doors and room for a driver in vehicle mode
    Main Colours - yellow, black
    Main Accessories - Spike, "I Autobot NY" numberplate*, 2 alternate faces, handgun and blast effect, sticker sheet

    First of all I must disclose I am a huge fan of Bumblebee and would have purchased this figure no matter what, but I will try my best to be as balanced as possible in this review.


    First impressions were actually not very good. At first I felt this guy was a bit flimsy and made me scared to mess with it, but after a few transformations I feel comfortable with it now. I had a similar initial reaction to MP-43. Transformation itself is tricky at first but easy enough to memorise.


    There is a good range of articulation and you can get him in some sweet poses. One thing to note is that there are two joints on the upper arms due to the transformation. When posing the arms, the joint you want to use is very stiff so you have to push down on the other joint to get the one you want to move. There is a similar thing with the double joints in the knees, where the joint you want to move tends not to but the other joint does.


    Comparing him to a non-transforming statue, you can see that they've gone to an incredible effort to make him as cartoon accurate as they can. Of course the rest of that mass has to go somewhere, so the FeEt and BaCkPaCk were unavoidable, but they really don't get in the way in person unless you are viewing him directly from behind.


    The alt mode is super cute and is simultaneously G1 toy and G1 cartoon accurate. I love that it has opening doors and you can even fit the included Spike inside.
    Unfortunately, not everything lines up as it should in vehicle mode. One side of the rear bumper and the panel on top of the front don't sit flush. These don't take away from the overall aesthetic, but they are worth noting.


    *The sticker sheet comes with hearts you can place over the Autobot symbol so the numberplate says "I heart/love NY". I assume it was done this way to get around some copyright issue like with Masterpiece Ratchet's red cross symbols.


    Now for that pesky backpack. I said earlier it doesn't get in the way unless you are viewing it from behind, which is true, but there are two things which annoy me about it. One is that it doesn't really lock in place, there are some panels that easily swing up and down which in my opinion is pretty lazy for a Masterpiece.
    The other thing that bugs me is the exact opposite in that they tried too hard. They added a faux spare tyre that swings up over the back kibble to attempt to make it more cartoon accurate. Personally, I feel that this does absolutely nothing and they could have gotten away without it. It also means that when it's in car mode the driver can only sit on one side, as the faux spare tyre hides on the other side of the interior.


    For me, the good outweighs the bad, but the bad may be unforgivable depending on what you want out of a Masterpiece. If you don't care for cartoon accuracy, then you probably won't forgive the back kibble.
    I think it looks way better than MP-21 and after transforming it a few times I can say he is a fun figure overall.
    Last edited by Tha_Phantom; 1st December 2019 at 03:20 PM.
    Looking to buy lucky draw Armada Prime and Diaclone Marlboor Wheeljack.

  2. #2
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    Default

    One thing I forgot to mention in the review is that the Spike that comes with MP-45 is entirely different to the one that comes with MP-44. Most notable difference is the lack of hard hat, but it would appear it is an entirely different mould altogether when examining them side by side. The legs on the MP-45 Spike don't pop off anywhere near as easily as those on MP-44 and it's also easier to balance. On MP-45 Spike there are no magnets, which makes sense.



    Looking to buy lucky draw Armada Prime and Diaclone Marlboor Wheeljack.

  3. #3
    Jellico is offline Rank 6 - Dedicated Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tha_Phantom View Post
    Of course the rest of that mass has to go somewhere, so the FeEt and BaCkPaCk were unavoidable, but they really don't get in the way in person unless you are viewing him directly from behind.
    The cheeky bugger in me wants to note all but two photos have the chest square on to the camera.

    How do you find the heels effect posing? I tend to point my bots' toes slightly outward for a more natural stance. You seem to have to spread the feet fairly wide to have to do that?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jellico View Post
    How do you find the heels effect posing? I tend to point my bots' toes slightly outward for a more natural stance. You seem to have to spread the feet fairly wide to have to do that?
    They don't seem to affect it at all for my go-to poses. Here is how it looks displayed in a more neutral stance. The pic on the left is how I normally have it, the pic on the right is as close together as they will go.

    Looking to buy lucky draw Armada Prime and Diaclone Marlboor Wheeljack.

  5. #5
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    Spike's facesculpt looks like David Hasselhoff.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ode to a Grasshopper View Post
    Spike's facesculpt looks like David Hasselhoff.
    Cannot unsee! LOL

  7. #7
    CoRDS is offline Rank 6 - Dedicated Member
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    i got mine today and have taken it from car to bot mode.

    lets see, it looks the part in both modes, the articulation is pretty good. but man this thing is a freaking MESS.

    The feet are a disaster, the backpack is an absolute mess. the kness, ankles and hips are a floppy mess the gun wont fit in the hand properly, the waist doesn't really work as the rotation is totally blocked by the backpack.

    overall, pretty disappointed to be honest. i have a feeling in six months this thing wont even be able to stand by itself and will just fall over

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by CoRDS View Post
    i got mine today and have taken it from car to bot mode.

    lets see, it looks the part in both modes, the articulation is pretty good. but man this thing is a freaking MESS.

    The feet are a disaster, the backpack is an absolute mess. the kness, ankles and hips are a floppy mess the gun wont fit in the hand properly, the waist doesn't really work as the rotation is totally blocked by the backpack.

    overall, pretty disappointed to be honest. i have a feeling in six months this thing wont even be able to stand by itself and will just fall over
    You're pretty much mirroring my thoughts after the first transformation. Let me know if you feel differently after a few more transformations with it.
    Looking to buy lucky draw Armada Prime and Diaclone Marlboor Wheeljack.

  9. #9
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    That looks horrendous.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Omega Metro View Post
    That looks horrendous.
    Don't hold back

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