I began a review for this the other day, but shut down my computer and lost what I had.
In short, as a kid I grew up with Transformers Cybertron toys. Though I watched its cartoon, my first love in Transformers and the one I kept coming back to was the G1 cartoon that aired on Boomerang all the time. For Christmas in 2005 I asked for Optimus and got the Cybertron Leader (not a bad G1 stand in) and my little brother asked for Bumblebee. Bee obviously was out of the franchise at that point, so he ended up getting deluxe Landmine. Regardless, Bumblebee remained amongst the characters I wanted most as a toy in years since, specifically the VW alt mode. Getting a Beetle Bumblebee in a retail line is a pipe dream of mine, and one I am so glad to see finally done. When I came to Transformers as a collector in the early 2010s, we had no VW Bee beyond the original toy and the Pretender, and I remember trawling tfwiki for a good one to look for.
Those on Facebook and the Discord may have already seen me gushing about this toy. I loved Cliffjumper, and Bee satisfies and even surpasses him in pretty much every way. The robot mode is cute. Despite being smaller than other deluxes, the toy is solid and hefty, and definitely has polish you wouldn't see on something similarly sized in legends/core class. The silhouette screams the G1 cartoon character, and the Beetle mode looks great as a licensed alt mode. I had some hesitations about the headsculpt from pictures we have seen, but I am glad to report that it looks absolutely fine, if not plain great in hand. Joints and articulation are great, with no bad QC issues.
I only hope that we get a Goldbug repaint with a new head in the near future. It's not confirmed, especially since they didn't seem to be willing to shell out the license fee for the Bugbite figure, but I can hope for a Selects figure or something. The shield/car back can rotate 180 degrees to create the hood shape of Goldbug, so no major changes needed.
Overall I'm very satisfied, Bumblebee is one of the coolest figures in my 1984 Autobot display, and is sure to not be replaced any time soon.
Seeking the Following:
- CW Brawl
- Earthrise Runabout
- Earthrise Thrust