Alternity Bumblebee/Cliffjumper comments

[kurdt_the_goat]

Just received mine today, anyone else?

First impressions are very solid - the car mode is probably the best of Alternity so far - 5 doors + bonnet all open, engine detail, 4 seats! He is positively tiny, which makes all the above more impressive. But, he's so small, it's hard to even see the back seats! Same as my Megatron (at least), his front doors don't quite close with as much solidity as Convoy's did unfortunately.

Transformation is simple in concept, but intricately done - and everything locks nicely. The legs had me confounded with so many folding (tight!) joints, but when you get it, they look really solid. The "Synchro-Tech" part this time is thankfully different to Convoy & Megatron - pushing his windshield into the front seat area extends his legs down and out through some mechanism you can't even see - very, very clever!

Robot mode looks great too. I feel the chest size has been blown out of proportion thanks to some unflattering photography or something - in person it seems proportional and typical of Bumblebee. His head is sculpted nicely and his horns are like Universe/Henkei Sunstreaker, excepting you manually expand them this time. I think i'm particularly partial to his design since i'm a fan of the BT Tracks style wheel-shoulders!

The guns look suitable (perhaps not for Cliffy!) and store in both modes. In car mode it's particularly impressive since once clipped into place, they provide a tab to hold the engine block in place too, which feels so nice compared to fumbling with BT engine blocks!

Hoping to get photos of mine in here later this week!

[valkyrie_76]

How much did it cost? I wouldnt mind buying the BB Alternity version.

[kurdt_the_goat]

My inlaws in Japan shipped me this one, so it was around $50 all up. RK has them for US41.90 each.

[liegeprime]

wow that cheaper than how we got it pre ordered. Is there a lot of metal in this one. I remember seeing Alternity Megs in a Parra fair post meet and, well, there seem to be a lot of plastic and less metal than I expected...this will go great with my Alts... Im getting CJ as well but prolly wont see it til Feb

[lcz128]

Hrmm... I have opened my Bumble, as the Cliff is going to the missus first (chrissie present) (she also managed to transform Bumble last night! So looking good!)



but yeah - while totally in scale with the other two alternities already released, it was a tad bizarre that when transformed, bumble is a bit out of scale next to optimus (of alternity anyway) probably will fit right in on your classics shelf - but for me, that spot's already going to another WIP custom bumblebee - oh what to do - what to do... XD

I do like the transformation a lot - the legs involve a lot of unfolding and clicking to get things in the right spot - good to have reference the first time you do it so you know where things are 'supposed' to go! I love the mechanism that gets the legs pulled out and the engine compartment and windshield pulled in - that's som clever engineering there - and while he seems 'fat' he just feels stout and tough! I imagine it'll work even better with ol Cliff! Just need to feed the boy some big weapons and we're good!

The horns are a nice touch as well - i didn't think I'd like the head much, but it's very satisfying to finish transforming him then adjust the horns in place. Beautiful light piping as well this time as there is no engine block on the back of the head.

My only real disappointment with Bumble is that the yellow is more of a lemon yellow than a deeper, richer, brighter - say, maccas yellow that I see (at least I think I see) on the actual cars. That said, the paint matching is top-notch and nothing looks wrongly mismatched paint-wise! Great job TT!

Ah. And a slightly amusing observation:
Alternity convoy had his engine become his head - y'know - like the brain and the thing that 'powers' him ... bumble/cliff ... it's their crotch... I wonder what the Japanese designer was alluding to :b

[kurdt_the_goat]

wow that cheaper than how we got it pre ordered. Is there a lot of metal in this one. I remember seeing Alternity Megs in a Parra fair post meet and, well, there seem to be a lot of plastic and less metal than I expected...this will go great with my Alts... Im getting CJ as well but prolly wont see it til Feb

I'm at work now, but i think there's more metal than Megatron - the inner frame of the back of the car at least.

[liegeprime]

Ah. And a slightly amusing observation:
Alternity convoy had his engine become his head - y'know - like the brain and the thing that 'powers' him ... bumble/cliff ... it's their crotch... I wonder what the Japanese designer was alluding to :b

Chicks dig the Bee.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Unfortunately, I still haven't had time to do Bumblebee photographic justice (I want to compare him with many versions plus some BT and Car Robots).

The size is really impressing me though - he's almost exactly the same size as X-Brawn for instance, but X-Brawn has only 2 doors & the hood that can open, no seats, no dash, arms and legs piling up on the insides... Not to say X-Brawn is bad, but Bumblebee shows great advancement (thanks a little to extra budget too).

I'm really hoping they announce the next Alternity soon, but i'm not sure who'd they'd have in mind... Perhaps Ironhide? He skipped BT and since he's in the movies... Fingers crossed

[GoktimusPrime]

Chicks dig the Bee.

Tiger Woods'd! Mine came in today but it's still at kup's house (I piggybacked on a group order through him)

[gamblor916]

Just received mine today and I quite like the look of them. Car mode is nice, a great representation of a Swift and robot mode is also very good with a solid stance. The proportions are good despite what some may say about the large chest. The way the blasters stow away and the flip out horns on 'bee are nice little touches.
The only thing I dislike would be the shade of red used for Cliffjumper. I would have preferred a bright solid red closer to the 1:1 rather than the dark metallic red used. I already have chips in the paint too so I think I see a repaint in the future with a Suzuki colour