Toy Review - Generations WFC Bumblebee

[Robzy]

I didnt find the transformation too difficult, I found the instructions to be more confusing than helpful, so I ignored them and did it on my own. Can be a challenge to lock everything into place, and certainly a more difficult transformation than Prime, but still not alternator level

QFT!

I really like the vehicle mode!! Bot mode is okay, but not as good as that awesome cyber-car!

[SharkyMcShark]

Tetsuwan Convoy and some of the other WA lads pushed me over the line on this one yesterday, and I'm quite glad. It's a neat little figure. Proportionally slightly odd but you know, whatever.

[The Scream Man]

i wish he was a little smaller (And WFC Prime was bigger) but otherwise i like him a lot. Getting him togetehr tight is tricky, but otherwise cool!

[Tallestblue]

I'm referring to this guy as "Tron Mode Bumblebee" 'cos everyone knows that Cybertronian BB is some sort of flying wing thingy.
He's neat with some good gimmicks but all it does is highlight the fact that WFC Optimus should have been a larger size.

[1AZRAEL1]

True, but I remember Hasbro stating that they were only going to be Deluxes all through the Generations line.

Still, would have been nice to make Prime bigger.

But about BB, I like it. Though mine has a loose leg and my gun is destroyed (damn dog )

[LordCyrusOmega]

Was looking forward to a cliffjumper repaint until"

Feminine characteristics put me off this figure.

I can see where you're coming from and now i'm thinking Arcee repaint? Think it would work wellhb

[bowspearer]

Just scored this guy and I thought it was worth doing a review based on my first thoughts. The first thing which strikes me with this guy is the accuracy of the toy. It's obvious that Activision ahd Hasbro spend alot of time nailing down a design that would both work on screen and directly translate into a toy once it hit the mold making process.

In terms of weapons Bumblebee comes with a game accurate gun and retractable swords.

In terms of articulation, the figure is fairly well done, but there are issues around the shoulders, with the shoulder ball joint connecting at an angle, which limits the arm poses to some degree. The other issue is that he suffers from "G1 combiner leg syndrome" with the middle of the thighs swinging out on poses. Had the design team managed to lock down the legs somehow, this issue would have been avoided. Likewise the shoulder articulation appears to have been due to failures in the engineering process.

In terms of points of articulation for robot mode, the figure is very well articulated, with the arms having double elbow joints, swivelling biceps, rotating wrists and gijoe style hands.

The legs are equally well articulated with double swivel joints at the hips in place of a ball joint and swivel based knee articulation. Sadly the feet and ankles do not articulate. The heel does have a ball joint, but movement is made impossible due to the placement of the rear wheel.

All in all the robot mode is a great effort and I'd give it a 8/10.

Transformation:

As a G1 pre-earth homage, one word comes to mind in light of the minicar's transformation- ironic. If they ever do a MP G1 Bumblebee, I get the feeling it will play out like this.

The transformation is as follows:

Remove Bumblebee's gun and retract his swords.

Flip out the outside of the shins covering the wheels and rotate it and the feet 180 degrees.

Flip the feet up and twist them inwards 90 degrees.

Slide the wheels out and slide the legs up until the thigh piece clicks into the the shin piece.

Slide the backpack out, making sure not to catch the middle centre of the roof under the back of it.

Unclip the hips from the chest and flip the hips backwards slightly

Flip the head forward and invert the panel it sits on.

Rotate the shoulders inwards and rotate the arms so that they still flip forwards.

Flip up the roof of the car mode completely and slide it forward until it clicks into place.

Flip out Bumblebees front wheels from his forearms, swivel his forearms up to his biceps and move the arm section up and back and click it into place with the roof. Clip the front wheels into the front of the car.

Swing the legs out G1 combiner style and flip the whole section back, sliding posts on the back of Bumblebee's heels into corresponding holes on the roof. and clipping the legs into the rest of the shell of the car.

Stow Bumblebee's weapon behind his rear bumper bar.

Overall, a highly complex transformation, but one which can make him a fiddly shell-former in parts. 8/10

Car mode.
In this mode once again, the likeness to the game incarnation is uncanny, and the vehicle rolls well will adequate clearance. However there are some slight detractors in terms of the different shades of gold where gold paint has been used on black clear plastic rather than separate panels, and there is a sizeable gap between the roof piece and the chest piece in car mode.

All in all fairly well done, but slightly unpolished. 8/10

Overall.

It says alot about the figure when you have to actually go looking for detractors and nit pick. Certainly there are one or 2 articulation flaws with the figure that should have been better dealt with in the engineering stage, but that is almost holding this figure to the standards of a Masterpiece figure, which this figure does come rather close to.

If you don't have this figure yet, track it down. It's well worth the money spent on it.

8.5/10

[griffin]

(Moved post into existing review topic. If people have an older figure they want to review, please do a section search first to see if one already exists, or even check one of the stickied links listings. I want to encourage people to review/comment on their toys as much as possible, but just don't want to have this section get cluttered with multiple review topics.)