View Poll Results: Worth buying?

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Thread: Toy Review - Age of Extinction Bumblebee (Deluxe, Concept Camaro)

  1. #1
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    Default Toy Review - Age of Extinction Bumblebee (Deluxe, Concept Camaro)

    BUMBLEBEE
    Series - Transformers Generations
    Sub-line – Age of Extinction
    Size/class - Deluxe
    New/remould/redeco – New
    Wave – 3, 2014
    Released here - July 2014
    Approximate Retail Price - $25
    Approximate Size – 13cm to top of head (+1cm to top of back mounted bonnet kibble)
    Allegiance -Autobot
    Alt-mode – 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Concept
    Main Features/Gimmicks – flip out cannon-arm, flip down battle mask
    Main Colours – yellow and black
    Main Accessories – x2 shuriken

    Pictures
    Stock image




    Vehicle Mode
    Typical of Age of Extinction, there are some nice features in the mould which become lost due to a lack of paint apps to highlight them. There really is just too much yellow on this toy which really needed to be broken up with some gunmetal grey, black and a tiny smidgen of silver, as per the real life vehicle. The unpainted hubcaps is accurate to the real life vehicle's black hubcaps though. The headlights are metallic electric blue, and the windows are all transparent blue. Bumblebee sports his signature black racing stripes on the roof and bonnet, which helps to break up the yellows. Yes, I know I used the plural. As usual, Hasbro seems unable to get the painted yellow to match with the yellow plastic parts, and thus we have two different mismatching shades of yellow on this toy (much like how Crosshairs has two different mismatching shades of green). Bumblebee's vehicle mode is very "panelrrific," and there are some seams that don't sit exactly flush. It doesn't look too bad to the naked eye, but becomes more noticeable in photography. The two shuriken clip on the bottom of the vehicle, but it can be tricky, and ultimately they have a tendency to lift the rear half of the vehicle up and potentially impede with rolling, particularly on carpet. It's just easier to set them aside.

    Robot Mode
    Thankfully the robot mode does introduce more black to break up the yellows, but the forearms still look rather plain. The flip down battle mask and flip out cannon on the right arm were nice surprises. There's also a tiiiny Autobot insignia painted on the forehead. Overall, this toy shares the same inherent weakness that most (if not all) Age of Extinction Transformers suffer -- being based on such a difficult to translate screen model. With barely any vehicle kibble on the screen model, the designers of this toy have been forced to try and stow the alt mode parts away, and for the most part, they've done a commendable job (I just wish that they didn't have to do it in the first place ). The leg kibble rests on the calves of the legs, and there's now more kibble on the arms and shoulders (which would've been on the chest and back in previous Bumblebees). There's a considerable amount of kibble on the back which folds up, and in all honesty, it's no better or worse than previous Deluxe movie Bumblebees... but I think that the smaller frame of this Bumblebee's robot mode makes it more noticeable. The main part of the formation of the robot mode that I personally don't like is the chest. The chest panel opens up, and the front grill of the car tucks inside the chest before being covered up by the chest panel. While this in itself is a neat way to hide the grill panel on such a small toy, I personally would've preferred to see the grill itself just form the robot chest rather than being covered up by a chest panel.

    Overall
    An admirable attempt to translate what is such an untranslatable design. However it has necessitated certain compromising design elements which makes this toy less impressive than most other Deluxe movie Bumblebees. The mask and arm cannon gimmicks are really nice, though the shuriken weapons are just lame. I would've rather seen those weapons been omitted in favour of that money being spent on further improving the core design of the toy, including additional paint apps on the vehicle mode. A nice try of a toy with some neat surprises, but the overall result is fairly ordinary. I got the Toys R Us version of this toy, which comes with Generations Legends Bumblebee. In terms of value for money, I'd recommend getting this version as it's $5 cheaper than a full priced Deluxe, plus you get an extra Legends figure with it.
    <---if below RRP

  2. #2
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    That alt mode looks like garbage. So many misaligned panels. Thanks for the review though. It's made my decision not to buy this.

  3. #3
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    I'd actually probably have bought this if they'd really leaned into the hood halves on the shoulders look as opposed to having the fake car hood on the chest.
    I'm really just here for the free food and open bar.

  4. #4
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    Yeah, the faux-chest kibble is my least favourite part about this toy. I also would've massively preferred it if they just allowed the bonnet parts to form the chest, even if it's just the grill part, which does come down to the chest, but is then concealed by the faux-chest! But then it would've looked less "screen accurate," and we'd have the "screen accuracy" crowd complaining. I'd personally rather have a better made toy with less screen likeness, than a poorly made screen-like figure.

    But IMO, the weaknesses of this toy is just indicative of a running flaw w/ Age of Extinction in general: the screen character designs. Robot modes that show hardly any alt mode kibble - that seems to be a significant contributing factor behind the decline in design standard with the AoE toys. It leaves HasTak designers with the job of having to find somewhere to put the alt mode parts, but having to try and hide it at the same time! I really hope that for the next movies, they go back to having more "toy-friendly" screen designs that'll make it a lot easier for HasTak to 'translate' into products.

    <---y u no hav alt mode parts?!

  5. #5
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    I have experienced some QC issues with this toy. If anyone is thinking about purchasing this toy, do inspect the knees first to see if they're scratched. And take care with transforming the grill section, as the side tabs may be prone to snapping off.

    P.S.: Here are some new pics...




    Deluxe Class Movie Bumblebees; TF1, ROTF, DOTM, AOE


    TF1 & AOE
    Last edited by GoktimusPrime; 31st July 2014 at 09:52 PM.

  6. #6
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    Is there anyone else that thinks HO Bumblebee (despite its flaws) looks better than this one?
    Doubt this will join my legion of Bumblebees. I do like the flip-out hand cannon though.
    Nice review Gok.
    TF Figs of 2023:
    1) WnR Springer
    2) Legacy Bludgeon
    3) Legacy Leo Prime/Nemesis Leo Prime.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by klystron View Post
    Is there anyone else that thinks HO Bumblebee (despite its flaws) looks better than this one?
    Doubt this will join my legion of Bumblebees. I do like the flip-out hand cannon though.
    Nice review Gok.
    It is the ugliest movie Bumblebee I have seen (and I like movie toys)
    I don't have a problem with HO Bumblee. I think its great.

  8. #8
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    Personally, I quite like thie new Bumblebee, it's not perfect, and it hasn't dethroned Battle Blade as my best Movie BB but it has it's charms. but also it has it's flaws.

    ROBOT MODE
    the leg transformation is nice, especially since it isn't the exact same transformation that EVERY other movie bee has used, the legs also look quite nice.
    the arms aren't bad and the flip out cannon, while simple is quite nice.
    the fact the battle mask barely even slides down his face is kinda depressing since it would have been nice to have a more "stinger" like head.
    the back kibble doesn't bother me very much and it collapses reasonably well, it's also nice that you can store his shuriken thingamabobbies there, they're pretty silly looking weapons after all.
    the chest is pretty lousy, stored under the vehicle mode, doesn't have any vehicle parts incorporated into it. and it might just be my own stupidity but once you put the grill from vehicle mode behind it you can't even close it to make it sit properly.

    Overall the robot mode is fairly decent except for it's few minor quirks


    VEHICLE MODE
    the vehicle mode lacks paint, but still looks pretty nice, except for the fact that the colours of the yellowy-orange plastic and the yellowy-orange paint don't match up very well at all which makes it look kinda weird.
    the weapon storage in vehicle mode isn't very good either, it's hard to tab the shuriken in and they don't really sit very well.

    the transformation is simple but nice, except for when you try to pull the arms down and un-peg them from the grill, they get stuck in there pretty tight, and if you aren't careful (like me) you can snap the little pegs off. (well mine is still on but if I try to transform him again it will come of since it's barely still hanging on.)

    he's not perfect, but if you get him from the evolutions 2 pack like I did, he (and the legends bumblebee that come with him) are pretty good value for money.

    overall I'd rate him about a B+ not perfect but has it's charms and is worth getting. (especially in the evolutions pack)

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Omega Metro View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by klystron View Post
    Is there anyone else that thinks HO Bumblebee (despite its flaws) looks better than this one?
    Doubt this will join my legion of Bumblebees. I do like the flip-out hand cannon though.
    Nice review Gok.
    It is the ugliest movie Bumblebee I have seen (and I like movie toys)
    I don't have a problem with HO Bumblee. I think its great.
    I agree that High Octane Bumblebee is the better toy, although keep in mind that the screen design for that Bumblebee is more traditional (by movie standards) in that we can clearly see vehicle parts on the robot, and as such, much easier to 'translate' as an action figure. The same goes with Marmon 97 Optimus Prime vs Western Star Optimus Prime; the former has distinctly visible alt mode parts on the robot while the latter barely has any. Little wonder that Voyager Evasion Mode Optimus Prime is a much better toy than either of the Leader Class figures.

    Quote Originally Posted by Firestorm View Post
    Personally, I quite like thie new Bumblebee, it's not perfect, and it hasn't dethroned Battle Blade as my best Movie BB but it has it's charms. but also it has it's flaws.
    Battle Blade Bumblebee rips off AoE Bumblebee's head and expels waste Energon down his neck!

  10. #10
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    More piccies





    (photobomb'd )
    Comparison w/ 2007 Bumblebees...

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