View Poll Results: Worth buying?

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Thread: Toy Review - Studio Series 26 Bumblebee (WWII)

  1. #1
    Join Date
    27th Dec 2007
    Location
    Sydney NSW
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    37,637

    Default Toy Review - Studio Series 26 Bumblebee (WWII)

    WWII BUMBLEBEE
    Series - Generations
    Sub-line - Studio Series
    Size/class - Deluxe
    New/remould/redeco - New
    Wave - 5
    Released here - January 2019
    Approximate Retail Price - $29
    Approximate Size - 12cm
    Allegiance - Autobot
    Alt-mode - Humber Light Reconnaissance "Ironside" car
    Main Features/Gimmicks - rotatable turret
    Main Colours - green
    Main Accessories - hammer, pistol

    Vehicle Mode





    Robot Mode







    Overall Thoughts

    PROS:
    + Realistic looking vehicle mode with armoured faux kibble on the robot mode
    + 16 points of articulation
    + The hammer and pistol accessories are very nice and used in both modes

    CONS:
    - Shellformer much
    - Backpack kibble interferes with leg articulation and blocks the stand-hole
    - Nigh impossible to get all of the vehicle panels to sit flush, especially the roof panel
    - The pistol fits so loosely on the roof hole that it can swing about on its own, rendering the rotating base gimmick pointless

    Not an awful toy per se, but certainly the most disappointing Studio Series Bumblebee toy yet. Furthermore, the alt mode isn't movie accurate... although the movie model is also weird. In The Last Knight WWII Bumblebee transforms into a Mercedes Benz car but has the alt mode kibble of a Humber Scout car in robot mode. Either way, he was never a Humber Ironside. But honestly that doesn't bug me - the biggest let down is how impossible it is to get that bloody roof panel to sit flush. This is due to the hammer head causing the roof panel to bulge out, but you also need the hammer in place to form the turret, so it's part of the alt mode.
    Last edited by GoktimusPrime; 19th January 2019 at 07:03 PM. Reason: Image links repaired

  2. #2
    Join Date
    2nd Jun 2011
    Location
    Rylstone
    Posts
    8,382

    Default

    Maybe if they redid him as Bulldog I may pick one up, though the altmode wont be properly accurate there either

  3. #3
    Join Date
    27th Dec 2007
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    Sydney NSW
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    Default

    Ja... the current figure as Bumblebee, while not movie scene accurate, is at least period accurate as the Ironside was in production and use from 1943-45 if memory serves me well. Bulldog I think transforms into a World War I era (1917?) tank so it would've been obsolete by WWII.

    So here's the thing... this toy is accurate to WWII Bumblebee's robot mode, which does feature armoured Humbert kibble. But it's inaccurate to the Mercedes Benz alt mode. It points out a visual continuity flaw in TLK where Bumblebee can be seen transforming from a Mercedes convertible car into a robot with armoured Humbert kibble, which of course makes no sense. This toy has a consistently correct alt mode that matches the robot mode kibble.

    Of course, the counterargument to my point is that since they already made it a bloody shellformer then why not just go ahead and make him a Mercedes Benz car? We have all the disadvantage of having a shellformer without the advantage of greater movie accuracy. Where's the cost-benefit? Unless Hasbro's clever plan is to release a retool of this toy later with the Mercedes alt mode. It's basically a quasi-Pretender so... wouldn't be implausible.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    9th Aug 2018
    Location
    Allendale North, SA
    Posts
    635

    Default

    The Bayverse clearly needs a Deadpool 2-style post-credits scene to tidy up all these loose ends

  5. #5
    Join Date
    4th Mar 2013
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    154

    Default

    Really love the color on this guy, the eyes pop nicely as well. Loads of detail in the robot mode but as mentioned the fact that it is a shell former comes with the giant shell back kibble which really gets in the way of the legs. The transformation is fun however that hammer is a pain, mine was assembled incorrectly and I had to remove the pin and rotate the handle so that it could fold flush to sit in the vehicle.

    Really torn on this one, I like the idea behind it (nazi killing bumblebee? Yes please!) I love the color, the vehicle the transformation and the style. But damn, that backpack really drags the figure down.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    2nd May 2009
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    3,868

    Default

    I can't get mine to stand up in a neutral pose. He can hold action poses fine, weirdly enough.
    I found the panels too thin for them to click together sufficiently for vehicle mode.
    Biggest seller for me was the oddity of the vehicle mode.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    23rd Jul 2015
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    1,493

    Default

    The vehicle mode is a letdown especially when trying place the hammer inside it because it throws the vehicle panels more out of whack.

    The robot mode on the other hand looks good on it's own and on the cardboard stand especially alongside HFTD Firetrap and on that note would be more worthy lined up in a row with other vintage alt. mode TFs such as Powerdive (Generations), Hubcap (HFTD) and Divebomb (ROTF) as well as Bulldog. All displayed in both modes.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    20th May 2014
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    45

    Default Clicked In

    I was struggling to get the roof flush but then saw a review or two where they noticeably clicked the arms down into place for vehicle mode. Before I was just resting the tab in the slot, but it properly locks in.

    Little finds like that are very exciting.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    27th Dec 2007
    Location
    Sydney NSW
    Posts
    37,637

  10. #10
    Join Date
    20th May 2014
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    45

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
    Link please?
    I found out through Emgo's Just Transform It video (around the 2:10 mark)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBaO0582Ads&t=303s

    Sorry if it's something you're already doing, but it helped me.

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