Series – Masterpiece
Sub-line - Movie Masterpiece
Size/class - N/A
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - N/A
Released here – Zing Pop Culture
RRP - $148
Approximate Size - 17.5 to the top of the head; 18.5cm to the top of the doors
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode – Chevrolet Camaro
Main Features/Gimmicks – Masterpiece detail and engineering; licensed car mode; folding battle mask
Main Colours – Yellow, black, dark grey
Main Accessories – Stinger blaster


To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Transformers movie franchise, Hasbro and TakaraTomy have decided to revive the short-lived Movie Masterpiece line, with all-new figures featuring complex transformations and detailing.



Interestingly, the box features both Hasbro and TakaraTomy logos. Typically it's one or the other.

Vehicle mode



The familiar yellow Chevrolet Camaro. As opposed to reproducing the original 2006 Camaro Concept used in the 2007 movie, this appears to be a reproduction of a 2010 production-spec Camaro. The key differences are in the front bumper, the side mirrors, the door handles, and the 'shark fin' antenna.





The car is noticeably smaller than Human Alliance cars, save for Soundwave, with whom Bumblebee seems to be fairly well-scaled - a Camaro is meant to be longer and slightly taller than an SLS AMG, although the SLS is marginally wider. It 'scales' well with other Masterpiece cars.



As Actar Rakit noted in his review, there is an undocumented storage feature in vehicle mode for the 'Stinger' blaster - it swings open on its hinge and slots into Bumblebee's underside.

Transformation

Transformation is fairly involved, as one would expect of a Masterpiece. Some steps are reminiscent of Human Alliance Bumblebee, but the bulk of it is new. It's not as if an existing Bumblebee figure was scaled up and re-engineered.

One feature that distinguishes this figure from virtually every other Bumblebee to date is the way the roof and both windscreens fold and collapse to form part of the torso; typically the windscreen and roof are left on the figure's back.

Another feature unique to this Bumblebee is the rear windows and C-pillars approximating the secondary wings, a feature that again, hardly any other Bumblebee figure has. No, they're not in the right position, but they're there.

Robot mode







The result is nicely proportioned and very faithful to the CGI model. There's a lot of paint - silver, dark grey, and a dark metallic grey in addition to black and yellow.

I like the way the rear of the car collapses to form Bumblebee's calves. Bumblebees typically have the rear of the car jutting out as the robot's calves, making them large and chunky. While the calves aren't perfectly flush here, they're a lot less obtrusive, and in terms of prominence, seemingly on par with HftD Battle Ops Bumblebee - the previous Movie Masterpiece Bumblebee.



Bumblebee has a deployable battle mask. On mine, the mask seems prone to popping off its joint, so handle the mask with care when deploying or retracting.

There's a fair amount of die-cast metal in this figure - the crest on the head, part of the 'spine' of the car that collapses down during transformation, the abdomen, the shins, and parts of the feet are metal. Some of the metal is painted over, while some is left unpainted.



The Stinger fits over the forearm while the hand is folded in.

As one would expect of a Masterpiece figure, Bumblebee is not lacking in articulation.

In addition to the shoulders and elbows, he has articulated fingers, with the thumb and index finger being independently articulated and the other two fingers are moulded together. All digits have two points of articulation.

Ratchets in the hips and knees help him hold poses, while the feet are large enough to keep him well-supported.



When not in use, the Stinger pegs into a hole in Bumblebee's back.





Again, Bumblebee is smaller than Human Alliance figures, and stands slightly taller than some G1 MP cars.

Verdict



This figure seems a bit pricey compared to other MP Autobot cars, but I suspect this is due to a potentially higher part count and more intricate moulding compared to the G1 MP cars.

Some fans may balk at the idea of yet another movieverse Bumblebee, but the figure is all-new, even if some elements of its transformation may seem familiar due to their use in other figures.

With its detail and intricate transformation, this is the definitive 2007 Bumblebee, and easily one of the best movieverse Bumblebee figures there is. If you can only have one movieverse Bumblebee, this figure should be on the shortlist.

Definitely worth it if you're a movieverse or Bumblebee fan.




More images can be found here: http://imgur.com/a/DB6Nv