Transformers Studio Series Stinger review

A clone of Bumblebee said to be inspired by the scout but better than him, Stinger was one of KSI's greatest creations yet. It turned into a much faster car, its robot mode was much sleeker than Bumblebee's, and he transformed by making his living metal split into a cloud that manifests in either of his modes without the old transformation style. However, Stinger was a mere drone without any emotions one would expect from Bumblebee. Aside from being a cheap knock off of Bumblebee (as mentioned by the man himself), he left fans disappointed in the lack of a Deluxe figure.

While Hasbro made Walmart the definitive store to offer Stinger merchandise for some bizarre reason beyond making money off the brand, they never made a fully transformable version of Stinger that was able to turn into a Pagani Huayra. TakaraTomy made a repaint of the AOE Deluxe, and while it was appreciated at the time, the fact that they never remolded the figure's alt-mode makes me wonder if they're as perfect for TF toys as people claim they are. Funny how Hasbro made a retool of PRID Megatron for Beast Hunters that looked different from the original but no one can be arsed to make Stinger unique. Whatever, let's talk about the Studio Series figure!

The vehicle mode finally recreates the Pagani Huayra that was sorely missing from the Generations-styled AOE toyline, with the only toy to have the proper alt-mode being the one-step changer. The proportions are nice and sleek, the details are spot on to what should be present in the real-life vehicle, and I can hear the sound it makes as I roll it on the desk. After having mostly Autobots take on the form of American cars (and ones provided by General Motors at that), it felt refreshing to see a vehicle mode that's more exotic by comparison.

I should point out that the vehicle mode has storage for two of the shurikens, which makes for an attack mode that feels eerily reminiscent of Hot Shot's sawblade feet (albeit on the sides of the car than the front). Depending on how well you transform the back piece that connects the shurikens, it could scrape on a surface if you attempt to roll the toy on its wheels, so make sure that it's pushed up in the vehicle as possible. It's something that sort of messes up the ability to roll the car mode as well as keep some of the tires from touching the ground. Also, be sure your copy has the mirrors included on both sides. Most fans would either get one of the two mirrors or no mirrors whatsoever. I'm sure that's something that has to be noted if it's going to be sold second hand over the years.

Here it is next to the original AOE figure on the left next to the Studio Series version on the right. Pretty much a night and day feeling when it comes to just how the colors of the character look on either alt-mode. Takara Stinger feels like buying the red variant of G1 Bumblebee or getting the Cliffjumper repaints of Bumblebee while the Studio Series Stinger feels more fulfilling considering its a new mold. Also, the Decepticon insignias are different on both figures, with the Takara version being smaller, colored silver, and having the smaller eyes that the Movie faction symbols have while the Studio Series version is bigger, is colored purple, and has larger eyes.

Here is a size comparison next to fellow KSI Decepticon, Galvatron! They look pretty good next to each other, with Galvatron being a bigger than usual truck and Stinger's alt-mode being smaller than most cars.

Here is Stinger next to the robot he was inspired by, Bumblebee. This was the original AOE Bumblebee figure that I customized to have a more complete deco. The car mode scale might look fairly close to how they should look, though everyone else's view may vary.

I am curious about how a Studio Series version of the AOE design would look if done with heavy retooling to give Bumblebee his proper altmode so as to not make him a yellow Stinger with the single stripe. If Hasbro can give us a Sandstorm that's heavily retooled from Stinger, then I'm sure they can impress fans again with a vehicle mode retool of Stinger.

Stinger's transformation is a lot more involved compared to the AOE Bumblebee mold, especially in the torso section. There's a swivel on the torso that takes helps make the robot mode feel more robust compared to using a waist swivel more commonly found. It also helps keep the windshield hidden without the typical rooftop backpack found on Bumblebee toys. The rooftop is instead reconfigured on the right arm and turns into an arm cannon. Sadly, the legs just hinge downward and that's about it, but at least the front wheels are hidden away in the chest.

The robot mode looks pretty good on the whole. The proportions are pretty solid, the shurikens are properly viewable, and the toy feels more complete by comparison to his previous incarnation. The figure isn't as perfect as I'd want it to be, given how the hands do look bigger than normal, and the face doesn't have enough paint details save for the green eyes and black on the head. The weapon being made from the rooftop is ingenious, but IDK if I'm more disappointed that it doesn't look convincing for a weapon or if it needed more parts to make it look more like a cannon. Also, it was arm-mounted instead of being built over the forearm, though that's expected due to the transformation.

The side profile looks fairly good until you look ad the legs from the side. It sucks that there was no new engineering to make his legs look more transformed than they are currently. They don't fit well with the rest of the robot mode, and when viewed from the back, they look hollow and don't add much to the leg designs.

Stinger's articulation is everything you'd expect from a normal Deluxe. Ball-jointed head, ball joints on the shoulders, elbows that somewhat ratchet lightly, a swivel above the elbow, ball-jointed hips that move fairly well, a thigh swivel, and knees that bend slightly over a right angle. There's no waist swivel or ankle joints.

The arm cannon isn't screen accurate here, but you can almost make him pose like Megatron does whenever he fires his fusion cannon.

Speaking of Megatron, here is Galvatron in robot mode for a size comparison! Stinger does look delightfully puny next to his master, but again, that's to do with Stinger being a fairly small Deluxe and Galvatron being a normal-sized Voyager. In case you're wondering, my Galvatron's custom painted, so that's why he looks shinier than normal.

Here is the AOE Bumblebee next to Studio Series Stinger, and this is where a retool of Stinger likely may be important at some point. I remember seeing a rumored listing show that one of the options included a ROTF/AOE Bumblebee, and had that been confirmed, I'm sure Hasbro would have retooled Stinger heavily in order to make him turn into a 2014 Camaro Concept. I'm saying this because these two don't match up together that well. It's like KSI did make Stinger better in every way if that was what Bumblebee looked like in fiction. The appearance of the 2014 Deluxe makes Bumblebee look more like he was made in 2007 or 2009 with how the chest, feet, head, and backpack look. The only carryover between the figures is how the shoulder pylons look are oriented, but even those look better on Stinger than on Bumblebee since they're not as big and don't feature the wheels.

There was one reuse of Stinger that came out a few waves after the original use of the mold, that being KSI Sentry. It's a blue repaint of Stinger with a slightly altered deco (essentially relocating the black paint apps in both modes) and a new head sculpt that was carried over from the Chevy Trax drones. Instead of the shurikens, there is a new accessory that goes on the cannon, making an even better-looking arm cannon that should have been included in the original release. I may get this repaint, though I feel it should have been made for the 2019 assortment. I don't like how it has the same piece used for the shurikens since it doesn't include them at all.

Overall, Stinger's a pretty good figure that could have some room for improvement, mainly in terms of painting the face, having the legs transform a little bit more, and making the cannon look more complete. It's still great to have a version of the character after 4 years of nothing from Hasbro and a red repaint of Bumblebee from Takara, but whatever comes for an AOE Bumblebee doesn't mean it's a straight repaint with the wrong alt-mode.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Studio Series Bumblebee review

Hey, readers! I do apologize for not using this site as much as I intended, but I feel that it's time to delve into some action figure reviews that I wanted to discuss here, especially if social media like Twitter or Instagram may not be the best way to share my thoughts on what I bought recently.

The Transformers films have seen multiple Bumblebee figures for more than 10 years, and a lot of them tend to be repainted frequently. Fans have shown their frustration with the constant variants of the yellow character unless it's a new mold, but Bumblebee's yellow saturation for the past couple of toylines made it hard to get excited for him. Yes, he's a kid-appeal character, and yes there has been less Bumblebee toys over time, but given the release of his solo movie and the broader kid appeal focus he had in Cyberverse than in Robots in Disguise 2015, one can see where fans are making their point. The movie toys are very well known for having up to 5 Bumblebees in the mix, but in terms of the Studio Series line, Hasbro opted to make them (mostly) stick in the movie appearances for the most part than repaint them in all shades of yellow and black. And the figure we'll be taking a look at is Transformers Studio Series Bumblebee!

The Studio Series version of Bumblebee takes us back to 2007, where we see him in the initially prominent Classic Camaro alt mode that Sam bought at Bobby Bolivia's car shop. As far as the alt mode details go, it's accurate to the alt mode that he had initially, but the deco is a lot cleaner. 

While not a dealbreaker for fans that want a cleaner alt mode for the Bumblebee movie, Bumblebee was supposed to look worn out, or as Sam and Bobby called it in the movie, have custom faded paint. Both TakaraTomy's Lucky Draw Bumblebee and the Clunker Bumblebee will bring in the damaged deco in their own ways, though some will feel the first Bumblebee should have had it sooner. 

The included arm cannon plugs into the rear bumper of the alt mode, which is strange to see since it doesn't look that effective for a display option.

Compared to the original Classic Camaro mold, we have opaque windows yet these windows are not tinted enough to hide the robot parts. The battle damage deco isn't as apparent on the original version but is at least there, unlike the Studio Series version. The grill is black on the original but silver on the Studio Series version. The silver looks nice yet isn't accurate. The rims are also different on the original version due to the front tires using the 5mm posts with the missile launchers; the Studio Series version is much more accurate. Also, the original version was a larger toy than the Studio Series version, a common aspect of older figures compared to modern ones.

Transforming Bumblebee is the standard hood chest door wing transformation found on many other Bumblebees as well as a handful of other robots with a similar design. The only difference is now there are fake grills and a unique leg transformation that hasn't been done until recently. In fact, it was a leg transformation that was first used by the second Premier Edition Deluxe Bumblebee that more captures his appearance from The Last Knight. The only difference is now the rear windshield is split in half and relocated to the sides of his legs; also, do not move the robot shins forward simultaneously since it will result in the paint chipping off. Do one after the other. Also included are the smaller wings that were first seen on the MPM version.

It should be noted that reviewers complained about early copies of the figure, who said that they had quality control issues with the loose joints or floppy backpack. My copy and a majority of reviews made after the initial orders of Wave 1 point out that the toy had no quality control problems whatsoever. While some reviewers were legitimate on their quality control (considering that this is a general retail toy), I felt that some reviewers exaggerated the tolerances of the toy. Not every reviewer is like that, but there are some that have dug deep into the third party market for too long but bash general retail toys unfairly. Bumblebee did get better quality control in later releases, but the Clunker repaint came with a pin for the rooftop.

The robot mode looks pretty good in terms of screen accuracy, with a much better appearance in mind than before, especially considering this is the second time Hasbro made a classic Camaro Bumblebee in history. The chest is more proportionate, the limbs aren't toyish, and the wings aren't as tiny as before. I do wish the shoulders had more yellow paint to make them feel more complete, and I also wish that there was less drab gray plastic.

Here is a comparison between the original toy (left), Studio Series Deluxe (center), and the character art (right). For a Deluxe figure that's smaller than usual, the accuracy of the toy looks much better than the original one, even though the torso's not as broad and the head should be a bit bigger. The faux robot grill is solid black this time, though I would love to see some added yellow paint to distinguish it from the rest of the plastic.

The side profile of the robot mode is the typical backpack Bumblebee figures have, which consists of the hood, front windshield, and rear windshield, though at least it does fold up well enough. The wings are farther back than they should be, owing to how the toy transforms within its budget. The toy looks good from the back, though the grill does obscure the back of the robot head. Also compared to most Bumblebees, the rear portion of the vehicle mode rotates 90 degrees instead of hinging upward like on previous Bumblebees, once again a feature introduced on the TLK Deluxe. It is a neat way to make the legs look different, though the stripes aren't parallel with the ones on the hood.

The face sculpt is amazing. We've seen the faces improve for years, and I feel this is the best-made Bumblebee face yet in the movieverse. All the little details that make a Movie Transformer what they are are present, and the use of sharp silver paint makes the face look amazing.

Here is a comparison between several versions of Bumblebee from over the years. From left to right, top to bottom: Classic Camaro Bumblebee, Camaro Concept Bumblebee (both 2007), Revenge of the Fallen Bumblebee (retool of the Camaro Concept mold), Hunt for the Decepticons Battle Blade Bumblebee, Dark of the Moon Bumblebee, Nitro Bumblebee, High Octane Bumblebee (Takara version), and finally, the Studio Series Bumblebee.

Articulation is standard for both a Deluxe and a Bumblebee. The head is on a ball joint. The shoulders move on ball joints, and the elbows have swivel and hinge joints, while hands move inward for transformation. Waist articulation is present, and the hips are on ball joints. There are thigh swivels, a good bend in the knees, and while there is no ankle pivot, the feet can hinge forward and backward due to the transformation.

Whereas the original Bumblebee came with two shoulder cannons that can double as handheld blasters, Studio Series Bumblebee comes with his plasma cannon/stinger blaster that can be swapped with a peg, which was carried over from the TLK version of Bumblebee. However, whereas the original TLK Bumblebee had the arms swapped with the mushroom joint, the Studio Series mold used a peg that lets the arms swap in a way similar to alternate hand pegs used in Marvel Legends and other collector figures.

The arm cannon may not match up with the gray plastic since its yellow plastic with silver paint but it does look cool. I do feel it would better match the arms of the TLK release instead, but so far there has been no attempt by anyone (as far as I know) that can prove the compatibility.

Either arm can be stored on the...butt...of the figure, though likely due to how it's also a carryover of the flight stand port.

There are a handful of repaints that I should cover since I mentioned the custom kit version while also knowing I may not cover them in full:

1. Chinese Giveaway

This version was a giveaway with the damaged deco that should have been in this Bumblebee.

2. Highway Freedom Bumblebee

This set is a stripeless Bumblebee that also loses paint apps on the feet and abdomen, has a black grill, and comes with alternate pieces and stickers for you to add to the toy (which allows the use of the rectangular pegs and slots that were already there from the start). They're either alternate stripe details or Tron-like lines. He also came with a Charlie figurine that's posed with arms crossed and her left leg bent. Almost all of the pieces can't remain attached to the toy if you want to transform it into robot mode. This is a set that I'd consider getting for the sake of completing the line...

...but then Hasbro made a Bumblebee with the 15 number designation, added the pin included with the Clunker figure as well as the original stripes, and even kept the Charlie figure! It's in this Buzzworthy Bumblebee subline of figures consisting of the titular Autobot as well as some other characters associated with him.

3. SDCC Bumblebee Vol. 1 Retro Rock Garage

This set consists of a gold repaint of the mold, and he also came with Japanese Mini-Cassettes Dairu and Uruaz. It pains me that they gave him a number to further drive completionists mad, but if I can get the VW version at a great price, then I can get him, too. Still wish the gold would be nicer.

3. Clunker Bumblebee

This is a repaint I do plan to get, though IDK if it's 100% worth reviewing the figure again when the only differences are the damaged deco (which remove select paint apps), an all silver cannon, a black grille, and a pin that keeps the backpack inside.

Overall, Bumblebee is a strong start for a line that brought back Movie toy magic lacking since HFTD. Not that DOTM, AOE, or TLK were bad, but those three lines did have some issues worth mentioning. Dark of the Moon had more Bees and unnecessarily large weapons while not giving us more necessary characters. Age of Extinction severely lacked Decepticon toys and far too many repaints of Evasion Prime and the Dinobots. The Last Knight, while better in some aspects, still had some pointless repaints of select Dinobots and both Wave 1 Bumblebee and Leader Optimus after having better toys in The Last Knight.

As a figure, Bumblebee's a great recreation of his Classic Camaro form in plastic, which feels long overdue considering how it was a mode briefly seen in the first movie and then at the end of the Bumblebee movie. Despite how the paint job is more plain than usual and how the proportions aren't 100% perfect, this is still worth having in your collection.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐