Here is Bumblebee in his vehicle mode. It's certainly nice to see the return of the original Camaro from the 2007 movie after all of the updated models in the subsequent movies. The appearance of the car is captured pretty well, but the details sell it for me. Aside from the stripes, you have the car emblem picked out nicely (though it should be a bit more accurately painted), the headlights cast in clear plastic, the paint picked out for the taillights and the blinkers, and the
I do feel that it could have a more honey-yellow as opposed to the canary yellow seen here.
I can hear the music playing in my head as Sam reacts to seeing Bumblebee switch alt modes. Anyways let's transform him!
Bumblebee's transformation feels so refreshing from not just all the Bumblebee figures made before him, but also from all the Autobot cars. It's a more involve transformation that makes me want to revisit it considering how many new steps are added as well as how it manages to change up some of the expectations one would have from transforming a movie Bumblebee. For once, the legs aren't just a simple step semicolon they are now a bit more involved to make the lower legs look better proportioned. It's also more than just opening the doors and moving the tires back semicolon they have extra hinges 2 better positioned them. Even the heads not just stuck on a ball joint and looking down on the road when in vehicle mode because now it's on a rotating bust that flips forward for the transformation.
His robot mode blows my mind. While I appreciated the slight improvements most bumblebees have had in the previous releases gamma this guy blows them away it terms of screen accuracy. The proportions are there, there's no big backpack made from the windshield gamma the wings look emotive as well as having smaller wings. Everything about this guy looks perfect, and he especially beats guys like Human Alliance and Battle Blade Bumblebee.
While the head has its optics somewhat obscure in terms of color, with the right amount of light-piping, you can get a bit of expressiveness in the face. Some may find the face a bit too dark, but at least it's not black paint like on some early figures.
What I like most about this Bumblebee figure is the design not only being accurate, but the figure overall capturing the essence of Bumblebee in the movies. Most Deluxe Bees tend to have the spirit of the character blurred by the way they're engineered or how some poses can't be done as nicely, but the Masterpiece figure works it out so wonderfully. This guy feels elegant in comparison to the slightly compromised Deluxes made before him. And he even has a battle mask, which was last seen on the 2011 Leader as a feature.
Articulation's another aspect of this figure that shines. The neck swivels at one joint while it looks up and down on another part of the joint. The arms move front and back at the shoulder as well as in and out, swivel at the elbow as well as bend, and the hands swivel as well as consist of finger articulation; the thumb has two points while the index finger moves individually from the middle and pinkie (which are fused together). There's a waist swivel included, and the hips move front and back as well as in and out on ratchet joints, swivel at the thighs, bend at the knees on ratchet joints, and the feet get to hinge front and back as well as pivot side to side. It further helps Bumblebee capture the poses he does in the movies, especially with the already tremendous sculpt.
He comes with one accessory, that being the Plasma Cannon (or Stinger Blaster as it's called now). It's not too big, and it does suck that it's the only accessory included (should have a Sam figurine or a set of shoulder cannons), but it does the job despite the obvious seam from how it opens up. Thankfully, it's a piece that doesn't' compromise the look of the robot mode's right arm, nor does it take up too much plastic. It even stores on the back, too.
This is by far the best Bumblebee figure done to date by Hasbro and Takara Tomy. It easily beats any Deluxe figure made before and after it, the once praised Human Alliance toy, and any of the larger Bumblebees made in the first three movies. And when compared to the MPM-2 Bumblebee from 2010 as well as the VW Beetle incarnation made to tie-in with the solo movie, it wins for not only having the Masterpiece moniker in mind but also having as much screen accuracy implemented in this figure as possible. MPM-2 was just a slight repaint of the HFTD Battle Ops figure, and MPM-7 feels more like it was made by a 3rd party company because of how inaccurate it looked in robot mode. Overall, I suggest getting this figure, though it will depend on your price range. I got him for $45 along with Combiner Wars Megatron at TFCon, but some sites will have him for $60-80. Don't pay more than $90 for it, though.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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