Here is Bumblebee in his vehicle mode. It overall captures the look of the alternate mode pretty well, and I do like seeing Bumblee's more aggressive design compared to his AOE altmode, which looked off with the singular stripe. Even with the broader black hood, this at least manages to feel more complete in comparison. That said, the rest of the altmode doesn't look as complete. There's some black paint missing on some parts of the altmode, such as the bottom part of the rear fenders, the bumper looking incomplete due to one portion of it containing a small black dash of paint, and the intakes closer to the doors are lacking detail. My car terminology may not be 100% accurate, but I do know the altmode needs a bit more black. Also, these clear windows make the car look cheap, but having them in a darker tint could help.
You can store the cannon on the side like this, which sort of replicates the appearance of Bumblebee shooting Barricade while in vehicle mode. Of course, there are no transformation hinges that help make the feature work, but this isn't quite it.
Here it is with the Classic Camaro version from the Studio Series line. You can certainly see just how much Bumblebee has changed from his movie debut in 2007 to his recent form 10 years later. Of course, this is excluding the VW BumbleBeetle; pains me to say this to the little bug (since it's a car I like), but we can pretend Beewun Bee's out of the equation in terms of canon!
The transformation is similar to the Studio Series Bumblebee I reviewed a few months back, but this figure was the first one to utilize it. The only difference is that the windshield does not annoyingly come off (which makes me wonder why the initial copies didn't have that pin), the plastic is slightly nicer, and the rear windshield isn't stuck on its legs. Before all this hype for the 2020 SS Bee came out, this was a Deluxe figure that many felt spiced up the Bumblebee-Transformation-Formula; most Deluxe Bees just had the front slightly deform, the rear legs stretch out like with most figures since 2007, and the backpack consisting of the roof and hood. I already mentioned this with my Masterpiece Bumblebee review, but needless to say, this guy has quite a few cues from the Masterpiece version, and it does add a bit more of the ambition of Movie toys that felt somewhat lacking in Dark of the Moon (due to it relying more on MechTech) and Age of Extinction (which felt mixed in terms of how each figure holds up overtime).
The robot mode is one of the early instances of a better done Deluxe Bumblebee. Of course, many said that with Battle Blade, but this figure at least started to close in on replicating both the accuracy and essence of Bumblebee's character from the movies. Sure, it's a bit bulky in the chest area, but at least it's got a bit more going on than previous incarnations. Arm transformation is about the same as with most Bees, but at least the legs are able to be a bit more involved, and even the backpack feels a bit more involved. Only nitpick is that the windows on the doors look a bit lost by being clear, and there are parts that have gray plastic that should be painted silver. Even weirder is that the thigh pieces are gray but the lower thighs are black.
The robot mode looks decent from the sides and the back, even if it's nowhere near as impressive as the MPM engineering. I do wish there was a bit more paint added for the feet or the sides of the legs, but overall, the robot mode's done better than with the older Deluxes.
Headsculpt looks very accurate compared to the later releases. It's about the same as seen with the already seen Studio Series figure that I reviewed.
Articulation's decent for this figure. 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. Speaking of the feet, mind don't have issues tabbing in, which might be a minor fix Hasbro put out on the figures sent to Ross or Marshalls.
His cannon can be attached by replacing the...left arm? This is a complaint that I do have with the TLK figure, simply because it's not only inaccurate but the method done by the Studio Series figure isn't as neat as I anticipated it to be. See, instead of using a peg, you had to slide off the forearm by the mushroom peg instead. It doesn't seem logical because it feels like would make the joint a lot less effective overtime.
So if you might be wondering what I'd have to do to combat that issue, then I'll admit that I have two copies of this guy. One with the normal left arm and one with the cannon.
Bumblebee's been able to get plenty of releases for a good while or so. This 3-pack edition came from the Tribute line, consisting of a Classic Camaro Bee from 2007 and a repaint of the AOE High Octane mold. The only differences are that the colors are darker, which does work a bit better than the lighter gray. Windows look especially nicer in comparison.
This is the Movie the Best version of the mold. Yeah, Takara once attempted a Movie line that would reel fans in with repaints, but they pale in comparison to the Studio Series molds in general. This one has a less canary yellow, and it actually has a proper right arm cannon! New paint apps for the car mode are included, and a war hammer comes with this figure. That said, it SHOULD HAVE been the initial TLK release.
This is the Then and Now 2-pack version of Bumblebee (as you can clearly see, Bumblebees tend to be in multipacks), which trades in some robot mode paint for extra vehicle mode paint. L for not giving the figure the proper arms or the hammer.
Here is Bumblebee next to the Studio Series version. He's about a head taller than SS Bee, though I can see it as Hasbro making Bumblebee taller because he grew slightly in TLK. You can certainly see where the Studio Series version got its engineering from, though it its arns and shins have gray plastic with yellow paint while the TLK version has the yellow plastic with silver paint, though it's got yellow plastic with silver paint for the feet and cannon while the TLK version has the gray cannon with slight yellow paint and unpainted gray feet.
Overall, this figure's decent for what it is. While an improvement in comparison to previous Deluxe Bumblebees, there are a few things thst pull it back from being perfect, mainly the clear plastic and the inaccurate placement of the arm cannon. Still, it's one you could either get or wait for a Studio Series version made with the 2020 engineering.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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