Here we have Bumblebee in his 2014 Camaro Concept mode. As expected, this altmode has been recreated accurately given we have the license from Chevy itself. Of the Bumblebees we got in the films, this one is unique from the single stripe going down the middle rather than the normal dual stripe decals we usually get from Bumblebee in the movies. While I prefer the trilogy look for the Camaro (particularly the ROTF one), there is something unique about this generation of the car. For one, the front of the car is modified so the grille remains narrower while the bottom front opening area is slightly larger in comparison. Not to mention the different headlights almost giving the 2014 Camaro a different, slightly aggressive vibe. This doesn't feel quite as much of a 2010s refresh as Optimus's entire altmode and design change, but you get that overall from a more distinct take on this car than the trims Bee got over the first 3 movies.
The weapon can peg into the back of the altmode, though it brings up one issue I have with this mold: not much paint is used for this car. Don't get me wrong, we have the stripe going down, and at least the taillights are painted this time, but the weapon just having silver on the barrel instead of some additional black to break up all that yellow hurts. Think of it as like what Blackarachnia's claws would look like without those stripes, and it would be just as bad.
For an altmode comparison, here is Bumblebee next to his High Octane self and his cheap knockoff, Stinger. I like that we kind of repeat the trend of Bumblebee being offended from being viewed as crap before he scans a newer Camaro. And seeing how different the proportions are between the Pagani Huayra makes me wonder if making completely separate molds the right way to go despite the two sharing the same design. We'll get to that after going over Bee's robot mode.
Transformation is surprisingly involved for a Deluxe of this caliber, especially in the current trend of Studio Series engineering. Much like with KSI Widow, Bee's car shell forms the lower legs, with the wheels filling in for the ninja stars and the shoulder pads being made from the front end halves. It's a huge contrast to the old Deluxe that used the entire hood, roof, and trunk assembly as the backpack while the front wheels form the shoulders and the rear wheel assembly turns into the back of the lower legs. The new Bee almost works if not for the fact that it's using clear plastic for most of the car shell. It'd be one thing if the windows were on a pin for the backpack of older Bumblebees, but the fact that this newer figure uses a more fragile kind of material in a recent string of lines where figures have had clear plastic either crack or break (the fragility on the Earthrise Smokescreen mold's knees, SS86 Jazz's backpack developing cracks from transformation) is infuriating as it stands. Yet Hasbro addresses this for the average G1 release but not the other lines??? Are we only dealing with this issue if a toy can have Sunbow baby blue windows?! I wish I can say that's the huge problem with this figure, because while the sculpt is better than the old Deluxe, it's severely underpainted. There should be some yellow accents on the arms, the crotch and midriff shouldn't be solid yellow or black from poor color break up, and while I appreciate that the shins have a good bit of black for the outline, the toes should be painted. We're paying $28+ for Deluxes now, and back in the day, they would have been better painted than this. Even the use of grey in some spots helped the older Deluxe Bees in Studio Series. The back suffers the worse from there being nothing but solid yellow. I know the bot mode matches the CG model better than the old toy did, but I look at the cost cutting for the paint, and it's like every fraction of a cent matters!
Head sculpt is one of the better aspects of the mold, especially with how detailed the pupils are on top of the microscopic Autobot insignia on the forehead (though it's not opaque). The optics are especially well sculpted in this size, and it almost makes up for some of the missing black and silver on the rest of the head. Almost. Articulation consists of ball joints at the neck, shoulders, and hips, swivels at the biceps and thighs, and hinges for the elbows and knees. The elbows may appear double jointed, but that is due to transformation only. The claw cannon uses two pegs to tab into the forearm, but again, the lack of paint makes it look like it belongs to a different toy. If they weren't going to use the budget in coloring it more, at least give us an extra one since he used two of these weapons while fighting against Galvatron briefly.
For a robot mode size comparison, here he is with his High Octane design from the Buzzworthy era of Studio Series repacks and repaints. I know there have been some terrible releases in the line, from the first versions of Shatter and Dropkick to the Arcee Sisters and Hatchet. Yet none are as awful as the High Octane Bumblebee mold, which was already holding up poorly back in 2014 thanks to the huge chunks of yellow on the legs and pelvis, on top of the cheap plastic quality being a grim reminder of how poor Transformers toys got a long time ago. I remember when Baiwei did a knockoff of High Octane Bee using the engineering of the Studio Series engineering from the trilogy Camaro design. It's randomly scaled up likely to fit with the Unique Toys version of Stinger and the Bumblebee retool. I wish I could delve into what led to that development since who knows if Hasbro would ever redo High Octane Bee ASAP; we'll probably get an SS84 Prowl with a slightly different front end/chest, but at least 2007 and TLK Bees are coming again for the 20th anniversary of the Bayverse.
And here he is with Stinger, showcasing how different their transformations and sculpts end up. I guess it's cool that they at least have the same details you would expect, between the ninja stars and the chest, though neither has any real synergy due to their entirely different engineering. Almost all of the car ends up on Bee's legs, and only the tear of Stinger's altmode stays in those areas instead since the arms make up the sides and the chest is technically made from the front. I don't mind since we at least get to see some identity on some capacity beyond the colors and the fact that Bee has his face exposed and Stinger does not. Aside from all that, do I recommend you get the new AOE Bumblebee? Honestly, it all depends on how much you're willing to stomach the lack of paint as well as how patient you are with clear plastic. I want to say this Bee is a surprise slam dunk and earned a lot more respect than it deserves. I really do! But when a toy has minimal deco and uses fragile materials for integral parts of a transformation, what else can I say to defend it if those hurt it? Only get this if you're a Bee Completionist (Combeetionist?), or if you see it on clearance. And be very careful with the clear plastic if you get it. Makes no sense that the figure would use clear plastic when those windows could have been opaque black (or yellow plastic with black windows painted on).
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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