Time for a Guest Review!!
It seems yet another company is giving us what Hasbro has not been allowed to for what seems like forever: Bumblebee as a little classic yellow Volkswagen Beetle. Mind you, it seems the folks at VWAG in their ultimate wisdom (and quest for free publicity) have finally decided to allow a Transformer named Bumblebee to be released with a VW bug alt mode for the masterpiece line, but as of the writing of this, that figure is still in prototype stages and available for preorder only.
It seems yet another company is giving us what Hasbro has not been allowed to for what seems like forever: Bumblebee as a little classic yellow Volkswagen Beetle. Mind you, it seems the folks at VWAG in their ultimate wisdom (and quest for free publicity) have finally decided to allow a Transformer named Bumblebee to be released with a VW bug alt mode for the masterpiece line, but as of the writing of this, that figure is still in prototype stages and available for preorder only.
Of course the modern version mainstream
America has in its consciousness is that of a Camaro whose
communication abilities are a cross between Wreck-Gar's and R2D2's.
The personality of this monstrosity seems to have come from Hot Shot
and design-wise, well....
C-3PO on crystal meth
comes to mind...
A lot of folks are just fine and dandy
with this being Bumblebee, yet it never sat right with me. To me,
the name "Bumblebee" perfectly described his original alt
mode: Little yellow bug.
Apparently I am not the only one who
thinks so. The internet community has for years argued about how
important or unimportant the alt mode is to the name, but alas,
Volkswagen Automotive Group (VWAG) officially put a legal stop to
Hasbro using this beloved alt mode. Well, at least, it seems, until
the success of the first live-action/CGI cinematic blockbuster of
2007 seemed to soften them a little into allowing an Audi to be used
in the second flick. Said Audi was destroyed in the opening
sequence.
Anyway it seems the third party
companies felt the pain and desired the dollars of those of us who
wanted our original beloved Bumblebee back in his old clothes. The
latest such offering comes to us from a company called ToyWorld, and
since they aren't allowed to use Hasbro or Takara copyrighted names,
this figure is simply called "Bii." He is not, as I am
aware, available anywhere retail but online only. I got mine for 50
bones plus shipping, which is a tad steep for a figure as big as the
current deluxe figures, but to a VW aficionado like me, a must- have
none the less. Let's take a look at this guy in his packaging first:
Nothing very fancy, just simple and to
the point, easy to open and get at, just how I like it. He's tied in
with 2 of those twist ties on steroids so not too difficult to
remove. Anyway, here's our guy freed from his prison:
So you want this card,
do you? Well the question you should be asking yourself is, do you
feel lucky, punk? Well do you?!?
Included is the figure holding his gun,
an illustration-based instruction sheet, and a "collectible"
card. The card is considerably smaller than the average sports or
other trading card so it may not easily fit in with any other cards
you may collect. The card is a fairly cool touch anyway I guess, but
I've never been much into cards. Anyway, now for a better look at
the instruction sheet:
No instructions in English at all, and
it is expected that anyone following the instructions should be able
to convert him between modes. This would be true, except they don't
clarify that the thighs should be bent downward when converting to
vehicular mode, which can be extremely frustrating if you're not
aware of it. In fact, converting him from robot to VW bug is rather
tedious and painful, as there are SEVERAL small moving parts that
must be positioned in the process. OK, not quite as painful as
classics Galvatron, but pretty darned close!
Who are you
comparing to Galvatron, jerk?!?
To give you an idea of the
transformation, I am including this handy dandy
motion-sickness-inducing animation for your viewing (dis)pleasure:
Bii, transform!
Vehicle Mode
The car mode is definitely patterned
after the old cartoon version, hence the proportions are quite far
from correct from those of an actual VW bug, albeit not so much that
it is unrecognizable.
My, what HUGE windows
you have, Bii!
Personally, I'm not as big a fan of
this VW bug mode as I am, say, of the ArtFeather version, but for a
cartoon representation it's not bad. I just feel that for 50 bucks,
a vehicle mode that almost looks like a kid's "rubber ducky"
bathtub toy is almost a slap in the face, but that is admittedly only
my opinion. The wheels do roll independently which is a plus, and I
like that it has side view mirrors and windshield wipers. Also, you
may not be able to see them in the pics, but they even put louvers in
the rear decklid, suggesting a mid to late 70s body style. Another
downside to the vehicle mode is that all of the moving and swiveling
parts make for an incredibly tight packing hob that must be applied
when transforming either way, so keep that in mind when snapping
parts into place. Yes, they do snap as each piece is carefully and
(mostly) accurately tabbed.
As for the bot mode, well, NO
disappointments here I am happy to say! The head sculpt is quite
clearly our guy, and the over exaggerated big feet emphasize the
slightly awkward (yet noble) character of the original Bumblebee.
They also add beautifully to his posability:
Why couldn't I have
been an Aerialbot?
Ball joints and hinges work together
rather nicely to offer a HUGE margin of articulation, but I will warn
you that the bendable parts are quite stiff, at least at first
anyway, and may require a bit of force to move into the desired
position. This may not be a bad thing considering one alternative
would be for the figure to be too loose and wobbly to enjoy playing
with.
OVERALL
Overall, I have to say the biggest
dislikes I have are the 50 dollar price tag on a deluxe scale figure,
and the frustrating complexity of what I think should have been a
relatively simple transformation. I am undecided on the VW bug mode
as I like that he has that mode, but I find the cartoonish nature a
bit too exaggerated. The things I like best are that the gun can be
stored in his car mode out of sight, and the robot mode is simply
incredible both in accurate comic/cartoon design as well as the vast
range of articulation. To me the likes do outweigh the dislikes
overall and make me not sorry I spent the money on him. To the
individual collector, I invite you to consider this review before
making that decision for yourself. As I mentioned before, I am a big
VW aficionado, which largely influenced my decision, particularly
where Bumblebee is concerned. If you are a G1 Bumblebee freak too,
then this may very well be worth your money as well. If not, you may
wanna wait for the Masterpiece version.
Until next time, this is the Davestator
saying, "Damn I like grapes!" No wait, wrong quote....ah,
well, you get the idea! Cheers!
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