TF: Prime 1st Edition Deluxe Bumblebee Review & Photos

Discussion in 'Transformers Feedback & Reviews' started by MaxGoof, Dec 5, 2011.

  1. SPLIT LIP

    SPLIT LIP Be strong enough to be gentle

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    There's been multiple magazine scans in the news forum with bot mode pics. He's literally identicle save the shade of yellow.

    EDIT: Pimping my way through the first few front pages gave me this.
     
  2. LATETFFAN

    LATETFFAN Well-Known Member

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    Got this guy yesterday and just open him today. Initially wasn't too impress with flat feet and bulky fender from the pictures. But after playing around a bit, he look much better with the leg fender angled, make it less bulky. You can even angle his feet to give him extra height. The hood on mine fold in find.

    I know my son will love this BB.
     
  3. jaws

    jaws Well-Known Member

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    He looks like movie BB's little brother, has such a youthful appearance to him. Transformation is a piece of cake, glanced at the instructions just to see where panels separated so I wouldn't snap anything off. The chest isn't as wide as I thought it would be, does match up to the artwork. The light yellow gives him a G1 appearance instead of the orange-yellow of movie BB. My only complaint is all the kibble that hangs off his feet, takes away from his streamlined upper body and torso. I had to put a bigger Reprolabels Autobot symbol on the chest, the factory stamped one wasn't centered, gives it NYCC version styling.
     
  4. Bumblebee765

    Bumblebee765 Wrecker

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    My friend got me this figure for Christmas, and I really like it! It's one of my favorites in my collection! The yellow is even better than I thought it would be, it's darker than pictures show. And I think I may be the only one who actually likes the display stand. :p 
     
  5. Stepper

    Stepper Well-Known Member

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    Yah,definitely does not justify the markup price for the Takaratomy version,i will just get the Hasbro ver will do
     
  6. xion14

    xion14 Well-Known Member

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    The tabs on his doors are stressing. Tabs are getting on my nerves lately.
     
  7. Philister

    Philister Teutonicons Rising!

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    [​IMG]
    For more pics, click on the image above

    Robot Mode: There is very little doubt where the inspiration for this robot comes from. Prime BB is very similar in look to the various Movie Bumblebees, from the angled car hood as chest to the rear of the car as feet. Now if you’re sick to death of seeing yet another variation of Movie BB, welcome to the club, but in this case there are, in fact, some changes that make this new BB bearable. Overall the look, while clearly Movie-inspired, also has some of the softer Animated-styling as well. The head isn’t quite as bug-eyed. Some other subtle differences elevate this robot mode above being yet another Movie BB.

    Getting BB into robot mode requires a somewhat complex, yet short of complicated transformation. Again, similarities to the way most Movie BBs transformed, but enough differences to inspire some new interest. Side note: The instruction sheet and the back of the package disagree on how exactly BB’s upper body is supposed to look. The back of the package forgoes setting the chest pieces at an angle, while the instructions neglect flipping the shoulders out sideways. For the completely screen-accurate look, though, you need to do both.

    Speaking of screen accuracy, that’s pretty good. Just about the only thing worth mentioning is that on-screen BB carries blasters on both arms, while toy BB has just the one. Apparently the “normal” (meaning not-First Edition) Prime BB will have two guns, so if that is important to you, you might want to wait for that one. Otherwise, though, the robot is spot-on as far as resemblance to the cartoon character goes. No complaints.

    Finally, articulation. Bumblebee is as agile as you’d expect from a modern-day Transformers figure, including a twisting hip. The arrangement of the shoulders takes a moment to get used to, but it doesn’t hinder him in any way. The big feet make for a stable platform, so outrageous poses and kicking stances are not a problem, either. Just about the only thing he’s missing are twisting wrists, but he can twist his forearm, which mostly negates that limitation. Bottom line: A good robot mode whose only real downside is that the character depicted has been vastly overexposed these last few years.

    Alternate Mode: Shockingly Bumblebee transforms into a yellow car with black racing stripes, who would have guessed? It’s not a Camaro this time, more of a generic muscle car with the engine sticking out from the hood and a huge front grill. Apart from the black racing stripes, silver rims, red stop lights, and blue-tinted windows break up the yellow monotony. There’s also an Autobot symbol on the hood.

    Sadly the transparent blue windows show the robot arms lying inside the cabin. You don’t recognize them as such necessarily, but they do fill up the insides pretty well. Apart from that, though, no visible robot bits. Bumblebee’s blaster can be stored on the underside of the vehicle; sadly there is no way to actually utilize it in this mode (making it able to plug into the exposed engine wouldn’t have been hard, I think). Apart from that, though, no complaints. A good car mode, even if it is yet another yellow and black sports car.

    Remarks: Transformers Prime once again features a Bumblebee as part of the core cast. This version of the yellow bot is taken almost directly from the Movie line, both in terms of look and his inability to speak. He’s also once again the child-relatable character, being paired with the youngest of the Autobots’ human friends, Raf. Personally Bumblebee has failed to make much of an impression on me in the first season of Prime, but given the limitations (lack of speech, overexposure in the movies, etc.) that is hardly surprising. Maybe he will be more entertaining to watch in season two.

    I was very much opposed to getting another Bumblebee toy, especially one that resembles the Movie version so closely. If it hadn’t been for my buddy James, who got the First Edition figures for me at a very decent price, I would have left him lying. As it is, I grudgingly admit that he’s a nice toy. Far from revolutionary, but given the fact that the designers were forced to somehow make a new toy out of a character that has seen a billion incarnations already, they did a stand-up job and my hat’s off to them. So if you like Transformers Prime, there is no reason not to get this figure here, even if you’re sick to death of Movie BB.

    Rating: B
     
  8. FakeEyes22

    FakeEyes22 Well-Known Member

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    I got this thing well over a month ago and I haven't been sure what to think of it, so I've transformed him a few times every now and then. I'm pretty easy to please and I tend to like every Transformer since they've all got at least something interesting to offer.

    It's been tough judging this figure, knowing that a completely new version was right around the corner. If the new one was a huge improvement, this guy could be considered a nice step in design towards reaching that goal. Since it looks like the new one is rather flawed(don't have it yet), then I've got to judge this as possibly the best deluxe TF: Prime BB mold we'll see.

    I really like the car mode for some reason. A lot, actually, and I don't tend to pay a whole lot of attention to car modes unless there's something wrong with them. The only thing I don't like is how the gun wants to launch off of the bottom unless it's pegged on it precisely the right alignment.

    And now that I've finally given the robot mode another shot...I might really dislike this figure.

    My figure doesn't have any loose joints, stress marks or broken tabs. That means that I can appreciate the unusual design of the wheel shoulders since they work the way they're supposed to. It's odd, but it's still one of those unusual design choices that I find interesting since I haven't seen it before. BB is also pretty impressive for having a waist joint and and NO kibble hanging off of his back. That just occurred to me, and he does get some cool points for it. The light piping in his eyes really light up the deep sockets in a very nice way that brings some life to the character. The paint is all remarkably crisp. I really would have expected some fuzzy edges to some of these stripes.

    The chest though...I despise it to the point that I'm having trouble enjoying anything else. All I want to do is constantly try to adjust it, praying that I'm the stupid one, not the toy, and there must be some way to secure it properly. Every time I get him to the point where I think he looks pretty cool, I move an arm and half the chest detaches. Push that half down, the other half pops up in response. Try again to adjust, the bumper snaps shut like a starved Hungry Hunry Hippo and pulling back out wrecks everything else again. It makes me hate the unusual shoulders since their strange angle and proper tightness contribute to the mess. I also don't care for the doors since they are a couple of slackers who couldn't be bothered to rotate to a more flattering angle that contributes to the design rather than just kind of being there. Since they do very little to enhance the robot, they may as well be kibble.

    That's my BB rage rant. I'm mainly irritated because the chest problems make me start disliking a lot about a figure that's got some nice qualities. There's also the repeat disappointment where I finally think he looks really cool before having to fiddle with it again. I applaud the lack of kibble and the other good things I've mention, but after all of the very solid successful solutions we've seen in a variety of toys for movie BB's similarly complex layered chest, this one shouldn't be this much of an irritation. It's not even THAT bad, but something that bothers you a just a little bit feels like a huge pest when it happens over and over and over again.
     
  9. UnicronFTW

    UnicronFTW Don't blink.

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    Very nice. That's really the word, honestly. Nice. He's not a figure where I go "Wow that's amazing!" like I just did with Screamer. And he's not a figure where you go "Good lord that could have been so much better" like I just did with Arcee.
    His articulation is a bit limited, but his accuracy to the show model makes up for that.
    It just really feels like the engineers had fun with this one... I imagine it was like "Fantastic! Yes, it's another Bumblebee... but this time, we have a new design to work with! This isn't gonna just be another rehash of the same mold we've been using since 2007!" And they went crazy. The new engineering tidbits and the flips and the flops and the way the roof caves in and becomes part of the doors... it's really quite awesome. I adore that they went for something different, and it worked.

    Unforunately for them, those poor designers are now going to have to churn out more and more and more of the Prime Bumblebee design, and eventually, they'll just get that fatigue I'm sure they felt with Movie Bumblebee all over again. It's already started to show with the RiD fig.

    Enjoy this guy, people. I severely doubt they're gonna get any better as the line goes on.
     
  10. Bountyan

    Bountyan Well-Known Member

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    So, what's the deal with this toy and the lower part of the bumpers in robot mode? In some pics, like Philister's, they can move down, but on mine I force pretty hard and they won't budge.
     
  11. DPrime

    DPrime Well-Known Member

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    Hmm, well I guess I just couldn't pull the trigger on the Takara Deluxes. You're right - the yellow just isn't enough to justify a higher price.

    I've always gotten the Takara versions even if they were only slightly better when it comes to the Classics/Henkei/etc. stuff, but that's for G1 characters. As much as I love TF: Prime, I guess I don't love it as much as G1. They're just not worth the premium prices.

    I did end up getting a Takara Bulkhead, though. Would have gotten Prime too, until the cancellation news drove up prices. Oh well, I'm sure there will be a better one down the road. :) 

    I only just picked Bumblebee today. I gotta say, I don't disagree with anything being said here - but at the same time, I like him! That said, I guess I never did suffer from "Bumblebee fatigue", seeing as how I avoided the movie lines altogether.
     
  12. mx-01 archon

    mx-01 archon Well-Known Member

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    They're pinned in there really tight, in some cases.

    I had to resort to jamming a screwdriver in there to pry them loose the first time around. Now they move fine.

    They're definitely intended to move: the pins are inserted through sliding tracks. But they're pressed in their too tightly, so they're clamped on pretty snug.
     
  13. ElekTriC

    ElekTriC Well-Known Member

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    just got him and have no problems besides a loose door @ robotmode. the right one. and maybe a bit loose balljoints @ the elbow. but not that it cant hold a pose
     
  14. DPrime

    DPrime Well-Known Member

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    Changed my mind! :) 

    Put up some comparison pics between the two (Collecting Toys...), and honestly, aside from the more accurate colour, the Takara version feels a bit more "solid". Doesn't have the looseness of my Hasbro figure, and the chest pieces that a lot of people have a problem with aren't loose, but they aren't too tight either - they work just fine.

    Plus I've got two blasters now! :) 
     
  15. OptimushedPrune

    OptimushedPrune Impressive Member

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    Just been messing around with Bee and noticed that if you leave the windscreen up then you can fold the doors further into his body which looks a lot better but the only downside is you can see the windscreen behind his head as it wont fold all the way down.
     
  16. Razerwire

    Razerwire 99 Problems... Veteran

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    For those who are sticklers about weapon storage like I am, his blaster can be stored in his back by pinning in between his lower back and the windshield. It's pretty snug if done correctly.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     

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    Last edited: Mar 26, 2012
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  17. SaberPrime

    SaberPrime Banned

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    First Eddition Bumblebee

    I looked and I actually could not find a review thread for this specific version. Maybe because there were threads for the VS. Starscream and the NY version with Arcee and they're all the same mold no one felt like doing another one.

    Anyway, I just ordered this guy directly from Hasbro and it came in the mail today. I have to say I've seen several video reviews of this mold and they've all made it look so easy to transform. Maybe this is just a problem with mine but every single one of his joints was so tight that I felt as if I was going to break him threw the entire transformation. I'm almost afraid to turn him back into a car now just because of how difficult it was to get everything unpegged into his robot mode.

    Now one thing all the reviews did mention that I didn't think too much of until seeing it in person is just how good this guy's light piping is. I've always felt light piping was pretty pointless because you have to actually hold them up to the light for it to work and no one is going to do that for the entire time they're being played with or displayed. This guy however his eyes are almost always lit up unless I actually put my finger over his head where the light shines threw. I think it's because of how big his eyes are in the design that allows even minimal light to shine threw really well.

    For articulation he's got a ball jointed neck. Ball jointed elbows. No wrist but I guess you can make up for that with the extra arm swivel just below the elbows. The hands do fold in which is rather unnecessary, I don't know why you would want to do that it's not part of the transformation. He has a waist swivel which mine is able to rotate all the way around other seem to not be able to move that well. Ball jointed hips which are sadly unpainted, I wish the random bits of white plastic were the same dark gray as his other robot parts. There's also a swivel joint at the hips. Knee joint. And while it looks a bit awkward he has a bit of front to back ankle movement, no side to side. Speaking of a bit awkward you notice I skipped over the shoulders... well there are two joints there, one that only makes the arm go out to the side and the other that only makes the arm go forward and back. I suppose when your shoulders also have to act as wheels there's no way a ball join would work there.

    A lot of people have issue with the dark gray squares which are transformation hinges in vehicle mode. They don't really bother me as much as the many bits of white plastic that look like what you would find on an unpainted prototype. The hip joins, awkward shoulder joints, heel spears, and a huge chunk of plastic in his back are like this. Only the hip joints can really be seen from the front though.
     
  18. SaberPrime

    SaberPrime Banned

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    Razerwire, thanks for the picks. I didn't even know you could store his gun on his back like that. Also thanks to whoever moved my post and changed the topic title to make this easier to find.

    I wanted to post an update because I've Transformed him a couple more times now and everything has gotten a lot easier and smoother than the first time I transformed it. I don't know if I loosened the joints some how or what but I don't get that "I'm going to break this if I pull any harder" feeling like I did the first time.
     
  19. Apoclatron5675

    Apoclatron5675 Well-Known Member

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    Awesome figure, love it and its fun to mess with but only downside with mine is I have 2 right hands