YES! yes yes yes yes YEESSSSSS!

Alright...so he's a 70's Camaro. Awesome. I love camaro's. I used to own an 89 IROC-Z that I took the guys out of and replaced with corvette hardware (engine, tranny, rear-end all fit, as the camaro was available with a detuned corvette engine to begin with). It was my baby.

AND....he gets the crap kicked out of him and is reformatted into a 2009 camaro. HOLY CRAP.

So, as Bay has said that the dialog for the transformers was not included in the script as it hadn't been finalized yet (and the version of the script we've seen was very old anyways)...I doubt Bbee is going to stay mute. He might be while he's in his damaged 70's form, but when reformatted...You know he's gonna talk. He's also the transformer with by far the most screen-time.

We'll get two Bumblebee toys out of this. Two COOL looking ones. I know people want him to be a bug, but I think the camaro, with it's black stripes, fits pretty well. Yeah, he's not a little weakling anymore. So what. He's still the human liason.










Might be interesting to note, but you can tell from the pictures that the 2009 camaro is NOT actually a camaro. It's a camaro body put on a different frame. Dunno if it's a tube-chassis or a frame from another car, but it's not the same as the Camaro concept that was unvieled at the autoshows. The proportions around the wheel-wells are not the exact same. Also, the tailpipes are fake, as are the rims. Those rims are cleverly disguised hubcaps. You can tell that the cross-drilled rotors are actaully part of the hubcap if you look closely.

Here's hoping that the final released version of the new camaro looks anywhere near that cool. And that they offer a bumblebee option.


So what are the general feelings towards Bbee as a camaro, now that we see what he's really going to be? (god it's nice to be in a place where there's not so much mindless #@$(*%ing and some actual moderation!)

 

i can live with the camaro alt mode [as much as the name "bumblebee" doesnt fit, i can still live with it. only way it fit with G1 bee was cuz he was a VW "beetle". had that bug kinda look i guess]

but despite that, hate the idea of "radio song communicating".

its just...no...dumb  

 

i dont think we'll actually get 2 versions of bumblebee from the movie.

 

The "radio" communication is kind of a silly idea, but as the dialog for the transformers has not been revealed at all, we don't know if it's even still in the movie, or how long it remains in the movie.

In any case, I'm 100% confidant that Bumblebee is not going to be using songs to try and talk to spike. Perhaps sampling radio broadcasts that are using the words he wants to use and then switching frequencies quickly to make the words all go together in sentences, but not by "song" I don't mind it too much, and if it's done well, it can make for a great "sweeeeeeeet" moment when he finally gets his voice back after being reformatted.


KA....why not? Chevrolet is going to be wanting to promote itself as much as possible with this film....and Hasbro is in the business of making money. Considering the history of movie toys, and how many multiple versions of each character is offered, even when they LOOK the same...I'd say it's a sure thing....

 

I gotta agree with that, from a merchandising standpoint it makes sense. And movie toys do have a tendancy to come out in a million different versions (my sons have a militatry camo Woody and cheap chromed Buzz from Toy Story) so I would not be at all surprised if we got "Urban Commando Bumblebee" and "Herbie Racer" Bumblebee too....

 

in other lines, yes. but in TFs its been very consistent, only prime gets different version of himself per line.

sure there are powered up version, but they tend to be at different size class.

 

Ah, but Transformers has also not had a situation where the same character had two completely different forms.

This is the same guy, with two forms. They'll have two toys. Especially considering that the movie line-up isn't going to be nearly as big as the line-up in the cartoons.

But.....how do you guys actaully feel about bumblebee himself? Assuming he fulfills the same ROLE...human liason....is having him be more powerful really a problem?

 

for the sake of argument, TFs has been shown in different form in a single story. bumble et al were shown initially in their cybertronian form. so was prime in the armada pilot.

i dont see how this is any different.

i get your enthusiasm over the camaro alt modes. i just think that the other mold that could be used for a different version of the same character could be instead put to better use with more/other characters.

 

Making two toys out of a single cartoon episode where you only see the other form once for about 30 seconds and the toys were designed years before the show is a lot different than making toys for a film where hasbro has been told they have to design the toys AROUND the movie......heh.


But yeah. For me, bumblebee was always cool...but he wasn't "cool." I loved the character...but he was a wimp, and the old beetle looked...silly. He's got black racing stripes now, on a pony-car exterior....I likie.

I think it's REALLY going to depend on how they work his transformation and whether they keep his devil-horns. Without the horns...it's just not going to be Bbee.....

 

I don't see how this is any different than Bumblebee's G1 upgrade to Goldbug, or the Cybertron Defense team, in the Cybertron line. It wouldn't make sense not to have him in both versions, unless he gets trashed in the first scene he's in.

 

Boxerperson, I'm with you 100% At first I was a little "meh". But I have owned a few (at least 4 that I can recall) Camaros in my day and I will own one again(hopefully yellow with black racing stripes   ).

This makes sense on so many levels. A lot of people probably haven't seen the new camaro, so introducing him this way, evolving from a 70s camaro to the new 2008/9 camaro is a perfect marketing tool.

I also noticed the calmer front end. The majority of the feedback from the auto shows was that it was a little obnoxious, and I agree with that. What they have done really improves on an already great design.

I'm sure the rest of the things you noticed (frame and such) are in place because they will need for this vehicle to do some stunts and other high speed stuff. They probably haven't hammered the specs yet for the 2008/9 Camaro so this is just a one off for the movie.

As far as the name goes, does it really not fit? The color scheme fits better then G1. Look at the rest of the G1 bots from the first couple of seasons. Do all of their names directly correlate to their alt mode? Hell, do any of them? Not really.

I also agree with the two toys for bumblebee. With such a limited number of bots and cons this is a great way for them to create more toys.

Plus the 70s camaro gets crunched up. How awesome is that? Bumblebee always gets taken out and has to be remade. That is a really great nod to the fans.

 

I think the camero look really works for him, his color scheme actually nods to a bumblebee with the stripes, so I agree with Primus on that it fits better than G1.

As for two versions of him in toys, one can only hope   I would LOVE having a 1:24 scale ol' beat up 70's camero bumbleebee, but then again, I HIGHLY doubt these toys will be at that scale.

 

I think it is a great idea to give BB a face lift. Especially in the "boys first car" storyline. Lets face it, kids are going to be much more hyped about a muscle car than a VW. Beat up 70's Camaro, upgraded to the new Camaro VS. Beat up 70's bug upgraded to the new beetle. From a "cool, I wish I was that kid" perspective, the Camaro wins every time.

 

I love the older Camaros ('60's, '70's models). And I think BB would be great for that alt mode as well as the 2008 model.

I totally agree. The older model has a weaker body frame compared tothe newer.

 

I thought I'd hate him as a Camaro, but the pics made me change my mind.

As long as he can actually talk at some point, I don't see a problem here.

 

Camaros mean nothing to me. Do they exist outside America?

 

I could probably see GM comming out with a yellow version of the new Camaro called "Bumble Bee Yellow". I'm not sure how they'll explain why Bumble Bee ended up in a 70's beat up Camaro, but wouldn't it be funny if there's a scene where Bumble Bee in his beat up form ends up in a junk yard and looks across to a worst off VW bug and says something like "Well, I guess things could be worse". I could see a nod to his previous G1 form. We'll have to keep our eyes and ears sharp when the movie hits.

 

Yes, Camaro's DO exist outside of america, but they're very very rare. Europeans never cared much for our recipe of big block power at the expense of nimble handling (but the new mustang handles EXTREMELY well, as will this camaro, they really are modern machines)

For perspective.....the Camaro is much like the Mustang. They were always direct competitors (like the Lancer Evolution and WRX STi now). Having both the Mustang and Camaro in this film is an obvious nod to all the history they have as rivals.....especially since they will be on opposite factions. It's going to make all the car guys go WOOooOooOOOO.

Seriously, take a look over at the Z/28 (that's a high-end camaro model) boards. They had the news of Bumblebee being an '09 camaro BEFORE it was posted on the frontpage of this site, and they've got a bunch of threads about it. Most of them actually remember transformers, and seem excited about the movie. This thing is going to be huge.

 

It's another smart move by the powers-that-be to make this movie appeal to a larger audience.

 

At least Bumblebee transform into something more hotter then a beatle.