So, the yellow one.

Or as he's known to his friends, SS57 Offroad Bumblebee.



Mine arrived today along with Shatter (more on her in her review thread). First impressions are that this is the bug-eyed kid appeal scourge we should have gotten in the first place!



Bee comes with the obligatory usual Studio Series "display base"; this time showing some Sector 7 goons standing around between takes and an ominous aircraft buzzing about in the sky (presumably John Cena is in there somewhere, you just can't see him).



Now, figure time! Let's start with alt mode for a change.....it's not a VW! [Insert surprised Pikachu meme here].



Instead, Bee is sporting his Jeep mode from the early portion of the movie (no, the mode after the Cybertronian car, but before the Beetle). He's done in a slightly saturated yellow that matches very closely with SS18's primary colour.

Interestingly, the plastic on SS57 has more of a matt texture than the regular glossy plastic we often see, giving the figure a rustically realistic finish.



It all looks very nice, aside from the fugly wheels (c'mon HasTak, throw more budget at your cash cow!), and the robot arms peeking out from below. Other than those little niggles, this is a pretty fantastic alt mode, with actual seats, sculpted interior and steering wheel.



The side panels on mine are a pain to plug into place, but with the cannon attached to the underside (that's right, hidden weapon storage), it pegs together in the end.



I won't spoil the transformation, except for saying it's unique and fun as hell until you get to those side panels....though your milage may vary there.

Once we get to robot mode, oh boy, does the little yellow plague (no self-isolation required with this one) come into his own!



Standing at the same height as SS18, SS57's proportions are leaps and bounds better for a start, and the kibble compacts down beautifully into a very satisfying child-friendly murder bot.




LOOK AT THAT SEXY AS-......uhhhh, compact rear. We don't objectify bees, or robots, or cars here.



Articulation is pretty stellar, with all the usual joints, plus useful forward & back action on those chunky stompers of his. The head is the only odd part worth mentioning really, as it is on a side to side swivel only due to transformation, but you can make him look up using this joint. But don't do that. You will have nightmares.

Fun fact: Bee can also use SS18's arm blade to shank his foes to death. Kids these days, ay.




Overall, if you're a fan of the movies, get this figure. If you're a fan of Bumblebee, get this figure. If you're a fan of fun and unique Transformers, get this damn figure in your face.



SS57 may be one of the highlights of Studio Series to date. Don't miss out on him!

 

Man, he looks great, but I have no infatuation with Jeep Bee. Is this mold being retooled into SS Cliffjumper? Looks mighty similar iirc. If so, I'd love to see them use this mold for an updated VW Bee. It'd be great to have a more accurate rendition.

 

I echo everything Goldlock said. And I am someone that actually loves the VW Bumblebee Mold. But this is just an amazing figure. Utterly clean in transformation to robot with almost no kibble so that when you look at him you honestly wonder how he will fold and twist to become a jeep. Parts just seem to disappear. Very much reminds me of Studio Series Optimus in how he everything was so well thought out when it came to transforming.

The weapon continues the trend recently of going away from limb removal and instead just plugging a large hunk of plastic into the fist.

I also like how, when compared to the VW form, you can see the aesthetics of the vehicle show up in the robot. VW bee is smooth, with rounded areas like his knees, feet, and chest. Jeep Bee, a boxy military vehicle, is very angular and sharp, with his shoes/feet looking like industrial pieces.

Over all just a great new addition to the evolution of Movie Bumblebee.

 

Looks awesome. I read somewhere that G1 Hound was originally going to be the kid appeal character, so this is a little unintentional homage to that.

 

A remold of this into hound, bulkhead or swindle would be excellent

 

The clip wheels and arm undercarriage aren’t pretty, but this guy looks so adorable and fun! Didn’t plan to have an army of movie Bees but it’s turning out to be the case.

 

Can he use the battle mask from SS-18?

 

I'm pretty sure Studio Series Cliffjumper (and the inevitable Bee repaint) are heavy retools of this Bumblebee. The thighs, lower arms & chest engineering all look to be a match.

I would happily snap up a VW remould from BumbleJeep too!

 

so this is intended to replace wildrider bumblebee, right?

 

Utterly fantastic. Another studio winner.

As always..excellent review

 

Does the transformation have a lot of rub spots or parts with a lot of physical contact/scraping? I need a Hound from this figure, and I'm prepared to do it myself.

 

The undercarriage of that alt mode is cringey.

 

Sadly not. The head on BumbleJeep is bigger than SS18.

The way its head is constructed looks like they might do a battle mask remould in future though.

Which one's that? There are too many Bumblebees!  

It's my new favourite Studio Series Deluxe (was previously Jazz).

Thanks, dude!  

Umm, not really....you'd get a lot of paint scrape at tabbing points, but most of the transformation doesn't involve squeezing pieces past one another.

It's not great, but I think it stands out because the rest of the alt mode tidies up so well. It's quite nuts how they got that robot mode into a tiny Jeep, without anything but the arms showing on the undercarriage.

 

Good to hear.  

Ah, he's making a joke calling back to how Offroad (STILL a sexy MoFo, I don't care what anyone says) replaced Wildrider in Combiner Wars, like Alpha Bravo and Rook. (also BAMFs, btw) Oh, that was a delicious fiasco. Good times...

 

Oooh, *facepalm*, how did I not get that one! That was a fun time to be on the boards.   Never did pick up the Stunticons, but Rook & Alpha Bravo were solid chonks. Especially Rook and his pinchy fist weapon!

 

Just got mine and for what it is, I think SS-57 Offroad Bumblebee is a pretty good figure and a great entry from the Studio Series toyline.



This figure spots quite a good-looking robot mode with barely any intrusive kibble, good articulation and represents Bumblebee's offroad Jeep appearance from the beginning of the Bumblebee movie quite well. This figure is a bit small, which could be a potential drawback for some.

For someone that got used to the smaller figures from Studio Series already like SS-10 Jazz, that didn't bother me much and in some aspects, SS-57 has a similar fun factor that I have with my SS-10 Jazz where despite the figure's small size, the figure still feels sturdy, fun and quite satisfying to play with; It's the same kind of appeal like those 3rd party Legends sized TFs have if that makes any sense.

My copy has a few joints that are a bit looser than I would prefer out of the box actually, but those are fixable and barely detracts from how much I like this figure.





The transformation for SS-57 Offroad Bumblebee is also something that I quite like, where everything actually tabs in where they're supposed to be and there are quite a few tricks to the transformation that I didn't quite expect. I'll still suggest putting some attention during transformation, however as there are a few parts that could occasionally pop off (like the steering wheel in alt mode, at least on my copy) if you aren't careful.



The offroad jeep mode is also pretty good, with some pretty nice detailing like the seats and steering wheels. Despite the use of peg-in wheels and the arms in robot mode kinda just chilling out at the undercarriage, SS-57 in this mode does still rolls quite well.



I really, really like this figure and despite not expecting much from this figure initially, SS-57 offroad Bumblebee manages to be quite a bit of a hit. I have quite a lot of fun with this figure and next to SS-10 Jazz, this figure is one of my favorite Studio Series figures so far; it's that good of a figure.

 

This is looking likie a pleasant surprise of the line. I was excited about this one, But your FANTASTIC review really shows off how good this one is. well done

 

Indeed, this is a pretty good figure.



I used to be unable to get the SS-18 VW Beetle one, but looking back right now that figure isn't that great actually and I'm so glad that I waited for this one instead.

 

I had very high expectations for this bee.

I think that's the reason why I'm quite disappointed with the figure.

I think all the positives have been highlighted by most of the posts here.

1. My copy had lose joints at the hip
2. The tabs on the shins of my copy just kept coming off
3. The chest on my copy had a terrible finish
4. I'm really put off by that thing jutting out from the bottom of his crotch
5. His arm articulation is so limited by the wheels behind his shoulders
6. Last but not least is that arm that is soo visible in alt mode. SS in general has that clean alt mode. I mean look at siege hound, that figure has a better cleaner alt mode compared to this bee. And lets not forget those wheels. Aaagh
7. And yes I almost forgot about the head on a pivot. I think this is a design similar to MP hound?

I really hope that only my copy has those quality issues and others will get the better ones.

Please don't let my frustration keep you away from getting this figure. It's an iconic alt mode in the movie and a must have for BB movie completionist.

All in all I will still keep this bee to complete my BB collection but it will stay boxed for the time being until someone comes up with some really cool solutions.

 

Hey man..These parts here, Are they visible in jeep mode? They look like molded in torso Greebles. Could they be painted to match the torso bulking his sides out, a bit needed if you ask me. It almost looks like those are trying to mimic torso bulk, but just clear parts.