General Information:
Release Date: February 2020
Price Point: $14.99 (Varies by retailer)
Retailer: General Release (Amazon, Entertainment Earth, Target, Walmart etc.)
Accessories: None
*Images and text below from Amazon.com:
- 5.4-INCH BUMBLEBEE FIGURE: Warrior Class Bumblebee figure is 5.4-inches tall.
- REPEATABLE ATTACK MOVE: Convert the heroic Bumblebee to activate his signature Sting Shot move. Fun attack move can be repeated through easy reactivation steps.
- 2-IN-1 CONVERTING TOY: Easy Transformers conversion for kids 6 years old and up. Convert Bumblebee toy from car to robot mode in 8 steps. Makes a great gift for kids.
- TRANSFORMERS CYBERVERSE CHARACTER: Black and yellow Bumblebee toy robot inspired by the courageous Autobot scout from the Transformers Bumblebee Cyberverse Adventures cartoon, as seen on Cartoon Network and YouTube.
- INSPIRED BY CARTOON NETWORK SHOW: In the G1-inspired Cyberverse series, giant Transformers robots from the planet Cybertron engage in epic battles, activating signature abilities known as Action Attacks. Kids can imagine unleashing this special power with this Action Attackers figure.
Convert to Activate Signature Action Attack Move Easily convert and attack with Transformers Bumblebee Cyberverse Adventures Action Attackers toys! Simply convert Bumblebee figure from car to robot mode in 8 steps. The last step of conversion activates the figure’s Sting Shot move! Once converted, move can be repeated through easy reactivation steps.
Discover Other Signature Attack Moves Imagine recreating awesome Cyberverse battles with Warrior Class figures that perform the attack moves featured on the animated series! Explore the unique powers and skills of each character while bringing the epic adventures of Cyberverse to life. Look for other Action Attackers figures, each sold separately, to discover the signature attack moves of favorite Cyberverse characters!
Heroic Autobot Bumblebee Bumblebee is the best scout the Autobots have ever had. His job is to get behind enemy lines, secure valuable intel, and get it back to base. All without ever being seen. He has to think fast and move even faster to stay one step ahead of the Decepti-creeps. He’s loyal and always looks out for his friends. Whether you’re heading out for a critical battle, about to go on an epic adventure, or you just need someone to swipe some extra Energon shakes from the supply closet without getting detected, there’s no bot you’d rather have on your side.
The third season of Cyberverse featured the Transformers returning to their homeworld of Cybertron. Upon their return, several Transformers wound up taking on different vehicle forms including Bumblebee, whose vehicle mode is not a flying car instead of an Earth-based sports car. This figure is a retool and redeco of the first Cyberverse Warrior Class Bumblebee so check out that review too!
Packaging:
Like previous Cyberverse Warrior Class figures Bumblebee is inside a bubble attached to a card. The packaging colors use the design for the (very long) series title: "Transformers Bumblebee Cyberverse Adventures", a sub-line of figures that appear to be devoted to one of the story arcs in the third season of the Cyberverse cartoon. The packaging features different artwork than the previous Warrior Class figure and features his "Sting Shot" action feature. I like the purple/yellow combination of colors that makes up most of this packaging. It really pops on store pegs.
Robot Mode:
When I first saw initial promo images for this figure I thought only the parts of the vehicle mode to change this into a "flying car" were new, but after putting it side by side with its predecessor, I realized the designers actually changed a lot! Here's a rundown:
- The head sculpt is a new one. Interestingly the animation model is the same, but the designers seemed to want to take another crack at the head sculpt to make the proportions of parts like the horns to the crest to the face better resemble the animation model. It is an improvement over the original for sure.
- The chest panel is a newly sculpted piece. It is not as wide as the original and features some edges on top that the original does not.
- The "Sting Shot" forearm piece no longer has "spikes" on it the edges.
- The arms are made up of parts that are either altered from the original or new. This is partly to feature the angled details/shapes on the vehicle mode's front end.
- The lower legs are new, featuriong the fins from the vehicle mode on the sides, knee armor that actually extends out a bit and better defined feet.
Overall, I am very surprised by the number of changes made to this figure. Retools and redecos are a traditional way for toy lines to amortize the high expense of new sculpts, but it is cool to see a significant retooling such as this.
This figure is made up of yellow, grey and black plastic. The yellow is a different shade than the original Warrior Class figure. This one is darker and leans more towards a G1-ish deep yellow color. The grey replaces the silver on the original and the black is used again for the thighs and shoulder joints.
From an aesthetic standpoint this figure's paint job sadly disappoints. Dark metallic blue is used on the windows on his chest and the "Sting Shot" weapon. Silver and light blue are used on the head while a red Autobot symbol is found on top of the chest. A nice tampograph on his forearms shows off some Cybertronian characters, but I stared at the Transformers Wiki entry for the alphabet for a good 10 minutes and could not make heads or tales of what the tampograph says. If you, dear reader, can figure it out, drop me a line on Facebook and let me know. What bugs me is that so much is left plain and unpainted, including sculpted details on the feet and shoulders. These parts wind up looking really plain, especially the legs. Worse, they even took away a deco point: the black lines on the head. I feel like this figure would look a lot better with just a couple more bits of deco on it.
There are eight points of articulation on this figure. I'm being very generous here as at least one point is based on his "action feature" on the left arm. Speaking of which, this action feature still does not work well. In theory if you want to have the arm swing up and use the "Sting Shot" feature you press the chest panel in, pushing up against the black tab connecting the arm to the body and it swings up. The problem is, it does not do this most of the time. When it does work it is...okay? But I personally would have preferred another normal arm with a blaster weapon accessory.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Push the "Sting Shot" arm down if it is deployed.
- Push the legs together.
- Swing the chest piece back and connect it with the back piece to form the cabin section of the vehicle mode.
- Connect the cabin section cover to the back of the legs.
- Swing each arm inward, then bring the panels from the back of the arms together.
Vehicle Mode:
Bumblebee's Cybertronian vehicle mode looks a lot like someone took a sports car from Earth, sliced off part of the vehicle on the bottom and replaced it with futuristic scifi bits. The top part has the cabin section of an Earth car and headlights in the front along with a grille. The bottom has a thick section (presumably containing machinery to help him fly) and angled fins in the front and back. His spoiler has two points sticking out the back. The result is a vehicle that looks like something that would have come out of a TV show in the 80's or 90's. It's a neat vehicle form and a fun variant on Bumblebee's Earth mode.
This mode mostly showss off yellow plastic. You can now see all the dark blue windows together. Black and light blue are used for details such as the headlights and spoiler lines respectively. A splash of silver can be found on the "wings" towards the back. There is a tiny Autobot symbol in red on top of the car. Sadly, a lot of sculpted details get lost in the yellow plastic due to there being no deco on them. I would have loved to see some deco on parts like the vents in the back and the front of the vehicle.
Final Thoughts:
There is nothing extraordinary about the original Warrior Class Bumblebee figure, and this one is pretty much at the same level. It is not my optimal pick for a figure, but I can see how kids (the target demographic for the toy) could have fun with it. Recommended for a specific sub-set of fans.
Pros:
- Fairly extensive retooling that does offer some nice aesthetic updates to the figure.
- Fun vehicle form.
- Parts are much more solid on this figure than the original Warrior Class.
Cons:
- Limited articulation.
- Action feature is not very exciting.
- Could use more paint applications.
