General Information
Release Date: July 2021
Price Point: $79.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: Target Exclusive with a limited number sold on BigBadToyStore and Entertainment Earth
Accessories: "Poison Anchor" weapon (Blackarachnia), Allspark, Car Cover (Rear), Bazooka Halves x 2, Skis x 2 (Bumblebee), "Brisko" Headmaster (Fangry), Cyber Blades x 2 (Optimus Primal)
Official images and text in italics are from Target.com:
- BUZZWORTHY BUMBLEBEE: You've probably heard the buzz, but Bumblebee is kind of a big deal. And now the bodacious bot is making his mark with a line of some of the most buzzworthy Bumblebee products for fans of all ages
- WORLDS COLLIDE: Bumblebee escapes with the Allspark through an unstable spacebridge to protect it from Decepticon hands. Worlds collide as he finds himself in an alternate universe, facing new beast threats!
- ALTERNATE UNIVERSE-INSPIRED: For the first time, add Nemesis Primal -- the evil clone of Optimus Primal -- to your collection, plus Blackarachnia, with deco inspired by the original art release from the 1996 Beast Wars toy. Also includes G1-inspired Bumblebee and Fangry figures
- AWESOME ALT MODES: Figures convert from robot to alt mode in 18-22 steps. Comes with 5 weapon accessories and Allspark accessory. Fangry figure’s head converts into Headmaster trainer Brisko figure
- BUMBLEBEE-THEMED PACKAGING: Buzzworthy Bumblebee figures feature special collectible packaging
Description
You've probably heard the buzz, but Bumblebee is kind of a big deal. And now the bodacious bot is making his mark with a line of some of the most buzzworthy Bumblebee products for fans of all ages. See what all the buzz is about, only at Target.
Bumblebee escapes with the Allspark through an unstable spacebridge to protect it from Decepticon hands. Worlds collide as he finds himself in an alternate universe, facing new beast threats! This pack includes 4 alternate universe-inspired figures, including Nemesis Primal, Blackarachnia, Bumblebee, and Fangry figures. Figures convert from robot to alt mode in 18-22 steps. Fangry figure’s head converts into Headmaster trainer Brisko figure. Includes 2 Cyber Blades, bazooka, crossbow, and Allspark accessories.
Buzzworthy Bumblebee figures feature collectible special packaging themed to fit the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line. Collect more Buzzworthy Bumblebee figures, only at Target (each sold separately, subject to availability).
Transformers and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. Hasbro and all related terms are trademarks of Hasbro.
- Includes: 5 figures, 4 accessories, and instructions.
- Ages 6 and up
- Warning: Choking Hazard - Small parts may be generated. Not for children under 3 years.
Background:
In 2021 the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line of Target exclusives were going strong and special multi-packs featuring redecos and retools of Transformers figures were a highlight of the line each year. In 2021 the four pack was called "Worlds Collide" featuring a story where a hapless Bumblebee winds up in a universe where he encounters Fangry, Blackarachnia and Nemesis Primal, an evil version of Optimus Primal! This four pack was a fun mash up of sculpts from Titans Return, EarthRise and Kingdom. While this set was a Target exclusive at first, years later a limited supply would be sold via BigBadToyStore and Entertainment Earth.
This figure is a retool and redeco of Earthrise Cliffjumper, using the same body and weapons as that figure but with the head from War for Cybertron Bumblebee essentially making it a redeco of Selects Bug Bite. Other figures that used this basic design (with revisions) were Hubcap and Goldbug. This review will focus on the changes made to the figure for this release.
Packaging:
The "Worlds Collide" four pack is a rectangular window box that has a large window to show off the figures inside. The box features "Buzzworthy Bumblebee" artwork on the left side. On top is the "War for Cybertron" logo and the "Worlds Collide" title in the middle. To the right is a vertical "Transformers" logo in black. Along the bottom is the "Buzzworthy Bumblebee" logo and the names of the characters. They are arranged from left to right: Nemesis Primal, Fangry, Bumblebee and Blackarachnia.
The back of the box shows off the figures in both modes in the same order from left to right. Each figure has its number of transformation steps called out. Nemesis Primal has 22, Fangry has 21, Bumblebee has 18 and Blackarachnia has 20.
Accessories:
Bumblebee includes the same accessories as Cliffjumper consisting of parts to create a large cannon and stands for the cannon which double as skis in vehicle mode. The cannon barrel blasters are black plastic with (oddly) green paint on the barrel. The other accessories are black with no green paint on the back of the cannon but none on the "skis". Green is kind of an odd choice as it does not really go with anything else found on Bumblebee himself, nor is it a theme in the boxed set.
The other accessory included with Bumblebee is The Allspark. This is the same sculpt as the version used for the War for Cybertron "Spoiler Pack" but this time the color is more gold than bright yellow. This artifact has Cybertronian writing sculpted into its varous flat sides and there is a port that allows you to attach it to a Blast Effect peg. It is made of rubbery plastic and it's tiny so be careful not to lose it!
Robot Mode:
As noted above, this Bumblebee figure uses Earthrise Cliffjumper's body and the Bumblebee head from War for Cybertron. The plastic colors this time around are yellow (of course), black and dark translucent plastic that looks "smokey". Paint colors include yellow, black, silver and blue. The yellow paint on the torso panel is matched very nicely with the yellow plastic. The face is painted silver with blue eyes. On the chest is a red and white Autobot symbol tampographed in the middle. Overall he looks good and thanks to the design of the feet a tad more sleek than he would if he had the rounder Volkswagon Beetle feet.
There are twenty two points of articulation on this figure, which definitely places him way above a typical Legends Class in terms of engineering and the sheer number of parts. The articulation includes five points in each arm and leg and even waist articulation. There are seven 5mm ports on this figure which you can use to attach extra weapons. This includes two on the bottom of his feet, two on the lower legs, two on the forearms and one on the back. The port on the back is revealed by detaching the "back pack" (aka the rear of the vehicle mode). This allows for some weapon storage as well. Continuing with the feature started in Siege, there is a small peg on the right shoulder and another on the left leg allowing you to attach Blast Effects
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Detach the weapon if attached and set it aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Detach the "back pack" piece and set it aside for now.
- Swing the torso plate forward, swing out the panel with the Autobot symbol on it then swing the torso plate back into place.
- Rotate the lower body around.
- Rotate the arms around at the elbows.
- Swing the arms up at the elbows, then swing them up at the shoulders so it looks like the arms are punching into the air.
- Swing the upper body forward.
- Swing the arms together, using the tabs on the shoulders to help clip them into place.
- Swing the back panel on each foot out.
- Rotate the red panels on the feet up.
- Swing the front wheels out to the sides.
- Push in the panels from the robot feet to complete the front and sides of the vehicle. You will have to do a bit of careful adjustment to make sure all the tabs are in place and the panels line up.
- Take the "back pack" piece and swing in the black peg, then slide the yellow pegs into the robot fists to form the back of the vehicle.
Vehicle Mode:
It occurred to me as I looked at this vehicle mode that this is a bit of a merging of a G1 styled Bumblebee with a bit of the live action movie Bumblebee. While the robot mode's head is very distinctive and the yellow and black scream "Bumblebee!" this vehicle mode looks more like it belongs to say, Hubcap. However, if you think of it as a more "sleek" take on the character's vehicle mode then it does work.
This mode mostly consolidates the yellow plastic parts. The cabin cover section is painted yellow and while the colors match nicely it is a bit more glossy looking than the yellow plastic. Black paint is used on the front grille, the vent on the hood and the back of the car. The Autobot symbol from the robot mode winds up on the top of the vehicle. The sides of the wheels are painted silver. The back window is painted black, a callback to previous versions of Bumblebee.
This vehicle mode retains all the functionality of the other versions including having a 5mm port in the back and connection points on the bottom for parts like the skis.
Final Thoughts:
Some fans may be thinking "Another Bumblebee figure?!" but the fact is the little guy is very popular even all these years later and including him in such a set makes perfect sense, especially as the only good guy in the set. This also offers us a unique combination of parts and colors for this base tooling so that's fun too. I would not call this the centerpiece of the set, but it's a fun addition.
Pros:
- Excellent sculpt that gives us a more "sporty" version of Bumblebee.
- Cool retro vehicle mode.
- Good play value with some awesome accessories.
Cons:
- The proportions in robot mode are a bit goofy, with large feet and relatively small arms.
- The green color of the bazooka is a bit odd.
