Bot Reviews: Transformers: Premium Finish Deluxe Bumblebee

I know myself well enough to say that I’m pretty easily pleased by most Transformers, and I’m not as critical as I could be. Still, this is one situation where I know I’m being very odd, in that I liked a figure a big chunk of the fandom specifically does not, and I liked it well enough to get an elaborate high-end repaint of it.

So, back in 2018, when the Bumblebee movie came out, the Studio Series line released a Deluxe-sized figure of the film’s star, in the VW mode he spent most of the runtime in. And, ultimately, the figure didn’t go over well with a lot of people. For starters, while the Studio Series line was typically about slavish screen-accuracy, production lead time had meant that this Bee was based on a non-final design, so looked a little different from his silver screen incarnation. But that wasn’t really the big issue. The bigger problem was that people found him hard to transform, an overcomplicated shellformer, and full of engineering problems. And, well, I didn’t. Sure, he had flaws, but they didn’t kill the figure for me. It might have been my residual love for the movie (I have a lot of it) transferring onto the figure, or it may have been the fact that I transformed and fiddled with him enough times to “solve” his quirks, but I enjoyed him enough to get the gold version, and attempt to track down the rusty version (no luck so far).

So, this brings us to Premium Finish, a Takara-only toyline that’s all repaints of Studio Series and War for Cybertron Trilogy figures. The idea is that they’re hyper-detailed do-overs, slathering the figures in more deco than your normal mainline release, in an attempt to make them as screen-accurate as possible. To the surprise of everyone, Bumblebee got a repaint as a part of this line. When this figure was first announced, I said in multiple places that it was created specifically for me, and no one else, and now that it’s here, I’m going to take a look at the tooling for the first time in my reviews, and see if I can articulate why I like it.

Robot Mode

Like I said uptop, this Bumblebee figure was based on production art, so he’s got a few differences from his onscreen appearance, to say nothing of those based on engineering realities. Basically, he carries a lot of his alternate mode on his back, and his car-mode doors are prominently displayed across his shoulders, segmented in a way that deliberately resembles a bee’s wings.

Still, I don’t think it’s a bad look for him, and it ties his design into his previous movie iterations, as well as the lineage of G1 Autobot Cars. It helps that it’s actually possible to compress his parts backpack more than you think, but more on that later.

The other major thing is his proportions. His actual onscreen model’s almost chibified in its appearance, with a large head, round body, lanky arms, and huge feet. This version makes those proportions a bit less exaggerated, and a bit more adult-human in shape.

Between that, those door-wings, and a few extra altmode parts, like wheels on his knees and bumpers on the backs of his legs, you’ve got someone that reads less like a mascot, and more as a fully-grown Autobot Carformer. All I can say is that it works for me, and it helps that he hasn’t really lost his general Sweet Boy vibes, and still matches the broad strokes of the design. His headsculpts helps with that one, managing to look a lot more round and friendly than a lot of the Studio Series’s other attempts at him.

A big engineering problem I’ve frequently heard about him is that backpack of car-mode parts, both in terms of how it sticks out, and how it collides with the back of his head, limiting articulation. However, in truth, you can actually fold and compress it more than you think, and it’s something the Premium Finish version’s instructions actually show you how to do out of the box. Basically, you can fold the whole hood/roof assembly up tighter than you think, and push it up into his back in a way that compresses it more, and puts the top of it way more out of the way of his head.

It’s a tight fit, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel a bit dicey to undo for transformation, but three copies of this figure in, nothing’s broken or chipped, and I can move his head pretty freely. The engineering issue that I won’t argue with, though, is that his hands (posed in a half-open way) really like to fall off their hinges. You’d think they’d have fixed that in this revision. That, and the fact that the chunks of bumper on the back of his lower legs don’t really lock in, just hand there on friction. Still, outside of those, he feels sturdy and stable enough.

So, the big story with this specific release is that Premium Finish paint job, which is a bit of a give-and-take. Unusually, they opted to take the original’s more orangey colorscheme, and make his base color into a much more pale yellow, that doesn’t particularly feel more accurate to the movie, but instead feels more G1-style. It’s like some kind of equivalent exchange with Netflix Bumblebee’s cheddary orange. Outside of that, the extra deco doesn’t stick out at first, since the original Studio Series release felt pretty well-painted, but compare them side by side, and you can see where the budget went: Basically every bit of tech detailing on him has now been painted different kinds of metallic grey, including areas on his legs and arms that were left blank on previous versions, and a bunch of little flourishes, like silver rims around his clear headlights. It’s subtle, but a lot more deco has gone into him. One area that it particularly shines is on his head, which, outside of painting silver details on his helmet that were previously left blank, uses a subtle shading effect around his blue eyes, which both makes him look friendlier, and more movie-accurate, simulating the kind of internal glow his eyes had in the film. At the same time, bizarrely, the tiny Autobot symbol on his forehead is missing entirely, despite every previous deco of the tooling managing to include it. So, while I think the deco’s an upgrade, it’s not quite night and day, and there’s some odd compromises.

Provided you’ve got his backpack properly locked in, the bumpers behind his legs lined up right, Bumblebee’s a pretty stable figure in-hand, and comes with more articulation than his bulky frame would suggest. Not only does he have tilting ankles, but they have a forward-and-back rocking motion, thanks to transformation joints that also keep him really stable. On top of that, his knees can bend in reverse a little bit, making it easy to pose him mid-walk.

Uptop, while they’re not the most stable, his jointed wrists give him a nice degree of expressiveness, and his head has a bit of up-and-down motion, as opposed to the usual neck swivel (oddly, it doesn’t work when his head’s facing left or right). The only joint that’s lacking is his waist, which is blocked a bit by his backpack, though you could always undo it to add to his range of motion. Basically, he’s got a surprising amount of bendiness. Not only that, but despite his big backpack, his big feet and really solid ankle tilts make him surprisingly stable.

For accessories, he’s actually got a nice set of film-accurate option parts. Firstly, you can actually pop his face off, and replace it with the flip-out battle mask he wore in the film. It’s an easy swap, and on this copy, neither face are too loose or too tight (your mileage my vary, my other two have different tolerances). His mask is really cool looking, angular and heroic, and benefits a lot from all the extra silver paint accents this version gives it. I’ve been watching enough Tokusatsu that my mind takes me to some kind of armored superhero.

Next up, he’s got an arm blade, which can plug into two grooves on either arm. It’s cast in yellow, with a bit of silver, is just flexible enough to pass safety standards, and looks pragmatically deadly. Plus, as I mentioned in their individual reviews, if you have Studio Series B-127, Offroad Bumblebee, or Clifffjumper, it’s forwards-compatible with them, too.

Lastly, with a bit of a tug, you can pull his right arm clean off at the elbow, to install an alternate gun-arm, painted up in the same colors as his normal arm. It’s a bit stumpy and small compared to his weapon in the film, but looks better than the Trumpeter kit’s oddly lengthened version.

 

All three of these accessories are all pretty nice, but their storage options aren’t. Officially, you’re supposed to clip whichever face Bumblebee’s not using onto a little forward-facing peg on the bottom of his wing, which works fine, but looks kind of morbid.

Beyond that, you’re supposed to be able to peg whichever arm he’s not using onto his backpack, but it’s a tight squeeze, and liable to fall off. The instructions also say to peg his arm blade in across two pegs on his back, which flagrantly doesn’t work, as the gap in the middle of the blade that you’re supposed to use isn’t actually long enough. You can plug it into his backside, but it’s a loose fit, and gets in the way of hip articulation.

Basically, I just set his accessories aside most of the time.

Transformation

Okay, this is the big point of contention with this guy, so let’s dig into it. Basically, he’s a complete shellformer, stashing most of his VW exterior on his back. You unfold it, compress his body, and snap the shell shut around it. The criticism is that it’s really hard to get everything compressed and lined up, creating an altmode that you have real trouble getting to snap shut. And that was me the first few times I transformed him. But over time, I learned his quirks and tricks, and now I can change him no problem. Maybe I can illuminate a few here.

For one thing, you need to make sure that his shins move inwards along the ligature they’re mounted on as far as they’ll go, so they’ll plug into each other, and plug into his backside. After that, you need to make sure his feet are pushed backwards, and their heels outwards far enough that his snapped-together rear bumper can move over them.

Next, and most crucially, you need to make sure his robot arms are positioned just right against his torso, so that his doors and front wheels will close correctly. This is a part where the engineering’s written a cheque the manufacturing can’t cash, since there are tiny pegs just above his wrists meant to plug into little holes in his torso, but they don’t really fit, so you’ve just got to use them as a visual guideline to where his arms fit.

Lastly, no matter how good you are, you’re going to have to squeeze and massage some panels shut.

I’ve found the best way to do it is to hold his doors down against his legs (there’s some clear pegs that go into holes on his upper thighs), and keep them squeezed as you compress the rest of his panels. Do it right, and it’ll all snap into place. Those clear pegs were even retooled a bit on this version, lengthening them to stay attached better, though if you ask me, it would have been better if those pegs on his arms got some reinforcing, instead.

So, yeah, there’s a lot of little things that can go wrong, and make it into a mess. But once you’ve solved the puzzle, it stops being a hard thing to do. There’s a valid argument to be made that transformations you need to learn the quirks of aren’t good, and it’s an argument I’ve made in the past, but as someone that’s previously owned Movie Masterpiece Optimus Prime, Fanstoys Hoodlum, Thrilling 30 Rhinox, and other complex, panelly nightmares, this really isn’t one of those, and it’s within your grasp to figure out.

Vehicle Mode

Snap it all together, and you’ve got that thing that was once an impossibility: A properly licensed VW beetle.

In terms of stability, again, the common complaint is that it feels like it’s going to come apart, but when transformed properly, that isn’t an issue, and the whole car feels pretty solid.

And it’s a nicely-sculpted car, too, including headlights, door handles, windshield wipers, little VW branding on the hood and wheels. He’s got panel lines on him from the transformation, but in places that mostly don’t spoil the look of the thing (the roof, and the ones behind his headlights being the most obvious).

For paintwork, he’s again, unusually yellow compared to his movie counterpart, and again, the premium paintjob’s a little bit subdued, but those little extra flourishes are definitely there, including painted headlights and taillights, painted windshield wipers, extra silver trim, and even tiny silver door handles. Again, there’s some paintwork conspicuously missing, though, mainly the sculpted stripe down the middle of his hood, and the VW logo above it, which ought to be silver, but aren’t (and the former is actually painted on the gold version). It’s an odd omission, but doesn’t bring the whole thing down.

For features, he rolls nicely on his wheels. And in a shocking reversal from his robot mode, he actually has really great accessory storage in this form, via his underside.

His blade can peg onto his folded-up arms, his arm cannon nestles snugly between a gap in his legs, and his battle mask pegs behind his bumper, above his robot head. Granted, two spikes from it stick out from beneath the bumper in robot mode, but hey, you can again, leave it off.

Overall

Alright, so, there’s some flaws here, the critics aren’t totally off-base. Bumblebee’s got an inaccurate robot mode, some engineering problems, and a complicated transformation that’s likely to frustrate on the first try. But a lot of his problems are really just a learning curve, and if you play around with him a bit, you can figure out most of them. What you’re left with is a figure that I’ve really enjoyed messing with over the years. He gives off a great sense of personality, I still think he looks good and plays well, and it’s one that I just have a lot of fun with.

Now, as for this repaint, it’s a little bit of a mixed bag. There’s a lot of little flourishes that are definite upgrades, but it’s not really a night-and-day difference, especially with the give-and-take that comes from some of those deco choices. I like it, because I liked the figure already, and wanted the upgrade, but it’s tough to really recommend to someone that already owns a copy of this figure, or is maybe thinking of picking any version of it up, when there’s plenty of other decos out there already. I will say this much: If this has convinced you at all to check him out, the original deco has recently been reissued in the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line in a versus set with the car version of Dropkick (reviewed here), a solid figure in his own right, so that release might be better value.

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