Bumblebee Taxi, Mold Debut Transformers Prime New York Comic Con First Edition Exclusive Item No.: No. 37972 Manufacturer: Hasbro Includes: Arm cannon, two human sidekicks, Arcee figure Action Feature: Transforms into New York Taxi (or close enough) Retail: $30-$33 Availability: October 2011 Other: Prime Bumblebee Prepaint
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One of a few prepaints from Transformers Prime, this taxi version of Bumblebee is kind of genius. While the mold isn't exactly a cab, it is yellow, so adding some checkers and "NYC Taxi" isn't much of a stretch.

Bumblebee isn't as solid of a design as Arcee, and the transformation is something of a trial-- it doesn't help that the instructions are hard to get right, and most photos of the toys have the chest area done incorrectly. I'm not even 100% sure that I got it right, but no matter what he will stand roughly 6-inches tall. Slightly orange in color, the figure is that bright color with some clear blue, silver, and grey to make up the rest of the design. Detail is light, with lots of flat surfaces on most of the toy. So, on many levels, it looks like the animation model minus the taxi stuff.

I dislike transforming and playing with this one. The legs are fine, but the arms are somewhat awkward to position and the chest just looks wrong. In taxi mode he looks fantastic, but his Autobot symbol is partially covered when he changes into a robot. The arm positioning seems arbitrary, much like in Beast Wars as the line wrapped up, so I suppose the true form of the robot mode is somewhat subjective. At least in the arms and chest-- the legs are pretty straightforward, and the toy's overall look and feel fits in with a lot of recent Reveal the Shield and Generations toys. Bumblebee isn't unarmed, as he's got this swell snap-on arm cannon which fits into a port on either forearm. Arcee has a similar setup, so they can swap weapons if you're so inclined.

Articulation is on par with other recent figures, plus his fists were sculpted as open hands at the standard 5mm peg hole size. What does this mean to you? Bumblebee can hold most Energon weapons, MechTech accessories, some of the Classics guns, and so on-- and with less difficulty than Wreck-Gar can hold his own weapon, as that's annoying, and no, I won't let that go. Anyway, I think collectors are going to like him but younger kids may be frustrated by the design-- I'm assuming what their expectations are, I really have no idea.

In vehicle mode, Bumblebee is a sportscar painted like a taxi and it turned out great. His wheels roll... and that's about all he does. I personally think that the vehicle mode is cooler than the robot mode, so if you were to buy multiple versions of this mold you would probably want to leave this one as the cab. I don't have much more to say that isn't represented by the pictures... it's a nice car, the wheels roll, and the gun stores under the vehicle mode. What else could you realistically ask for these days?

Even though I'm not crazy about the robot mode, I like the idea of owning a Transformers car that's a taxi. I've got sportscars, rescue vehicles, and police and fire vehicles... but a taxi? That's exciting. I'd also like to see a station wagon or other equally mundane (and fun) vehicle, so on the strength of that alone I'd say it's worth a look. I don't believe I'll be buying the normal version of the mold when he hits, but hey, it might be worth it for you to snag him if you can find one.

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