Bumblebee The 30th Anniversary Fan Poll Figure Returns for the 40th!
Transformers Legacy United Deluxe
Item No.: Asst. F2990 No. F8524 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:2 stingers, 2 turbo boosters Action Feature:Transforms from robot to plane, removable head fan Retail:$24.99 Availability: December 2023 Other: A G1 addition, converted to Animated cartoon, more or less converted back to G1 styling, sort of
Sometimes the product is designed to fit the specifications of the price point, as Animated Bumblebee is a small - but complicated - toy. My first time seeing this in-person was in a display before launch in car mode - and it's a tiny car. I thought it was sized the same as a Legends-class toy... and it turns out it is! The car only measures about 3-inches long. That means his Captain Fanzone car alt mode is taller and wider than (but the same length as) an average Hot Wheels car... or pretty much the exact same size as Titans Return Bumblebee [FOTD #1,602].
This is a perfectly nice toy. It's just one of the smallest Deluxe-class toys Hasbro has ever made, particularly in vehicle mode, so little extras like four accessories with places to plug them in may not necessarily make you want to upgrade your older Bumblebee toys. The Classics one was bigger, the Animated toy was too - and it kept the cartoonier proportions. This one tries to deliver a toy to both audiences, and I'd say it does so to the best of its ability. That's kind of the problem we're at now - can you make an Animated toy for G1 collector line fans? Can you make a toy that should be smaller at a deluxe price point and expect fans to not balk at it? Does the fact that it's pretty good, minus the size, let fans just accept it for what it is?
The figure once again does the trick of taking a stylized Animated toy - which was pretty good for the price in terms of size and articulation - and jams it through the Classic-o-matic. The head is smaller, but with cartoony black outlines and the offset smile on his face. Proportionally it's not a bad mix of styles, with the large shins and feet from the cartoon and arms and a chest that don't seem too far off from the average G1-inspired toy. Articulation is pretty good thanks to the high part count, with a clear chest window painted yellow that's an acceptable (but not exact) match for the yellow plastic of the rest of the toy. You're going to notice the difference given it's right up front and surrounded by a slightly different hue of yellow.
Articulation is pretty good for a typical modern deluxe. You get rocker ankles and even a little extra articulation on the shoulders, giving you a toy that really walks the line between styles at a size that's mostly appropriate for the character. The robot should be small, and is, with hands that can hold his accessories or "mount" them on the far side of his wrists if you're so inclined.
Given that the toy is basically a really nice Legends or Core-class toy in terms of size, at a Deluxe price, it's hard to say it's "worth it." It's by no means bad but collectors will probably be left wanting more and parents will probably use toys like this as a lesson that kids should grow up and study to be an accountant.
Transformation is an involved conversion, but not too difficult, with lots of pieces and panels to massage in place. I didn't find it intuitive, mostly because some pieces hang a little low and it's not obvious that the arms should barely hang below doors. Depending on your eyeline, you may not even notice - but it's a fascinating little cheat that lets you have a bit of undercarriage junk without it dragging along or necessarily impacting the look of the car. They did a good job overstuffing a tiny car with robot parts.
One of the biggest challenges I'm seeing with Hasbro toys is trying to make it obvious that what you're getting is a decent value. Hasbro has $25 3 3/4-inch figures that cost the same as the 6-inch figures, with nearly identical parts count, complexity, and deco. Bumblebee is a deluxe $25 figure that is as complex as an average $25 deluxe figure, but is sized about the same as a $10-$12 Core or Authentics figure. I would say the quality is more or less there, and you have to make compromises like hinge joints outside the car to make it all work, and it's impressive on that level. However, when you see how tiny it is, you might be left asking yourself if Hasbro should be trying to make the most complex possible toy for $25, or just change the goal and instead make a $15 toy smaller than a deluxe without the high parts count. If you're a toy designer you might be saying "There's no pleasing you people," and you'd be right. If you're an older fan, you remember $10 Deluxe toys that are sized the same as (or larger than) $35 Voyager toys today, albeit simpler. Which is better? That's something you're never going to get all fans to agree on.
Because it's a deluxe toy, Hasbro did increase the parts count - deco is nothing special, but you'll see more articulation than your average (formerly) $10 Bumblebee toy. If you are just a fan of the character and want a Bumblebee, this one is pretty good - but you've had many options in the past few years, some of which have fancier features or are truer to their respective source material. Hasbro made the best Legends/Scout-class toy at a Deluxe price that we're likely to get any time soon here, and if you can see it on sale (it's $5 off on Amazon as of my writing this) it's a lot easier to swallow.
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