One of these things is not like the other...
Transformers: Prime toys are yet to debut in stores, but between SDCC and NYCC, I own five of its characters already. Hasbro should really get on that “TF:Prime in stores” thing. Unlike SDCC’s Optimus Prime, whose biggest deal was the fancy packaging he came in, this box set of toys sold at New York Comic-Con is actually redecoed for the occasion! They come in a packaged diarama that’s done up to look like a New York city street, there’s Bumblebee as a New York taxi, there’s Jack Darby and Raf Esquivel wearing New York t-shirts, and… Arcee‘s pink. …yeah. She must have missed a memo.
He's a cheerful, boyish Snake-Eyes.
From that set, today I’m talking about Bumblebee. There’s a bit of deja vu about him. I am going to blow your mind by reporting that he’s basically Yet Another Movie Bumblebee toy. I’ve been here before, with the hood chest that splinters apart, the arms that tuck in somewhere/anywhere/pleasegodplease, the door wings, and the rear of the car hanging off the calves at at angle. If you’ve ever transformed a Movie Bumblebee toy, this will be a very familiar experience.
There are some cosmetic and engineering differences, of course. I particularly like the way his hood balls up, starting as a wide block and squishing in on itself to more approximate the big sphere that is Prime Bumblebee’s chest. There is a lot of hidden jointing in that torso. Don’t forget to fold the corners of his bumper down into his ribcage!
A taxi! Well, close enough for government work.
His shoulders are weird yet interesting. The fronts of them fold off and his arms hide away under the car in layers. The upper arm splits in two and runs along just inside the doors, while the forearms tuck up and over the pelvis just under the roof. The way they hang in robot mode is not ideal. They feel at little unstable when they’re pulled all the way out, as you’d expect them to. The instructions ask you to keep them mostly inside the hood, just sort of poking out sideways, in a way that does not resemble his appearances in the cartoon. I’ve decided to compromise, and have them stick halfway out of the car at an angle. This is more stable, but not terribly screen-accurate. (Group picture shows them all-the-way-out and the solo robot mode picture shows my chosen configuration.)
If you like Movie Bumblebees, you’ll like this guy. Thanks to Letao for picking up this set for me! He also printed out a huge image of Catman to carry around NYCC, Robin Desanto-style. Because he’s awesome.
Arcee’s pink? Crap, first pink Princess Celestia and now this? WTF Hasbro?
And BTW, I get the reference here. I was just joking.
Celestia’s outlined in pink on the show and in promotional materials, so I don’t intrinsically have a problem with her toy being pink. (She could be a lighter shade, though.)
I choose to believe that she has an opalescent pelt which neither toy nor flat-coloured animation can really convey to us. Sometimes it looks pink, sometimes it looks white, sometimes it’s colours no one’s invented yet.
“just a colour – but not any colour of our earth or heavens.”
Dang. I was hoping for “like Movie Bumblebee, but as frustrating a mess to transform back and forth.”
Kinda figured that Bumblebee would transform similar to his Movie counterpart. They are basically the same design.
Maybe that represents a transitional phase for Arcee. You know, she already changed from her car alt-mode in WFC to her bike altmode in Prime, but has not changed colors yet. Or New York turns blue bots pink. Or GEEWUN! Or an Unicorn did it. Damn Unicorns, always messing around with stuff!
It was the Unicorn Singularity.
Aha! Celestia did it!
Another point in favor of the Trollestia theory.
If you ever go to NYCC, I would recommend the Yotel, it’s the closest to the Javitts convention center (2 blocks) & it’s like staying in a giant iPod. Each cabin is pretty small, but designed in way to make it not seem like this.
A single full bed might not be enough for 2 ppl, so if you’re not alone I think there is a 2 bed option.
The unique shampoo (that you can’t buy) is pretty neat too. It’s called Wake Up & does just that. It’s some kind of Echinacea & Eucalyptus blend.
Nice to see they made Bumblebee to resemble a taxi. There aren’t any Transformers who turn into vehicles like taxis or buses.
There’s two that pops to my mind:
Overcharge the minicon: http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Overcharge_%28Universe%29
And Taxi-Bot the Go-Bot: http://www.tfu.info/2004/Go-Bots/Taxi-Bot/taxi-bot.htm
But I do understand what you’re saying. It’s a totally under-represented car. Unlike, you know, green and purple construction vehicles or expensive top-of-the-line sportscars that people see everyday.
I’m with you. More diversity in alt modes, please! That’s the main reason I bought this set, to keep my collection of (nominally) taxi-cab Transformers complete. It’s also the only reason I bought any Skids/Mudflap toys at all (the ice cream truck combiner from RoTF).
I’m still baffled that they haven’t done a full-size version of Overcharge, as a redeco of one of the Deluxe Barricade molds, for instance. And damn it, I want a school bus Transformer.
They could make him a Decepticon and call him Cruel Bus.
Oh god, I want one now. Obey me, Hasbro!
More of a Go-Bot name.
Mailroom closed too early today for me to get in there. DARN IT, GIVE ME MY PANK ARCEE.
I like to believe that “pank” is a portmandeau of “pink” and “swank.”
This actually makes me kind of want this guy. Too bad I’ll probably import the ‘Entertainment Pack’ with him and Starscream because I like those paint apps and I don’t have their figs.