Dave's Movie TF Rant: Ultimate Bumblebee
Dave Van Domelen
Ultimate Bumblebee
Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Movie/Ultimate1
I didn't get this originally, but thanks to an error in Wal-Mart's
computers in September 2008, I grabbed one for $35 during the week before
they fixed it and put it back to $85 where they meant it to be.
CAPSULE
Ultimate Bumblebee: Floppy and unstable robot mode, transformation is
frustrating (i.e. simple in theory but loads of panels to mess with), vehicle
mode is decent. Not even worth the $35 I paid for it, and it's normally
$80-90.
RANT
Chris McFeely posted a really thorough analysis of the sound and motion
gimmicks to the AllSpark boards, and I got his permission to reproduce it in
my review. So that'll all be at the end, I'll concentrate on the purely
mechanical aspects of the toy.
PACKAGING
This is a large box, made of heavy cardboard with a window on front and
top, plus a front flap that partially covers the window and is held down by
an elastic strap. 14.75" (37.5cm) tall, 13" (33cm) wide, 6" (15cm) deep,
dominated by the red tones and general patterns of the Movie trade dress, but
without the balance of the blue or gray "eyeball" backdrop. It seems to be
made of a mixture of thin corrugated cardboard and thick solid cardstock
(that, or the cutting has crimped some of the edges so tightly closed that
some of the corrugated card looks solid).
The front flap hinges on the right side, is full height and mostly about
6" (15cm) wide, but wider near the bottom where the photo of the vehicle mode
sticks out to 9" (23cm) wide. The top of the flap front is dominated by a
3.25" (8.5cm) tall metal-leaf silver Autobot symbol over "ULTIMATE BUMBLEBEE"
in the same metal-leaf. Under that it says "The Movie Hero 'Comes to Life'
at the push of a button!" Then there's the car mode photo, with "Converts to
Cmaro" below that. At the very bottom of the flap front is the Ages 5+
warning, battery note and assortment number (82419/82418, if you're
curious). A pair of red fabric-and-elastic bands, one at top and one at
bottom, hold the flap closed.
With the flap closed, most of the front window is still visible,
including the Try Me! hole. At the bottom right are the Transformers logo
and directions to "OPEN HERE >>".
Opening the flap shows the other side of the car mode (not just a mirror
flop, since the "Camaro" logo on the side isn't reversed), a photo of the
upper half of the robot mode in an action pose, and a smaller photo with
blurry action images to try to give the impression of the motion gimmick.
There's a bunch of copy along the inside of the panel. At the top:
* Responds to your voice! (Sort of, see McFeely's voice below)
* Battle & conversion sounds!
* Communicates through music & speech including...
9 Songs!
Featuring "Whip It" by DEVO
17 Phrases!
At the middle of the flap are "Animated arms, head & wings!" and "Cannon
automatically 'aims' & fires!" They have "aims" in quotes because it doesn't
actually aim, it just waves around a bit before firing. :)
Copy across the bottom stretches onto the main box, which has "Motion &
speed sensing technology triggers..." followed by the list:
* Music!
* Lights!
* Car alarm & horn!
* Revving engine sounds!
* Screeching brakes & crashing noises!
Also under the flap is the blurb, "Animatronic Bumblebee converts to
Camaro!" I thought "animatronic" was Disney's trademark, I guess only the
full "audio-animatronic" is.
On the bottom panel are co-sells of the original decos of the three
Leader class molds (Prime, Megatron, Brawl). The left panel has CG art of
robot mode and a photo of the car, under a dull steel version of the silvered
logo from the front. Similar logo on the non-windowed part of the top, but
with the name above the Autobot symbol. The dull steel logo appears again on
the right panel, over the techspecs. The bio note is over a fade-to-blank CG
image of BB in an action pose.
The back panel is full of photos, insets and blurbs, with the dull steel
faction symbol and logo again. It's dominated by the robot mode in the
middle, saying "Let's roll out!" and "Take that DECEPTICON!" Laughably, this
is listed as a Level 4 "Super Conversion" transformation difficulty. The car
mode is in lower right. To the right of the robot are three insets in
hexagonal borders:
- Cannon automatically "aims" & fires a missile! (closeup of arm
pointing launcher)
- Light-up eyes! (head closeup)
- Animated arms, head & wings! (same pic as from the front with the
motion blurs)
There's two hexagonal insets to the left of the car mode:
- Taillights, screeching brakes & crashing sounds! (showing rear end
with photoshopped glowing taillights)
- Headlights, revving engine sounds & car alarm! (showing front end
with not very brightly 'shopped headlights)
Cutting a single piece of tape lets you open the top and slide out the
inner tray. The inside of the tray is black, with black plastic blister
pieces supporting the figure. The instructions are folded up loose behind
the tray, with a special sheet warning about a few things to be careful of,
and a link to video instructions that may or may not still be up
(http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/ultimatebumblebee). No catalog or bagged
accessories, the missile is loaded.
7 beefy twist-ties hold BB's robot mode to the blister. Well, 8, but
two are kinda stuck together. The shoulders and wings are unattached in
package, and the first step of the instructions is putting them together.
(Ironically, or maybe it's cleverly intentionally, the first thing mine said
as I pulled it from the blister was "You're my first human friend.") There's
another tie around the chest that's hard to get at, and a load of rubber
bands (six) plus a plastic piece inside the chest to keep things from bumping
against each other.
For assembly, the arms need to be rotated into the right positions to
lock into the shoulders...just pressing hard won't do the job if you're in
the wrong position. Also, the hips are mistransformed, you need to ratchet
them up to be able to stabilize the robot.
AUTOBOT: BUMBLEBEE
Altmode: 2009 Camaro Concept
Licensor: GM
Previous Name Use: G1, G2, Classic (TF:A is a subsequent use)
Function: Bodyguard
Motto: "If you have a problem, you must whip it!"
Earth's first line of defense against the DECEPTICONS is here! Hidden
from his enemies in vehicle mode, BUMBLEBEE waits and watches until he is
called upon to protect Sam and any other humans that come under threat from
MEGATRON. He is a cunning warrior against evil, and dedicated to those he
calls his friends. When danger threatens, he converts to robot mode with his
plasma cannon blazing!
STR 6 INT 8 SPD 6 END 5 RNK 5 COUR 10 FRB 3 SKL 9 Avg 6.5
Robot Mode: 13" (33cm) tall at the head if you have the hips properly
transformed. 3 pounds 0.25 ounces (1366g). Very top-heavy, and combine this
with the excessive play in the ratchets of the hips and you get a robot that
can barely stand up (after a lot of fiddling I did manage to get mine to stay
standing, but it's non-trivial). The proportions are wonky as well, with the
arms being too short for the rest of the toy. The right arm is in solar
cannon mode, and looks kinda stumpy. The left arm is a bit closer to
proportional, and has a three-fingered claw hand. The head is in non-battle
mask form.
The various body panel pieces, the top of the head, and the kneecaps are
made from a golden yellow plastic with metalflake to look like a factory
paint job. There's clear colorless lightpiping pieces visible in various
places, but only the eyes are meant to be seen. The tires and a rotating bit
on the gun arm are black rubberized plastic. Everything else is a medium
cool gray plastic. There may be two different gray plastics, but a black
wash on some of the parts makes it hard to be sure. His missile is safety
orange...and it's a small Attacktix missile. And yes, I tried...a medium
missile will fit, but you have to push the muzzle back in first. The muzzle
can slide in and out, you see. Hm...it seems that the medium missile
actually fires BETTER than the one it comes with! (For those who don't
follow Attacktix, the part of the missile that's held inside the launcher is
slightly different between the two missile sizes. It's only a couple of
millimeters, but it makes a difference here.)
There's yellow paint on the biceps, forearm armor, shins and "spats",
but it's a bit dull compared to the yellow plastic. The face and fuel cap
are silver. A sort of pale gold is used on the ankles, and a darker cool
gray paint on the pelgis and the tops of the feet. The bent license plate is
printed over the fuel cap. There's a red Autobot symbol on his forehead, and
a gold one on his chest. A black wash is appleod on most of the torso and
the face, but not on the arms or legs, so the look is inconsistent. Other
paint details are more germaine to the vehicle mode (i.e. racing stripes and
windows), and will be covered below.
There's a waist joint, but it's probably just to allow a little play
during transformation, since the battery/sound pack hanging down over the
butt keeps the waist from turning more than a couple degrees. The neck and
the swivel joints of the shoulders are slaved to the motion gimmick, you can
wiggle them around a bit but they won't move to a new position except under
power. The "lift to the sides" part of the shoulder joints is on a 12 point
ratchet, but when lowering the arms it's easy to pop them off their sockets,
oops. Both arms swivel above the elbows, and for the right arm that's it.
The right swivel only has 90 degrees of range, in fact. The left elbow bends
though 90 degrees with four clicks, even though it's also controlled
electronically. The left wrist bends inward smoothly, the three fingers are
individually hinged at their bases (and permanently curled into claws), and
the thumb is on a restricted ball joint. The hips are universal ratcheting,
but don't ratchet solidly enough to avoid sagging. There's smooth swivels at
mid-thigh, ratcheting knees (they go about 2 clicks before running into
kibble), and some side-to-side play in the ankles. The ankles ratchet
forward and back, but the wheels behind the feet block backwards motion.
Of course, the leg articulation is practically meaningless, since it's
hard to get it to stay standing in anything but a straight-legged pose or a
careful crouch.
The Autobot symbol on his chest can be pressed down and it pushes a
yellow plastic button on his inner chest, triggering a lot of his sound and
light stuff (see below). You can also press a button behind his head for the
same effect, this is the button that the Autobot symbol sits above in vehicle
mode. Another yellow button is on the right side of his backpack, and his
ON/OFF/TRY ME button is on the left of his backpack. You can also see some
yellow gears in front of his shoulders, those hook to the front wheels in
vehicle mode to trigger some of the sounds.
Transformation: At its core, this is the Spychanger transformation.
Arms clip to sides, chest folds up to become a hood, legs slide up and form
the rear end. However, this simple basic idea is complicated by a metric
****ton of panel-manipulation, and if you don't go in exactly the right order
expect a lot of prying things apart and trying over. I've already got stress
marks on some of the panels because they pegged together so securely that
when I had to pop them back apart to fix something the panel bent. The wings
have to detach and reclip onto some of the side panels, which can be tricky
to manage if you try to do it at the wrong step.
There's one clever bit, though. There's a pair of buttons on opposite
sides of each thigh just above the knee. Both have to be pressed in so that
the boots will slide up over the thighs.
Vehicle Mode: 13" (33cm) long version of the 2009 Concept Camaro, it's
about 1:14 scale, so it can play with your 1:12 scale Roadbots. :) Yellow
with black stripes and black windows, same old.
The body shell is almost entirely the metalflake golden yellow plastic,
but with rubbery yellow plastic on the side mirrors and clear colorless
lightpiping on the headlights and taillights. No clear plastic used on any
of the windows, though. The hubs and brake pads are medium gray plastic, the
tires are black rubberized plastic. Parts of the exposed robot torso on the
underside, made of medium gray plastic, do a fair job of looking like a
proper car underbody.
Black paint on the racing stripes, plus black accents on some of the
vent bits, window edges and license plate border. The windows, grille and
rear bumper are dark charcoal gray plastic. Silver paint on the wheel hubs,
door handles, windshield wipers, Camaro logos on the sides, Chevy symbols on
the grille and rear, gascap, taillight borders and tailpipes. The tiny Chevy
symbols molded into the wheel hub centers are painted red. The license plate
is printed in white with blue letters and red "California," the same
"4NZZ454" license number as on other BB toys. The Autobot symbol on the hood
is printed in gold.
The rear lightpiping effect is marred by the fact that the yellow
plastic is pretty translucent, so rather than just the taillights lighting up
red, the entire rear third of the car glows, making it look like someone's
set fire to the back seat or something. To get the car mode sounds to start,
though, you really need to push HARD to lock the front wheels in place.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guest notes from Chris McFeely (with some editing/corrections):
ROBOT MODE
Bumblebee's electronics are turned on with a power switch on his left
side. Flip it to the "on" position and...nothing happens. [Dave's note:
it's in TRY ME position initially, and fortunately has an OFF position.] To
get the Big Yella Fella going, you've next got to press one of his two
buttons - either his chest button (the Autobot symbol), or a yellow button on
his right side. [Dave's note: or the button behind his head.] Press either
one, and Bumblebee will spring to life with a shout of:
"Ready!"
Bumblebee reacts to sound and motion, and moves around animatronically
in response. His two arms move up and down - his right arm is a non-
poseable cannon, but his left arm has an elbow that also moves on his own -
his head turns from side to side, and his door-wings flap up and down.
Additionallly, blue LEDs in his head and chest light up his eyes and the car
headlights on his chest. He'll quite happily sit and do this on his own if
you leave him be, and will also do it in response to presses of his various
buttons.
Press his chest button, and Bumblebee will say one of the following
phrases, in this order:
"You're my first human friend."
"We must protect the Allspark."
"Megatron will stop at nothing!"
"Be careful! Decepticons could be anywhere."
If you hold down the chest button, snippets of a new version of the
Transformers theme will play. There are two lines:
"Transformers, more than meets the eye!"
"Transformers, robots in disguise!"
The button on Bumblebee's side is his "attack" button. Give it a single
press, and you're basically putting Bumblebee into "attack mode" - he will
raise his right arm and automatically fire his missile, his barrel spinning
as he does so. Although makes plenty of actual physical whirring noises,
this action is also accompanied by an electronic gear whir - its length
varies, as Bumblebee might move his arm around for a bit before getting it up
to the maximum height. He might also shout:
"Eat plasma!"
If you leave the figure idle for a few seconds, he will eventually lower
his arm and leave "attack mode." However, while in "attack mode," pressing
the chest button has a different effect - it will now play any one of three
samples from Devo's "Whip It," including:
"I say whip it! Whip it good!"
"When a problem comes along, you must whip it!"
"Crack that whip!"
Press the "attack button" once in attack mode and the sound of a barrage
of rapid fire blasts will ensue, accompanied by red LEDs that flash inside
Bumblebee's head in time with the sounds. [Dave's note: the blue LEDs stay
on, so his eyes flash purple while the top of his head flashes red.] Press
it again *during* the barrage, and louder, shorter blast noises will be heard
alongside it. If you hold the button down from the outset, the whirring will
transition into the barrage. In either case, if you hold the button down for
a while you get a continuous barrage, and when you release it, Bumblebee
might say "Eat plasma!" again, or:
"Take that, Decepticon!"
"That'll teach them to mess with an Autobot!"
A rap song sample - "My friend this ain't no joke, you're goin' up in
smoke!"
A radio sample that I just can't decipher...something about...
"suckers?" "Buggers?" He doesn't seem to sing the line, but there's also a
flurry of music after it. Hrmn.
Any one of the three "Whip It" samples.
[Dave's note: the missile barely travels at all. It's pathetic.
However, the way the left arm moves, it will flip you the bird if you leave
just the middle finger extended.]
Bumblebee features some sort of sensor in his "backpack," where his
battery compartment is located, that reacts to moving the toy about with a
bit of heft. Stomp the figure around and bang it into other toys if you
want, or just light thwap the backpack with your hand, and you'll hear one of
four different crashing noises. Every eighth thwap, he'll repeat his "take
that" and "that'll teach them" lines from "attack mode," or, again, one of
the "Whip It" samples. The red LEDs in his head flash with each crash.
If Bumblebee is left unattended, after a while, he will ask:
"Permission to speak, sir?"
"Hello?"
"Is anyone there?"
"Hell-oooo?"
A sample of a country western song, in which the singer laments: "Just
don't know what to do with myself since you been gone!"
If you don't touch him, after a while he will shut off, at which point,
he might offer up the soundbyte:
"This concludes our radio broadcast."
Press either button to reactivate him, and you'll hear "Ready!" again,
or the G1 transforming noise.
TRANSFORMATION
When transforming Bumblebee to car mode, one of the key steps is
disconnect his shoulders. This will prompt him to say:
"Let's roll out!"
accompanied by the G1 transforming noise. When transforming him back to
robot mode, reconnecting the shoulders will make him say "Ready!" again, or
"Okay!"
also alongside the transforming noise.
In this mode, the "crash" noises are replaced with the transformation
noises, which play forwards, backwards and in parts as the toy is hefted
around and its part are shifted into place (and with the size and weight of
the figure, it happens a good bit). Should you leave the toy unattended in
mid-transformation, and you'll hear:
The car attempt to start, but stall (you can also hear this noise if you
try pushing any of his buttons - they won't work between modes).
Two honks of the horn.
A car alarm, consisting of prolonged honk.
CAR MODE
Complete the transformation to car mode by snapping the hood into place,
and the electronics activate, as Bumblebee's engines start up and purr, his
headlights glow blue and his brake lights glow red. Press the hood button,
you'll get a horn honk. Hold it down to make it as long as you want. His
"crashing" noises are also different in this mode.
With the electronics activated, roll Bumblebee forward, and the brake
lights turn off as acceleration noises begin. The faster you roll him, the
faster the noise! He plays four different songs as you do this:
A Camaro jingle - "Got my foot to the floor, I (indecipherable*), watch
my Camaro go!"
"Pickin' up dirt, headin' down the highway, hundred miles an hour,
better get out of my way!"
"Fastest thing you've ever seen, I'm a rock'n'roll driving machine!"
An instrumental sample from "Whip It" - if you continue to roll
Bumblebee along as this plays, the tune will continuously play indefinitely
(*Just beat the score? Can beat the score? Just left the store? Can
feel the roar?) [Dave's note: I did a Google search to see if I could find
the missing bit, but all hits were to Chris's post and its mirrors on other
sites.]
If you stop rolling Bumblebee forward, and his brake lights will turn
on, and if you were moving him fast, you'll hear his tires screech. Roll him
backwards, and a snippet of a sports announcer will play, crying:
"It's going back... back... BACK...!"
[Dave's note: while both front wheels are geared to the main body, only
the driver's side front wheel seems to trigger the movement sounds.]
If you leave Bumblebee unattended in his mode, his electronics will turn
off in "stages." First, his engine turns off. You can switch it back on
with a press of his hood button, but for a change of pace, you can also hold
DOWN the hood button, and the engine will start up accompanied by a radio
sample in which a singer yowls:
"Now we're ready to go! (Let's go!) Let's gooo! (Let's go!)"
If you don't turn his engines back on, though, and continue to leave him
alone, he will do one of two things - either:
Play the "Whip It" instrumental, followed by the "Just don't know..."
country western sample, and finally, "This concludes our radio broadcast,"
OR
Sound off two groups of two horn honks
before the two pips of the car's central locking system being activated
are heard and he deactivates. Press his hood button, and his engines roar to
life again (although you can't make the "Let's go!" song play).
PLAYING IN ROBOT MODE
If you play with Bumblebee in robot mode, jiggling him and making noise
for him to respond to, he'll move around, and repeat certain phrases that are
activated in other ways - there don't seem to be any sounds specifically
unique to this part of the fun. He'll repeat any of his four "chest button"
phrases, his shouts of "Ready!" and "Okay!", "Let's roll out!" from his
transformation, and two sounds from his car mode - a horn honk and the "Whip
It" instrumental sample.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall: A bewildering combination of overly tight and insufficiently
tight connections lead to a toy that's both frustrating and floppy. The
sound and gimmicks are cute, but cost the toy way too much in terms of
stability and voluntary articulation. An overpriced mess, really.
Dave Van Domelen, not sure he even wants to clear space to display this,
too much chance of a nosedive off the shelf.
Cradok
> Overall: A bewildering combination of overly tight and insufficiently
> tight connections lead to a toy that's both frustrating and floppy. The
> sound and gimmicks are cute, but cost the toy way too much in terms of
> stability and voluntary articulation. An overpriced mess, really.
>
> Dave Van Domelen, not sure he even wants to clear space to display this,
> too much chance of a nosedive off the shelf.
>
I didn't have any stability issues - you did pull out the toes, yes? -
but otherwise I entirely agree. He's ugly, malproportioned, frustrating,
annoying and far too damn big. I've already sold mine for about a third
of what I paid, and I consider myself lucky to have been able to do so.
Chad Rushing
Reading these comments makes me so glad that I returned the unopened
one I had originally purchased for $80 back when it first came out. I
just could not get over the fact that it was so oversized compared to
the other figures in the toyline; also, much of the price was due to
the electronic gimmicks, and those were really of no interest to me.
- Chad
Dave Van Domelen
>I didn't have any stability issues - you did pull out the toes, yes? -
Yeah, but mine tends to kip over backwards, so the toes don't help. The
trunk kibble can sort of act as heel spurs, but it's not very steady.
Dave Van Domelen, leaving BB on the shelf until his replacement Ultra
Magnus arrives to take the spot.