The latest entry in the Movie Masterpiece line, MPM 7 Volkswagen Bumblebee, has been quite polarizing. Unlike the previous figures in the line's renewal, this Bumblebee toy is not based on the later character models and released before the film is even out. This leads to the toy having some major differences to the character's final model, such as the entire back section. To help us know more about the toy, Seibertron's own Ironhidensh has taken the time to do a pictorial review telling us exactly what we are to expect and letting us know if he finds this toy to be worth the Masterpiece title. Enjoy the review below!
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Even though the movie is about 2 months away, The Bumblebee Movie toys are showing up everywhere. Thanks to The Chosen Prime, I've gotten my hands on the Masterpiece entry from this film, MPM-7 (VW) Bumblebee.
He, as is to be expected from the MP line, quite a good looking figure. I'll be honest, due to my experiences with the other MPM figures, my expectations here were not very high. I'm happy to report that this figure has quite easily blown them out of the water. This is a very solid figure, with tight joints, and a tight fitting transformation that holds together well. After the massive disappointment that the Studio Series VW Bee proved to be, the solidness of this guy is a breath of fresh air. I originally planned on doing a few comparison shots between MP and SS figures, but the truth is, I've come to hate the SS figure so much that I didn't want to subject myself to the effort of tying to get car parts to line up, so I just took one picture.
Another thing about this figure, is how you can see the very subtle yet still there design change between the Bee movie, and the previous 5. It stands out a little bit more to me in these group shots of the MPM figures so far.
To me, his design is just cleaner, with less exposed "alien robot" inner mechanical workings. I dunno if I'm putting that into words right, but that is what I'm working on for now.
Anywho, lets talk car mode. This Bee is, of course, his classic VW 'bug". While you young kids could probably care less, us crotchety old folks love this throw back to the '80s. I do feel that the scale is a tad on the large size for a bug, but so be it. It looks good enough that I don't care.
The underside is clean enough, but has several low hanging parts, so clearance is almost non existent. Not an issue for me, but if you like to make your MP cars go vroom vroom on the floor, you'll have some issues.
Bumblebee comes with only three accessories: his gattling gun hand, his sword, and his battle mask.
The face mask switch mechanism is very simple. Just lift up the center of the top of his scalp, pull of the upper part of his head, and replace with the mask. No muss, no fuss.
If you've suffered through one of my reviews before, you'll know that a feature that matters to me is weapon/accessory storage. VW Bee has it, though its not concealed in anyway.
Yeah, it isn't pretty, but at least weapons are harder to lose. Speaking of weapons, lets not forget his nipple missile racks!
Now on to the transformation. I said before that it is quite different than SS, and that is true in this sense as well as overall feel. This Bee does a great job at rotating and moving parts aound to get them to properly compact and fit together in car mode. One thing I really like is how the the shoulders roll down, then swivel to the back so they can line up along the back of his legs.
Yeah, its not a great pic, but I'll be honest with you. Its getting late, I'm a couple beers in, and the Notre Dame game is on. My picture taking skills, such as they are, are rapidly declining. That said, there are a couple of issues I have with this figure in the transformation department. One, is the the front bumper. It isn't secured, and just 'clips' on, which means it pops off extremely easy.
I'm giving serious though to maybe gluing it in place, as it drives me nuts.
The other issue I have are the two side panels that are attached to his arms.
The piece in question is the one directly above my thumb. It may not look like it, but getting it to fit into place is a bitch and a half. It can be done, of course, but takes far more wiggling and finagling than it has any right to.
Over all, I really love this figure. While it doesn't have a ton of die cast, it is there, and give this smaller figure some nice heft. He does a good job of giving Bumblebee that "young bot" feel that this character has traditionally had, and this movie appears to be giving focus to. Again, you can see that clear difference when you stand him next to Camaro Bee.
Another thing that bears mentioning, is the instructions. Over the last several years, it really feels like Hasbro has adopted a "ah, **** it" approach to printing out instructions. By that I mean that they suck, are hard to read (dark print on dark print), leave out steps, and just flat out suck. The set with this bee feel much better. There is actually some color on them, and its easier to make out some of the trickier steps.
So to close it up, if you are a fan of Masterpiece figures, if you like the movie style figures, if you like Bumblebee, go get this figure. I honestly don't think you will be disappointed.
