Chapter 1: The Beginning

This is it. The OG Deluxe Bumblebee that started it all (I’m aware of the existence of the clunker Camaro Deluxe, but you know what I mean).

This is the mold that spawned all the others that clogged the pegs, clogged the shelves and clogged everyones brains.

Vehicle mode

So detailed. So much paint. My mind is blown. And this isn’t the premium version, this is the regular release.

Man I miss this level of paint. The sculpted detail is also something I’m impressed with. It really feels like a miny Alternator.

Everything pegs together nicely and the wheels roll fine. His weapon hides neatly inside the back of the car.

Transformation

Still brilliant 11 years later. They’re still using steps from it in newer Bumblebees even today. One thing though, his arms are more annoying than they should be.

The automorph here is brilliant. I’ll explain why in the gimmick section below.

Robot mode

Boy it still blows my mind how much I enjoy the robot mode. Hasbro and Takara really flooded the market with this mold and its variations but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a great action figure and Transformer.

The posability is great. The only thing missing is a thigh swivel. Everything else is here. Heck he even has an ab crunch.

An ab crunch.

On a Transformers figure from 2007.

This toy was the future.

For the longest time, this mold was the closest to get the back wings accurate. You can see what I mean in my beehive collection picture.

Gimmicks

The automorph works in two places on the actual figure and in his weapon.

Pulling down the hood auto-transforms his arms and wings and looks brilliant when done correctly.

Unfortunately, this feature became subjected to mold degradation over time and doesn’t really work well on later uses of this mold.

But this is the first release, so it works perfectly.

On the legs, pulling down his feet auto-transforms his lower legs. It was amazing when this guy was first released but was reused so many times it became the norm on Movie Bumblebee figures.

The weapon goes from cannon to sword by splitting it in half. Pulling on half of the cannon opens the other half while pushing the sword forward. People were angry that the gimmick came at the cost of an accurate arm cannon, but forget about them. They dunno what fun is.

Toy or collectible?

Both. Give him to 10 year old they’ll be happy. Give him to a 20 something year old or older and the will be too. Unless either of them have any of the numerous variants of this mold available. Or other molds of Bumblebee available.

Really the only thing against this figure is that there’s so many different versions available that it’s ridiculous.

Closing

Buy at least one version of this figure. It is good. At this point, I actually prefer it to the HFTD Deluxe.

I recommend this release, the Cliffjumper repaint, the Stealth attack repaint or the Premium repaint. All of them still have the pre budget cut level of paint apps and have a lower risk of mold degradation with faulty automorphing.