Should you call this guy Wasp or Hot Shot?

Some people repurpose this Bumblebee as Wasp or Waspinator. Honestly, the first thing that came to mind for me with this set was Armada Hot Shot.

Yellow car-former with a small brightly colored helicopter.

That means this guy’s a double reference.

Clever.

So do you guys need to hunt this set down? Probably not, but there’s a bunch of stuff to like here, at least for me.

Bumblebee

Vehicle Mode

Bumblebee here is a repaint of ROTF Cannon Bumblebee which itself is a retool of the original TFTM Concept Camaro Bumblebee.

In vehicle mode, that means he has a lightly detailed interior and he has deployable hood cannons.

I played the 2007 TFTM video game for the PS2, so the cannons entertain me a lot more than they should.

The thing that sets apart this Bumblebee from other Bumblebees is….

He has green windows and random green highlights.

Hooray?

If they were going to go for Wasp or Waspinator they should have just painted the whole thing green. As it is, the paint feels half-assed.

Transformation

The Cannon Bumblebee mold has a unique transformation from the legs up thanks to being remolded. This leads to an easier transformation with less hassle than the original.

Robot Mode

Now the robot mode. The remolding done to turn him into Cannon Bumblebee makes him look very different from the source mold.

The good is that his head and arms are more accurate. And he has pop-up shoulder cannons.

The “bad” is that his chest and wings are less accurate. And he lost his waist joint, ab-crunch and wrist swivels.

I put “bad” in inverted commas because it’s subjective. If you’re looking for an accurate Bee here, you’re out of luck and the “bad” is “bad”.

However, his inaccuracies make it easier to repurpose him and fit him into your collection as a different character.

For me, he is Movie Wasp. I know I said I thought Hot Shot at first, but in robot mode, there is a lot more green on display, which makes him lean more toward being Wasp to me.

Hehe, mental gymnastics.

Grindor

Vehicle Mode

Grindor here is an orange repaint of Legends Blackout. Odd color choice no doubt.

Both sets of his blades are pinned and can spin.

No glaring flaws, but nothing to shout about either.

Transformation

Easy. Unfold his legs, unfold his arms, put up his tail, fold away his blades then bam.

You got the robot mode.

Robot Mode

Eeeeh, not really a fan. But I don’t hate it either. At this size, the molded detail is passably accurate to his on-screen model.

But he’s painted orange.

He has ball jointed shoulders and hips. He was elbows and knees that bend in the wrong direction. Not all that posable, but definitely not the worst you’d see in a Legends figure.

Toy or collectible?

If it were 2010, back when this set was first released I would recommend this set as toys for kids. The set was reasonably priced and both toys were fun and easy to transform. They were also weirdly and brightly coloured. Adult collectors on the other hand could pass this set up, no problem. Fast forward to 2018, this set is rare. That also means it’s expensive. I’ll elaborate, loose this set is expensive. MISB this set is ridiculously expensive. I have no idea why, but collectors find this set desirable and worth a premium now. I can’t find a reason.

Closing

I am fond of this set but I find it very hard to recommend it to either an adult collector or a child because of how expensive it is now. On the other hand, other versions of the Cannon Bumblebee mold and Legends Grindor/Blackout are available for much more reasonable prices. I can recommend hunting down those.

TL;DR: It’s a fun set, but not worth anywhere near the asking price.