I was getting ready to buy animated Bumblebee this past weekend, when my wife said "Didn't you want this one?" She was referring to the Wal Mart Bumblebee 3 pack. We ended up buying it and my 2 year old daughter couldn't wait to get home and get a "bumbbee". Needless to say, I originally was after the Animated BB, but noticed that the classics BB had all the white paint switched to black. WOW !!!!! What a difference it makes. It was worth the $28 just for that. I gave my daughter the old classics BB I had, and took the new updated paint job one. Also, the movie edition is the "premium" version, which has the cooler armored head. So, my daughter got the movie version and my "traded" classics version. Not all that bad for her.
On another note, unless you want a classics version with the yellow/black paint scheme, don't bother getting this set. It's main purpose would be for people who keep their toys in the packaging for the future and want a rare set.
Full Version: Wal Mart Bumblebee 3 Pack
I don't have an Animated BB, my only movie BB is the very first 08 BB (original head, black limbs, non-outlined stripe), and I don't have Classics BB.
... and yet, I'm not compelled to buy this set. It's really nice, and a good idea, but... eh. Animated BB doesn't look great, I'm not big on minor remolds, but I really want the Classics BB.
... and yet, I'm not compelled to buy this set. It's really nice, and a good idea, but... eh. Animated BB doesn't look great, I'm not big on minor remolds, but I really want the Classics BB.
I just picked this set up today at lunch. I really only wanted the Classics version (I gave my original to a friend's kids along with some other TF's I had laying around). I have to say, I have very mixed feelings.
The Animated version is horrible. The paint quality is worse than the Lockdown I had (also gave away). The paint for the painted body panels does not match the yellow of the molded body panels. The wheels are very loose and wobbly. The rear fender panels that are part of the shoulders and the door panels that are the forearms do not stay together unless youare actively holding them together, which makes transformation oh so much fun. I wasn't a big fan of this mold anyway, but the mismatching colors of paint and plastic and very loose parts don't help it at all.
The 2008 movie Camaro version is done pretty nicely. The head likes to pop off very easily and the roof panels are a pain in the butt to get to fit together but the panels issue is well known as this mold can be a little touchy to get back together in car mode and having an extra coat of paint never helps when trying to get fiddly bits to play nice. The head mold itself isn't bad, but it seems like the whole head has shrunken a bit as compared to his non-masked noggin. Unfortunately there is a bit of warping on the head on mine because 'Bee is constantly looking about 20 degrees to his left. I am partial to the original black plastic for the arms and legs but thats just personal preference (OMG Geewun!). Overall, this is a very nicely done figure.
The Classics mold, originally my favorite of the bunch, is a bit of a mixed bag. I still love the overall feel of the figure. The yellow plastic they used is brighter than the original and brighter than Universe Sunstreaker. The ball joint for the head is very tight, meaning 'Bee either looks forward, or up at a 90 degree angle. Any position in between the 2 will slowly slide and then snap back into the "up" or "down" position. The biggest issue with this figure is the paint. The yellow is almost a match and with the black/yellow and translucent blue/yellow contrast, you don't notice that it is just a little bit off. However, they must be using the same people to paint these as the Animated series because the black stripes are sloppy with noticeable overspray. The paint is really bad on the back half, and it doesn't help that instead of translucent red plastic that was previously used on the taillights, there is now just scuffed chunks of solid red plastic. The windshield and headlights are now a very blue plastic instead of the original clear as well. Unfortunately, this looks like a mediocre custom version of the original release of this figure.
The only reason to buy this 3-pack would be the Classics version as the Animated deluxes are still pretty easy to find and Walmart and Target (in Mansfield, TX) both have the premium version of Movie 2008 in stock too. Unfortunately the reason to buy this pack at best decent quality. I like the idea, but quality control and execution on 2/3 of this pack are crap.
The Animated version is horrible. The paint quality is worse than the Lockdown I had (also gave away). The paint for the painted body panels does not match the yellow of the molded body panels. The wheels are very loose and wobbly. The rear fender panels that are part of the shoulders and the door panels that are the forearms do not stay together unless youare actively holding them together, which makes transformation oh so much fun. I wasn't a big fan of this mold anyway, but the mismatching colors of paint and plastic and very loose parts don't help it at all.
The 2008 movie Camaro version is done pretty nicely. The head likes to pop off very easily and the roof panels are a pain in the butt to get to fit together but the panels issue is well known as this mold can be a little touchy to get back together in car mode and having an extra coat of paint never helps when trying to get fiddly bits to play nice. The head mold itself isn't bad, but it seems like the whole head has shrunken a bit as compared to his non-masked noggin. Unfortunately there is a bit of warping on the head on mine because 'Bee is constantly looking about 20 degrees to his left. I am partial to the original black plastic for the arms and legs but thats just personal preference (OMG Geewun!). Overall, this is a very nicely done figure.
The Classics mold, originally my favorite of the bunch, is a bit of a mixed bag. I still love the overall feel of the figure. The yellow plastic they used is brighter than the original and brighter than Universe Sunstreaker. The ball joint for the head is very tight, meaning 'Bee either looks forward, or up at a 90 degree angle. Any position in between the 2 will slowly slide and then snap back into the "up" or "down" position. The biggest issue with this figure is the paint. The yellow is almost a match and with the black/yellow and translucent blue/yellow contrast, you don't notice that it is just a little bit off. However, they must be using the same people to paint these as the Animated series because the black stripes are sloppy with noticeable overspray. The paint is really bad on the back half, and it doesn't help that instead of translucent red plastic that was previously used on the taillights, there is now just scuffed chunks of solid red plastic. The windshield and headlights are now a very blue plastic instead of the original clear as well. Unfortunately, this looks like a mediocre custom version of the original release of this figure.
The only reason to buy this 3-pack would be the Classics version as the Animated deluxes are still pretty easy to find and Walmart and Target (in Mansfield, TX) both have the premium version of Movie 2008 in stock too. Unfortunately the reason to buy this pack at best decent quality. I like the idea, but quality control and execution on 2/3 of this pack are crap.
If we didn't already have 2 
2 Classics and 1 Movie Bumblebee in the house, I'd have bought it like that :snap
2 Classics and 1 Movie Bumblebee in the house, I'd have bought it like that :snap
You could take just about everything I said/complained about in my first response and put "vehicle mode" in front of it. The robot modes are significantly better in all 3 versions. The Animated version still just looks unfinished with its lack of paint apps but the non-matching yellow is not near as noticeable in robot mode. We all know the 2008 robot mode looks good, and the only weird thing about Classics robot mode is that all the blue looks rather strange.
My paint apps aren't that bad on my animated BB, and he just looks awesome. Where my QC issues are with this figure, are his arms. They pop off so easily it's ridiculous. Further indication reveals where the ball joint snaps into the shoulder on one of his shoulders, that plastic has that white line in it. You know when plastic is about to break or gets stretched a little. Classics BB's paint job is a little crappy also like Gigantor stated about his. The black is a little runny or looks like they masked it off crappily. Over all, though, that black and yellow scheme is awesome. As I stated before, if you have any of these figures or all three already, skip this set. It seems like Wal Mart and Target are in competition to see who gets the most "exclusives." If you like these exclusives in the box and unopened, then DEFINITELY pick this set up. That's all it's worth. Oh, and also if you want a classics that has the black and yellow paint scheme, then this is worth it.
Yeah, I too was unimpressed with the quality of the paint apps on the Classic and Premium Bees in most of the sets they had at my WalMart.
I just took a closer look at these at Walmart today. The classics BB definitely has the best paint apps.
The movie and Animated BBs ... especially the movie one... the difference in the paint vs. plastic yellow/gold color on either is enough to be majorly distracting. The paint apps almost ruin Movie BB's battle mask head mold.
For this reason, I may end up picking up Emo Guard Animated BB, if the paint gives the figure a little more visual depth. From looking at the regular version in person, it felt like I was being sucked into a Big Bird supernova.
That and all my other BBs are predominately yellow ... so EGuard BB will be a nice spin on a staple character.... w/o totally Gold Bugging the whole operation.
The movie and Animated BBs ... especially the movie one... the difference in the paint vs. plastic yellow/gold color on either is enough to be majorly distracting. The paint apps almost ruin Movie BB's battle mask head mold.
For this reason, I may end up picking up Emo Guard Animated BB, if the paint gives the figure a little more visual depth. From looking at the regular version in person, it felt like I was being sucked into a Big Bird supernova.
That and all my other BBs are predominately yellow ... so EGuard BB will be a nice spin on a staple character.... w/o totally Gold Bugging the whole operation.
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