Got my Bumblebee in the mail today. Came packed very well in a small brown box from Singapore. Not sure when it was sent out but I had no idea it was even coming so can't comment on speed.

 

Inside the box was a black box for the figure. Great packaging. Nice box with a good design on it. Very professional looking.

 

I opened the box and dumped out the figure. I was a little dissapinted at first. It was not put together but in a ton of pieces. The pieces were all unfinished too, they still had tons of flash (a modeling term for small bits of plastic left on the parts from the molding process ) and everything was just a jumble. It did come with instructions for putting it together and I don't remember if it said that it would come in this condition or not when I bought it.

 

The parts are all molded from a hand carved piece. You can tell they are from something that was done by hand and not a machine. Angles are not all straight and it had that rough feel to it. Panel lines are carved into the figure and you can just tell that it was all done from some sort of a clay or other carving medium. The molding process seems OK but all the parts came out with a lot of extras and some of them were a little off center so the top part of the mold was shifted one way or another to create a seam on some of the parts. One of the parts was too thin and you could see through the part in places and while I was cutting off some of the flash, it cracked.

 

It went together well and the instructions are very clear and percise. Comes with some screws that you have to be careful with or you may split some of the holes they go into. I splt one but it was not bad enough to damage the figure. Because not everything is even, ( the left leg is very different from the right leg ) but nothing is labeled right and left, I had to try parts first to check and see if they fit better one way or the other. When I put on one arm, it was very tight, then I put on the other arm and it was very loose. When I switched them they were both average tightness, neither tight or loose, which is they way there were intended I believe.

 

Not all the parts fit well. One of my feet keep falling out and the windsheild to body is a total mess. There is a lot that is needed to refine to this figure to make it fit very well.

 

It is very ingenious how it transforms and is an amazing figure. Is it for eveyone? well, I don't think so. If you were unhappy with Viagra's Windcharger barrel, then don't get one of these. There is a lot more that needs to go into it before it is considered a toy in my opinion. This is more like a Garage Kit but done in plastic instead of resins that kits are normally made of. Some of the parts are horrible and need a lot of attention before they are going to fit together and there are some holes in places that will need to be filled before final painting. It is an amazing figure no doubt about that but it is not for everyone. A good modeler can make this into a great looking figure. I am not even sure if I will be doing a whole lot of transforming of it for fear of breaking the back piece becuase of its thinness.

 

A job very well done JD. I hope more projects come out of this. If this one could be refined and done like a whole toy then this would indeed be one of the greatest figures I have ever seen. I hope that I have time in the next few months to complete the toy and paint it as the single colour does not do it justice.

 

Spencer.

Pictures speak a thousand words my friend.  Have any to share?

Damn i was hoping to get one myself but i relented because i didnt feel like putting him together and than painting him.  Maybe ill give in eventually though.  Did you take any pictures during the build process or at least of the final piece?

 

JD Productions

yes pictures would be cool.

:tdown

 

It looks like Mr. Bill from SNL :tdown

I want that sword for Omega Prime.

:tdown

 

It looks like Mr. Bill from SNL :tdown

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

oh noooooooooo!!!!

I appreciate JD's skill and effort, but with all the overhead he has to put up with (going through foreign middlemen to cast/mold using what most Americans can get for around ~$50 to $100 at a local craft shop), I really don't think the final results are of a cost or quality that's comercially viable.

 

Is VP still casting Honda gun barrels?

Meh, for that kind of quality, and the fact that you have to assemble and paint it, $45 is far too much.