He's got a backpack, his waist has a backpack, his feet have backpacks, and his backpack has a backpack. I guess they're charging extra for all the backpacks.
I'd totally forgot this existed. There's no way I'm swapping out the original for this, it looked a mess to me before and still does and that's before the ridiculous price they are asking for it. Easy pass.
@@dwalk9674 I have the xtb and the mmc one, and neither really nails it. xtb most resembles the iconic g1 look in bot mode. I found the back pack obnoxious and removed the pin holding it so it can parts form off. Its kind of low effort from them tbh. mmcs is much more ambitious and cleans up loads better, but suffers from some odd proportions as a result and is kind of fiddly to transform. Waiting to see what FT's looks like, tho when they will get round to it is anyone's guess.
Yeah. I don't understand why they made the figure worse so you could get a "cartoon accurate" head and chest while making a non-cartoon accurate backpack and feet-kibble. Plus, as you said, the price is absurd.
He's like an optical illusion that works only if you look at it from a very very precise angle. As soon as you put him in a slightly 3/4s pose, you just see a pile of kibble with a Bumblebee cutout in front of it.
Canceling my preorder. Thanks B-SF for the honest review. Takara and competitors need to listen up if they want to continue receiving our disposable income.
DrWOF yes! It’s time to vote with our wallets! Takara Tomy thinks that it will sell well by releasing anything of Optimus Prime or Bumblebee. Expect Prime v.4.0 and Bumblebee V.3.0 5 years down the road.
I absolutely hate how caked in paint this "cartoon accurate" MP are now.. and if that's the reason for the rise in the price tag, I think I'll either wait for a improved 3rd party or other means... Because I'd be to scared to touch them
I would assume that the increase in price for Masterpiece figures is more so due to the fact that the figures are becoming more and more complicated, and would assume that the Engineers would want an increase in pay as compensation for their work? But that's my take on the whole price increase
@Lird Sherpez i would rather burn my money than ever buying this garbage. Watching my money burn to ashes would be more satisfying than looking at this disaster.
Im actually thinking of buying a 2nd one and paint it black and call it NaziBee, and then i STILL will have enough to buy a 3rd one to come up to the same price point as this Bee
To those who bought this, if you like it, you win! However, I'm good with Version 1 and that's where I intend to stay. Excellent and accurate review as always! Your true feelings came out when you said... "yikes!" Haha!
I saw the notification for this while I was half asleep and promptly went back to sleep. I then dreamt that Bee didn't have a face when you transformed him and that it was in the box. I think it was a premonition
The way I see it. The only thing I like about the new one compared to the old one is the shade of yellow it's painted in. In every other way, i'd just hold on to the old bumblebee.
I'm sticking with my original Bee until a 3P company does him better than this dumpster fire of a figure. Plus it'll probably be almost half the price. Thanks for the review!
It looks okay for me, but that face doesn’t work for me. He looks blubberous. Can’t explain it any other way. Especially with the chubby lips and half closed mouth.
You might want to take a look at Toyworlds Bii. It was from a much earlier time so the transformation is pretty simple, but you can get one for $50. I actually bought him for his alt mode to go with MMC's MP cliffjumper which I really like.
I will say his vehicle mode looks fantastic, very show accurate, the robot mode from the front looks awesome. When it comes to that backpack though, I wish Takara could have found a way to compress it in a bit more. He's small and pricey at $120. I'd rather pay about $90.
The backpack was slightly mistransformed only because the windshield does tab into the back making it a little more compact but it’s not much of a difference. I feel like if the doors just spun at the feet where the window went under the foot and blows my mind they didn’t. Was at least a few months away from being release ready
If they went for alt mode scale consistency (a Countach and Beetle were about the same length, and both were bigger than a Jeep or a Ligier race car), that might give them more room to collapse all that kibble. They definitely would have larger hinges to fold panels up, without bordering on stuff being too thin and likely to break as with this tiny scale. However, the Haslab Unicron would indicate that no matter how big they go, HasTak is fine with kibble and refuses to do away with it even if they could. I dig the bot front view, but hate everything else. My KO MP-21 is staying.
I can't say I've ever seen a countach and a beetle side by side,...but I have seen a beetle. And they are fricking tiny. Not much longer than a 1987 nissan maxima.
First time I've seen your Ark shelf and that is very amazing. I rewinded the section a few times just to appreciate the set up you have captured. Side note: Version 2 Bee just looked out of place with the other Autobots. Their serious and ready for battle and he's almost hopping for joy. Even Ratchet is looking at him with an expression of: What in the world is wrong with you?
Very thorough review. I like this new Bee dispite it's shortcomings, still prefer the old MP but one does have it's positives. I won't be paying the asking price for it through.
They’ve done pretty well with the Beast Wars line and MP-39 Sunstreaker was pretty damn good. I have hopes for MP-47 Hound at least...I just hope that floating head issue will be fixed by the time of release
True..I think Hounds form might be more friendly to not requiring as many tricks. Yea their Beast Was MP feel like blown up super refined versions of the original toys. But some of those old figures were already slightly show accurate at the time.
The doors becomes the feet. Not the unfinished interior, but the finished exterior. Sure theres a lip - but I am still surprised they'd utilize a finished painted piece for a high traffic location. Bizarre engineering choices with this guy.
Aaron Mauer honestly, that was my biggest complaint from the first release, even years ago. I wanted it this colored yellow and the original is more orange to me.
"And - ever play skin the cat as a kid?" Whoa.. We had wildly different childhoods. Yea, I know it's a flip on the bar, but I had no idea it was called that.
This bee isn't a upgrade, just look: his feet is awful, his backpack is absolutely ugly and hollow, his smile is VERY strange (I don't have problems with transformers that smile, it's because this Bee smile is strange), his proportions are weird and overall he just lost that Bumblebee feeling
You know as i was looking at the fo chest of bee. I saw iron hides chest , and dislike ironhide chest even more lol... They should've gave hide a fochest aswell. Great review This bee gets an F ! from me.
Its amazing how many people on TFW dont like you (especially the official fig forums)....LOL it gives me a good laugh. I love you Bobby for keeping it real.
A friend of mine ordered a fake of the original and ended up receiving two so she gave me one since I collect mps, I hate to admit it but it was so well done I never ended up buying the real one even though the fake got a lot of play(probably because I had it in my office but still...) and I always told myself I would get around to it so I guess this one is for me even though I'm not the biggest fan of the as toon accurate as possible aesthetic direction everyone and everything seems to be heading towards which has in reality greatly affected my mp collecting(I'm just not that into it anymore even though I love the pieces I already have, with soundwave sort of being the pinnacle of what I like with a couple of releases leading up to it and following rounding out my favorites from takara to Fanstoys. this doesn't look anywhere near as simple, fun and clever as the original and is kind of a mess in places but if the price is right I'll get it to make my penance for the fake. I am a fan of black apples ability to easily fix glaring engineering issues in all these releases and if he gets around to "fixing" takaras design and some shitbag Chinese ko company/pirates manufacture it, I'm going to buy it and tell myself it's a just a custom. The more I think about it, the more this seems like a ridiculously over-engineered release for what should really be quite simple for the sake of being heavily engineered. It's like they're doing this to justify the high prices when in reality you're not really getting all that much more than their basic mass market lines. They want us to keep lying to ourselves that these mps are so way beyond the big box toy store stuff so we keep shelling out stupid amounts of cash for what's essentially a pre assembled plastic model kit with a few paint apps and some more mature/tastefully done faction stickers. This full on toon stuff should just be the norm from takara and hasbros lines at least with voyager and leader class figures. I'm obviously jaded and letting that carry me away with some of my points but I can't help it. That's where I'm at with mp transformers and they used to be one of my favorite things to collect. I look at my hot toys displays and it only makes it worse because I can look at those pieces and actually see cost, I look at my price gouged mps and see plastic trays with pieces being popped out, glued and screwed together in a factory full of some of the lowest paid labor on the planet and sold for ridiculous sums of money. We can't even say a lot of that cost is in the engineering with a straight face anymore.
"Who is he going to look down at?", the Spike figure he came with. Not that I plan to get him anyway, but it isn't completely unreasonable. I've been very negative about Takara MPs (my last one was MP-27 Ironhide), but I have to assume this is a pre-production sample because I can't imagine the joints being that bad.
This has to be a pre-production version. At least you'd hope to God it is as it's not due out for at least another month. I mean, it doesn't have blue windows (unlike every other recent toon aesthetic MP figure), the joints are super lose, panel lines everywhere that don't clip together properly, the paint is chipping, the tampo is off centre... That said, Takara just released a hugely expensive figure with most of those problems and more (broken knees anyone?) and people lapped that up, so this is probably what we can expect going forward. While I'm on a rant, it's also too tall and the proportions are off. Those feet and backpack are just hideous as well. I weep for MP-47 Hound if this is what passes for a decent official figure now... Oh, MP-44's backpack is shit as well. Just a different kind of shit.
Chris Gould The chosen prime has one as well. His joints are not all loosey goosey.. As for pre production or stolen.. I don't imagine that the final will look much different if at all.
I will not defend MP-45's price and trashback, but I will defend his proportions. They're not off, both the car and bot mode are both extremely accurate, I like most people am not a fan of the car proportions, but I do like the bot mode, except for the arms being short. So in the end, this is what an MP G1 Bumblebee should look like, but Takara ruined it with that trash that they call a back. And when talking about MP-44's backpack, it's one of the cleanest on any figure, but due to there being a giant voicebox, it's 40% larger than without it.
Felipe Flores I like MP-44 backpack I think it's sexy as fuk and is well proportioned to the bot. I also like the alt mode of MP-45 it's cute and very toon as it sould be. As for what your calling the trash pack.. what you could do better? Well then why aren't you working at Takara and giving us awesome backpacks yo. What are you waiting for go apply submit your job application but I expect a better BB from you 6 months after you get hired. haah
In fairness, I think this release is something we've all done to ourselves. By lauding 'toon accuracy whilst simultaneously swallowing price increases, Takara have, understandably, gone further down that route. There are just a couple of signs of the pendulum swinging back the other way. LioConvoy is still very 'toon and too expensive but not as expensive as I'd've thought and neither this 'Bee nor LioConvoy seem to be feathering their nest with excessive numbers of accessories. Where Takara's next few releases go will be interesting to see...
Soundwave and Prowl hit a MP sweetspot. Then Takara listened to focus groups demanding MP figures look more like a badly drawn 35 year old cartoon. No one can look at the feet and backpack on this thing and claim it isn't a failure.
@@KatchouroBlade I like those two MP's, too. I do think there are enough voices criticising the uber-'toon and uber-expensive MPs that Takara will listen but it will be a while until we see the impact on new designs.
Great review, man. I think I’m pretty content with my original MP Bumblebee. Also I was listening to your most recent Nerd Rage Radio, and the #backlivesmatter started with a Jobbythehong video review on MP44 criticizing the toys back kibble and transformation. Just thought I’d let ya know.
I added cell shaded window stickers to my mp-21 and feel as though that's a step up and I'm going to pass on MP-45. Why? MP-21 still has the realistic car mode and mine has a little toon style now. Even when I was a kid I thought bumblebee's car mode in the cartoon was irregular. Anyhow, I can see a MP-21+ coming out in the future! Likely with the MP-45 yellow and cell shaded stickers and if they toss in the MP-45 head sculpt for MP-21+ that would be a big step up and I would buy it. Bottom line, mp-45 is good but the lack of a waist swivel was a surprise. However, there is clearly room for someone to top it by taking the positives both have to offer. To be honest I am surprise the 4th party companies haven't gotten around to doing a "+" updates on per-existing mp figures but they might be playing it safe and giving that lane to 1st party first. Side note, I'm on board with the chest plate cheat takara did to help give it that more G1 appearance in robot mode and that's to be encouraged on an as needed basis like with bumblebee.
There are things I like about this figure a lot, but for the price point he should be better than MP-21 in every regard. The limited waist swivel and lack of ab cruch especially hurts once you go above 100 dollars. I think I'll save up my funny money for MP Blackarachnia and Hound, those figures actually look pretty sweet and posable. I think an eventual MP Bumblebee version 3 is pretty inevitable unless HasTak goes bankrupt or they lose the licence for the little guy's name again, hopefully that figure will be a lot better whenever they decide to make it.
Great review Skully! I’m willing to bet that they went with clear windows because they plan to release a “plus” version at some point with “even more toon accurate” upgrades like dumb accessories and blue windows. They’ve done it so much now it’s almost an expectation. Personally I think the “toon” movement sent the masterpiece line in the wrong direction. I will say I appreciate Takara not pursuing legal action against the big third party companies for the most part so we can still get the figures we want.
SILVER SHAMROCK why didn’t they do it for Sunstreaker then? Doesn’t make sense. This figure IS the toon version. The + version should be the toy version. I just feel Takara Tomy botched this release because they wanted to milk Bumblebee as well.
Thanks for the honest review - most appreciated, as it's pretty much confirmed I'll be purchasing the original MP Bumblebee at roughly half the cost. Also I agree, it's not the size of the backpack that I find off putting, it's the ugly gappy mess that it is. #backlivesmatter
Half the cost? what site did you check? I compared through ebay and the old Bees asking price was a third compared to the new one. And if we are gonna judge by pricing alone the competition just got shredded by the original 86 Movie Masterpiece Bumblebee
@@zilvertron Sorry, I should have specified, I picked original MP Bumblebee from Ebay for a good price. If you're still looking for this guy, you could try ebay seller Bababobo0712 - this guy usually has items for good prices.
So this is for sure a preproduction sample. The windows will be blue on that standard release. From what I heard, there are at least 10-20 preproduction models and rejects that were stolen from the factory and sold on eBay for around $120-$150. TCP has one of these as well.
Really? The official pictures on Takara Tomy’s webpage those windows don’t seem to be blue at all, unlike MP-28 Hot Rodimus (Hot Rod), some reviewers got clear windows and the official release was blue.
Eric Burgess Nope some idiot on ebay is selling them for 250 a pop. was very hush hush about how he got them when I asked.. That being said the chosen prime has one too! So maybe it was a legit pre production test due to the back lash from the knee issues with MP-44 So Takara wanted to test the water? Maybe hard to say.. But yeah I am not dropping 250 for him a month early.. I'll just wait and see what happens.
NA yeah then he shot the price up. And there isn’t a legit sample floating around. And tcp for sure wouldn’t have gotten one and some of the other retailers not gotten one either. But based on tcps business ways. I would be surprised that they bought a stolen sample off from eBay. But the price started at $120 and then went up to $130 and now is up to $250. That’s not surprising.
I really appreciate this video. I think I'll stick with my original MP Bumblebee. It's not perfect, but I like it better than this. That transformation looks nightmarish.
Its like they started with a good design and then just tried a find a way to get there. I'd rather have an upscale New Age Flipper. That head sculpt, rather the face is so dumb.
It's a pass for me to, if the price point was 35USD I would buy it but for 100USD...never... they are crazy to ask that kind of money from collectors, it's not like we don't know about what we're buying!!! Nice review though Bobby, thank you.
We can't have it all. That x transbots cliffjumper backpack is one hell of a backpack. In a bad way. But it is also makes for one hell of a porsche. This is the bumblebee of my childhood. Until FT does it like their parkour fig. It compresses into the penny racer vehicle style perfectly. And it looks like bee in robot mode. I understand that when we start getting to this level of collecting we sort of have to be very picky and find all the different characteristics to drill down on and scrutinize. But i really love this little guy!
More like Bummerbee hort hort SImilar to MP-44, I feel like Masterpiece line is going for some kind of "complexity for complexity's sake" design route, given how there are tons of different moving parts, but either mode ends up with a sectin filled with different parts that don't seem to have any clear place to go so they just end up being pressed together in an unclean looking mess (with this figure, the backpack and the heels, and with MP-44 the back of the truck). I'm no Masterpiece collector, but I would take the original MP Bumblebee any day, as both fan of the original's design and as a guy who does not pursue G1 screen accuracy. So the original just looks better and somewhat cuter with it shorter and bit more chunky design. Also with the original they compensated for high price with Sam figure, even though it seems to be rather crappy.
My problem with MP-45 is mainly the feet and the backpack. I've seen some people claim that MP-45 is superior to MP-21, but they all know what they can do with that opinion. MP-21 looks faaaar better than MP-45, as well as being faaaaar better constructed. Look at all that space between the panels of the backpack and the feet! They certainly could have done a lot better than this, in my opinion. Im thinking that one day some dude over at Takara Tomy had a really fucked up day to begin with, and then later that day things took a sharp turn for the worse! The dude paniced and simply slapped together this marvelous masterpiece of shit just to be able to say "I did some work today", and then he fucked off to the nearest bar and got drunk as a skunk! Thats the only explaination that makes any sense to me anyway. In any case! Takara should fire the genious that designed MP-45 before the dude fucks up another figure. Up untill MP-44 and 45 I had absolutely no complains what so ever about any of the previous figures. MP-44 isn't as bad as MP-45, but certain shit went wrong on that one as well. Now... I did get MP-44, and I have MP-45 on preorder. The only reason why I still have MP-45 on preorder, is because I strongly suspect that the MP Cliffjumper figure, that will follow sooner or later, will be based off the MP-45 mold and not the MP-21 mold. If Takara had announced that they in deed will be using the MP-21 mold as a base for Cliffjumper, then I would cancel the crap out of MP-45 right now!
Yeaaa i have two copies the first MP Bumblebee (standard and g2) and i dont think i will "upgrade" to the 2.0 version, the only thing i can say is truly bad about the first one is that the arms dont fill up when you set it in robot mode, the new version fills out the arms but makes the rest of the figure look straight up awful.
they could have done a lot better, but I think TT just decided to put it out there and see how many called it the greatest thing ever. the only way things will get better is if we vote with our money and not buy crap.
Tazman66gt agreed...unfortunately, the fanboys will still buy even if Takara Tomy puts out a piece of shit and slap the name “Bumblebee” on it and charge it for 100 dollars. This should be another Sitdown Saturday...about Takara Tomy fanboys
And that's probably the best selling point of this Bee. Problem is I'm still in the market for a Cliffjimper that goes better with the prior MP Bee. Xtransbots is the best available option but still essentially a stand in.
@@El_Bastardo because the backpack would be better than toro and it is taller and if would give us the g1 accurate car mode and will probably have the best head because every cliffjumpers head looks off
Well, that makes me feel better about not wanting to pay that price point. It looks great in car mode, and straight-on in bot mode. What a bummer. Maybe a third party will clean it up, and make it a little more reasonably priced.
As bad as the back and feet are it is something about the head that is the final no for me. It seems too big and as Bobby said the sculpt is off. The one thing I really like about the old version was it had the battle mask and had that G1 vibe in robot mode. Not paying big $$$ for a down grade
I actually picked up the Toyworld Bii over the original MP Bumblebee, and don't see any reason to trade it out for this one. Seems to be holding up just fine, and it already had more of the toon aesthetic from the get go.
It's crazy seeing all these mentions of toyworld bii. Just went and looked it up, and I'm getting serious McDonald's happy meal toy vibes from it. I'm extremely happy with this ver. 2.0 bee.
Fantastic review, my friend, thank you. The prices on Masterpiece items (2017 onwards) has got so high that you really do need solid, accurate, detailed & impartial reviews like this to inform your buying decision (s). In the UK, you can now buy a brand new XBox One S cheaper than the new version of Optimus Prime: that's a level of spend that's inconceivable to me. And I spend A LOT on toys. My hopes are high for Hound, but this iteration of Bumblebee is flat out dumb, cheap looking & poorly executed across the board: there's not one thing this does better than Bumblebee V1 (who had better faces/expressios, accessories, vehicle accuracy, articulation and feet. Feet are useful to have... So, this new Bumblebee - not happening. But, yes: great review & hope you'll cover Blackarachnia - on the fence with that one too.
Don't worry Bobby Skullface. Takara will make a better one on version 3. Just like Optimus Prime, and he'll cost just as much as Prime. I bet my bottom dollar. Then they'll what us to spend our bottom dollar to buy MP whatever they wanna number it (Perfect Edition). Takara......gotta love'em!! ;o) Love you're reviews by-the-way. U duh man!!
He's got a backpack, his waist has a backpack, his feet have backpacks, and his backpack has a backpack. I guess they're charging extra for all the backpacks.
@Terminator I had one and I'm a parts-former
I'd totally forgot this existed. There's no way I'm swapping out the original for this, it looked a mess to me before and still does and that's before the ridiculous price they are asking for it. Easy pass.
👍👍👍 Same.
I love the oringinal MP Bee. If I could only get a cliffjumper in that quality. I may have to get x-transbots even though I hate the backpack.
@@dwalk9674 I have the xtb and the mmc one, and neither really nails it. xtb most resembles the iconic g1 look in bot mode. I found the back pack obnoxious and removed the pin holding it so it can parts form off. Its kind of low effort from them tbh. mmcs is much more ambitious and cleans up loads better, but suffers from some odd proportions as a result and is kind of fiddly to transform. Waiting to see what FT's looks like, tho when they will get round to it is anyone's guess.
Yeah. I don't understand why they made the figure worse so you could get a "cartoon accurate" head and chest while making a non-cartoon accurate backpack and feet-kibble.
Plus, as you said, the price is absurd.
I only like the head sculpt, but price is too stupid lol
I don’t feel this deserves the title of Masterpiece. What a mess...
Shitpiece?
@@robertban871 Shitpiece, Goldbug assemble a strike team immediately! Rodimus, I want to have a word with you.
He's like an optical illusion that works only if you look at it from a very very precise angle. As soon as you put him in a slightly 3/4s pose, you just see a pile of kibble with a Bumblebee cutout in front of it.
My word!!! Is Badcube working for Takara these days?????
Feet + backpack = NOT a masterpiece. HasTak taking the piss.
Dan's GoPro Adventures and the fanboys are drinking it all up
Because of the head he looks like a guy wearing a mascot costume of Bumblebee
Looks like a Bobby Hill cosplay
Canceling my preorder. Thanks B-SF for the honest review. Takara and competitors need to listen up if they want to continue receiving our disposable income.
DrWOF yes! It’s time to vote with our wallets! Takara Tomy thinks that it will sell well by releasing anything of Optimus Prime or Bumblebee. Expect Prime v.4.0 and Bumblebee V.3.0 5 years down the road.
Sticking with the old MP bee, no need to replace him.
I absolutely hate how caked in paint this "cartoon accurate" MP are now.. and if that's the reason for the rise in the price tag, I think I'll either wait for a improved 3rd party or other means... Because I'd be to scared to touch them
I really like the paint, but to each their own ya?
I would assume that the increase in price for Masterpiece figures is more so due to the fact that the figures are becoming more and more complicated, and would assume that the Engineers would want an increase in pay as compensation for their work? But that's my take on the whole price increase
@@saltycandy245
I heard it was takara losing Pokemon ._.
@@saltycandy245
Maybe, but if I engineered this mess I wouldn't expect a raise. Quite the opposite in fact.
Steelman2906 mps sure have gone downhill since mp-24
Thanks Bobby cancelling my order!
An easy pass...my wallet is thanking me now as well...thanks, Bobby
#backlivesmatter
You r a jobbythehong subscriber i see
#backlivesmatter
Soundblood 01 I subscribe to most toy reviewers.
@@famyemil i see
Lird Sherpez errr...if you say so boomer
@Lird Sherpez i would rather burn my money than ever buying this garbage. Watching my money burn to ashes would be more satisfying than looking at this disaster.
Well, looks like my MP-21 ain't going anywhere...
Im actually thinking of buying a 2nd one and paint it black and call it NaziBee, and then i STILL will have enough to buy a 3rd one to come up to the same price point as this Bee
The word of the day is “Yikes.”
For what? The lose joints? The backpack on a backpack with a backpack? The paint chipping? Or the horrible extra face that serves no purpose?
To those who bought this, if you like it, you win! However, I'm good with Version 1 and that's where I intend to stay. Excellent and accurate review as always! Your true feelings came out when you said... "yikes!" Haha!
"I can't tell you in hand doesn't look any better" at 5:20 made me grinning A LOT :D
I saw the notification for this while I was half asleep and promptly went back to sleep. I then dreamt that Bee didn't have a face when you transformed him and that it was in the box. I think it was a premonition
The way I see it. The only thing I like about the new one compared to the old one is the shade of yellow it's painted in. In every other way, i'd just hold on to the old bumblebee.
I'm sticking with my original Bee until a 3P company does him better than this dumpster fire of a figure. Plus it'll probably be almost half the price. Thanks for the review!
Yeah well you''ll be waiting a while for that figure, and just hope 3rd party G1 scene doesn't die out by then
@@PrinceRawD of course. Should come out around 2036. Just wait.
It looks okay for me, but that face doesn’t work for me. He looks blubberous. Can’t explain it any other way. Especially with the chubby lips and half closed mouth.
You might want to take a look at Toyworlds Bii. It was from a much earlier time so the transformation is pretty simple, but you can get one for $50. I actually bought him for his alt mode to go with MMC's MP cliffjumper which I really like.
Me too I,m sticking with the original Bee.
His face reminds me of one of those creepy Tickle Me Elmo dolls.
I will say his vehicle mode looks fantastic, very show accurate, the robot mode from the front looks awesome. When it comes to that backpack though, I wish Takara could have found a way to compress it in a bit more. He's small and pricey at $120. I'd rather pay about $90.
The backpack was slightly mistransformed only because the windshield does tab into the back making it a little more compact but it’s not much of a difference. I feel like if the doors just spun at the feet where the window went under the foot and blows my mind they didn’t. Was at least a few months away from being release ready
This checks all the wrong boxes for me. Toon, shell-former, back-trash.
lol
If they went for alt mode scale consistency (a Countach and Beetle were about the same length, and both were bigger than a Jeep or a Ligier race car), that might give them more room to collapse all that kibble. They definitely would have larger hinges to fold panels up, without bordering on stuff being too thin and likely to break as with this tiny scale.
However, the Haslab Unicron would indicate that no matter how big they go, HasTak is fine with kibble and refuses to do away with it even if they could.
I dig the bot front view, but hate everything else. My KO MP-21 is staying.
I can't say I've ever seen a countach and a beetle side by side,...but I have seen a beetle. And they are fricking tiny. Not much longer than a 1987 nissan maxima.
That sideview... 16:05. Goodness gracious.
Perfect review. I'd want that head sculpt and that shade of yellow on my old MP Bumblebee and that's about it.
First time I've seen your Ark shelf and that is very amazing. I rewinded the section a few times just to appreciate the set up you have captured. Side note: Version 2 Bee just looked out of place with the other Autobots. Their serious and ready for battle and he's almost hopping for joy. Even Ratchet is looking at him with an expression of: What in the world is wrong with you?
I kind of hate this piece. Not happy with the direction they're going.
Very thorough review. I like this new Bee dispite it's shortcomings, still prefer the old MP but one does have it's positives. I won't be paying the asking price for it through.
It’s impressive for what it is but I can’t shake the feeling MP has lost it’s way...MP44 included. Doesn’t look fun, plastic origami.
They’ve done pretty well with the Beast Wars line and MP-39 Sunstreaker was pretty damn good. I have hopes for MP-47 Hound at least...I just hope that floating head issue will be fixed by the time of release
True..I think Hounds form might be more friendly to not requiring as many tricks. Yea their Beast Was MP feel like blown up super refined versions of the original toys. But some of those old figures were already slightly show accurate at the time.
See, the fact you're the only other person other than me who I've heard use "Combiner Wars" as a verb is why you're my favourite reviewer.
The doors becomes the feet. Not the unfinished interior, but the finished exterior. Sure theres a lip - but I am still surprised they'd utilize a finished painted piece for a high traffic location. Bizarre engineering choices with this guy.
Great review and thanks for telling the truth Bobby skullface and warning us about the figure
For nearly double the price of V1 it's hardly a bargain... I'm sticking with V1.
you gotta get those Shadow Fisher upgrades for Ironhide and Ratchet!
Wish they would do the original one with this yellow color
Aaron Mauer honestly, that was my biggest complaint from the first release, even years ago. I wanted it this colored yellow and the original is more orange to me.
What they shoulda done is just update the mold for the original with a new head and a more yellow color
I'll keep my original mp bumblebee thank you very much.
"Yikes!" Yeah that sums it up nicely.
Great review, Bobby! You spoke my mind.😬
"And - ever play skin the cat as a kid?" Whoa.. We had wildly different childhoods.
Yea, I know it's a flip on the bar, but I had no idea it was called that.
You just saved me some money, man.
Do we think that Bumblebee or Cliffjumper would ever not have a hideous backpack when going for cartoon accuracy...?
Fanstoys pulled it off with their upcoming MP Cliffjumper
@TheBatman39 yeah it's less hideous. But for people to expect the world out of some of these figs gets a little weird. I love this version.
Great review, Thanks! I'm definitely NOT buying this MP Bumblebee 2.0 now, and I usually get MPs
This bee isn't a upgrade, just look: his feet is awful, his backpack is absolutely ugly and hollow, his smile is VERY strange (I don't have problems with transformers that smile, it's because this Bee smile is strange), his proportions are weird and overall he just lost that Bumblebee feeling
You know as i was looking at the fo chest of bee. I saw iron hides chest , and dislike ironhide chest even more lol... They should've gave hide a fochest aswell. Great review This bee gets an F ! from me.
Shout out to cats, big ol' feet, and climbing Mt Kilimanjaro.
And wow, the ark shelf looks rad.
potato chips. bumblebee got potato chips on his back.
Amazing video, that figure looks ghastly
For the price this thing costs I think I’ll get hound instead
Wow! What a mess. Totally agree with you it's not whether a figure has a backpack or not but how it looks.
So...this is the price we pay for absolute cartoon accuracy, huh?
Its amazing how many people on TFW dont like you (especially the official fig forums)....LOL it gives me a good laugh. I love you Bobby for keeping it real.
Ryan Johnson those people will buy anything Takara Tomy put out...you can’t have an opinion unless it’s just a good one, I guess.
A friend of mine ordered a fake of the original and ended up receiving two so she gave me one since I collect mps, I hate to admit it but it was so well done I never ended up buying the real one even though the fake got a lot of play(probably because I had it in my office but still...) and I always told myself I would get around to it so I guess this one is for me even though I'm not the biggest fan of the as toon accurate as possible aesthetic direction everyone and everything seems to be heading towards which has in reality greatly affected my mp collecting(I'm just not that into it anymore even though I love the pieces I already have, with soundwave sort of being the pinnacle of what I like with a couple of releases leading up to it and following rounding out my favorites from takara to Fanstoys. this doesn't look anywhere near as simple, fun and clever as the original and is kind of a mess in places but if the price is right I'll get it to make my penance for the fake. I am a fan of black apples ability to easily fix glaring engineering issues in all these releases and if he gets around to "fixing" takaras design and some shitbag Chinese ko company/pirates manufacture it, I'm going to buy it and tell myself it's a just a custom. The more I think about it, the more this seems like a ridiculously over-engineered release for what should really be quite simple for the sake of being heavily engineered. It's like they're doing this to justify the high prices when in reality you're not really getting all that much more than their basic mass market lines. They want us to keep lying to ourselves that these mps are so way beyond the big box toy store stuff so we keep shelling out stupid amounts of cash for what's essentially a pre assembled plastic model kit with a few paint apps and some more mature/tastefully done faction stickers. This full on toon stuff should just be the norm from takara and hasbros lines at least with voyager and leader class figures. I'm obviously jaded and letting that carry me away with some of my points but I can't help it. That's where I'm at with mp transformers and they used to be one of my favorite things to collect. I look at my hot toys displays and it only makes it worse because I can look at those pieces and actually see cost, I look at my price gouged mps and see plastic trays with pieces being popped out, glued and screwed together in a factory full of some of the lowest paid labor on the planet and sold for ridiculous sums of money. We can't even say a lot of that cost is in the engineering with a straight face anymore.
leepicciotto well said, buddy...well said
"Who is he going to look down at?", the Spike figure he came with. Not that I plan to get him anyway, but it isn't completely unreasonable.
I've been very negative about Takara MPs (my last one was MP-27 Ironhide), but I have to assume this is a pre-production sample because I can't imagine the joints being that bad.
Man thats the review i thought you would give it, YIKES theres a tshirt lol great review
He makes tracks look good.
Oh lordy lordy! This should be entertaining 😉👍
This has to be a pre-production version. At least you'd hope to God it is as it's not due out for at least another month. I mean, it doesn't have blue windows (unlike every other recent toon aesthetic MP figure), the joints are super lose, panel lines everywhere that don't clip together properly, the paint is chipping, the tampo is off centre... That said, Takara just released a hugely expensive figure with most of those problems and more (broken knees anyone?) and people lapped that up, so this is probably what we can expect going forward. While I'm on a rant, it's also too tall and the proportions are off. Those feet and backpack are just hideous as well. I weep for MP-47 Hound if this is what passes for a decent official figure now...
Oh, MP-44's backpack is shit as well. Just a different kind of shit.
Chris Gould The chosen prime has one as well. His joints are not all loosey goosey.. As for pre production or stolen.. I don't imagine that the final will look much different if at all.
The arms are too short. Line-art accuracy be damned, they look awful.
I will not defend MP-45's price and trashback, but I will defend his proportions. They're not off, both the car and bot mode are both extremely accurate, I like most people am not a fan of the car proportions, but I do like the bot mode, except for the arms being short. So in the end, this is what an MP G1 Bumblebee should look like, but Takara ruined it with that trash that they call a back.
And when talking about MP-44's backpack, it's one of the cleanest on any figure, but due to there being a giant voicebox, it's 40% larger than without it.
Felipe Flores I like MP-44 backpack I think it's sexy as fuk and is well proportioned to the bot. I also like the alt mode of MP-45 it's cute and very toon as it sould be. As for what your calling the trash pack.. what you could do better? Well then why aren't you working at Takara and giving us awesome backpacks yo. What are you waiting for go apply submit your job application but I expect a better BB from you 6 months after you get hired. haah
NA the figure’s $120, I think that’s reason enough to complain about a figure with a trash backpack
In fairness, I think this release is something we've all done to ourselves.
By lauding 'toon accuracy whilst simultaneously swallowing price increases, Takara have, understandably, gone further down that route.
There are just a couple of signs of the pendulum swinging back the other way. LioConvoy is still very 'toon and too expensive but not as expensive as I'd've thought and neither this 'Bee nor LioConvoy seem to be feathering their nest with excessive numbers of accessories.
Where Takara's next few releases go will be interesting to see...
Soundwave and Prowl hit a MP sweetspot. Then Takara listened to focus groups demanding MP figures look more like a badly drawn 35 year old cartoon.
No one can look at the feet and backpack on this thing and claim it isn't a failure.
@@KatchouroBlade I like those two MP's, too. I do think there are enough voices criticising the uber-'toon and uber-expensive MPs that Takara will listen but it will be a while until we see the impact on new designs.
Great review, man. I think I’m pretty content with my original MP Bumblebee.
Also I was listening to your most recent Nerd Rage Radio, and the #backlivesmatter started with a Jobbythehong video review on MP44 criticizing the toys back kibble and transformation. Just thought I’d let ya know.
Patreon Should get the uncut version! Ha ha ha!
Fanstoys hop to it!! They would knock that out of the park!
"Yikes!" 💀
😅🤓
they are lovin u on the tfw boards last few days...........................
I added cell shaded window stickers to my mp-21 and feel as though that's a step up and I'm going to pass on MP-45. Why? MP-21 still has the realistic car mode and mine has a little toon style now. Even when I was a kid I thought bumblebee's car mode in the cartoon was irregular. Anyhow, I can see a MP-21+ coming out in the future! Likely with the MP-45 yellow and cell shaded stickers and if they toss in the MP-45 head sculpt for MP-21+ that would be a big step up and I would buy it. Bottom line, mp-45 is good but the lack of a waist swivel was a surprise. However, there is clearly room for someone to top it by taking the positives both have to offer. To be honest I am surprise the 4th party companies haven't gotten around to doing a "+" updates on per-existing mp figures but they might be playing it safe and giving that lane to 1st party first. Side note, I'm on board with the chest plate cheat takara did to help give it that more G1 appearance in robot mode and that's to be encouraged on an as needed basis like with bumblebee.
C M me too...even when I was a kid, I noticed that the VW was way off...only later on I knew abour this so-called Chibi look...yucks
Battle sit down Saturday between 1.0 Bumblebee v. 2.0 Bumblebee
There are things I like about this figure a lot, but for the price point he should be better than MP-21 in every regard. The limited waist swivel and lack of ab cruch especially hurts once you go above 100 dollars. I think I'll save up my funny money for MP Blackarachnia and Hound, those figures actually look pretty sweet and posable.
I think an eventual MP Bumblebee version 3 is pretty inevitable unless HasTak goes bankrupt or they lose the licence for the little guy's name again, hopefully that figure will be a lot better whenever they decide to make it.
Great review Skully! I’m willing to bet that they went with clear windows because they plan to release a “plus” version at some point with “even more toon accurate” upgrades like dumb accessories and blue windows. They’ve done it so much now it’s almost an expectation. Personally I think the “toon” movement sent the masterpiece line in the wrong direction. I will say I appreciate Takara not pursuing legal action against the big third party companies for the most part so we can still get the figures we want.
SILVER SHAMROCK why didn’t they do it for Sunstreaker then? Doesn’t make sense. This figure IS the toon version. The + version should be the toy version. I just feel Takara Tomy botched this release because they wanted to milk Bumblebee as well.
Thanks for the honest review - most appreciated, as it's pretty much confirmed I'll be purchasing the original MP Bumblebee at roughly half the cost.
Also I agree, it's not the size of the backpack that I find off putting, it's the ugly gappy mess that it is. #backlivesmatter
Half the cost? what site did you check? I compared through ebay and the old Bees asking price was a third compared to the new one. And if we are gonna judge by pricing alone the competition just got shredded by the original 86 Movie Masterpiece Bumblebee
@@zilvertron Sorry, I should have specified, I picked original MP Bumblebee from Ebay for a good price. If you're still looking for this guy, you could try ebay seller Bababobo0712 - this guy usually has items for good prices.
G1 in the front, Movie Deluxe in the back. I adore the dumpy G1 look, but man that thing is downright nasty from the back
I swooped on a hoodie! Thanks dude!
So this is for sure a preproduction sample. The windows will be blue on that standard release. From what I heard, there are at least 10-20 preproduction models and rejects that were stolen from the factory and sold on eBay for around $120-$150. TCP has one of these as well.
Really? The official pictures on Takara Tomy’s webpage those windows don’t seem to be blue at all, unlike MP-28 Hot Rodimus (Hot Rod), some reviewers got clear windows and the official release was blue.
Just a bad pic I saw. Yeah it’s not blue
Eric Burgess Nope some idiot on ebay is selling them for 250 a pop. was very hush hush about how he got them when I asked.. That being said the chosen prime has one too! So maybe it was a legit pre production test due to the back lash from the knee issues with MP-44 So Takara wanted to test the water? Maybe hard to say.. But yeah I am not dropping 250 for him a month early.. I'll just wait and see what happens.
Eric Burgess that’s the problem with the MP line...even the window color is not consistent...
NA yeah then he shot the price up. And there isn’t a legit sample floating around. And tcp for sure wouldn’t have gotten one and some of the other retailers not gotten one either. But based on tcps business ways. I would be surprised that they bought a stolen sample off from eBay. But the price started at $120 and then went up to $130 and now is up to $250. That’s not surprising.
I'll defend MP-44, but I can't defend this guy.
I really appreciate this video. I think I'll stick with my original MP Bumblebee. It's not perfect, but I like it better than this. That transformation looks nightmarish.
A G1 transformer that transforms like a bayformer
I love the chunky little vehicle mode so much, I hope a 3rd party gives us a version with this vehicle mode but a better robot mode.
Its like they started with a good design and then just tried a find a way to get there. I'd rather have an upscale New Age Flipper. That head sculpt, rather the face is so dumb.
It's a pass for me to, if the price point was 35USD I would buy it but for 100USD...never... they are crazy to ask that kind of money from collectors, it's not like we don't know about what we're buying!!! Nice review though Bobby, thank you.
We can't have it all. That x transbots cliffjumper backpack is one hell of a backpack. In a bad way. But it is also makes for one hell of a porsche.
This is the bumblebee of my childhood. Until FT does it like their parkour fig. It compresses into the penny racer vehicle style perfectly. And it looks like bee in robot mode.
I understand that when we start getting to this level of collecting we sort of have to be very picky and find all the different characteristics to drill down on and scrutinize. But i really love this little guy!
#BackLivesMatter
More like Bummerbee hort hort
SImilar to MP-44, I feel like Masterpiece line is going for some kind of "complexity for complexity's sake" design route, given how there are tons of different moving parts, but either mode ends up with a sectin filled with different parts that don't seem to have any clear place to go so they just end up being pressed together in an unclean looking mess (with this figure, the backpack and the heels, and with MP-44 the back of the truck). I'm no Masterpiece collector, but I would take the original MP Bumblebee any day, as both fan of the original's design and as a guy who does not pursue G1 screen accuracy. So the original just looks better and somewhat cuter with it shorter and bit more chunky design. Also with the original they compensated for high price with Sam figure, even though it seems to be rather crappy.
The old Bumblebee still looks really good with the XTB Cliffjumper.
My problem with MP-45 is mainly the feet and the backpack. I've seen some people claim that MP-45 is superior to MP-21, but they all know what they can do with that opinion. MP-21 looks faaaar better than MP-45, as well as being faaaaar better constructed. Look at all that space between the panels of the backpack and the feet! They certainly could have done a lot better than this, in my opinion. Im thinking that one day some dude over at Takara Tomy had a really fucked up day to begin with, and then later that day things took a sharp turn for the worse! The dude paniced and simply slapped together this marvelous masterpiece of shit just to be able to say "I did some work today", and then he fucked off to the nearest bar and got drunk as a skunk! Thats the only explaination that makes any sense to me anyway. In any case! Takara should fire the genious that designed MP-45 before the dude fucks up another figure. Up untill MP-44 and 45 I had absolutely no complains what so ever about any of the previous figures. MP-44 isn't as bad as MP-45, but certain shit went wrong on that one as well.
Now... I did get MP-44, and I have MP-45 on preorder. The only reason why I still have MP-45 on preorder, is because I strongly suspect that the MP Cliffjumper figure, that will follow sooner or later, will be based off the MP-45 mold and not the MP-21 mold. If Takara had announced that they in deed will be using the MP-21 mold as a base for Cliffjumper, then I would cancel the crap out of MP-45 right now!
What a nightmare.... I might have to pick up the flames toys.
Yeaaa i have two copies the first MP Bumblebee (standard and g2) and i dont think i will "upgrade" to the 2.0 version, the only thing i can say is truly bad about the first one is that the arms dont fill up when you set it in robot mode, the new version fills out the arms but makes the rest of the figure look straight up awful.
Well that settles it. Looks like I can pass on this now. Thanks for the review.
Old bee = good! New bee = bad! Totally original comment!
Great review Bobby..... I'm keeping my old bee not swapping him out ..
Another great review! Totally hit all the points wrong with this figure.
The ultimate irony in all of this is that the car mode is based on the G1 toy.
they could have done a lot better, but I think TT just decided to put it out there and see how many called it the greatest thing ever. the only way things will get better is if we vote with our money and not buy crap.
Tazman66gt agreed...unfortunately, the fanboys will still buy even if Takara Tomy puts out a piece of shit and slap the name “Bumblebee” on it and charge it for 100 dollars.
This should be another Sitdown Saturday...about Takara Tomy fanboys
This could be remade into a pretty good cliffjumper
And that's probably the best selling point of this Bee. Problem is I'm still in the market for a Cliffjimper that goes better with the prior MP Bee. Xtransbots is the best available option but still essentially a stand in.
He ain't jumping too far anywhere with feet like that
Why would painting it red make it any better?
@@El_Bastardo because the backpack would be better than toro and it is taller and if would give us the g1 accurate car mode and will probably have the best head because every cliffjumpers head looks off
Well, that makes me feel better about not wanting to pay that price point. It looks great in car mode, and straight-on in bot mode. What a bummer. Maybe a third party will clean it up, and make it a little more reasonably priced.
As bad as the back and feet are it is something about the head that is the final no for me. It seems too big and as Bobby said the sculpt is off. The one thing I really like about the old version was it had the battle mask and had that G1 vibe in robot mode. Not paying big $$$ for a down grade
I actually picked up the Toyworld Bii over the original MP Bumblebee, and don't see any reason to trade it out for this one. Seems to be holding up just fine, and it already had more of the toon aesthetic from the get go.
It's crazy seeing all these mentions of toyworld bii. Just went and looked it up, and I'm getting serious McDonald's happy meal toy vibes from it.
I'm extremely happy with this ver. 2.0 bee.
any unicron backer cant complain about this.
longing for hyper cartoion aestethics gives you these kind of stuff, there is only so much you can do with plastic. thanks for the vid.
Fantastic review, my friend, thank you. The prices on Masterpiece items (2017 onwards) has got so high that you really do need solid, accurate, detailed & impartial reviews like this to inform your buying decision (s). In the UK, you can now buy a brand new XBox One S cheaper than the new version of Optimus Prime: that's a level of spend that's inconceivable to me. And I spend A LOT on toys. My hopes are high for Hound, but this iteration of Bumblebee is flat out dumb, cheap looking & poorly executed across the board: there's not one thing this does better than Bumblebee V1 (who had better faces/expressios, accessories, vehicle accuracy, articulation and feet. Feet are useful to have... So, this new Bumblebee - not happening. But, yes: great review & hope you'll cover Blackarachnia - on the fence with that one too.
Don't worry Bobby Skullface. Takara will make a better one on version 3. Just like Optimus Prime, and he'll cost just as much as Prime. I bet my bottom dollar. Then they'll what us to spend our bottom dollar to buy MP whatever they wanna number it (Perfect Edition). Takara......gotta love'em!! ;o) Love you're reviews by-the-way. U duh man!!
Send me pictures of your kid's backpacks... and they better look like this lol