Studio Series 86 Bumblebee

*Sorry, Bee. Wheelie is now the kid-appeal character, you're out!*

Series: Studio Series 86
Year: 2024
Allegiance: Autobot
Class: Deluxe

Prelude: There must always be a Bumblebee, right? Even in a toy line connected to a movie where he played only a very, very minor role. But it’s Bumblebee and while the years of the great Bumblebee proliferation are behind us, we still get plenty of little yellow bots. So here is Bumblebee from the Studio Series 86 line (which no longer carries that suffix, I believe?) So, let’s say go!

Robot Mode: I am very happy to report that we have a Bumblebee robot here where all the car parts are actually where they’re supposed to be, no fake parts involved. The car roof is the chest, the car hood splits into the feet, and the rear wheels vanish in a rucksack. Nicely done. Sure, Bumblebee is a bit heftier here than his more streamlined cartoon/movie model, but overall it’s a very nice depiction of this classic G1 character.

Articulation is pretty excellent, no limitations worth mentioning. When bending the legs you need to pay a bit of attention so that the knee joint bends, not the joint directly above the car hood, which is required for the transformation. Nothing else of note here. Bumblebee carries a small silver pistol as a weapon, much like he did in the cartoon (but not the movie).

So bottom line: it’s Bumblebee, more or less exactly like we saw him in the cartoon and movie. Maybe the rucksack is a bit bigger than on the animation model, but otherwise: very nice.

Alternate Mode: The transformation is mostly the standard Bumblebee transformation we know. He lies down on his back, tucks in the legs, while the arms vanish inside the chassis. A few more steps are involved to unfold the rucksack and vanish the head and you have a car that very much looks like a VW Beetle. Not quite close enough to necessitate licensing fees, I think, but still recognizable.

The car retains the penny racer look of the original toy, the rear wheels being much larger than the front ones and the vehicle as such looking a bit squashed. Overall, it looks very nice, though, no visible robot parts, and no visible head syndrome on the underside, either. The silver pistol can be mounted on the back. So bottom line: a good car mode for Bumblebee. Nice.

Remarks: Bumblebee started out as the kid-appeal character of the Transformers, but his star had begun to fade during the second season. He did appear in the movie, but didn’t do much more than rig a moon to blow, which accomplished absolutely nothing against the menace of Unicron. He was then swallowed and nearly dumped in a vat of acid before being rescued by Daniel and escaping the destruction of Unicron. He had some scattered appearances in season 3, but had clearly been replaced by Wheelie.

The Studio Series 86 toy is good. A very nice depiction of Bumblebee as we remember him from the 1980s without the complexity of a Masterpiece figure. I got mine as a gift from my buddy James, which adds some bonus points. Bottom line: if you like Bumblebee from G1, then this is a very nice toy representing him.

Rating: B-