Bumblebee (Legacy United/Deluxe Class)

Following up on the Animated Prowl figure from Legacy Evolution is this new Animated Bumblebee figure from Legacy United. Following the Legacy/Generations formula of working characters from stylized figures into a more traditional Transformers appearance while keeping those unique characteristics- Bumblebee looks great. The original Animated Bumblebee was also a deluxe class figure, but much larger. Not just because Transformers in general were larger back then. The figure was in similar scale to other deluxe figures. This newer toy is much smaller putting him in scale with the other Legacy Animated updates. Being so small is bound to upset some as he's sold as a Deluxe Class figure

My only guess is that due to his engineering and accessories he still fits the weight that a deluxe sized figure would meet to ship in those cases. It's definitely not a Core Class. Bumblebee is short, which matches his onscreen character. Though, he isn't lacking by any means. Coming with his stingers and rocket boosters, this little buddy packs a wallop. The rocket boosters of course mount on his car mode for the extra speed, or on his back in robot mode. The stingers can attach on his hands as they did on the show or on the boosters creating a more traditional looking weapon, which is what I did. The stingers can also store on the back the rockets in vehicle mode simulating the propulsion from said boosters. They're neat accessories. In robot mode, Bumblebee is a very neat little bot. He's got quite a bit of articulation and a lot of personality thanks to his characterful sculpt. In Animated, Bumblebee was quite the little shit. That's reflected very well here while still fitting in next to other recent Generations figures. 

Transformation is pretty easy. He transforms mostly how you'd expect with a little variation. The way his arms fold up I found pretty creative. The shoulders are his rear wheel, while the car doors are on his forearms. The way it all connects and folds up creating running boards was pretty neat. I'm not saying they reinvented the wheel, just saying it was pleasant. I don't put much focus into transformation (it's pretty utilitarian for me), so when somethings unique, it's really appreciated. In Animated Bumblebee turned into a sporty hatchback. This was a often used alt mode used in place of a Volkswagen Bug during the time. Always thought it looked cool and still do. I've always liked hatchbacks, owned a few myself. The car is great in this update and those rockets look cool. Animated was a lot of fun while it was going. I have fond memories of that preview wave of the figures at select Walmarts during Botcon 2008. So many of us left the con to brave uncharted territoy tin search of figures in a time where GPS wasn't as common. These new Legacy updates are very welcome and Bumblebee is a pretty popular guy around this site. It's good to have another around.