TF Prime RID Bumblebee

Hey guys back again and trying to get these Prime reviews out a little quicker. Today we are going to be looking at deluxe class...

Bumblebee. This is the version of Bumblebee that is part of the RID line. Unfortunately, this mode has a very tough act to follow in the form of the First Edition Bee. That said, this isn't a bad figure by any means, but its not a great figure either. As we go along ill get into the ins and out of this figure so lets get to it.

Bumblebee comes packaged in the the new PRID packaging. The front features some nice CG artwork of Bee and an Autobot emblem. You can also clearly see Bee in vehicle mode along with his arm cannons. The back has his bio and pictures of the figure and you will find tech specs on the side. Sadly I forgot to take a side view shot this time.

Bumblebee's robot mode is decent but has it's flaws. If the First Edition wasn't around I'd consider this one to be a nice representation of Bee, but as it stands, this sculpt can only be called OK. It's easy to tell its Bumblebee and the paint isn't lacking in any place you wouldn't expect, though it could be better. His light-piping is done very well but this doesn't surprise me one bit. His accessories include his twin barrel arm cannons, which fit perfectly onto not only PRID Bee's arms, but the arms of the FE version aswell.

Bumblebee has 17 points of articulation, featuring his head, two hinge joints in his shoulders, bicep swivel, ratcheting elbows, ball jointed hips, thigh swivels, hinged knees and, hinged feet. His posebility feels a little bit hindered due to his body design and lack of forearm joints. The upward movement of his shoulders seems to lock in place as you get them above his head. You can get them back down again , but it takes a little more force than I like.

Vehicle mode is actually nicer looking than the robot mode, barring a few missing details that can be fixed with paint and some reprolabels. The car rolls very well too. The twin arm cannons can be posted on the engine block on the cars hood, but other than this there is no vehicle mode storage for them. The First Edition's gun can also be put on the hood and even looks a little nicer than the ones included, further justifying switching the figures weapons. Transformation is pretty easy with this guy, featuring an auto morph head reveal that can be helped by lifting the hood slightly before beginning transformation to either mode. Many thanks to YouTube reviewer Peaugh for demonstrating this in his review of the toy.

Looking at Bee with his First Edition counterparts one can see the differences between them. PRID Bee is simpler and a little less show accurate, but a little more playable. PRID Bumblebee was made to be a kids toy, and it really shows. Looking at Bee with his past incarnations gives a good idea how Bumblebee has grown over the years. It's also easy to see that Prime Bumblebee takes more after his movie look than his G1 self. I guess people prefer the sports car over the bug nowadays.

When it comes to scaling with the rest of the team, Bumblebee does a pretty good job. He fits in well with everyone and even looks good in a group shot.

All in all PRID Bumblebee is a nice figure, but the fact that we have already gotten a better version of the character in the First Edition line really made this the weakest figure of the first wave. This mold is being reused for Hotshot in the next wave so it will be interesting so see how it works with a character with no FE counterpart to hold it back. Until next time I'll catch you later.