General Information: Images:
*Images with asterisks and text in italics from Transformers.com:
I think it's fair to say that Bumblebee is a dominant force in Transformers nowadays. Almost no toy line passes by without at least one Bumblebee making an appearance, so why should Rescue Bots be any different? Indeed, considering Bumblebee was the seminal "Young Transformers that buddies up with a human" character, it would almost be odd if he didn't appear in this toy line.
Robot Mode: Bumblebee gets additional details in the form of armor paneling near his hips, on his knees and his vehicle mode spoiler is designed to do double duty as his robot feet. Three primary plastic colors show up in this form: yellow, light grey and black, all colors that you find on almost all Bumblebee toys. Several paint colors are used to complete the deco: black, silver, light blue, red and white. The black is used on his torso and legs. The torso has two bold racing stripes on it (a callback to the Movie version of the character) while his legs have black paint on the sculpted details including the spoiler. Silver is used to paint hte robot face as well as the hubcaps on his wheels. Light blue appears quite a bit. It is of course used for his robot eyes, but it's also found on his torso and legs, where it paints the vehicle mode windows. You've probably guessed that red paint is used on the Autobot symbol, but it's also found on the vehicle mode's rear lights located on the bottom of his feet. White paint is the least used color, but it certainly has quite an effect. On the Autobot symbol, all the lines in between the main portions of the Autobot symbol are painted white, which serves to bring out the red color even more. White is also used on his big old smile, drawing even more emphasis to it. Did I mention he looks super happy? In terms of posability, there is none to speak of. Being able to pose the figure simply isn't part of the Rescue Bots design philosophy on this scale of figures (the larger electronic figures do have posability to a degree). More on this when I discuss the transformation. What Bumblebee does have however are holes in his fists designed to accomodate a "mini" vehicle that include a human figure in the line. Many of these human partners are color coordinated with the character they are meant to work with. In this case, Axel Frazier with his "Microcopter" appears the be the first of these smaller figure sets meant to interact with Bumblebee.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode: This simple type of transformation has a lot to do with the design philosphy behind the Rescue Bots. The idea of each of these figures is to have a child focus on using a certain set of motor skills, but not overly complicated to the point where they're folding panels around and swinging limbs left and right. Here, the motions being emphasized are pulling and pushing, and in that respect the figure is very succesful. The gear system that is behind the transformation works very smoothly.
Vehicle Mode: Additional details that look fantastic are his rear lights, which are horizontal in design with raised horizontal lines. His license plate has an Autobot symbol sculpted into the middle, which is something I always dig seeing. His wheels each have raised sections on the tires, giving the impression of a vehicle meant to be able to handle off-road conditions. Yellow dominates the color scheme in this form, but black definitely makes its presence known. I commented on the black colors in the vehicle mode, but here you really see them come together. The stripes now start on the hood of the car, go up to the top, the continue to the back all the way to the spoiler. This design is based on the movie version of the character, and if you consider that this is the version most kids are familiar with nowadays, the design makes perfect sense. Silver paint is used to color the front end of the vehicle as well as the sides on the wheels. In thi smode the red color on the rear lights is much more obvious. Sadly, the Autobot symbol on the license plate is not painted, though I expect the eventual redeco of this figure may do that.
Final Thoughts:
 |
|||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|
As long as Transformers have been around, there have always been sub-lines of toys dedicated to a younger age group than the main toy line. In 2011, the "Rescue Bots" line takes this role. Focusing around Transformers working with humans on rescue missions using equipment ranging from helicopters to rocket packs. Unlike previous attempts such as "1-2-3 Transformers" and "Go-Go-Gobots" however, this line actually includes Generation One inspired characters in it. This line is firmly aimed at the younger set (ages 3-6 according to the packaging), so I'll say right away that older collectors may find it a bit lacking by their standards.
