Book Bee.

As a rule, One-Step Changers are fun but look weird in robot mode. This One-Step Bumblebee mold caught my attention because he actually looked good in robot mode. At least in the promo pictures.

This is the third One-Step Bumblebee mold to be released in the RID 2015 line. Let’s see if he was worth my money or not!

Vehicle mode

Bumblebee turns into a muscle car. He looks about the same as his Warrior Class counterpart apart from the huge seam line going down the middle of the car and the springs on the hood. Oh, and he’s got a lot less paint than the Warrior guy. Seeing as he’s a kid’s toy, that’s a good thing. Less paint to scratch off.

Paint aside, he’s about as functional as the bigger Bee. He is a car that can roll on all four wheels.

Transformation (Gimmick)

Bisk and Red Herring have crazy transformations that were fun to do. Bumblebee has a hilarious transformation that is fun to do. You hold both sides of the car, open him down the middle and bam! There’s a robot! To get him back into car mode, just close the halves. This guy is the most blatant shellformer ever and he’s proud of it. It’s incredible.

Robot mode

Okay, I’ll admit Bumblebee looked better in the promo pics. He’s got enough paint to look presentable and he’s still much more screen accurate as well as better proportioned than the first two One-Step Changers. On the other hand, it is because the car and robot are completely separate. Look at the backpack.

On the posability front, you can move his arms up and down at the shoulders. That’s it.

Toy or collectible?

He’s a toy for kids, of course. And he’s not like Bisk who’s weird and unique enough to be enjoyable for the usual adult collector. I think kids will enjoy him though. He’s got two good looking modes at the very least and the transformation is still addictive to do absent-mindedly. Also, he’s Bumblebee.

And kids love Bumblebee!

Closing

Bumblebee is worse than I thought he was gonna be. He’s not a bad toy though and I think getting him for a kid is a good idea. In fact I did get him for my 5 year old cousin and he likes him just fine.

PS: Starscream wasn’t around to do size comparisons so I replaced him with a 500ml water bottle.