Great figure with some minor flaws
I'd been wanting to purchase Ultimate Bumblebee since the first version was released with the first Transformers movie but I never bought one. After seeing that a second version was being released I decided to go ahead and pick one up and I'm glad I did.
This is a very large Transformer with a good bit of weight. There are some pieces that feel fragile but it is a sturdy figure overall. Its true that the transformation on this figure is somewhat complex but once you transform it a time or two its really not that difficult. The instructions are a little hard to follow but using common sense goes a long way as there are a good number of holes and pegs that fit together during the transformation to vehicle mode that make it pretty obvious what to do once you've seen where the pegs line up with the holes (ie. as when putting the arms into the body).
There are a couple of reasons that I like this ROTF version better than the original. One reason is because of the updated sounds. I was never impressed with lines such as "You're my first human friend" or the repeated playing of Whip-it (not a bad song I just didn't like it with the Bumblebee figure for some reason). The sound clips and phrases are much better in this new version in my opinion and the inclusion of "You've got the touch" seems much more appropriate to me.
Of course there are a few things that keep this figure from being perfect. For one thing the box clearly states that the figure responds to motion and the instructions say that the figure responds to both voice and motion. I've had two of these figures (had to take the first one back due to a defect) and neither of them respond to voice or motion as stated. After initially pressing a button and then waiting the figure will perform another "action" every 5 to 10 seconds of being idle up to about 30 second before going to sleep which at first made me think it was responding to me but then I realized that if I pressed the button once and then made no sounds or movements it followed the exact same pattern with no movement or sound input. After having two figures with exactly the same issue I wonder if this was a planned feature that made it to the box art but never made it to production (as far as it being in the instruction sheet its clear that the instructions are from the first version with a new header at the top of the page as the figure shown in the instructions has the old style headlights on the front of the car). Please let me know in the comments if I've somehow missed the correct way to get the sound and motion sensor to work as I've even emailed Hasbro about it and their answer so far has been "we don't know."
There is also an issue where in robot mode the wings can make a loud clicking sound almost like something is popping inside or is going to break (although I don't think it would actually break anything from this). After watching closely I've found that there are two things that can cause this. One if the figure is posed in such a way that it's leaning slightly forward the wings can get caught up on the tires. Making the figure stand up straight or even with a very slight lean backwards can alleviate this issue if this is the cause. The second cause appears to be related to the rubber pieces that connect the wings to the body. Since these are kind of long and tube shaped if they are "twisted" the wrong way when the doors are attached to the figure's back as wings the added tension although slight seems to be enough to cause the clicking noise. Disconnecting the offending door(s) and rolling it 360 degrees forward or backward (depending on which way it was twisted) seems to help. Because the rubber connector is a solidly colored tube shape its really hard to tell if it's twisted the wrong way so some experimentation may be needed if the clicking sound is happening.
OVERALL: A very good figure that I'd recommend picking up if you're considering it. It's a great deal of fun and the animatronics do make him seem a little more real than a normal figure. My kids love when I get Ultimate Bumblebee out and even my wife has been telling me how cool she thinks it is which is a first for her with any Transformer figure.More detail ...
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