SS-16 Bumblebee

SS-16 Bumblebee
Bee's attempted G1 cosplay.
  • Bumblebee (Deluxe Class, 2018)
    • Movie: Bumblebee
    • Hasbro ID number: 18
    • TakaraTomy ID number: SS-16
    • TakaraTomy release date: October 27, 2018
    • Accessories: Detachable Gatling Gun, arm blade, battle-mask face, "Charlie's Garage" backdrop
  • Part of the third wave of Studio Series Deluxe Class toys, Bumblebee transforms from a robot based on the Bumblebee film into a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle and back! He also comes with a detachable right Gatling Gun arm, an arm blade that can be attached to any of his arms, and a normal face that can be switched out for a battle mask. Most of his additional accessories can be attached to the underside of his car or to his back in robot mode. The exception is one of his faces, which, hangs off his car window. Bumblebee can transform into vehicle mode with either of his faces attached, but cannot be fully transformed with his Gatling gun arm on.
    He is one of the smallest figures in the Studio Series, standing at the same height as Jazz, most likely due to his small stature in the Bumblebee film itself.
    TakaraTomy stock photos of the figure depict him lacking silver paint on his robot mode feet, similar to the slightly redecoed figure from the upcoming Then & Now 2-pack. (However, it was currently unknown if the said stock photos are digitally edited versions of the said figure (which also unintentionally revealing the toy from the 2-pack), or it was just a quality control-prone copy sent for photography.) One of the robot mode stock photos is also slightly mistransformed in robot mode: his chest pieces are not locked correctly.
    Like the first Studio Series Bumblebee, this figure also suffers from several design flaws exacerbated by potential quality control issues. Due to the tolerance-altering layers of paint involved, the connection between the face pieces and the back of the head can be too tight or pop off, potentially causing paint chipping. Meanwhile, his vehicle mode's kibble has some minor tabbing issues, notably on the waist piece; his 5mm-compatible hands are prone to popping out if rotated back too far, and his pair of wing doors in robot mode have a tendency to flop over time. However, a gradual running change seems to have fixed these errors almost entirely.
    The vehicle hood and roof that forms his backpack is meant to lock securely into a groove on his upper back in robot mode, but there are two tabs on his back that make this process very difficult and pose the risk of breaking the translucent plastic hinge that has to be forced over it during transformation. While the first tab, located on his hip, is required to store his cannon in either mode, the second tab just below the groove can be sanded down to ease transformation.