Dave's Transformers Bumblebee Rant: Power Plus Wave 1 Bumblebee (VW) Bumblebee (Camaro, not reviewed) Optimus Prime (Truck, not reviewed) Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/BB/Plus1 The Camaro Bumblebee is slightly different from the Power Series version. I'm not keen on the simpler toys like these, so I will not be getting complete waves. CAPSULE $13 at Target. Bumblebee (VW): Good vehicle mode and gimmick, One Step Changer level of robot mode, although the actual transformation is several steps. Mildly recommended. RANTS Power Plus is a new size class created for the Bumblebee movie "Energon Igniters" toy line. The Igniters share a common gimmick involving a push-crank flywheel igniter piece that the Energon Igniter toys can all use, but the Power Plus wave is the cheapest to actually come with an Igniter. The robot mode articulation is similar to a One Step Changer, but the actual transformation is more complex, and there's an intermediate mode where parts of the vehicle open up to plug in the Igniter. I'm reviewing this first, because it's the simplest toy to have an Igniter, and then I can put off the Nitro Series until later on and use this toy's Igniter to try out the feature on the Speed Series (Legion class) and Power Series (same as Power Plus but without the Igniter). Nitro Series each come with their own Igniter, and they're the biggest class to use the things. (The $50 Bumblebee has an integrated friction motor.) Igniter Core: This is a crank-style flywheel. Pressing down the button on top works through an escapement so it doesn't spin the flywheel the wrong way, but when you let go a spring pushes the button back up and engages the gears to get the flywheel spinning. Since it relies on snapback from a spring rather than the initial push, you can hold the button down until you're ready to let go, and get a relatively reliable result. On the other hand, as the spring wears out, the gimmick will get weaker as well, while a direct push actuation would last longer. They all appear to have different molding distinct to the toy they come with, although since I didn't get the other Power Plus ones it's too late to closely compare. Every Nitro Series one has a unique mold, though. Autobots get clear blue plastic bodies to their Igniter Cores, Decepticons get red, and all of the activation levers and drive wheels are gray plastic. The drive wheels have black O-ring tires. All toys that include an Igniter Core have Try Me functions. This way you know that none of them are sparkers, I suspect that modern safety rules would make Sparkabot-style gimmicks underwhelming. A 5mm peg is on the front end at the bottom, for attaching to Speed Series (Legion) vehicles, it might also be used by some other larger toys as a connection point. It can just barely stand up on its own thanks to molded details behind the drive wheel, it's not really stable enough to let the core run around on its own, it falls over too quickly. The drive wheel is not the only way the flywheel can transmit power to the toy. While Bumblebee doesn't use it, there's a 5mm socket on the back near the bottom, that plugs into something on other toys (which I suppose might make that the front in some cases). While none of these toys seem to come with 5mm peg weapons, you can plug them into this socket and make a spinning weapon. Effective if it's a sword, kinda dumb if it's a rifle. Also a way to entertain Prime Masters: http://www.dvandom.com/images/IgniterCore.mov (will probably try to download rather than play in your browser) [Later note: the core will also work as a pull-back motor, the button being pulled down by the gears if you run the wheel backwards.] Packaging: Power Plus come in blister cards with small holes in the front to allow for pressing the Igniter Core button. The blister is molded to make it look like energy bolts are emerging around the hole, otherwise it's an unremarkable rectangular and flat-fronted blister. The card is 7.5" (19cm) wide and 8.5" (21.5cm) tall, while the blister is about 2.25" (6cm) deep. The trade dress colors are golden yellow, white, and electric blue, and the BumbleBee logo capitalizes both B's. There's character art of Bumblebee in VW form in the upper left regardless of the toy in the package, the "Energon Igniters" logo (featuring a supercharger valve setup) in the upper right with "CORE/REACTEUR/PROPULSOR" next to it in sort of 70s rounded font. The Transformers logo runs down the right side in black letters. Behind the blister is a white and light blue energy burst. The blister insert has a head or head-and-upper-body shot of the character in the package and the Energon Igniters logo with Power Plus Series (in four languages) on the left side, the Transformers Authentic logo on the right. The front has art of the vehicle attack mode on the left with the character name below it, and the BumbleBee logo in the lower right. And I don't ever see myself getting sick of typing it as BumbleBee...oh wait, already sick of it and going back to Bumblebee. The bottom of the blister insert is just legalese. The cardback has tiny transformation instructions along the left side, much like RiD15 Warrior cards did. The upper center has a small picture of both regular modes, while the rest of the upper part focuses on activating the attack modeand showing how it moves under its own power. There's no cosells, just a mention that there's other toys to get. And then more legalese along the bottom, including big warnings about hair entanglement. Not something I have had to worry about for a long time, and it's less of a worry all the time.... VW Bumblebee has a VW logo and indication of being officially licensed. (This, by the way, is a big deal...back when Alternators were coming out over a decade ago, they wanted to do an Alternators Bumblebee, but VW wouldn't let its trademarks be used by a war toy. Technically, I think the Masterpiece was the first to get a licensed VW Beetle mode, but that wasn't nearly as accessible as a major movie line.) There's no paperwork inside, and no indication on the package what the attack mode is supposed to be called. There are no bio notes anywhere either, the only one I've seen so far that has something like a bio note is Power Charge Bumblebee. AUTOBOT: BUMBLEBEE Assortment: E2094 Altmode: VW Beetle Transformation Difficulty: 8 steps Previous Name Use: Yes Previous Mold Use: None Igniter: Yes, blue. Packaging: Four plastic ties hold the robot into the blister, two hold the Igniter Core. Robot Mode: Bumblebee clearly shows his VW elements, most strongly in how the front end of the vehicle forms his chest, but also his abdomen molding resembles the engine of a VW Beetle (classic). The head is the non-battlemask version, and the right arm is in blaster configuration, a sort of six-barrel minigun. The toy has really long heel spurs. 4.5" (11cm) tall in mostly bright yellow and silvery gray, plus some red, black, and silver. The shoulder roots, legs (other than shins) and feet are slightly metallic medium gray plastic. The wheels are black plastic (and much better attached than the usual snap-ins). The rest of the toy is bright yellow plastic, including the shin guards. The Igniter Core is clear blue plastic with gray trigger and innards (same gray as the legs). There's silver paint on the face, neck, chest bumper, and headlights. The upper arms are painted dark gunmetal, the eyes are bright blue, and a red Autobot symbol is printed on the front of the left shoulder. Unlike the Nitro Series Igniter Cores, there's no paint on this core. It does have some warning symbols printed on the bottom, including a repeat of the hair danger symbol from the cardback and another that seems to be warning about books. Articulation is almost nonexistent. The shoulders are ball joints, and the legs can spread a few degrees when unhooked from each other. The left hand can hold 5mm pegs, but not the one on the Igniter Core. There's also a 5mm peg hole on the back, and the Igniter Core can be stored there...the super long heel spurs keep the toy from falling over. Transformation: Hook the feet together and if the rear vehicle shell halves are displaced, close them up most of the way, but not all the way. Pull the shoulder struts out to unlock the chest, then lift up the chest and slide it into place. The arms snug against the sides, and then the rear shell halves swing down to lock into place. Fold up the shinguards and snap them into place, and then fold the heel spurs around to take their place. Vehicle Mode: It's got a bit of foot stuff sticking out the back, otherwise a pretty good VW Beetle. (If you fold the heel spurs out, it looks like one of those wheelie bars used on drag racers.) It could stand some more silver on the hubcaps and various chrome bits, but that's easily added by even a novice painter. All the right details are molded, which I suppose would be a condition of the license. 4.5" (11cm) long if you only count the parts that are supposed to be there, add a quarter inch more for the extended bumper. Most of the gray plastic is hidden in this mode, just the rear bumper and some hinge bits are visible. The windows are all painted dark slightly metallic blue, that's the only new deco in this mode. Rolls quite well despite the minimal ground clearance, and the 5mm peg hole that was on the robot's back is now at the rear of the hood, just ahead of the windshield. The Igniter Core can still be plugged in, but it looks a bit weird and not at all like an engine block. Attack Mode: Press down on the seam between the halves of the rear shell, which makes them pop up as gull wings. The Igniter Core slots into the space created, using some slots along the bottom and tabs between the legs. If you do it right, the rear wheels are lifted up off the surface slightly. Getting it slotted in might take a few tries, and maybe unhooking the feet and then rehooking them around the thing. There's jet thruster intakes under the panels, with the fronts painted bright blue. On a single press of the Core's button, the vehicle will go about two meters on a hardwood floor. Even a low pile carpet is too much for it to work, though. I tried finding a way to get the Igniter Core to fit into robot mode and make the robot scoot around, but if it was something the designers intended and just didn't document, I can't find it. The core doesn't have enough torque to overcome friction between the feet and paper, but it will scoot awkwardly along a smooth enough surface. The button is up in the robot's back, though, a bit hard to press. Overall: Well, despite not being a One Step Changer, it's got the robot mode complexity of one, but at least it's not at the super low end for those. And the vehicle mode is good and the gimmick works well for it. Dave Van Domelen, suspects Speed Series was so named because the Igniter Cores make them go really fast, not because they're any quicker to transform.