The epic battle between the Autobots and Decepticons has spanned galaxies and more than 10 million years. The Transformers continue to fight a galactic war for Supremacy; the evil Decepticons, led by Megatron, seek to conquer and rule, and the heroic Autobots, led by the noble Optimus Prime, fight to protect and preserve.
The Ultimate Transformers Store offers a huge range of collectibles and toys for the Transformers fan, from the classics up to the new movie products.
I like it but it has some flaws...November 16, 2007 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Standing at about 14 inches, the Ultimate Bumblebee towers about 4 inches above the Transformers Movie Leader Optimus Prime figure, which I believe is the best transforming OP figure currently available. This is disconcerting because the scale should be exactly the opposite.
Even for its height, though, the Bumblebee figure is bulky and heavy, sporting a 4-AA battery pack on the reverse. The batteries are aligned lateraly, making for the wide-hipped appearance of the toy. Where the OP figure hides its batteries well (within fuel tanks which would go along the sides of the semi truck cab), the Bumblebee makes little effort to integrate the battery pack, which is IMO the worst of its aesthetic flaws. The battery pack also makes this toy extremely hard to balance; the rear is heavy while the forward-pointing features are lightweight plastic forms that do nothing to counter-balance it.
Number two on my list of aesthetic flaws is Ultimate Bumblebee's head design. I like the light-up LED eyes, but the paint detailing of the entire head is seriously lacking. I do not believe this is a flaw of my specific copy; I did pick the best of several at my retail outlet. The problem seems to be an insufficient and inaccurate application of the different paint colors, and this contrasts with the overall design and coloration of the figure, which is for the most part well done, paint-wise. Other than the look of the head and the battery pack on this toy, the figure looks pretty good.
Another aspect in which the OP figure succeeds where BB comes up short is the articulation department. Despite a longer body and larger limbs, BB is not as poseable as the smaller Autobot leader. Although the limbs are jointed at most of the right locations, when posed some of the joints are not tight enough to keep their positions. I think this is meant to increase the appearance of lifelike motions when the toy is turned on and active, but it just makes it frustrating. The plastic shell that forms the tailfin of the vehicle mode is meant as a "heel" extension of the foot in robot mode, but this is not explicit in the instructions and so I discovered this through trial and error. Without utilizing the heel support, the weight and center of gravity of the toy make posing the legs in anything but full upright/straight impossible - the legs would slide right out from underneath of it.
My final complaint about the toy is that it is *so* difficult to setup correctly. Transforming from one mode to the other is a little more complicated than the OP figure, mostly because of the wings/doors which must be removed and reconnected in the different modes. That is no real problem; instead the frustration comes from aligning and properly connecting BB's arms (in robot mode) and wheels (in vehicle mode). These must make a tight connection in order for the animatronic and audio features to work properly, and even when it appears to a careful visual inspection that these parts are well connected it is likely they are not. A great amount of force must be used to make the proper connections, and there is no sensory way to tell it has been done incorrectly. The only evidence you have when the connection is not correct is the partial functionality of the toy.
Despite all this, the Ultimate Bumblebee figure is still pretty awesome. It plays snippets of songs, speaks several preprogrammed phrases, it's eyes light up blue like in the film, and its arms, wings and head move while in robot form. It also autofires its right arm cannon. It is fully transformable into the sweet looking concept Camaro and has neat "speed sensing" features that change the pitch of the engine sounds when the wheels are spun faster or slower. Its headlights and brake lights light up and it plays tire-screeching sounds and music snippets in vehicle mode as well. When it is setup correctly, it is amusing and fairly attractive (especially attractive-looking in vehicle mode, where it's weight serves to imply quality construction and does not cause balance issues).
Although because of it's difficulties in use I would not recommend this toy for young children, it is a sweet piece for the collector and will impress any of your friends with your Transformers geekitude. Although I do not feel it's $80 price tag is fully warranted, I do not believe its price will go down, so if you want one, now's the time to pick it up. And if you're a little disappointed that the demo button does not work on the unit you're looking to buy at your retail location, don't worry, it probably works fine. From what I can tell, the external button does not align properly with the internal contact in the packaging, making it impossible to test at the store. The upside of this is that the included 4 AA batteries are probably as good as new in there.
Ultimate Bumblebee ReviewNovember 3, 2007 To start off briefly, the toy is fantastic. However, when I do say fantastic, I do not relate it in terms of its price. This toy's construction is very, very sturdy and durable. It's unlikely you'll break any of its parts unless if you're trying to prove a point.
The transformation isn't too difficult. After a single transformation, I was able to do it without anymore picture guidance from Hasbro. You don't really have to follow the order, but you should just do it in the manner where it is workable and do-able. (E.g. you don't hook up the legs to the rooftop of the car without first fixing the rear end tires properly) I am not sure if Hasbro wanted this toy being extremely tough. When I say this, I do mean it as some of pieces being extremely hard to put together and separate. Perhaps the toy is new, who knows? I'll need more time to come to that conclusion.
My last and final beef with it, which is heavily influenced by the fact that I am a collector, is that the workmanship of the toy itself isn't too magnificent. The paintjob on mine is scratched, and you can see that the legs aren't done too well either. This could just be mine, but all in all, you can see that the material used was well chosen for durability, rather than presentation, although they did a rather good job on making it look good.
All in all, it's a decent price for the object. You don't gain much, you don't lose much. This applies only to the collectors. I don't know how much would kids find this amusing though. In some respects, the strength needed to put this toy together can be quite considerable at some aspects.
So, decide for yourself, if you think this toy is worth it. For me, it was, and I dont regret forking that amount of money on it.
Not for kidsOctober 28, 2007 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I own a first gen Camaro, am thinking of getting a '09 (or 2010) Camaro, and grew up with Transformers. If this wasn't a Camaro, I wouldn't have purchased it. The price initially turned me off but a friend picked it up for me at Costco for $75 packaged with the Titanium figure.
I left it in the robot mode. I already have a 1/18 scale Jada die-cast concept Camaro. Plus it looks better as a robot. As such, I can't comment on the car mode.
The figure is fantastic. It amazes me that the toy designers were able to pull this off. The electronic interactive features of the toy help to justify the high price. However this is not a toy for a child to play with. It is entirely plastic so it would be easy to snap a part off. The battery pack makes the figure a bit back heavy so it tends to tip backward when standing. I assume that the calf is supposed to lock in the down position but the buttons that hold it will not engage. Maybe I am doing something wrong.
As for the arms, the instructions are a bit wrong. There is a D shaped post on the arm that is supposed to align with the socket in the body. The instructions say to align the post with the socket and rotate the arm while pushing in the shoulder.
There is a fixed ring around the rotating D shaped post. The ring is keyed. The round socket in the body that receives this ring is also keyed. Rotate the arm so this matches up then press together. The D shaped socket is spring loaded so even if the D-shaped post is not initially aligned it will pop into place.
Not worth the moneyOctober 17, 2007 32 out of 49 found this review helpful
Heh, look. This APPEARS to be awesome. Overall (once you get it together) it is pretty neat. Yes, it has awesome details. His wings move, his head moves from side to side, his eyes light up and the song plays and he tries to move his arms. We found that they seemed 'limited' but couldn't figure out why. ** We had a VERY hard time just taking him out of the box.** (Must be a 'toy removal degree' somewhere that is reqired these days). But seriously we completely agree that the ARMS are incredibly hard to put on. AND yes that IS what makes the 'robot' work. Then getting it 'transformed' took a very long time. Car mode is fun with the screeching sounds. But pushing it around scared us after taking so long to put it together! Parts are more resiliant than I thought they would be, but still it is very confusing. Again, I agree that it is for a dresser top or desk, which to us isn't worth all the time it took. I would hope that once you get use to changing it back and forth, that it would be come easier to perform. Good luck. Ours is going back. Too much $$ for very little fun. We are going with the 'stomp'in' one and the little one that transforms.
Great for collectors, not for kidsOctober 11, 2007 3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I think this is a great toy for collectors. Kids will find it a little boring, since the animations and movements are not quite outstanding. It is very cool to have it on your office desk or at home for your friends to admire. Also, it is fragile for a kid to play with it. All the little parts may break easily, in fact, every time you transform it into the Camaro or the robot you have to be careful not to break any piece of plastic.
I love this toy, I am a big Transformers fan. I prefered this over the Optimus Prime toy. Too bad there is no Ultimate Optimus Prime.
Powered by the Force.
Transformers News from Seibertron.com
Takara Style MP Starscream Custom Box Seibertron member, Coolpop has found a interesting custom box for Masterpiece collectors, MP Starscream U.S. Edition in a TakaraTomy style box. Coolpop gives us his review:
Custom Made Takara Style Masterpiece MP-3 Package Set
This set is made by a Chinese TF fan and he only produced 50 sets of them (probably all sold out now). The fixed selling price was RMB150, plus all shipping and fees, it came out to be around RMB314 (I used Airmail for international shipping from China to USA), and this is about US$47.50 shipped.
The purpose of this custom package set is to convert US Masterpiece Starscream into Takara style Masterpiece packaging. Unlike another MP Starscream custom package set seen last year on eBay that only comes with outside color box (you put the whole US MP Starscream w/ original package into this custom box), this new set actually comes complete with inner plastic clampshell tray, plastic nose ; tail holder/divider, updated graphic/art instruction booklet ; character card.
US Masterpiece Starscream ; all accessories placed in the inner plastic clampshell tray
Side by side comparisons with origial Takara MP-3 Green Starscream:
Inner tray with toys ; accessories
Color instruction booklet ; character card (front). It's a pity that the creator decided to use actual toy shot instead of using toy art like the original booklet cover
Color instruction booklet ; character card (back)
First two inside pages of instruction booklet
Front of box
Back of box
Top of box
Bottom of box
Side of box (both sides are the same)
Another comparison photo
Final comparison shot
Overall the quality of this custom package set is very good, I am very impressed with the extent of details the creator has paid attention to match with the original MP Starscream box and inserts (reshoot of the toy with correct position, angle, distance, light source, reflection, placement, art, font, color, etc.). I consider myself very fortunate to have the opportunity to purchase this custom box set, and it will surely add that extra specialty to my complete Masterpiece collection.
Later comment: So much for the 50 sets limited run, hahaha. I just found out the Chinese seller I bought from just put out 10 more sets for sale, I guess the creator saw both bigger demand and extra income, and he decided to pump out more.
It can be found on Taobao but only open to Chinese residents. Panli does allow foreign transactions.
Seibertron.com's First "Buried Treasure" Review - Cybertron Cannonball! The year 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the Transformers franchise. To celebrate this incredible milestone, Seibertron.com will look back at a quarter-century of great Transformers toys, bringing back into the limelight some brilliant figures that have fallen through the cracks over the years.
Once a week, a fan (be it a member of the staff or a user on the site) will have the opportunity to write about one of their favourite "hidden gems" of the Transformers Universe, and have their review posted on the site's front page.
We hope this feature will be a great success, and that many of you will be encouraged to look back at the last 25 years of Transformers and perhaps take a worthwhile second-look at some real unsung classics of the Transformers universe.
Buried Treasure - Cannonball (Cybertron series - 2006)
By Skowl
Avast ye Transformer fans! For the inaugural "Buried Treasure" Review, I decided to pick a figure that embodies the very notion of "buried treasure." Pirates have not been all that common in the franchise, and for years only the Beast Wars II Seacons could lay claim to that title. But all that changed during the amazing "Transformers Cybertron" line, when we were given a unique repaint of popular Autobot character.
The Red Alert mold had been released in the first wave of Deluxe figures and, from my memory, had been a decent hit with the fans. The mold was a vast improvement over the Armada Red Alert but still retained many of the character's traits. From the obvious "medic" element, to the sympathetic look on the head sculpt, to all the first aid tools and add-ons - it was obvious that the new Cybertron Red Alert mold was all-Autobot. Which is why many fans were so surprised to see the figure repainted later down the line... as a Decepticon!
Around the same time that the Autobot Red Alert got a massive upgrade, the deluxe-class Decepticon Cannonball was released. Perhaps the character, whose bio reveals him to be a looter of sorts, salvaged the old Red Alert toy and saw it as a good enough mold to use for himself!
It's difficult to write about any figure from the Cybertron line without mentionning the brilliant packaging. The series has come and gone, but it still had the most eye-catching packaging of any Transformers toy line I've ever seen. From the faction-shaped card backing to the brilliant character art, everything about the packaging was clean, sharp and just great to look at. With nice, dark colours and cool silver highlights, Cannonball blends in beautifully with the packaging, making him a great piece for any MOC/MIB collector.
But the real fun starts when you get this little buccaneer out of the packaging. It's amazing what a little paint can do, isn't it? Looking at Cannonball, it's difficult to tell he was once an Autobot ambulance (type thing). The dark colours give him a very menacing look, ressembling some sort of hearse, and the whole thing is beautifully decorated with sharp silver highlights, including silver trim and mag wheels, and wicked skull decals that really add alot of personality to the figure (as if a Transforming pirate wasn't cool enough already).
The old "Cyber Key" gimmick works just as well with Cannonball as it did with Red Alert. Just stick it in the slot at the rear end of the car and watch as some cannons flip out, ready to blow any landlubber to pieces (should I stop with the pirate jokes? They're just so easy to write!). Not an amazing feature, but still added value, especially since the key gimmick really doesn't get in the way of the toy's functionality.
His transformation, like Red Alert's, is unique and shows alot of creativity in the engineering. Cannonball's body is basically made from the middle of the car, while the front and back ends come together to form the legs.
Yes, Cannonball's vehicle mode is wicked, but it's his robot mode that really makes him shine. I doubt many people thought "pirate" when they first laid eyes on Cybertron Red Alert, but it works so well in robot mode you would think that's what the designers were aiming for all along. Red Alert's "gun-hand" and add-ons just scream pirate-y hook hanks and the black "eye-patch" over the left side of his visor is a real nice touch. The colours work really well in this mode, with the nice silver detailing continuing over his chest, shoulders and legs and the clear purple windows of his vehicle look great in the proper lighting. And don't forget how cool those blue skeleton decals look in robot mode - two on his shoulders and the big skull on his back. Sweet.
He is fairly poseable in robot mode, but lacks alot of movement in his legs. It's ok though, he more than makes up for it by having cool, interchangeable pirate weapons (handy for shooting blaggards in the face), a great colour scheme with lots of unique detail and an awesome bio. Heck, he doesn't need to be super-poseable, he looks great just standing there!
Cannonball is a brilliant figure and one of the best, most original repaints in the history of the franchise. His unique personality makes him a great addition to any collection, and a must have for pirate fans... if you can ignore the fact that this pirate transforms into a car of all things...
So set sail, collectors! This is one piece of Transformers treasure that should definately not stay buried!
You can visit the complete Cannonball gallery on Seibertron.com by clicking here, and find your own buried treasures by visiting all the galleries here!
If you would like to submit a review of an obscure or rare Transformer figure for our "Buried Treasure" feature, please contact me (Skowl) via private message! Mini-review new ROTF "Dead End" Figure Seibertron.com member Guyincognito has just informed us that a mini review of the recently revealed Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Scout Class figure Dead End has been posted on Cybertron.ca.
The review, performed by Pascal, gives us some great size comparison shots in both robot and alt mode, and discusses some of the major pros and cons of the figure.
Courtesy of Cybertron.ca
Courtesy of Cybertron.ca
You can view the complete review with more images by clicking here. Video Review of City Commander Upgrade Resident Transformer reviewer Peaugh has posted a nice, detailed review of the recently released City Commander upgrade set created for the Classics Universe Ultra Magnus figure.
The video goes in the great step by step detail on how to convert and attach the new addition along with nice video angles showing off the impressive attachments.
The images show both robot and vehicle mode (Earth Helicopter). The image of the robot mode shows that Megatron has decent articulation, but unlike the Leader Class version, his cannon cannot be attached to his forearm.
To view all the images of Activator Megatron, please click here.
Seibertron.com Reviews Soon To Be Released Glu Mobile 'Tranformers: G1 Awakening' Game Thanks to staff member Stormrider, I was given the chance to make contact with a member of Glu mobile;#x2019;s PR staff, and was able to play a demo of the soon to be released ;#x2018;Transformers: G1 Awakening;#x2019; game for cellular phones. Glu Mobile was very kind and even sent me a compatible phone loaded with the game to play, as they do not currently have a version available for the iPhone.
I was able to spend about a week with the game, wasting many precious hours, staying up until the wee early hours of the morning as I played the addicting game, and tried to experience as much of it as I could before I had to send the demo back....
First off we have Stealth, err, Goldbug... I mean ELITE GUARD BUMBLEBEE by Tamo536. Straight up repaint of the Original Animated Bumblebee, but according to the reviewer the 'stingers' are now able to better fit into the arms...
And also a huge picture montage courtesy of the Japanese Transformers Image Board showing Sentinel in package, with other Elite Guard members, and with the Headmaster unit firmly placed on his shoulders.
Everybody should want to get Sentinel as soon as they can...
"Move bots or you'll have to do more transform ups!!!"
Gallery and Review of Club-Exclusive Nightbeat Figure Philip S. has posted a detailed photo gallery and review of the upcoming Official Transformers Club exclusive deluxe figure Nightbeat.
Read the review and see the photos by clicking here.
Video Review: McDonalds TFA Optimus Prime Resident Transformers video review master Sean Long has done it again. This time, Sean reviews the upcoming Mc Donald's Happy Meal bonus figure, Transformers Animated Optimus Prime. Sean gives us a good look at the figure, with comparison shots of it next to Movie Legends Optimus Prime, TFA Bumblebee, and TFA Deluxe Battle begins Optimus Prime.
This figure appears to be leaps and bounds better than previous Mc Donald's figures that were available in the past.
To view the complete review of this surprisingly nice figure, click here.
Transformers Animated Bulkhead - Video Review Sean Long has done a video review of Animated Transformers Bulkhead Leader class. The review shows the step by step transformation process and demonstrates the accessories. He also demonstrates the size comparison with Animated Bulkhead Voyager class.
