On 8/16/2023 at 10:31 AM, Gates13 said:

Has anyone made a Bumper / Bumblejumper head for this mould? I would gladly pay for one.

I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet honestly. It should now since there's two Bumblebees using this mold out now. Either one can be used to make Bumper.





I just got this set in a little while ago and it's good but still a bit underwhelming.

The trailer is nice and solid. It's so much better than the Earthrise leader class trailer. It's not floppy, the plastic is sturdy, the plastic isn't translucent due to how thin it is, the "kickstand" for the trailer is also nice and solidly sturdy, there's paint on things. Hell, even Roller is better here than the one from the Centurion pack. The wheels aren't pegged on and are barbells with a piece on the bottom of Roller holding them into place with not one but two screws. Meaning that the bottom isn't hollow and the wheels roll pretty well. The shield looks good too. The "anti aircraft" drone has a few different configurations as it can come off at two different spots to be used a few different ways. The arm on it has some decent articulation and it even has a tiny radar dish. 

Now for what bothers me about the set.

The shield can only be used in the arm's "axe" position. Despite that 3mm port being on the side of the arm for robot mode, the peg on the shield just isn't long enough to reach it. So you can't have the shield on the side of the arm. The peg needs to be a certain length so that it sits in the port between Optimus's legs in truck mode but it could've been longer as there's still room and that would've let it connect on the side of the arm. The shield does have a place to store inside the trailer if you so wanted but those are the only options. It can't store on the back in any way which would've been cool as it could've looked like a jetpack.

Speaking of pegs being too short, the peg for the trailer is too short and for some reason, it's 4mm and not 5mm. When you set everything up to attach the trailer to Optimus, the trailer's 4mm peg is so short that it barely catches the 5mm port on the shield which is being used as the trailer hitch. So trying to do anything with the truck and trailer other than have it sit there will cause the trailer to come off. This could've been mitigated by having the peg be longer as well as be 5mm so that it grasps the shield hitch on the back on Optimus. Otherwise the toes of Optimus also clash with the trailer when trying to turn which combined with the short 4mm peg, knocks them apart even easier. The short 4mm peg also makes it so that it doesn't connect to Roller either. You can place the trailer on Roller and Roller is the right height for it all to work but again, the 4mm peg is too short and doesn't peg into the 5mm port on top of Roller. Meaning that doing anything will again separate them too easily.

While Optimus has all six wheels painted, the four on the trailer aren't. I mean I can do it myself as it's just a little bit of silver but it's an odd omission. 

Bumblebee will fit inside the trailer but not with Roller. Minor complaint but it's a thing.

Roller doesn't have a locking point inside the trailer. Another minor complaint but it's a thing.

Another minor thing is the trailer is just barely even 1mm short either way of being able to securely house Ironhide or Ratchet in there. I mean you can force it if you take all the weapons out of the trailer and then force the trailer closed with Ironhide inside and the "anti aircraft gun" on top of the trailer holding it closed but it's just so close to working without any force. Just a teeny, tiny bit of extra space would've made it work perfectly. To me, that's kind of an oversight. It's so very very close. Not even millimeters, micrometers. 

Bumblebee's shoulders pop off easier on this use of the mold but that could just be tolerances. It is such a small ball socket that any miniscule change could cause it. It's not like it can't stay on, it's just easier to knock off than I'd like while I'm transforming it or just trying to pose it. 

As they're trying to allude to in the pictures, the front bumper takes some force to get into place for robot mode now. The original release of Optimus and Nemesis don't have that problem. It helps to lock it into place for robot mode better though as I think it was floppy on the first Optimus release. It's just that you really kind of have to go out of your way to flip that bumper around now.

And the most minor of things. The new small black gun can only be stored in the trailer. There isn't a single other place for it to go other than in a bot's hand. Everything else has at least one other place it could go. It can store on Optimus in truck mode by not having the axe stored on him and by plugging the Ion Cannon on the side of the truck instead of on the port between the legs but again, the axe can't be stored on him then. And either way, Optimus can only use two weapons at a time anyway. Conversely, Bumblebee's gun can't be stored cleanly in Optimus's trailer as there's no dedicated port for it to peg into. But I mean, why should it right? It's Bumblebee's gun and he has storage for it in vehicle mode.

Overall it's a decent set. It's just that those two short pegs annoy the shit out of me. For a set this small, I really would like to have the trailer and cab/Roller to be more secure so that it doesn't get knocked off so easily. Also so when I pick it up, it all comes up together. The shield not being able to plug into the same port when it's on the side of the arm is just so limiting. It's just those few little things that take away some of the fun and possibilities of the set that annoy me. Everything is just so close to working which is the frustrating part. If there wasn't a chance at all due to things being further away or required more work to make happen then I wouldn't mind it so much. But we're talking such small measures could've made it all "perfect". 

Has anyone made a Bumper / Bumblejumper head for this mould? I would gladly pay for one.

While it doesn't match the theme, this Optimus w/Trailer and Bumblebee set should've come with the exosuit too that originally came with Bumblebee. It would've helped just that little bit more on a set that almost seems overpriced.