Stickers versus Mini-cons. Arms Micron and SDCC Transformers Prime Bumblebee!

Why? Why did I do this to myself? I hate stickers. I know that. Heck, at this point, there’s a good chance that whomever you are reading this, you know that too. What made me think that collecting pieces from the first Transformers series in recent history to heavily employ stickers was a good idea?

Oh. Yeah. Those. With only two so far (though AM-08 Zombie Cliffjumper and AM-09 Soundwave are winging their way to me right now on a slow boat from China Japan) I am loving these Mini-cons. B.2 here doesn’t have Balo’s multiple alt modes, but he does transform into one very large gun.

As for Bumblebee himself, the Takara AM-02 release is basically Hasbro’s Robots In Disguise mold minus almost all the paint applications and plus mounts for weapons with 5mm posts, like B.2′s alt mode.

Plus stickers. Lots of stupid stickers. Not just that, but stickers that don’t actually take into consideration the details molded into the toy. Skywarp’s stickers mostly contoured to his body, with the one exception of the Decepticon symbol that doesn’t like to stay suck to the curved areas of his chest. Bumblebee’s were just ridiculous. The lines over his back wheel had to be trimmed slightly to fit where they are supposed to, as did the sticker surrounding his engine block. The stickers on his robot mode’s hips wrinkle because of creases molded into the middle of his hips.

None of this compares to the sticker on his roof. There is a very defined scoop molded into the top of Bumblebee’s roof. The sticker designer decided just to ignore this altogether and provide a single, squared off sticker for the roof detail. Leaving it as is makes Bumblebee’s roof look positively ridiculous so I went ahead and trimmed the front to fit around the scoop rather than laying over it.

The other annoying thing about the stickers is that the yellow on the stickers does not match the yellow on Bumblebee. I might actually go back at the stickers again and try to trim the yellow off, leaving only the stripes. Bumblebee’s robot mode has less sticker application showing and is actually really nice.

Being the Robots in Disguise mold, there has been a lot of heat thrown this toy’s way, as with all of the ones that also received First Edition toys, with maybe the one exception being the Vehicon toy. Truth be told, the only thing I don’t like is the panel that sticks up behind his head. The First Edition mold boasts a more complex chest transformation (which also helps to eliminate the panel behind his head issue) but I think the Robots in Disguise toy is more fun to transform.

My First Edition Bumblebee is the repaint that came in the 2011 San Diego Comic Con exclusive boxset with Arcee, Jack, and Rafael. The box is designed as a great display case as well, and even easier to keep intact while still providing easy access to the toys than the other 2011 SDCC exclusive, Matrix of Leadership Optimus Prime.

With his checkered stripes and “NYC TAXI” label, SDCC Bumblebee is certainly a unique piece and well worth it for the novelty alone.

Pretty much, when it comes to the Arms Micron release of Bumblebee, B.2 has made me glad I got him, but my patience is wearing thin. I probably won’t try to pick up any more Arms Micron releases past the remaining two I have pre-ordered.