Transformers Masterpiece MP-45 Bumblebee Ver.2
This set comes with a sticker sheet you can use to replicate some of Bumblebee’s moments in the cartoons, “hearts” for his license plate, ice cream splotches from the “Child’s Play” episode, Cosmic Rust and Morphobot spores from “Quest for Survival”. Credits to TFwiki.Net for identifying the various stickers on the sheet.
The “I ‘Autobot’ NY” from the “City of Steel” episode, can be clipped onto his front bumper.
Spike Witwicky
A retool of the Spike figure that came with MP-44 Optimus Prime with a new “hard-hat-less” head.
Unlike the MP-44 Spike, this one doesn’t come with magnets for his feet, making him even harder to stand without any support. I wish they added some sort of base for their human figures.
The doors can open on Bumblebee in vehicle mode.
Unfortunately, to get Spike in, you have to untab the front section and set Spike in place.
Also, you can’t place Spike in the driver’s seat, as the faux spare tire will come down on his head.
Bit of a tight fit in there. You okay, Spike??
Bumblebee’s pistol can be attached underneath.
I guess since Bumblebee is pretty much the next most popular Transformers character after Prime and Megatron, it was only a matter of time before we got an “anime-accurate” upgrade version of the character in the Masterpiece line.
The biggest contention among collectors, the kibble-heavy feet.
It doesn’t look too bad from the front, but from the sides and back it does look really odd. I wish Takara just took a page out of the SOC line’s playbook and included optional “solid” feet so we don’t have to look at messes like this.
Laser gun
I had a really difficult time pegging in the gun into his hand, mainly due to the really big peg and small thumb space.
Thanks to some good engineering which gives a lot of new added joints, the figure is a LOT of fun to pose.
The laser gun also comes with effects parts.
Bumblebee stands roughly 5 inches and weighs 60 Grams.
The set comes with various facial expressions for Bumblebee.
Comparison with MP-21 Bumblebee
The MP-21 Bumblebee’s vehicle mode follows the “real world” Volkswagen Beetle designs more closely, unlike the MP-45, which is closer to the G1 toy and cartoon models that were meant to be in “Penny Racer/Chibi/ Super Deformed”-styled.
Surprisingly, MP-21 and MP-45 roughly weigh the same? 60 Grams-ish
Collectible metal pin
Overall, I think this figure is a huuuge improvement over the MP-21. It looks better and is a heck of a lot more fun to pose, with the exception of the feet. The feet are easily the worst part of it all. I really wish Takara included optional feet that can be swapped out but I guess that’s just not happening.
Another thing to note, the figure has some poor QC paint application issues (paint gobs in some places). I guess this is norm now ever since Takara moved their factory to Vietnam from China. Quality has really gone downhill in terms of their paint applications. Very sloppy work and it just ruins the sculptwork on some parts of the figure (on face most notably). A shame.
Despite these issues, I think this figure is a worthy addition to the Masterpiece setup, especially if you’re going for the cartoon accurate setup for your teams. The only question is.. what to do with MP-21. I guess I’ll still keep mine for the Exosuit figure but that’s about it.
Tip: If you’re feeling lazy or not comfortable transforming Bumblebee back into vehicle mode for storage, you can just plop him into the backside of the tray, there’s ample space in there for him in robot mode.
Gold
