The Energon Pub

News Credits: 3597 · by **Seibertron** » Sun Oct 13, 2024 8:53 pm

Emerje wrote:Perfect solution would have been to include both heads. Maybe it's like you were saying before and they simply didn't include the G1 toy head in the mold, but then I would have to ask if it's reasonable to believe that the same crew that put a Galaxy Shuttle head in the Astrotrain mold would do that?

Emerje

Now we're talking. I like your suggestion as well. That would have made everyone happy I think and given those of us who already own that mold something new to enjoy (and match the artwork to go alongside Gears with toy head).

As for Hasbro's current version of this release (and meme spelling error aside) ...

News Credits: 241 · by **Jelze Bunnycat** » Tue Oct 15, 2024 4:59 pm

Emerje wrote:Perfect solution would have been to include both heads. Maybe it's like you were saying before and they simply didn't include the G1 toy head in the mold, but then I would have to ask if it's reasonable to believe that the same crew that put a Galaxy Shuttle head in the Astrotrain mold would do that?

Emerje

They did, in a sense, via the Goldbug releases. Problem is, it's likely included with the Cliffjumper side of the total tooling if the SG one is anything to go by, plus Buzzworthy has some Cliffjumper parts.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Tue Oct 15, 2024 10:15 pm

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:
Emerje wrote:Perfect solution would have been to include both heads. Maybe it's like you were saying before and they simply didn't include the G1 toy head in the mold, but then I would have to ask if it's reasonable to believe that the same crew that put a Galaxy Shuttle head in the Astrotrain mold would do that?

Emerje

They did, in a sense, via the Goldbug releases. Problem is, it's likely included with the Cliffjumper side of the total tooling if the SG one is anything to go by, plus Buzzworthy has some Cliffjumper parts.

The mouth plates are much too different between the toys for me accept that as an excuse. Plus they took it a further step away and based Goldbug's head sculpt more off the cartoon than the toy, it just doesn't work.

Emerje

News Credits: 1 · by **Gauntlet101010** » Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:46 pm

I mean ... even if there was no new head before couldn't they just make a new head for this release? Or is that just silly of me to think?

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Thu Oct 17, 2024 2:59 am

Gauntlet101010 wrote:I mean ... even if there was no new head before couldn't they just make a new head for this release? Or is that just silly of me to think?

They could if Walmart makes it worthwhile for them to do. Hasbro has said in the past that it costs more to alter an existing mold than to just make a new mold, but making a new mold just to add a head seems unlikely, especially when they'll likely never use it again now that they have a new Bumblebee to work with (which probably does have the masked head built into the mold). If Walmart wanted to pay a little bit more per unit Hasbro probably would have done a new head, but whoever makes the decisions at Walmart has already demonstrated they have no idea what fans want with the whole Cosmos debacle so that was never going to happen.

Emerje

News Credits: 33 · by **Glyph** » Thu Oct 17, 2024 5:13 am

If it's planned in advance, an option for injection moulding is to have swappable inserts in the tooling so they can produce the same sprue in two head variants rather than putting both heads on every sprue, and also lets them make new versions in future by just making a small switchable piece rather than having to modify or remake the entire tool.

It'd be a handy thing for companies that like to release the same figure again, just in a different colour and with a different head...

by **Dragma Kerp** » Thu Oct 17, 2024 8:36 am

I don't get it. People wanted the Netflix Bumblebee mold. Most of people couldn't get it because it was a walmart exclusive. Some people like me, live in countries that does not have walmart, so is almost imposible to get without scalper prices unless really lucky and shows in amazon or some national store chain. They then do this, wich is the same exact problem like with the Netflix one, and not even adhere to the theme of the release (toy accurate deco and sculpt) with the "excuse" of giving a second chance? I don't unterstand. I guess walmart is very possesive of that mold in particular or something.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Thu Oct 17, 2024 9:32 am

Glyph wrote:If it's planned in advance, an option for injection moulding is to have swappable inserts in the tooling so they can produce the same sprue in two head variants rather than putting both heads on every sprue, and also lets them make new versions in future by just making a small switchable piece rather than having to modify or remake the entire tool.

It'd be a handy thing for companies that like to release the same figure again, just in a different colour and with a different head...

Yeah, we mentioned this before. The molds for Bee/Cliff have a lot of gates for swapping parts. There's at least three heads tied to it (Bee, Cliff and Goldbug) and the Bee and Goldbug heads have been used on both car types so they're definitely moving gates around on the mold with the car parts for the different combinations. Benefit of being smaller figures.

Dragma Kerp wrote:I don't get it. People wanted the Netflix Bumblebee mold. Most of people couldn't get it because it was a walmart exclusive. Some people like me, live in countries that does not have walmart, so is almost imposible to get without scalper prices unless really lucky and shows in amazon or some national store chain. They then do this, wich is the same exact problem like with the Netflix one, and not even adhere to the theme of the release (toy accurate deco and sculpt) with the "excuse" of giving a second chance? I don't unterstand. I guess walmart is very possesive of that mold in particular or something.

While most people have moved on to SS86 Bee, the problem is it doesn't have a VW Beetle alt mode, it's just a generic super compact car. That doesn't really fit well in recreating the original toy in package so it's not too surprising that Walmart went with a mold they've used before. Keep in mind they no longer have exclusivity over the mold.

Emerje

by **Till-all-R1** » Thu Oct 17, 2024 2:34 pm

Emerje wrote:While most people have moved on to SS86 Bee, the problem is it doesn't have a VW Beetle alt mode, it's just a generic super compact car. That doesn't really fit well in recreating the original toy in package so it's not too surprising that Walmart went with a mold they've used before.

Keep in mind they no longer have exclusivity over the mold.

Emerje

I wouldn't necessarily say that, it's clear they have managed to "extend" their exclusivity by at least another year with this iteration. Otherwise why wouldn't Hasbro have just repacked it for SS86? Seems to me it would have been cheaper and satisfied those fans still wanting Netflix bee. I think it's because they knew Walmart renewed the deal for an "alternate" version which would have been too close in similarities and possibly creating competition between the two. Where as with a new body for SS86 removes that aspect altogether.

So I feel the Netflix "VW" Bee is somewhat still gatekept in some way, even if it boils down to the fact Hasbro couldn't secure the license outside of Walmart's use or simply didn't want the expense to do so in the main line. Goldbug was the only other time VW mold was used and that was via Target, thus another "Exclusive" I am sensing a pattern here, that if we ever see it pop up again it will indeed be Exclusive of some kind.

I do hope that this release satiates demand for VW bee and those who never got Netflix version can at least add it to their collection at decent prices.

FYI, it's now available at Pulse. I just put in an order.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Thu Oct 17, 2024 3:14 pm

Till-all-R1 wrote:
Emerje wrote:While most people have moved on to SS86 Bee, the problem is it doesn't have a VW Beetle alt mode, it's just a generic super compact car. That doesn't really fit well in recreating the original toy in package so it's not too surprising that Walmart went with a mold they've used before.

Keep in mind they no longer have exclusivity over the mold.

Emerje

I wouldn't necessarily say that, it's clear they have managed to "extend" their exclusivity by at least another year with this iteration. Otherwise why wouldn't Hasbro have just repacked it for SS86?

Like I said in the quote above, the SS86 mold doesn't have a proper VW Beetle alt mode which is kinda the whole point of this release.

So I feel the Netflix "VW" Bee is somewhat still gatekept in some way, even if it boils down to the fact Hasbro couldn't secure the license outside of Walmart's use or simply didn't want the expense to do so in the main line. Goldbug was the only other time VW mold was used and that was via Target, thus another "Exclusive" I am sensing a pattern here, that if we ever see it pop up again it will indeed be Exclusive of some kind.

Right, but the Target release proves that the mold isn't exclusive to Walmart any longer which is what I said.

Emerje

by **Dragma Kerp** » Thu Oct 17, 2024 3:23 pm

Till-all-R1 wrote:
FYI, it's now available at Pulse. I just put in an order.

Yes, is also avaiable in europe pulse, I also ordered mine. I'm still confused with how the behind the scenes works, but hey, at least I can have the proper VW bettle as I wanted

News Credits: 22 · by **Rodimus Prime** » Tue Oct 22, 2024 11:32 pm

Sabrblade wrote:There is the Goldbug head. That might have been preferable:

Would those 2 heads be swappable?

News Credits: 456 · by **Sabrblade** » Tue Oct 22, 2024 11:39 pm

Rodimus Prime wrote:Would those 2 heads be swappable?

It's the same mold, so I don't see why not.

News Credits: 241 · by **Jelze Bunnycat** » Wed Oct 23, 2024 1:15 pm

Sabrblade wrote:
Rodimus Prime wrote:Would those 2 heads be swappable?
It's the same mold, so I don't see why not.

You may run into clearance problems however: the Buzzworthy Goldbug figure has Cliffjumper parts for that reason.

News Credits: 1642 · by **D-Maximal_Primal** » Mon Oct 28, 2024 12:40 pm

I am now very curious about the Seaspray listing.

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 9:24 am

Some collectors were looking forward to adding the Retro Gears and Bumblebee to their mint in box collection since one of the ways these toys are going for a retro look is the packaging. However, it turns out that even though they are in a plastic bubble, the Gears toy will still have the chest piece detached. This is different than the mock up of the packaging we saw and is still being used on Walmart's site. The in hand images do give us our best look yet at the finished products. They come from AlvinC and ziltama, the later of which also posted a written review on the TFW boards for Bumblebee, which you can read below. They also posted a bunch of comparison images. As for Gears, we have a review from Chuckdawg1999. Enjoy!

Retro G1 Bumblebee is part of the latest line of Walmart exclusive figures. Hasbro has done 'toy' redeco versions of figures before in various lines, including Generations and Generations Selects. Bumblebee and Gears were tapped for Walmart this time. Walmart.com noted in-stock status on March 5th (before promptly selling out).

This redeco of Netflix Bumblebee is supposed to homage the original G1 toy, although does not have the original G1 style head. The silver face scheme has the eyes intentionally painted silver...not a fan of that look. There is a re-issue G1 Bumblebee with the cartoon face and blue eyes. They could have used that artwork instead, oh well.

The QC feels great. There's a lot less paint overall as the original Netflix figure had a lot of paint to avoid yellow mismatch issues (ahem, Sunstreaker). The bare yellow pretty much matches the yellow of Worlds Collide Bumblebee (Edit: Matches in bright lighting; more of a difference is seen in darker lighting). The forearms are painted black, which is different than other prior Bee figures. The Autobot symbol is present on the chest. The only thing that actually truly references the original figure is the symbol on the rear that resembles the symbol on the back of G1 Bee's head. There's no clear plastic this time and the windows are painted black.

Still comes with the Cliffjumper weapons accessories.

Going back to this mold after handling the SS86 figure is a great reminder of how good the CJ/Bee mold was at the time. Having the alt mode actually look like a Beetle makes a huge difference.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 9:51 am

That's unfortunate. I guess the factory didn't get the memo to add one step to the assembly and remove one step from the packaging.

Emerje

News Credits: 331 · by **chuckdawg1999** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 11:50 am

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 2:43 pm

The shipping of these things keep being delayed in Canada. Fingers crossed that I'll receive mine by the end of the month.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Sun Mar 09, 2025 12:47 am

-Kanrabat- wrote:The shipping of these things keep being delayed in Canada. Fingers crossed that I'll receive mine by the end of the month.

The US release date hasn't even come yet (March 31).

Emerje

by **Dino-Snarl** » Sun Mar 09, 2025 5:48 pm

Never got the Netflix Bumblebee so happy to get this one for cheap.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Sun Mar 09, 2025 6:12 pm

Dino-Snarl wrote:Never got the Netflix Bumblebee so happy to get this one for cheap.

Same here. Although there are differences in colors, I much prefer the yellow on the new one than the Netflix's orange.

News Credits: 456 · by **Sabrblade** » Sun Mar 09, 2025 6:17 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:
Dino-Snarl wrote:Never got the Netflix Bumblebee so happy to get this one for cheap.

Same here. Although there are differences in colors, I much prefer the yellow on the new one than the Netflix's orange.

Yeah, this one's yellow is more toy-accurate, while the Netflix one's more golden yellow is, well, not so much cartoon-accuracy but rather real-world Volkswagen accuracy.

by **Dino-Snarl** » Sun Mar 09, 2025 6:44 pm

Sabrblade wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:
Dino-Snarl wrote:Never got the Netflix Bumblebee so happy to get this one for cheap.

Same here. Although there are differences in colors, I much prefer the yellow on the new one than the Netflix's orange.
Yeah, this one's yellow is more toy-accurate, while the Netflix one's more golden yellow is, well, not so much cartoon-accuracy but rather real-world Volkswagen accuracy.

Completely agree. The colour palette on this one is superior.

News Credits: 1 · by **Cheetron** » Mon Mar 10, 2025 7:26 am

Are they both supposed to be $35.97? That's quite an increase and way beyond my purchasing threshold. I know walmart online upcharges sometimes but whoa. Pulse has them for 24.99 or so