Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Minifigure Review: Bumblebee from DC Comics Lil Bombshells by Cryptozic Entertainment

 Today I'm checking out Bumblebee from DC Comics Lil Bombshells by Cryptozoic Entertainment. I'll have to be honest and admit that Bumblebee is a DC Comics character whom I am not very familiar with even though she has been around since 1976 and has been affiliated with the Teen Titans and the Doom Patrol. My first introduction to the character was through the DC Super Hero Girls line and, at first, I thought she was created for that series. Nope, I was wrong! It turns out that Bumblebee was DC's first African American female superhero. Looking at her history, it seems like she was mostly involved in periods before I was born or when I wasn't actively keeping up with DC Comics. Since seeing her in DC Super Hero Girls I've now seen her pop up in DC Rebirth and as a statue in the Bombshells line. Bumblebee's Bombshells design is meant to evoke an old school cheerleader using the yellow and black of her costume as the team colors. Let's check her out after the break...



 The Facts:

Height: 3 inches

Articulation: None

Accessories: Metal storage canister

Non-Scalper Price: $10 dollars

 * Bumblebee certainly fits in with the aesthetics of the line and captures an old-school cool charm. I like the way that she's holding her pompoms in two different positions as it makes her appear more dynamic. Overall the paintwork is quite neat and clean, something that can be tricky to do with black and yellow paint. You can definitely see the bee inspiration here.


* It's not too noticeable, but Bumblebee does have some paint slop around her earrings.
  * I'll give the same spiel about the price and the container that I gave with earlier figures in this line: I don't usually talk much about price but l feel the need to mention that for around $10, these seem a couple of dollars too high for a blind-bagged series. Well, blind canned. Yeah, these actually come in little tins with removable lids. It's a cool gimmick although I imagine it's what is adding the extra few bucks to the line. The tin is quite nice, though, and looks good on display with the figure. There's even a checklist on the back. 
  Bumblebee is a nice minifigure and Cryptozoic Entertainment did a great job of translating her statue design here. I will admit that she's not one of my favorite design, though. I really think it's because it's tough to connect her Bombshells design to her traditional character. While most of the Bombshells feel like their design somehow pays homage to the character's traditional costume, powers, or background, Bumblebee's feels like it only uses the character's color scheme. She's still a nicely executed Good and a 1/2 minifigure, but not one of my favorites in this series.

This is the first Bumblebee figure I've reviewed. If you're looking for more DC Comics Lil Bombshells figures, check out the following reviews:

Batwoman
Batwoman (series 1.5)
Black Canary 
Catwoman
Flash
Harley Quinn 
Harley Quinn (series 1.5)
Hawkgirl 
Katana
Mera
Poison Ivy
Wonder Woman

2 comments:

  1. Like yourself, I had never even heard of Bumblebee (not counting the Transformers robot that is, lol) either until the DC Superhero Girls line debuted. I imagine that Mattel probably just wanted an African American character for diversity, and she does have a very toy-etic and appealing insect design, but I still wish that they would have gone with Vixen instead, as she's much better known by DC fans in my opinion.

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    1. I agree with you that Bumblebee was probably chosen (and rightfully so) to add some more diversity to the Super Hero Girls. I just finished reading the second volume of the Rebirth Titans and Bubmlebee and her husband play a huge part in the story. I was very excited to finally read a story with the character in it so that I now have a personal connection to her.I hope Mattel puts her in an upcoming series of their Multiverse line because she has a pretty cool appearance.

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