• The rival toy companies will release a LEGO version of Bumblebee.
• This is the second Transformers LEGO set, after Optimus Prime.
• Bumblebee flies onto shelves on 1st July priced at €89.99, $89.99 or £79.99.

Back in 2022 Hasbro and LEGO, bitter rivals in the cutthroat toy market, revealed that they would be working together to produce a LEGO set based on Optimus Prime. The set was a seemingly a success for both LEGO and Transformers fans and all waited months, and then years for another LEGO Transformer. That has finally been revealed in the form of Bumblebee.

After months of leaks and anticipation, on top of a teaser from LEGO, Bumblebee has been officially revealed as set 10338 containing 950 pieces. Like Optimus Prime, Bumblebee can transform between robot and alt mode without disassembly – you just need to twist, turn and move the figure around between modes, just like a real transformer.

The one exception to this is a small section of the windscreen that needs to be taken off when transforming. In the Transformers community this is called “partsforming“, a term also rarely replaced with “legoforming”, funnily enough. The LEGO Optimus Prime also had a small bit of partsforming, but this is something we actually fixed with a small custom build of our own.

In his alt mode, Bumblebee isn’t a licenced VW Beetle, but this car is clearly based on Volkswagen’s Bug. While some may not like this decision it should be noted that skirting licences to make non-branded vehicles is very much a big part of Transformers for its four decades of existence, so we’re completely fine with it here.

What we’re less fine with is the fact that the vehicle mode just looks a bit unfinished and dishevelled. Curves abruptly end in hard edges, there’s random pops of unmatched colours and unused LEGO studs, the cockpit is a brick and the cockpit looks more like something you’d see on a custom hotrod.

That being said there are sections we like. The bumper stickers on the back are cute, as is the printed LEGO tile of an actual bee inside of the window. For those who maybe didn’t know, the “GLDBUG” licence plate is in reference to Goldbug, a name Bumblebee usually takes on after receiving an upgrade and a new golden paintjob.

Moving onto the robot mode and Bumblebee stands 24 centimetres tall and 16 centimetres wide. For comparison Optimus Prime, in his robot mode, is around 25 centimetres tall. This height difference should be perfect to recreate the famous hug scene from the cartoon.

The robot mode is the better looking of the two, but it is still awkward, especially with those long, immobile legs. On top of lacking any kind of knee articulation, it looks like Bumblebee’s hips are only able to be moved horizontally, and not vertically. Great for doing the splits but terrible for any other kind of posing. Optimus Prime also lacked knees, but thankfully he had more to offer with movement in the hips and feet.

Accessories for Bumblebee include a dark blue blaster (various Bumblebee toys over the years have had something similar) and a small plaque with some made up stats for the character. Again comparing to Optimus Prime, and he also had a similar plaque. We’re glad to see this repeated as it gives these two sets more commonality, and stats sheets / Tech Specs are another tradition from Transformers.

We have to wonder if there will be any place to store the blaster in alt mode. Accessory storage is another thing we’ve come to expect from actual Transformers toys, so we hope LEGO found a way to do it here. Optimus Prime could store a few, but not all, of his accessories on the back of his truck mode, so LEGO has done it in the past.

Ever since early leaks started coming out a few months ago, Bumblebee has been our most anticipated LEGO set of 2024. Now that it has been revealed we can’t help but feel more than a little disappointed by the final result. Some LEGO sets are much better once they’re in hand and built in person, so we’re still clinging onto the hope that this is the case here.

To do that we won’t need to wait long as Bumblebee is set for release on 1st July at a price of €89.99, $89.99 or £79.99 depending on the region. Release windows and pricing for other areas of the world have not been revealed just yet.