New third party company Trans Craft has just uploaded, via their Weibo account, images of the gray prototype of their next project: TC-02 Bumblebee Movie Bumblebee.
From what we can see from the images, we have what seems to be one of the most movie-accurate Bumblebee in the market. The molds shows a good posability and sculpt, and it will include Bee’s battle mask, blade and arm cannon. The VW Beetle alt mode looks accurate too, but showing several panel connections. This is sure a good competitor to Zeta’s Pioneer and Transformrm Element TE-02.
We still have no information regarding the scale, but Trans Craft first mold TC-01 Moxigan (TLK Mohawk) is planned for the Masterpiece scale, so there’s a possibility that this new Bumblebee will also be released for Masterpiece collectors. To top it all, Trans Craft have teased an upcoming Bumblebee Movie Optimus Prime and more characters from the movie.
Remember that this is an early prototype, and some changes may be done in the future. We stillhave no concrete information on price or release date, but you can check out all the images after the jump. Let us know your impressions on the 2005 Boards!
lizardj
got my replacement side mirror in the mail today, right on time for christmas, too! <3
here's a picture of it next to one of my originals for comparison. new one on the right.
yup, still my favorite movie transformers toy by far.
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Megamenasortimus Prime
Mine was shipped but the tracking has gone haywire so no clue where it is. Hoping it turns up soon.
DominiksGeekyLife
My replacement sideview mirror from Toyworld.. uhmm.. I mean Transcraft came today. I'm very happy about having a fully functional Beetle now. It's my absolute favourite Transformers toy ever.
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Wizardlizard714
Oh cool that’s totally unexpected, thanks for letting me know, I’m gonna put in my request later today
lizardj
@Wizardlizard714
fyi sooo pleasantly surprised i just got a notification from showZ saying they've sent me a replacement mirror for the 2023 beettle i purchased from them. this is after they've already told me they couldn't get the parts and reimbursed me with some showZ points instead. pretty nice redemption arc imho. and a helluva early xmas present. my faith in showZ and TC fully restored now lol. although latter just can't seem to catch a break and i feel so sorry for them.
ZappaLife
that’s it? i had heard abt the missing side mirrors but given the way ppl were talking abt missing part”s” i assumed there were more things missing
ZappaLife
got mine back in late september, haven’t had any joints break on mine so far. but i just noticed the paint somehow managed to chip in the most nightmarish spot possible. any suggestions on what to do?
DominiksGeekyLife
So the Beetle from the newest batch has become my fidget toy, and I've transformed it maybe 50 times now. No breakages. The shoulder and hip joints have become floppy as hell though, but that's to be expected.
Ribieconvoy
Newest batch does not come with a side mirror.
ZappaLife
can someone fill me in on the missing parts in this new reissue? i’ve only got the newest one so idk what i’m missing, i just know that some of the plastic parts are different
oku
I transformed mine 2-3 times and no cracks.
And the crack suddenly appeared one day after displaying him for a couple of months.
Hellsing
if anyone wants a copy with 1 broken leg joint or if someone has a broken bb that has at least 1 leg joint not broken dm me (obviously won't pay full price but you can get some value and I can fix my bee)
MauricioT
So, the quality IS better this time
wings
Ah I see, I guess it's good to know. Thanks.
DominiksGeekyLife
I think someone mentioned that for the latest re-issue, Transcraft is using nylon based plastic for the joints that previously had breakage issues.
wings
The change of plastic could well be just a cover up. Since I'm not an expert on plastic then I guess I can only rely on the reviewers' comments here. Most comments about this new reissue are positive (on the quality of material); this time Transcraft seems to put in an effort to at least change the colour of the plastic I suppose. Maybe it's more durable or just it's the same material but altered colour; maybe it's a cheaper material; it is hard to know so I suppose time will tell. In the "older" reissues everything looks exactly the same (without changing the colour of the plastic) and no change is expected.
NothingHead
oh, they acknowledged that they were using defective plastic every single time; the problem was that it came after they lied with every new batch, in order to secure sales.
That’s why I don’t trust this new one: the paint is worse, parts are missing.. if they are using new plastic at this point, I don’t think it would be because they have corrected the issue. I think that at this point, we have to acknowledge that this company is kind of scummy, and it is more likely that they are cheaping out further. Nothing about this new run indicates that they are improving quality.
NothingHead
it’s not a ‘feeling,’ my guy— it’s a noted, product-wide defect. You are fortunate that it hasn’t happened yet, but it’s not a matter of vibes or optimism. The problem exists, and the potential for it to happen exists in your copy, same as every copy they made. I’m not cursing my toys with negative thoughts— my first copy didn’t break before I sold it off, either. But it’s not because it was special.
wings
After reading some of these pages I felt like you are probably one of the lucky ones who has one of the originals that shows no signs of cracks on the figure. Could some people be too heavy handed on their figures, perhaps; but I doubt all of them are. There are some images comparison of the original and the reissue (if you go a few pages back); apart from the "bad" paint job on the reissue, you would also notice that Transcraft changes the plastic on certain parts of the figure. Now the question would be why did Transcraft change the plastic? Could the change be due to the complains that they received (about the figure being fragile)? It would make no sense to make the change if the complain is not valid (as in cracked figures outnumbered the non-cracked ones).
airun_71
I'm sorry that you feel that way. Personally, I am happy with my copy and have no issue with it, it even has the side mirror. As I said, I just wish the fingers were fully articulated and the ankle joints had a wider range. Everything else is outstanding, better than the MPM in my opinion. Of course, somebody doesn't like the visible hinges in alt-mode. For me, that's not a big deal.
I hope you will find a better one if you will