[Toys] Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen: Legends two-pack - Bumblebee VS Shadow Striker

• Images provided by Seibertron.

My mega Christmas haul begins with a package from GeneralTekno, which contained many Transformers goodies. Let's start with the small ones, shall we?

This is a two-pack that I simply wanted for the second character, but before I get to why, let's go over... the one who isn't that interesting, sadly.

Bumblebee is a character I think a lot of older TF fans are kinda burnt out on due to the movie toyline. He not only gets a lot of regular releases in every size class imaginable, but he also gets sorta-recolored releases with minor paint changes, such as this one. So, it's... Bumblebee with thicker paint stripes n top, and a stripe on the sides. One detail I do like about the latter bit is that the car doors feature some Cybertronian scribbles, not sure of the context but there they are. That's probably the shining light in the paint changes here. Though I do like the really thin outline of black over the stripes, that's a nice touch.

Robot mode isn't too bad, it's a nice representation of the character. I like how they pulled off the door wings here, it's clever and effective. Now that I look at it some more, the thighs are black here, which is another difference in the figure, albeit minor. Transformation is simple but effective. I do give it that much.

Ah, Shadow Striker... This was one that caught my attention for two reasons. For one, the name belongs to a female Decepticon which was a character exclusive to the OTFCC which is a name/character that has now been used for a retail item (something only I would say requires fanfare), but also, it's a redeco of... Classics Wheelie! That annoying little guy from G1 everyone hates. I always wanted to get that figure because I have some sort of unexplainable love for Wheelie's design, so this is the next best thing. I'm all for supporting the release of female Transformers.

That said, the toy is nice. I LOVE how the vehicle looks, especially in black and red. My only nitpick is the wheels look unfinished due to being all red. But I guess some paint can fix that.

The transformation was pretty neat, I liked how it turned out. The robot mode lacks knee joints though since the legs basically come together backwards (makes more sense in hand.) The resulting robot mode is... so very much Wheelie. It's undeniably Wheelie. The red crotch is odd and I feel like red thighs would work better in splitting up this color scheme, but otherwise the black and red works well here, complete with a gold face. The oddly sorrowful look on the sculpt works well here.

Overall... This is one weird toy release. I dunno if I recommend it or not. If you like what it has to offer, sure! Just uh, be prepared for an extra Bumblebee you might not want. Support the chicks, etc.