Review Bumblebee (10338)

Bumblebee - also known as 'Bee' -, forms the link between the Transformers and humanity and is one of the most famous Transformers around. It was therefore inevitable that Bumblebee would be released as a LEGO® set. It is the second transformer made in building blocks. Previously, Optimus Prime appeared in LEGO form, the leader of the autobots. In this review, we look at the buildability, new parts and new colours of parts. These parts have been added to our range of loose LEGO parts so you can make your own creations with these parts again.

In the box

The box contains 10 bags with a total of 950 parts (excluding spare parts). It may not seem like a very large set, but it will certainly give you a few hours of building fun. Of course, it comes with an instruction booklet containing a brief background of the Bumblebee character and information from the LEGO® designers. There is also a small sticker sheet in the box. Unfortunately, not all parts are printed.

The printed parts

There are a total of five different printed parts in this set, four of which are new:

- black 2 X 4 tile with dark grey lines

- yellow 2 X 2 tile with red transformers logo

- yellow 2 X 1 X ⅔ arch with black and light orange print

- light grey 2 X 2 tile with corner

- transparent 1 X 1 round tile with an imprint of a bee

New parts and colours

The following parts are available in a new colour for the first time.

In black:

- 3172 Plate, modified 1 x 2 with pingat at end

- 73109 Technic, brick adapted 1 x 2 with hole and 1 x 2 plate

In dark grey:

- 68568 Plate 3 x 3 round corner with 2 x 2 cut-out

- 5091 Tile 1 x 2 Wedge - Left 5092 Tile 1 x 2 Wedge - Right

In yellow:

- 76766 Bracket 5 x 2 x 2 1/3 with inside stud holder

- 30541 Hinge Stone 1 x 2 Locking with 1 finger Horizontal end

- 30540 Hinge Stone 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Fingers Horizontal End

- 53454 Minifigure, Weapon Axe Head, Clip-on (Viking)

- 77845 Plate, round 1 x 4 with 2 open studs

- 80177 Wedge 3 x 2 No studs Left

- 80178 Wedge 3 x 2 No studs Right

Completely new are the following two parts:

- 5651 Yellow brick, round corner 4 x 4 without studs

- 5652 Dark grey Technic rotary disc double with large pin holes and 3L lifting arm

The latter is a new 'Flex Joint' element that allows the Bumblebee model to completely double when you transform it from vehicle to robot mode and vice versa.

The building process

Because there are not a whole lot of parts in this set, building goes quite quickly for an experienced builder. Also, it can sometimes feel a bit repetitive but a car is symmetrical so you have to put a lot of things together twice but in mirror image. Because there are many moving parts in the model, it does not feel too solid. Fortunately, it does feel sturdy enough to transform. We recommend you also watch the videos (you can find them by scanning the QR code in the manual) on how to transform the model.

While building, you also get a few times to choose whether to place a printed or unprinted tile. For example, you can choose whether or not to display the Transformers logo. And you can also choose from two different number plates.

Conclusion

The LEGO® Transformers Bumblebee (10338) is a set for the collector and is a real display model. For an advanced builder, the build is quite short and sometimes feels repetitive. This set pairs nicely with the LEGO Transformers Optimus Prime (10302).

Bumblebee is in vehicle mode approx. 8 cm tall, 22 cm long and 11 cm wide and in Autobot mode approx. 24 cm tall and 16 cm wide. All individual parts of this set can be found here.