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Falls apart easily
This transformer doesn't seem to hold up very well. Parts fall off easily and are hard to get back on, especially for little hands. Not very impressed.

Great toy, but the transformation from Autobot back to a car is quite difficult
I am writing this review on behalf of my 9-1/2 year old son who simply loves Transformers. After saving up enough of his allowance money, he insisted on getting this particular Autobot Transformer.

He felt that the transformation from the Camaro concept car to Autobot was a piece of cake. The transformation back to Camaro concept car, however, was a different story.

The instructions were no help since they only showed how to transform from the car to Autobot (i.e. no reverse instructions). He eventually figured it out, and can now do it in about 3-5 minutes, but it was no walk in the park. After reading the other reviews, we definitely feel your pain. But don't lose hope. It can be done!! Once you've accomplished it, you feel like you can climb Mt. Everest. It's a real confidence builder, especially for young boys (and some old ones too). Below is some helpful advice:

1) The toy is built to be handled roughly (within reason), so don't be afraid to twist (by hand), push, and pull the various parts of the toy.

2) From Autobot mode, my son believes that the toy is easier to convert back to a car if you separate the top of the Autobot (torso up) from the bottom of the Autobot (pelvis down). Simply, pull them apart. The front of the car is definitely more challenging than the back, but after a while you'll get the hang of it.

3) If all else fails, go to www.youtube.com and type "Bumblebee Transformers, concept car". I thought of this after the fact, but this might be helpful to a few people out there who are at their wits' end. A couple of the videos are pretty informative and take you through the transformation process (step by step). Parents may want to preview the videos before their kids do. Some of the videos are more age appropriate than others.

Could our good friends at Hasbro have made the process easier (i.e. include a good set of reverse instructions)? You bet!! However, the challenge for my son was a lesson in patience, determination, and ultimately conquest. He didn't give up, even after dear old dad called it quits. I was proud of him.

LS

its now what I expected
I bought this product for my godson, well initially for my godson then found a bigger Bumblebee and bought it for him so i kept the smaller, which is this one, for myself. The car is small and does transform to Bumblebee (well somewhat) , but i guess i am too old for this toys since I cant figure out how to properly transform them to Bumblebee and back to car.

Good toy
This toy is very cool but the head keeps falling off! My kid has to be very careful when playing with it and is always worried that Bumblebee might lose his head! But it is cool though, we just need the bigger one now!

Bumblebee rocks
This is a very nice Bumblebee. His robot mode looks quite nice and he comes with a plasma cannon that converts to a blade. He transforms into a yellow 2009 Chevrolet Camaro that sports black racing stripes. I personally love the vehicle mode. You should not pay more than for Bumblebee, his retail price is ten dollars. Though I have not had durability issues the joints seem a little loose and the figure seems rather fragile, so I would not recommend for young or rough children. He looks great on the shelf in both robot and car mode. He has great articulation and can do several poses. He is overall a very nice figure and if you have a choice between 1974 camaro and 2009 camaro definitley pick the 2009 model.

Fun yet Complicated and Semi-Fragile
We just bought this for my 5 year old son who regularly puts together lego sets without assistance. As my husband tried to follow the instructions to show my son how it works, the toy came apart twice. It is very complicated. My son LOVES it, but it is too difficult for him to transform by himself without breaking it. The engineering is impressive. It is durable when it is fully transformed, but during the process it is easy to break pieces apart.

degree needed
not as easy as simple as they where when i was a kid. still a lot of fun like a puzzle.

My favorite Transformer!
I am six years old. I really like this Transformer. He is really cool! He is easier to transform than some of the other ones. He stands up better than most of the others ones also. He is pretty awesome.

Nice Transformer, although hastily made...
Transformers toys usually have been designed for children. Some of us grew up with them and still enjoy them... I'm 31 and I'm still hooked!

I don't have many TF toys, but I focus on imports like Masterpiece (Optimus, Starscream and Megatron), Binaltech + a lot of Yamato Macross Valkyries (OK, these last are not TF... except for Jetfire).
So, I'm offering an adult collector's point of view.


I feel that the TF Movie line of toys was very hastily made and that they focused in trying to make them look good (and they all look great in both modes -Starscream's fighter jet mode aside), but:

1. All TF Movie toys offer limited poseability or articulation points COMPARED to other transformers lines (the recent "Classics" line or older lines like Robots in Disguise, Beast Wars, etc.).
For example, other TF lines in the past used a lot of ball joints that offer more poseability than swivel joints.

Ball joints are practically gone in most of the TF Movie line of toys, so they offer limited, "good enough" poseability that, although not not on par with older TF lines, is still way better than Gen 1.


2. Designs -especially robots, are NOT exactly the same as the ones seen in the movie.
Most of the details are based on not-final sketches (Ironhide's and Ratchet's chest for example), or else the final versions were too difficult to translate as a toy.

Ratchet's chest in the toy version has the front end of a Hummer vehicle turned upside down. In the movie, the chest has the front of the car upside (the car's hood is on top part of the chest, not below), but only the fenders turned upside down. I've been trying to figure how to make it work in a toy, and I've still not found a way.


3. Paint applications are quite poor in Hasbro's Transformers line, relying mostly in the color of the molded plastic. As a result, the toys end up looking... like toys.
Case: Hasbro Alternator Smokescreen versus Takara Binaltech Smokescreen (same mold, same deco, same character). Hasbro's toy is molded in a blue plastic that doesn't match the areas painted in metallic blue. Takara uses some metal parts and the whole toy is painted with the same metallic blue paint that makes it look like a die-cast scaled car. Also, Takara's plastic is more "rigid"... it just feels better quality... but is also more expensive.

Paint applications are a weird move to save pennies for Hasbro, since they go through a lot of work in fine-detailing the molds.

In Ratchet, yellow-green paint applications on the doors and one arm don't match the rest of the toy. The head is painted remarkably simply. Dry-brushing or paint-washing some areas will greatly enhance the molded detail.


Ratchet's Pros:
- Very good design in vehicle mode and robot mode
- Sturdy and stable in both modes (except some parts)
- Quite good adaptation of the robot and vehicle modes

Ratchet's Cons:
- Complicated transformation. Not suited for a small child.
- Some pieces seem easy to break (the top rack, front and back bumpers)
- Automorph mechanism in most/all TF Movie toys is easy to break
- You call "that" a weapon??


FINAL THOUGHTS
Ratchet and the whole TF Movie line of toys are a mix of toys designed for kids and also for an older audience, looking for a medium price point in mass market distribution.
They could be better, but they would also be more expensive...

Are they worth getting?
Well, they ARE Transformers after all, and they do look great in the movie! That's enough reason for me!

Too advanced for young children
I bought this for my six year old thinking that he would be able to transform it himself since it's rated for ages 5 and up but it's not easy. It took me a while to figure it out using the practically useless directions that it comes with. My sixteen year old has to transform it for him all the time, how much fun is that? Also, there's pieces that pop off too easily and makes it difficult to transform.

Alright, but not as good as the others.
Ratchet is the last of the Voyager Autobot toys I have picked up and I have to say I was a little disappointed. His transformation is simplistic and not as detailed as the other toys. With all the other toys I had to keep refering to the instructions but with ratchet I did not. He's really bulky and it looks like the makers didn't really put a lot of effort into his design. Also his weapons are pretty crummy. His hand can change into an ugly green dull axe that looks like a butterfly and the roof rack turns into a shield/claw that looks quite ridiculous. It would have been cooler if he had the saw he had in the movie.

A few things i have to say
First: blackout is a good toy
Second: He is on the bulky side and i dont like the color
Third: i dont like how his only weapion is a roof rack because when you think about someone picking up a roof rack and bashing someone in the face with it its not going to do a lot only piss the dude off
Forth: Decepticons rule!!!!!
O and i noticed something in the movie, ratchet wasnt in the big fight in the city, the one kid called for him but he still wasnt there i dont think he was driving to the city with them eather