K-Mart Legends: Bumblebee

In the final year of the original Transformers toy line in 1990, Hasbro tried to tap into the nostalgia of the classic characters by releasing the original Legends line exclusively to K-Mart stores. The line was part of the main Generation One toy line, and it included the four Pretender Classics figures minus their Pretender shells. The first one I am going to discuss is Bumblebee.

This figure was special to me as it was the first real Bumblebee (not including Goldbug) that I owned. He transformed from VW Bug to robot and back. The transformation was simple. You pull the front of the car forward to form the legs and feet, flip the middle section to the back, flip out the arms, and flip out the head. He was a pretty good looking figure, even if he did look a little fat. It also had the face of the animated Bumblebee versus the original 1984 version with a mouth plate.

I thought the Legends figures were a great addition to the toys of 1990. The figures at this time were mainly Action Masters and Micromasters, so it was great to see some of the classic characters back for one more run (and able to transform).