Just a trivia to share.  Here’s the actual product in the stores - Human Alliance (HA) Bumblebee’s legs show the wheels positioned on the inside.

This photo of prototype HA Bumblebee shows the wheels positioned on the outside of the legs.  Somehow during the factory assembly or after final decisions by Hasbro to simplify the transformation process perhaps, the final product we get is not really the same as the prototype.

This is a fan customised HA Bumblebee with the wheels positioned on the outside of the legs.  But when you look at thigh panels of both the prototype & customised HA Bumblebees, they still look different.  My guess is that only the legs below the knees were switched during the factory assembly (needs further confirmation), but most of us don’t have the specialized screwdrivers to remove those industrial screws from the knees.  Hence the current proven customization method is to re-assemble the crotch section and the leg positions.

Naturally I would prefer that we don’t have to do any customization and still have the more movie accurate product, but sometimes we don’t get the best of everything! LOL!

If you are adventurous and would like a more movie accurate Human Alliance (HA) Bumblebee action figure, you can do some modifications on your own to achieve that!  The major issue most movie Bumblebee fans and toy collectors have with HA Bumblebee is that the wheels on his legs should have been on the outside in robot mode.  Well, there is a way to resolve that now!

The early part of the above video shows HA Bumblebee with a customized right hand (taken from a 2nd piece of HA Bumblebee).  How it was done is explained in another earlier mixed ROTF toys video by the same reviewer (view from 4.37min onwards). 

Back to the above video, view from 0.49min onwards and it explains how to switch the legs of HA Bumblebee.  If you still don’t get it, here’s the link to the original forum discussion where you’ll find some photos and more detailed written instructions on how it’s done.

The summary steps are as follows:

1) Unscrew the 2 tiny screws on the back crotch section.

2) You’ll end up with 4 pieces - front crotch, back crotch, right leg & left leg.

3) Front crotch - position to the back

4) Back crotch - position to the front

5) Right leg - turn the ENTIRE right leg (from hip to toe) 180 degrees around (DO NOT twist the thigh section AT ALL at this stage).  The right hip joint is now facing outwards, so swivel it to face the hip. 

6) Left leg - turn the ENTIRE left leg (from hip to toe) 180 degrees around (DO NOT twist the thigh section AT ALL at this stage).  The left hip joint is now facing outwards, so swivel it to face the hip.

7) Ressemble the above 4 pieces in those new positions and screw back the 2 tiny screws into the back crotch section.

8 ) For the folding of the modified legs into car mode, view the above video from 1.30min onwards.

However bear in mind that I assume no responsibility if your HA Bumblebee doesn’t turn out as expected despite all these online references.  I’ve already switched the legs of my own HA Bumblebee accordingly and the results are fantastic!  Best of all, he can still indeed transform back into car mode just fine! 

My HA Bumblebee action figure showing off his modified legs with the wheels positioned on the outside!

Here’s my modified HA Bumblebee action figure showing that he can still transform back into car mode.

The undercarriage view reveals that his waist is now turned 180 degrees from its original car mode position, hence the license plate is now facing the car roof instead and can’t be seen.

A close up view of the folded in modified legs and the ‘inverted’ back crotch section.  Hence switching the legs still allows him to transform back into car mode.  Note: Take care not to scratch the license plate when folding it against the car roof.

I won’t be giving my HA Bumblebee a right hand like the reviewer did in his videos.  That will result in a second piece of HA Bumblebee with no hands at all!  Looks like that extra HA Bumblebee will stay in car mode forever to ‘hide’ his ‘handless’ features!