In the newest wave of the Transformers deluxe assortment, there is little to cheer for.

Payload, the Decepticon armored truck, feels cheap right out of the package. Quality control must have had the day off when this guy came down the pike. Parts fall off without provocation and only one of those is supposed to fall off. He doesn't hold together well in robot mode either. I blame the gimmick. Push the huge lever sticking out of the back forward and his adbomen extends with claws extending near the end of the push. If the designers could have just given him a missile launcher or nothing at all (which would be referable in my eyes), it would have made a better toy. I forsee a lot of Payloads at Value Village minus his head in the future. For shame, Hasbro. For shame, Takara. You're both capable of better.

Longarm, the Autobot tow truck, is loosely based on the tow truck Mikaela uses at the end of the movie during the big battle. The doors should say, "Mike's Towing," but instead read "Orson's Towing. Hasbro's Aaron Archer used the handle Orson at TFW2005 before he was asked by his bosses to halt his posting there (and that story could make for a long blog entry in itself, so I'll not go into those details). While better than Payload, Longarm has one sorta-problem. His rifle is screwed in place to his right hand. I don't know why this was done, but it's a little aggravating as I like to pose them without their weapons from time to time. Other than that, he's a good sold toy with great articulation and a couple neat homages thown in.

Dreadwing, the Decepticon jet, has a bio that reads like he's G1 Skywarp reincarnated. He can teleport, plays pranks, and isn't all that bright. His jet mode is prety nifty, with lots of nice details and a prety cool paint scheme. Where he lacks is in robot mode. Hi slegs are too short and his arms and torso too long. I do love the monocle look he has as it give him an inhuman, more menacing look. Dreadwing has no hands as they launch his flame-like projectiles. At least he's better than Payload. Heck, Throttlebots are better than Payload.

As an aside, the previous three toys mentioned are all supposed to be in the Transformers video game, but I'll be hard-pressed to say where any of them are. Now, I've only beat the Decepticon game for the DS and have gone a little ways into the Wii version, so maybe I'v enot come across them yet.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Arcee. There's a reason why we don't get too many motorcycle Transformers. They're hard to make look good. In Arcee's case, they almost did everything perfect. She looks great in motorcycle mode and he transform is derivitive of the Energon toy by the same name. Her robot mode is the most feminine-looking since Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia (minus the spider kibble). I like that when you put the missile into the crossbow, the sides expand and then collapse when fired. That's very cool. Where she fails to impress is her face sculpt. The shape of the head is alright, but her face looks more alien (yes, I know they're alien robots) than most of the other movie toys. I do still recommend picking her up if you can find her.

And now, the star of the show, Bumblebee in his Camaro Concept vehicle mode. I've never been much of a Bumblebee fan prior to the movie, but I've warmed up to him over the past few months and this toy helps that a lot. His vehicle mode is gorgeous, transformation intuitive, and robot mode spectacular. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this toy at all. Even his weapon is cool and works well as both a cannon and a blade. Maybe he could use a few more paint applications, but other than that, Concept Camaro Bumblebee is what other Transformers toys should aspire to be, especially you Payload.

So, here's how I'd rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being highest):

• Payload: 3
• Longarm: 6
• Dreadwing: 6
• Arcee: 7
• Bumblebee: 9

In closing, Bumblebee rulz,Payload droolz.