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It may not be as cool-looking as the life-size Gundam robot in Tokyo, but, for a home-made statue, this real-life Bumblebee Transformer is pretty awesome.

A big Transformers fan from Lemoore, California, Tom Rhoads decided to build aBumblebee replica right in his front yard. He started working on the 18-foot-tall statue right after his son was born. Seeing these are financially-troubled times, Tom created the life-size Transformer out of an old Volkswagen Beetle, instead of a brand new Camaro, like in the movie.

Rhoads and a friend worked on this Bumblebee statue for an entire year, then lifted it into position using a crane and reinforced its legs so it wouldn’t fall down.