Kind of a Multi-Part question , since I'm not familiar with Super Robot Life Transformers: was Rumble red or blue in Japan? If he was red, did that mean that Frenzy was the popular character? And that Rumble was the oddball, who only showed up from time to time?
That's an odd concept for me to absorb lol. This all stems from some thinking about MP Soundwave. I'm thinking that he'll come with Ravage, Laserbeak, and Rrrrrrrr...? FRENZY. My theories are Soundwave will either: Come with only Buzzsaw. Then there will be a MP cassette set(MP 13-A?) with the rest. OR... Soundwave will have the 3 main figs: Ravage, Rrrrr...FRENZY, & Laserbeak. Then eHobby will have Soundblaster with Buzzsaw and Rumble. Then there'll be another repaint(white Soundwave?) with Ratbat or something. This making us buy 3 different figs to complete the Cassette-cons... Thanks for the intel guys...
Not swapped. Corrected. US G1 toons is the only media that swapped names incorrectly. He wasn't in the cartoon much. And it was probably easier and cheaper to color a guy blue and blue than it was black and red. Paints cost money for animation, after all, and certain paints cost more than others. That's why Gundam has pink explosions, pink beam weapons, and pink blaster shots, and a few pink mecha. Because pink is (or was at the time of original Gundam) the cheapest paint to buy.
No, the US cartoon used the colors incorrectly. Rumble has the correct personality, but the wrong colors compared to his toy. The Japanese dub changes the names, resulting in Frenzy with Rumble's personality.