-Submitted by: mag jr. Bumblebee was one of my favorite G1 toys back when I was a kid; he was also only the third one I ever had (after Ironhide and Brawn). Maybe this was because the first issue of the comic I ever managed to get was #3 (costarring Spider-Man), which gave Bumblebee a featured role, or maybe it was because of the show, then just starting regular episodes, which featured Dan Gilzevan as Bumblebees voice; I didnt know his name, but I did know that the same guy voiced, yes, Spider-Man. (I must have been sharp for a 7-year-old). At any rate, I loved the little guy, and Im still pretty fond of him. No bashing here.
Vehicle Mode
LIke most of the toys from the first two years of Transformers, Bumblebee is meant to represent a real-world vehicle--in this case, the Volkswagen Beetle, better known as the Bug, or, if youve been brain-damaged by repeated viewings of cheesy Disney movies as a youngster (like me), Herbie The Love Bug. Most of the minicars were drawn from a Diaclone-related Takara line, variously called Car Robots or Choro Q (Ive got a suspicion that the latter is more correct). Unlike the "big" Diaclone vehicles, the minicars were super-deformed versions of the "real thing," so Hasbro released them at a basic-size price point.
You can find international Bumblebees in a variety of colors; the two that ended up on cards in the US are yellow and red (being a stickler for show-accuracy as a kid, I opted for yellow--and ironically, in Central New York in late 1984 or early 85, the red one was clogging peghooks everywhere, and the yellow one took me a lot of digging).
Bumblebee is a cute representation of the Beetle; he isnt super-detailed, but he does have the famous front trunk lid design and a spare-tire decal on his back end (which is chrome). He does have rubber tires and chrome hubcaps, and even a die-cast metal piece on his underside. Depending on which year he came out (84 or later), hell have an Autobot sticker on his roof or just a rubsign; the rubsign versions are probably more common, since the toy was produced into 86. Hes just under two inches long, and just over an inch and a quarter wide; his ride height is a spacious inch. If youve never had your hands on a minicar, its a size between a current, relatively large basic and a Micromaster, not as small as a minicon.
Transform to Robot Mode
1. Pull the wheels out to the sides to form his arms.
2. Pull the front end out, then pull the front halves down and pull them forward to form his feet.
3. Flip the spare tire piece in the year up to form his head. Youre done.
Robot Mode
You can see why Hasbro thought of Bumblebee as a young, kid character; even though he has yet another variant on the Optimus Prime/Soundwave face, his smallness and, yes, cuteness make him look that way.
If youre used to modern toy manufacture and design, a minicar might strike you as primitive; Bumblebees got a whole two points of articulation and his transformation isnt exactly complex. Personally, considering what the state of the art was at the time, I think the designers did a good job--at least all his parts are functional, and he isnt riding around with his face on the undercarriage, like Brawn, Gears, or a whole host of early Gobots with the same transformation as Gears (Hans-Cuff, raise your hand!). He even has sculpted hands on his arms, with thumbs; they cant hold anything, but theyre there. Its a clever transform, considering the simplicity of the toy; his feet are even separate pieces, rather than one molded piece. Hes a good-looking toy, and stands at three inches exactly, a good size for such a small car.
As far as appearance goes, add some more black to his upper legs and a bit more yellow (or red) for his face. The only new color is silver for his face. Unusually for a G1 toy, they didnt rely on a lot of decals for detail; apart from the two already mentioned there arent any others showing up in this mode. It gives him a nice clean appearance.
Final Word
Bumblebee is still one of my favorite G1 toys and characters and well worth adding to your collection. Hes more expensive on the collectors market than other minicars, but even in near mint hes positively cheap next to most of the other 84 toys, which, for being one of the most famous G1 characters, makes him a good buy. |
| Notes
Bumblebee was packaged in both Red and Yellow versions without any discrimination over several print runs.
Contributors: Tony_Bacala, Harold Tietjens, J.E. Alvarez, The Hartmans, ams, Destro, flywheels, Runamuck, holygrail 4 Views: 2,951 |
