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the red bumblebee

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:04 pm
by JustinRODimus
err was that supposed to be cliffjumper? im just getting into back into transformers (probly cause of the movie), when i was a kid i never paid attention to detail. just curious! thanks!

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:05 pm
by JustinRODimus
o ya, im talking about the gallery (search bumblebee)

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:06 pm
by publicvisage
Bumblebee was released in several colors, that's just one of those variants.

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:19 pm
by TinglingSensation
If you're talking about the original G1 figures, there was a red Bumblebee that had a different head and body from Cliffjumper. I believe red Bumblebee was the same as the yellow Bumblebee, but I never actually had one.

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:27 pm
by Death-Shed
I had the red bumlebee
There was also a yellow Clifjumper.
I cannot remember if there was a story behind them (factory colour mix-up??) Someone on here is bound to know.

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:40 pm
by bran10
yeah, if you're talking about other lines like the classics and the upcoming future movie line... yes cliffjumper has always been bumblebees b*tch.... but back in g1, bumblebee had a red and yellow version, cliffjumper did as well but with a different head.

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:02 pm
by Auto Bot
At least G1 gave them different heads and car design.

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:03 pm
by Jelze Bunnycat
Death-Shed wrote:I had the red bumlebee
There was also a yellow Clifjumper.
I cannot remember if there was a story behind them (factory colour mix-up??) Someone on here is bound to know.
And that person is me

The Mini-Bots were originally part of the Microman line, Microchange sub line, by Takara. In that line, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper came in three colors: red, yellow and blue. When Hasbro licensed the toys for release in the US, Takara also sent them old stock which included red Bumblebees and yellow Cliffjumpers.

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:24 pm
by Swerve
There are also all the South American variant colors as well.

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:50 pm
by bran10
Swerve wrote:There are also all the South American variant colors as well.
really?

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 6:04 pm
by i_amtrunks
Swerve wrote:There are also all the South American variant colors as well.
Green was one of them, can't remember the others though..

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:36 pm
by Methusalen
The Pre-Transformers! site (
http://www.geocities.com/futuristgroup/vminibots.html) has a bunch of info & images of the many variants of not only the minibots, but a lot of the G1 figures from around the world!

Posted:
Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:18 pm
by Dran0n
It's Cliffjumper. I wouldn't mind having a 3rd Camaro Concept Bumbles.

Posted:
Mon Oct 29, 2007 7:16 am
by Auto Bot
i_amtrunks wrote:Swerve wrote:There are also all the South American variant colors as well.
Green was one of them, can't remember the others though..
Is this the Autobot answer to the Rainbow Seekers?

Posted:
Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:29 am
by Ramrider
Have a look at
this list - there are several versions of Camaro (Windcharger), Jipe (Brawn), Pick-Up (Gears), Sedan (Bumblejumper/Bumper), Carrera (Cliffjumper) and Volks (Bumblebee), which were released in Brazil by Estrela. Some were Optimus (Autobots) and others Malignus (Decepticons).
For other foreign, variant and KO TFs,
Alex Bickmore's site is well worth a gander.

Posted:
Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:40 am
by Auto Bot
Is that a Camaro car? Or is the robot named Camaro?

Posted:
Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:48 am
by Ramrider
Both. It's a Camaro (actually, the Windcharger mould was a Trans-Am, but they probably didn't acknowledge/know the difference), but the Brazilian minibots didn't really have proper names, so the names on the box were basically just what they transformed into, hence (Chevy) Camaro, (Porsche) Carrera, Jipe (Jeep), Sedan, Pick-Up and Volks(wagen).

Posted:
Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:01 am
by Auto Bot
Ramrider wrote:Both. It's a Camaro (actually, the Windcharger mould was a Trans-Am, but they probably didn't acknowledge/know the difference), but the Brazilian minibots didn't really have proper names, so the names on the box were basically just what they transformed into, hence (Chevy) Camaro, (Porsche) Carrera, Jipe (Jeep), Sedan, Pick-Up and Volks(wagen).
Meaning, they used those names in the Brazilian version of TF tv cartoon?

Posted:
Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:12 am
by Ramrider
Oh, in the cartoon? No idea. I only know about the toys, and then only from sites like that.
From what I've seen, though, the toys had very little to do with the cartoon line. Hasbro cut a licence with Estrela because it was the only way they could market to Brazil, and they only released 8 of the TF moulds; four colourschemes each of the minibots I mentioned (all with the same names - the different recolours didn't get new names to match), and the Jumpstarter figs (two colourschemes of each), known as Salt-Man X and Z.
I imagine the cartoon characters had the same names as everywhere else, barring the odd partial translation, although I'd have to defer to any of our South American friends who've actually seen it.

Posted:
Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:26 am
by DREWCIFER
Couldn't miss out on this one.
I can't speak of the cartoon shown in S. America(no, not Texas).
However, there we different companies who made and sold the toys in different countries.
Argentina had Antex and Brazil had Estrela. There was some licensing issue and they fought over each other. The last link on the last page is a wonderful resource for that back story.
Japan had the figs first. MicroMan and Microchange. BB and CJ came in three colours; Red, Yellow, and Blue. Tak sold the leftover stock to Hasbro so there are yellow and red BB's and CJ's. I have never seen a blue BB or CJ in person, only through the internet and they were both in Japan. I can only guess that tak ran out of them b4 they sold the stock to Hasbro.
There are also variants from Mexico and France. They are few and far between, but not to long ago there was a long review about some of them here at Seibs. I'm pretty sure that it has been since the crash, so I assume someone with the time and energy can find them. They were reviews on Windcharger and Brawn. Maybe on of BB, I can't remember.
The bottom line, is there are many different Minibots in many different colours. You can find many of the ones in my sig, pretty easy. However, many, you have to work hard for, and many I've written off unless I get really lucky.


Posted:
Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:40 am
by Ramrider
I think I've got one or two Mexican TFs as well. I seem to recall it's the Mexican version of Hoist that doesn't have the standard head, but is actually a redeco of Trailbreaker's, and that's the version I have. I think my Starscream was a Mexican one as well. Several of my G1 TFs I picked up a couple of years after the fact in a local cash and carry, and they often stocked foreign TFs. I've also got continental European versions of Ratchet and Jazz, among others, and even managed to pick up [what I assume were] US toys, Sixshot, Steeljaw and Rewind, as well as the G2 'Aquadrenchers' (the US recoloured versions of the European Aquaspeeders).

Posted:
Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:45 am
by DREWCIFER
Ramrider wrote:I think I've got one or two Mexican TFs as well. I seem to recall it's the Mexican version of Hoist that doesn't have the standard head, but is actually a redeco of Trailbreaker's, and that's the version I have. I think my Starscream was a Mexican one as well. Several of my G1 TFs I picked up a couple of years after the fact in a local cash and carry, and they often stocked foreign TFs. I've also got continental European versions of Ratchet and Jazz, among others, and even managed to pick up [what I assume were] US toys, Sixshot, Steeljaw and Rewind, as well as the G2 'Aquadrenchers' (the US recoloured versions of the European Aquaspeeders).
I've heard of that Hoist/Trailbreaker variant. Cool to hear that one of our own has one. I remember somone here go a Mexican SS about two years ago. I think there was a review, but it got lost along the way.


Posted:
Tue Oct 30, 2007 5:17 am
by Auto Bot
It's quite confusing that each country has its own version of TF characters.

Posted:
Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:21 am
by Ramrider
Ain't it just? Makes me glad I stopped trying to be any kind of completist long ago.
For the record, I think the Mexican Starscream is basically the same version as everywhere else, except mine has the black plastic wheels instead of the metal ones. I'm not sure if that variant was available anywhere else. I'll post some pics soon; I've dug some stuff out, but it needs a bit of a cleanup first.

Posted:
Tue Oct 30, 2007 9:22 am
by Auto Bot
I have the impression that Latin TF are cheaper.
Even quality is cheaper?