TFtember: Bumblebee

Taking a look at probably the most popular spy in the entire franchise.

Bumblebee is probably the most popular Autobot, outside of Optimus Prime. He's also one of the few to have multiple figures in the same series, so we'll be taking a brief look at them.

The first one, and the first Transformer I ever owned, was a simple mini vehicle. He went from robot to kind of super deformed VW Beetle. He had a lot of variations too. There's the classic yellow deco, but red, blue, white, and silver (but only in Central/South America). I recall the legs could easily pop out and break though.

There's also Goldbug, but that's technically a different character (Bumblebee changed) and we'll get more into him later. 

They even brought Bumblebee into the Pretenders series, which was a line I never understood. The Transformers are giant robots, so how is a giant person going to help them blend in? I did like the robot that came with the Pretender shell though. Very sturdy. 

Then there was the Action Master version, which again I never understood. "Ok, they're Transformers, but they don't Transform!" Still, a nice show accurate toy. He is one of the few characters to have a figure in nearly every line, or at least be available nearly the entire run, which is impressive. 

The file card is pretty close to show, but they do mention him being able to go underwater. Don't recall that ever popping up in the show. He's clearly the kid friendly character, with a mentioned closeness to Optimus Prime and oddly enough, Prowl. 

For the comic, He was there from the start, like most of the characters we'll be looking at this year. Much like in the show, Bumblebee was one of the first to encounter humans, in this case Buster Whitwicky. He also got several issues to either himself or at least a staring roll. He even got to meet the non union equivalent of Bruce Springsteen.

He also got blown up by GI Joe but don't worry, he got better. 

As Goldbug he also got blown up by Starscream in #50 but don't worry, he got better (unlike Brawn or Bluestreak) and became Bumblebee again. As the first series wore on, his role diminished until he finally just managed a small cameo in #77.

For the cartoon, this might be where he made his biggest impact on popular culture. Voiced by Dan Gilvezan, he had the best voice I think. Gilvezan really gave him a kind of 'kid brother wants to make good' kind of voice. 

He was in almost every episode of the first series, first season mainly. He may have been the kid friendly character, but he didn't act like most kid characters in other shows. He was proactive but never reckless. He even managed to hold his own in the action scenes. He also survived the film proper (unlike Brawn) so points for that. 

He got turned into Goldbug here too, but that was near the end of the series. He was also one of the few featured in the PSA's that aired in season one.