Bumblebee / Goldbug

ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
SUB-GROUP(S): THROTTLEBOT, PRETENDER, ACTIONMASTER
FUNCTION: ESPIONAGE
"The least likely can be the most dangerous."

First Appearance: Transformers 2
Significant Appearances: Transformers 2-5, 13-17, 19, 22-23, 26, 29-30, 33, 35, 37-39, 42-45, 48, 50, 53-57, 60, 63, 71, 78-79, 81, 83, 89, 96-99, 104, 114, 115, 118-127*, 137-140*, 154-155*, 162-163*, 174-179*, 200-202*, 208-209*, 240-246*, 249-251, 259-261, 264-265, 270, 278, 289, 325 * denotes appearance as Goldbug

Bumblebee is small, brave and immensely likeable. He often feels inadequate when comparing himself to his fellow Autobots, and will often take unnecessary risks to prove himself. Dares to go where no other Autobot will, particularly enemy territory and alien environments. Most fuel efficient Autobot. He looks up to the higher ranking Autobots such as Optimus Prime and Prowl. He has a great sense of humour and has many close friends among the Autobots and humans he has encountered over the years. Though not a warrior, his skills in infiltration and espionage make him a valuable part of the Autobot team.


Marvel Comics: A popular character, Bumblebee featured in many of the early Marvel comics stories. Like Hound and Jazz, Bumblebee developed a soft spot for the Earth and made several friends with humans. In particular, a teenage boy called Buster Witwicky. He was made a specific target of the Decepticons twice in "Crisis of Command" and "Plight of the Bumblebee". Unlike a lot of the original Autobots, Bumblebee remained popular with readers and was kept at the forefront of many stories, first in his original mode, as the Throttlebot called Goldbug, as a Pretender Classic, and finally as an Actionmaster.

Dreamwave Comics: On his homeworld of Cybertron, before the Great War, Bumblebee was a messenger. His ability to transform into a high-speed hovercar allowed him to dash between city-states relaying important information. His Cybertronian mode, designed by War Within artist Don Figueroa, bore resemblance to that of his cartoon version pre-Earth mode. When the war between the Autobots and Decepticons erupted, Bumblebee became stationed at Iacon under Prowl's command acting as a communications and logistics officer.

Bumblebee didn't get a truly prominent role until the third (and this time, ongoing) "Transformers" series from Dreamwave. In this continuity, Bumblebee was given a command position on board the Autobot shuttle called the Orion. His brief spell as a commander seemed to exhert a lot of pressure on the (mini) Autobot and soon decided to quit the Autobots.

IDW Comics: Part of Prowl's crew on the Ark-19 spaceship (now underwater on Earth), Bumblebee featured once more as a VW "Beetle". However writer Simon Furman portrayed Bumblebee as a more mature and experienced character; certainly a lot more intelligent and possessing a lot more battle prowess than before.

Transformers: Based on a Japanese Takara Microman transforming vehicle, Bumblebee was released by Hasbro in 1984. Among the six "Mini-Autobots" released that year, he was by far the most popular. Despite his head in robot mode consisting of a robotic face mask, his comic and cartoon incarnations were redesigned to become a more child friendly human-like face. (The same was done to Brawn, Huffer, Windcharger and Gears.)

In 1987, as part of the motorised "Throttlebots" sub-group, Bumblebee was rechristened as Goldbug, a completely new toy with a pull-back motorised axle, unposable robot mode and deeper golden colour scheme.

Bumblebee returned as a new toy in 1989, this time as a "Pretender". The inner robot was still a VW and the robot mode this time had a human-like face.

In 1990 Bumblebee had his fouth toy, an "Actionmaster". The toy couldn't transform but did have the added bonus of having legs that could bend at the knee. He also came with a "heli-pack" that could transform into a weapon.

With the arrival of the "Transformers: Generation 2" line, the original Bumblebee toy was reissued in a chrome-gold colour scheme. A second "Generation 2" Bumblebee was released in 1995, a gold coloured version of the "Go-Bot" called Highbeam.