Transformers 1984 G1 Bumblebee Yellow and Red Versions
Posted by: iamratchet
Transformers 1984 G1 Bumblebee came in two different colors. The main color yellow is the most recognizable of the two. The red one had the same name and is never shown in the original cartoon. It is believed that these were used because of the carry over from the Takara Microchange toy line. However Hasbro still used both colors in 1985 on their series 2 figures. They even added color photos of both the yellow and red versions to the package. Images are below for comparison.
It is easy to say that the yellow Bumblebee is the most sought after. After all he is one of the most iconic characters in the Transformers Franchise. For fans though the red Bumblebee deserves respect as well. While most of us either pretended he was Cliffjumper when we were children or just didn’t understand why our Bumblebee was a different color than our friends we still loved the little guy.
Below are some photos of 3 different variants of Bumblebee from the G1 line. There are more card variants to be shown. We will touch base on those in another post soon. Notice on the series 1 cards that the figures are both in alt mode. The original 1984 line up all came this way. The cards for both the yellow and red Bumblebees are identical. In 1985 Hasbro went with the robot mode as the packaged figure. The art work is turned just a little to square the art of Bumblebee up. Hasbro also added an image on the front of the package showing the alt mode of the Minibot. This became standard on all Minibot cards issued in 1985 and 1986.
All three of these figures are AFA graded. The 1984 releases are both graded an 80 overall while the 1985 release is graded an 85 overall. The 1984 pre rub Minibots are very tough to find with nice intact bubbles. They just were not made to last 30 plus years.
