Tarantulas.
Transformers: Age of the Primes toyline discussion 10/27 Update: First look at Megatronus the Fallen
- Thread starter TriBlurr
- Start date
We need a new mold Beast Wars style bumblebee with a robot mode that homages Bumblebee. No idea what to call him, though. Probably Stingy McStabbyouchybuttspike.
(Seriously, how did we never get a Beast Bumblebee? We got TWO Prowls and Silverbolts. If they wanted to be totally weird they could have turned him into a yellow beetle...)
(Seriously, how did we never get a Beast Bumblebee? We got TWO Prowls and Silverbolts. If they wanted to be totally weird they could have turned him into a yellow beetle...)
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Hasbro lost the trademark to "Bumblebee" just when they introduced the line where everyone turned into animals.
We got a dinosaur Bumblebee before a bumblebee Bumblebee.
There's also some legal bureaucracy surrounding the notion of naming a bumblebee toy "Bumblebee". It's something like, if they were to do that, the name wouldn't pass legal due to it being more of a descriptor than a proper name since it would just be calling the insect by what it is.
My proposal for how to work around that and get us a legit Beast Wars Bumblebee would be to make his beast mode not be a bee, but rather a beetle, since his G1 vehicle mode was a VW Beetle.
My proposal for how to work around that and get us a legit Beast Wars Bumblebee would be to make his beast mode not be a bee, but rather a beetle, since his G1 vehicle mode was a VW Beetle.
Yeah, even Hot Rod kind of skirts that by being a gorgeous futuristic monstrosity rather than an Earth car that the term would be a more textbook match for.
I don't mind the beetle idea. And to head off fan whining about "his name isn't Beetle wah", just paint the beetle up like a bee so it gets to be both. (/s)
I don't mind the beetle idea. And to head off fan whining about "his name isn't Beetle wah", just paint the beetle up like a bee so it gets to be both. (/s)
Well, yeah, he'd have to be yellow and black to match the character's recognizable iconic color scheme anyway.
And then he can hang out with a red and blue Optimus Primal with a sky blue chest...
The original gorilla Primal did have a very G1 Optimus deco under all the organic gorilla bits.
Oh, no, no, this would be a facetiously colored gorilla.
There's a sentence I never thought I'd say.
There's a sentence I never thought I'd say.
More stuff that could have helped Rodimus.
Give him a more unique design once he becomes a Prime. Hot Rod and Rodimus just look too similar and it may be hard to sell the idea that he's become Optimus' successor if he still looks like Hot Rod to a kid. Kids aren't stupid necessarily (well some are) but their brains aren't fully developed and they tend to be very visually oriented with their understanding of storytelling. Make it seem like Rodimus really is the new Optimus with a design that sells that. He doesn't have to be a cab over truck but like... something that makes him seem like more than just a taller Hot Rod with wrinkles.
On that note? Give him an Optimus-style faceplate. I'm serious. You don't have to change his personality one bit from what we got, but give him an Optimus-style face plate to further sell the idea that Hot Rod has "become" Optimus' successor.
Yet it was my parents who couldn't tell the difference between the Rodimus Prime and Hot Rod toys.
Me? I could tell the difference between the toys and the animation models -- well, chiefly in car mode, anyway. The color nuance was lost on me.
And when I'd visit my friend who did have Hot Rod and I'd bring Rodimus Prime (or vice-versa), sometimes we'd sort of wedge Hot Rod in car mode into the opening in front of Rodimus' trailer, and had fun with the "new" vehicle mode that could mount a gun and, looking back, just had the better figure mode.
Which, compared to "Hot Rod", are all still more abstract names than that of the guy literally named after his altmode.
It's along the same lines of thinking that could have led to the previous Autobot leader being named "Big Rig" instead of "Optimus Prime".
Can you imagine if that had been his name all this time? "Rodimus Prime" might have then been "Hot Rig", and the Thirteen Primes would instead be the "Thirteen Rigs".
The worst part is that I don't hate this.
The '90s called...
See, here's the funny thing: They could easily do that today, I think, because while I'm sure the same rules apply, they're already using the Bumblebee trademark on other toys, so it's not like they'd be losing it. I just don't know if they could still use it for that toy.
Even then, with all of the other usages now, they might even be able to get by with it on account of it being the name of a character who is in far wider circulation now than he was when Beast Wars was a thing.
Failing all that, I say just call him "Agent Goldbug" on the package and refer to him as Bumblebee beyond that.
Or B-127.
Seriously, dude's got a lot of names he can use, sort of like "Tripredacus Agent" for Ravage. Bumblebee, Goldbug, Goldfire, B-127... am I missing any?
So you'd be fine if G1 Guys were: Caror, Vanix, Gunbot, Harriers?
Badassatron?
So THAT'S what he was talking about the whole time...?!
Meanwhile Galaxy Shuttle is over here going "Yeah, it's my name, alt-mode and profession. You gotta problem with that?"
Star Saber "Nope, you'll be handy for looking after Humans who have adventured to far from their home world!!"
Funny thing about Galaxy Shuttle, when he was first introduced in the Victory cartoon, he was accompanied by an onscreen name caption that referred to him by a different name: "Shuttle Robo". And yet, he was only ever referred to as "Galaxy Shuttle", verbally.
Likely a miscommucation between the production team and those doing the voicing
Even the alternate name is a "this is what he is", lol.
Then Galaxy Shuttle will appear in a modern production, and in the margins as it briefly freeze-frames: "Shuttle Robo. Twice a day for two weeks. May cause rash. Do not Shuttle Robo without consulting your physician." and then a horrendous list of side effects. This all lasts exactly one animation frame but is good enough for legal and then the show moves on.