And now for something a bit different. As a little break from the news, we here at TFW2005 have a slight change in programming tonight.
Originally written back in May 2012 for the former TFW2005 eMagazine “TFWe” as part of an ongoing series of articles named “Gimmickry”, TFW2005 presents Yellow Gold- An article about how the various Bumblebee deluxes over the years can be used as a measuring stick for the quality of various toyline’s budgets, gimmicks and overall design influences. (As two years have passed since the last entry in that series, this article has been reworked and re-edited with more information and other timely data.)
To check out the article, click right here to jump to the forum thread. Any comments? Criticism? Want more articles? Want to burn down every “hive” you see in sight? Leave feedback and join the discussion as well in the previously linked thread and be sure to stay tuned to TFW2005.com as we bring you the latest news as it happens.
BScorpinok75
cool read
LegendAntihero
Dark of the Moon Human Alliance Bumblebee is my favorite Bumblebee toy
T-Logicon
Great read! Thanks for writing this.
DOTM Bumblebee
Nice article. I like the idea of using Bumblebee as a way of defining a toyline. Having owned Classics Bumblebee (from the Legacy of Bumblebee three-pack), Movie 2007 Classic Camaro Bumblebee, Movie 2007 Concept Camaro Bumblebee, Movie 2007 Premium Bumblebee, Animated Deluxe Bumblebee, Animated Activators Bumblebee, ROTF Preview Wave Bumblebee, ROTF Battlefield Bumblebee, HFTD Battle Blade Bumblebee, and Dark of the Moon Bumblebee (Before you ask, it's because my Bumblebees kept breaking), my personal favorite is Battle Blade Bumblebee. I love the movie designs, Bumblebee's especially, and Battle Blade Bumblebee has everything going for it. Dark of the Moon Bumblebee could have been better with having the most movie-accurate transformation without being overly complex, but the lack of paint apps in robot mode put it behind the Premium and Preview Wave Bumblebees, as well as BBBB. I would like to get Generations Goldfire and the upgraded form of AOE Bumblebee eventually.
An Army of Bees
Yeah… that's… all info I wouldn't have. It's a pure opinion piece, pushing my opinion that you can track the history and evolution of the Transformers line by looking at individual Bumblebee molds throughout the last seven years. Internal Hasbro/Takara design decisions, market research, and designs being "destroyed" or whatever? I have zero access to that kind of material or knowledge. Pretty sure that even if I did I wouldn't be allowed to have that be public knowledge. I'd love for that kind of stuff to be out there, though.
NICKBOT
Yeah, you're asking too much. Good read Jared.
Valkysas
This editorial was written by a fan, not a Hasbro designer or insider. Where was Secretcode supposed to get that information?
Seripa
I love Bee and he is an important part in my collection, but since the movies he have a lot of hate that I really don't understand, in my country is really hard to find a Bee! (I remember when the first edition TFP came here, they don't have any more Bees when I go again in the toy store).
If Bee is a really hated character, why he will be the protagonist in the next series?
Talking about the toys we really have a lot of variants of Bee the same that we have of Optimus but nobody complains about that (and is more obvious that hasbro and the toy line are more concentrated in the autobots, the "good guys" that the decepticons)
Great article!, for me one of the best Bees are the Reveal the shield and WfC, the new generations Bee needs a headsculpt like the WfC Bee
ZapRowsdower
Decent article… but I was kind of disappointed. It kind of summarized board discussions more than discuss new ideas or reveal new information. For example, it would have been interesting if the article touched on some corporate issues of the times (i.e. firings, new executives, general announcements from Hasbro, etc.). We can see the changes in Bee, but where's the explanation and reactions from the makers? I guess I'm asking too much, but it'd be nice to learn some inside info about the process of making these various Bee's. Did original designs get destroyed by corporate decisions to slash costs? Did Hasbro demand Bee stay a muscle car since the Bay movies, or did the designers generally prefer the new style?
Why did Hasbro redesign movie Bee so much if the average consumer (myself included) could barely tell the differences between the various releases (other than obvious paint designs)? Did the design team generally spend more or less time on Bee, versus other toys in the line? Was Bee considered the primary objective (i.e. the flagship) for every movie line? Were previous Bee sales and/or complaints taken into account for the redesigns, or did the engineers generally work in seclusion?
There are many unanswered questions when it comes to Bee.
timcourtois
Agreed! Human Alliance Bee is amazing. Classics is pretty fantastic, too, in my mind.
And count me among the ones who prefers the FE Prime Bee over the RID Prime Bee. I love that toy; just wish he had come with two guns.
jru42287
Meh, to each his own I guess. I'd personally take BBBB 10x over DotM Bee.
Extendarr
Classics Bee or GTFO
Quantum Reflex
Great article SecretCode, This character is my collection, you have made me look back on them in a different light… I never really thought of it this way. Now I come to think of it you are spot on on seeing how he demonstrates the various directions the toy-line headed toward, E.g. your generations bb example pic is very hotshotty, yes, that legends class transformers classics was a quick buck and a prophecy! that's when I knew you knew. Interesting on how the movie has flavoured the newer iterations. it's like he's grown up in a way. I have my soft spot for Human alliance Bumblebee, is anyone else with me here on this? that's the one that made me take a step back and say… hold on… Transformers have really got there s#!t together these days, rekindled the old bug for TF and that was it. I'm stoked for MP aswell. I'm pretty sure BB will be here 'till the very end… and without bee's there's no honey! Thanks for that angle SecretCode!
Fallout
it was a cool toy, wish it had a neck though. not fond of his kind of chunky proportions either but it beats the awkward battle blades bee.
RedAlert Rescue
I was just searching my pics archive for images of Bee – here's a half forgotten Bee that's not to bad :
Matty
Great article SecretCode. It was fun to read as you can see the progress of Transformers through these BB toys.
DecepticusPrime
I still wish reprolabels had done up a faux racing set to put on dotm bee, since I have him with the wreckers
Valkysas
DOTM deluxe is my favorite movie Bumblebee. I don't think of it as a step down at all. Especially when his elbows can bend and still keep his hands in a normal position, unlike Battle Blade Bumblebee. It streamlines the transformation while still not being too simplistic, it's a fun toy and quick to transform. It scales better with the other movie toys, too.
jru42287
Count me in this boat. Had a copy of the DotM version and got rid of it, because of how much of a step down it was.
Megatron31
thanks for sharing i really enjoyed reading this