Cliffjumper finally arrives to U.S. retail in his Energon Igniters Speed Series incarnation, thanks to the East Amherst, NY Target recon of TFW2005 member AutobotMirage.
Review our in-hand images of this figure here and remember to share your sightings news on the 2005 boards!
Chaos Muffin
Thanks for all the info.
Blue Bluestreak was always my fav, never was a fan of the whole Silverstreak thing.
The red MP Bumblebee could also be red Goldbug. lol
Maximus Danz
thanks.
myrrh
Hubcap
Bumblejumper / Bumper
Yellow Cliffjumper
…hubcap actually has more in common with yellow cliffjumper than with bumblejumper, but as nevermore so eloquently illustrated, none of these characters are red bumblebee…
…personally, i use red bumblebee on an autobot covert operations team with blue bluestreak: nobody knows their names, because officially, they don't exist…
Nevermore
Okay, let me break it down:
Takara's original Micro Change line featured three different toys with identical transformation engineering, but entirely different vehicle parts and robot heads. All of them were super-deformed renditions of cars intended to emulate the look of penny racers (hence the plates at the rear/behind the robot heads). One was based on a Volkswagen Beetle, the other on a Porsche 924 Turbo, and the third on a Mazda Familia 1500XG. All three were alternatively available in yellow, blue and red.
When Hasbro decided to port Diaclone and Micro Change to its markets and turn them into The Transformers, they gave two of those three toys official identities. The Volkswagen Beetle became "Bumblebee", with all the official marketing material and media presenting him strictly in yellow, whereas the Porsche became "Cliffjumper", with red being his official color.
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For reasons that have never been fully explained, however, red Bumblebees and yellow Cliffjumpers were also available, each sold in the same packaging as their officially-colored counterparts. And then there was the Mazda Familia, whose yellow version was also available in Transformers packaging for unknown reasons, supposedly only packaged as "Cliffjumper".
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On top of that, Hasbro licensee IGA released not only the yellow and red versions of both Bumblebee and Cliffjumper in Mexico, but also blue versions. Additionaly, white and silver versions were later also released. And in Brazil, Hasbro licensee Estrela released the Minicars/Mini Vehicles/Minibots in all sorts of wacky colors under odd names ("Volks" for Bumblebee, "Carrera" for Cliffjumper, "Camaro" for Windcharger, "Pick-Up" for Gears and "Jipe" for Brawn), including the Mazda Familia under the name "Sedan", available in white and blue versions, complete with his own packaging art (using the white color scheme) and bio! However, those Latin American oddities can be considered merely obscure trivia notes.
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Over the years, people have given the three US-released oddities (red Bumblebee, yellow Cliffjumper and yellow Mazda Familia) fan names such as "Bumblejumper", "Bumper" and "Cliffbee", which were often thrown around interchangeably. It was Dreamwave who made the name "Bumper" official for the yellow Mazda Familia robot, finally giving him an official identity after 20 years. IDW subsequently also used Bumper as an occasional hi-then-die character.
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The red version of Bumblebee was revisited twice by Takara; once for their "Smallest Transforming Transformers" line, where it was presented as merely a red "chase" variant of Bumble, and once for the Masterpiece line, where "Bumble Red Body" was an exclusive special redeco of Bumble, again presented as the same character. The yellow version of Cliffjumper has thus far never officially been revisited by anyone.
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Hubcap, meanwhile, is a slight retool of Cliffjumper with a considerably smaller rear spoiler and a new head who was released as part of the 1986 Mini Vehicles line-up. Available only in yellow, he is often mistaken for the yellow version of Cliffjumper (especially in vehicle mode), and sometimes also for "Bumper". Even more confusingly, Hubcap was also part of the Generation 2 Mini-Cars line-up, retaining his head sculpt and even the characteristic orange face… but for unknown reasons, his primary color was changed from yellow to metallic red.
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So, simply put:
Red Bumblebee – still Bumblebee
Yellow Cliffjumper with a Cliffumper head – still Cliffjumper
Hubcap – Cliffjumper with a different head, orange face and smaller spoiler, either in yellow or metallic red
Bumper – different car than everyone else with a different head
Maximus Danz
Same here, I thought the yellow one was hubcap and the red one was bumper.
Chaos Muffin
I still get Bumblejumper & Hubcap confused. Both yellow but different cars.
Nevermore
This isn't Bumper.
This is Bumper.
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What you're referring to is merely "Bumblebee Red Version".
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Not to be confused with "Cliffjumper Yellow Version".
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Maximus Danz
oh hi bumper, been awhile.
Canbot
Cliffjumper definitely has his own look and a new head would have been appreciated.
Markus76
It's red I guess. It looks nothing like the movie Cliffjumper. It's a cheap repaint cash-in.
myrrh
…hey now, red bumblebee and bumblejumper are two very different figures!…
Chaos Muffin
Will call him Bumblejumper.
MetalkingRazor
Nope, I can’t think of any at the moment in regards to Cliffjumper. I only said it was disappointing because it would have been nice if the toy did get a new head. I wasn’t very surprised that Cliffjumper didn’t get a new head since Hasbro doesn’t usually do it if it’s legend size. Would have been nice if Hasbro gave Cliffjumper a new head. Preferably similar to his head in the Bumblebee film. Even though it was doubtful Hasbro would do it.
Nope
Has there even been a Legion size repaint that's been given a new head or anything? The only times I can recall anything being more than a straight redeco are guys given new hands to hold weapons (ie. GDO Hoist, DOTM Barricade, etc.).
imranbecks
Yeah yeah.. It's a kids line, not SS etc.. But still LAZY. That's not Cliffjumper.. That's just Bumblebee in red.
Cliffjumper looked nothing like that in the film.
myrrh
ISWYDT!
Dave Juicebox
I’ll wait til it’s half off.
User_124141
And of course repaints
jaws
Pointless unless he has a split personality.
AutobotAvalanche
I'd get the outrage if this was a Studio Series figure, and if, y'know, he actually had a significant role in the movie. But you guys are really going to get upset over a single figure for a minor character in a line for little kids not having unique tooling? Come on.