http://i.imgur.com/hiE7R4H.jpg
:D
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Not a beast wars fan myself but I am digging that Rhinox!
I don't know, to be honest. My gut instinct answer is simply that Tarantulas could have skated by due to lack of interest from other parties, and maybe the pluralisation played a teeny tiny part. That's just speculation, though.
It's just something I've seen mentioned quite a bit, by people who are more knowledgable about this stuff than me.
Could it be because a tarantula is a specific species of spider, while bumblebee and hound are often used as very generic, non-specific terms used for their respective animals these days?
The way it was explained to me (and I wish I could remember it exactly) was focused more on Bumblebee, as he seemed like the biggest ommission, really.
Kids call all bees 'bumblebees'.
They don't call all spiders 'tarantulas'. Potato, po-tah-to, and all that.
Maybe the pluralization did make a difference, but it would probably be a fairly negligible one, if at all.
Another factor is probably that more companies want to use the name 'Bumblebee' for their product/s than 'Tarantulas'. Maybe Tarantulas could have fallen easily too, but nobody else ever had any interest in it.
I know the depiction does matter though. Hence why a yellow bee named Bumblebee is a bad idea, but a car is okay. It's a MUCH stronger claim.
And remember, the Robot Heroes version was called Predacon Tarantulas, so odds are that yes, it's too generic to be defensible.
I showed my Girlfriend a picture of Generations Rhinox and she got the giggles. All she could see was the scene from Ace Ventura 2...
Hehe, funnily enough that has reminded me of this. :p:D