Just FYI, there are a few various CHUG Bumblebees for sale in the saleyeards if you look through it. :)
Printable View
Theres an artwork shot of Earthrise Bumblebee
https://www.facebook.com/transformer...type=3&theater
He's not unknown! Hubcap's been around since 1986 - that makes him just as old as Ultra Magnus or Galvatron! I don't know about your local shops in the 80s, but around my parts Hubcap was a pretty strong seller; easily outselling the biggest pegwarmer of '86 - Wheelie. Despite the fact that Wheelie had far more prominent appearances in canon compared to Hubcap (whose canonical presence was nil); good toys just sell themselves. :) And not to mention that Hubcap also appeared in the Generation 2 toyline. But we haven't had a new G1 Hubcap toy since 1993 whereas we've had HEAPS of Bumblebee toys, including numerous CHUG Bumblebees. I currently own five different CHUG Bumblebees (I used to own more but sold or gave away a few of them).
Bumblebee fans have had their fill - and apparently there's an ER Bumblebee coming out anyway. Don't you think it's Hubcap's turn?
This is what I mean though, I would personally like to see every G1 Transformer have a turn at being made into a CHUG figure. Characters like Bumblebee have had more than their fair share, and it's not as if Hasbro's ever going to stop making Bumblebee toys any time soon. Hasbro lost the rights to the Bumblebee name between 1996 to 2005 and they are very much determined to ensure that it never happens again. They went overboard during the 00s to early 10s when we would see endless shelves and pegs full of every version of Bumblebee imaginable. Battle Bumblebee, Stealth Bumblebee, Nitro Bumblebee, Scanning Bumblebee, Going-to-the-Shops Bumblebee etc. and fans were making memes like this... ;)
https://i.ibb.co/44jf6SX/meme-bumblebeeeverywhere.jpg
CHUG Bumblebee fans? Yeah, Hasbro's got you more than covered. :cool: There's another CHUG Bumblebee on the horizon, and as Odie said, you can find previous CHUG Bumblebees easily enough on the secondary market (I got my LG Bumblebee second hand and it was super easy, barely an inconvenience). Let the others have their turn. I think that fans like to complete sets. CHUG started off with just two Seekers (Starscream and Ramjet) and it took them half a decade to release the rest in stores. :rolleyes: CHUG gave us Grimlock but then we had to wait 12 years before they gave us the rest of the Dinobots. We're in the fourteenth year of CHUG now (wow!) and Hubcap is the only G1 Autobot Mini-Vehicle not yet CHUGgified (and yeah sure, they need to give us a proper Huffer and Pipes too).
Over time some of these obscure characters have been featured in newer series as well as comics like IDW making them more popular these days.
Completely fair. Whilst I'm more than happy to keep buying CHUG Bumblebees if they make them, I really have no grounds to demand more. Give Hubcap his turn.
But toy canon counts as a canonical appearance. The toy canon is the core and backbone of the Transformers brand. It's a toy brand, not a cartoon brand or a comic brand - those things were created to support the toyline, not vice versa. And I get that having broader media exposure makes some characters more popular than others, which is why Hubcap is going to be a Generations Select exclusive; the current day equivalent of a mail-away toy - and even G1 Hubcap wasn't that obscure that you needed to send in a cheque with Robot Points to order him; he was available in any store. And let's not forget that we've already had CHUG figures of actual mail-away toys like Reflector and the Powerdashers (now all we need are the Omnibots and TIME WARRIOR)
I personally still really love the original Classics Bumblebee, but to each their own. The fact is that CHUG Bumblebees exist. Just off the top of my head you've got...
Classics Deluxe Bumblebee
Classics Legends Bumblebee
Classics Legacy Deluxe Bumblebee
Henkei Bumblebee
Universe Legends Bumblebee
Universe Legends Goldbug
RTS Deluxe Bumblebee
WFC/United Bumblebee
Generations T30 Legends Bumblebee
Generations T30 Deluxe Bumblebee
Generations T30 Deluxe Goldfire Bumblebee
Cyber Battalion Bumblebee
Cyber Commander Bumblebee
TR Bumblebee
LG Bumble
AOE Evo Bumblebee
2014 Legion Class Bumblebee
Authentics 13cm Bumblebee
Authentics 18cm Bumblebee
Authentics Super Bumblebee
Authentics Titan Changer Bumblebee
EZ Collection Bumble
BUMPxTF Bumble
Granted even I don't think that these are all great (but I do think that some of them are good, but that's at least twenty three CHUG Bumblebees there. And you have had fourteen years to collect these. ;)
Here's a comprehensive list of CHUG Hubcaps:
Non-existent CHUG Hubcap
Nope
Cicadas
Tumbleweed
awkward silence
Is anyone even reading this?
Desmond rules
Yup. Almost every G1 TF has had a canonical appearance now, including Hubcap who was also accurately portrayed according to his original G1 toy bio. :)