Goldbug (IDW)

This article is about the Throttlebots' leader who was never Bumblebee. For the Throttlebot member who was once Bumblebee, see Bumblebee (G1). For a list of other meanings, see Goldbug (disambiguation).

Goldbug is an Autobot Throttlebot from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

"How can I know others when I don't even know myself?"

Along with his other Throttlebot teammates, Goldbug is a proven courier officer, skilled at being able to evade the enemy to keep important data out of unauthorized hands and speed it where it needs to go.

Let's not kid ourselves. We're scared but we're not gutless.Goldbug, "Spotlight: Metroplex"

Fiction

IDW comics continuity

Goldbug and the Throttlebots were assigned to Orvus Base, orbiting Salvvatan VI, to safeguard top-secret Autobot research. Their purpose was to act as couriers in case the lab came under threat, taking the data and keeping it out of enemy hands. They had no idea what the research actually was, but that wasn't deemed essential to their job. And indeed, when an attack did come in the form of Sixshot, the Throttlebots were the only ones who made it out of the station alive, the information in their sole possession. They crashed on the planet below and quickly rushed for cover, Sixshot hot on their trail.

What they found on the planet was a strangely unoccupied, Cybertronian-style city with energon reserves. But just as they were powering up, Sixshot caught up with them and demanded the information. Goldbug suggested that they might not have the information at all, then asked him if he would torture them in that case. Sixshot said he would, so Goldbug ordered the Throttlebots to scatter.

"I have no idea who you're talking about, and why do I keep getting this guy's mail?"

Sixshot quickly took down half the team, even as they tried to feint and counterattack. The remaining three bantered with Sixshot and then attacked him, the battle taking them into a strange chamber where an "intruder alert" alarm began to blare. There, Sixshot shot Goldbug point-blank in the chest, and his remaining two comrades fared little better.

But just as Sixshot was about to execute Searchlight, the city around them awakened. A giant fist smashed Sixshot, followed by a similarly-proportioned foot. Goldbug and his two companions gaped in awe at the transformed Metroplex, who declared his own position compromised and announced that he was going to leave and hide again. He told them where to find a shuttle and supplies, but Goldbug was indignant, asking him what kind of Autobot would abandon the dying Throttlebots. Metroplex replied that he wept for them, but his mission was more important, and with that, he left.

Rollbar and Searchlight, the latter carrying Goldbug, began walking back to recover their teammates. As they pondered how important Metroplex's mission must be and how lonely he surely is, the battered Sixshot stirred... Spotlight: Metroplex

Toys

Generation 1

• Goldbug (Throttlebot, 1987/1991)
  • Japanese ID number: C-97

The Goldbug toy transforms into a Volkswagen Beetle. Like all Throttlebots, it features a pull-back motor that zips him forward in both vehicle and robot modes. In 1991, the Throttlebots were re-released in European markets as part of the "Classics" sub-line. Goldbug was retooled to remove the rubsign indent on his roof/chest, and the rubsign decal itself was replaced with a glossy-paper Autobot sigil.

The toy, which predates this incarnation of the character, is an Earth mode body that differs from the Cybertronian body depicted in Goldbug's sole IDW appearance to date.

This toy is also the Throttlebot previously known as Bumblebee.

• More information on Goldbug at TFU.info

Notes

• Goldbug owes his existence to IDW editor/writer Andy Schmidt's decision to make the IDW version of Goldbug a character who is separate from the IDW continuity's version of Bumblebee. Essentially, this Goldbug is the IDW universe's counterpart to the Goldbugs of other Generation 1-based continuities... except that he and Bumblebee co-exist. That's why he got his own article. Yeah, we're still scratching our heads, too.
• Goldbug's Cybertronian alternate mode appears to be an homage to Bumblebee's, as seen on "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1".