Volkswagen
Volkswagen (literally "the people's car") is a German multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1937, known for their iconic Type 1, better known under its nickname "Beetle".
Fiction
Bumblebee film
After initially transforming into a Willys Jeep, Bumblebee scanned a Volkswagen Beetle after limping into a nearby riverbank. Bumblebee
Toys
Volkswagen Type 1 ("Beetle")
- MP-21 Bumble
- MP-21G Bumble G-2 Ver.
- MP-21R Bumble Red Body
- MP-45 Bumblebee Ver.2.0
- Masterpiece Movie Series
- MPM-7 Bumblebee
- Masterpiece MP-08 Bumblebee
- Studio Series Deluxe Class 18/SS-16 Bumblebee
- Studio Series 20 Vol. 2 Retro Pop Highway Bumblebee
- Studio Series Target exclusive 24 Bumblebee ("Then & Now" two-pack with The Last Kight Bumblebee)
- Studio Series 7net exclusive SS-EX 1967 Rusty Bumblebee
- War for Cybertron Trilogy Netflix Deluxe Class Bumblebee
- Energon Igniters Speed Series Bumblebee
- Energon Igniters Speed Series Cliffjumper
- TV Magazine exclusive Energon Charge Bumblebee
- Energon Igniters Power Plus Series Bumblebee
- Energon Igniters Nitro Series Bumblebee
- Power Charge Bumblebee
- Studio Series 18BB Bumblebee (two-pack with Dropkick)
- Power Charge Bumblebee
Volkswagen and "war toys"
Volkswagen, not unlike Porsche, has had a rather complicated relationship with the Transformers franchise: Back when the toy that would ultimately become the original Bumblebee was created for Takara's Micro Change line, car manufacturers weren't particularly concerned with their designs being used by toy companies. The same applied when Hasbro obtained the rights for releasing Takara's Diaclone and Micro Change figures under the original Transformers line.
That attitude changed after the turn of the millennium. In 2002, when Hasbro and Takara were planning their Alternators/Binaltech line of Transformers figures that turned into officially licensed cars, one of their earliest designs was for Bumblebee as a Volkswagen New Beetle (the 1997-onwards successor of the classic "Beetle"), but like Porsche, Volkswagen outright refused any sort of cooperation, not wanting anything to do with what they considered "war toys", not least because of the company's troubled origins during World War II. As a result, multiple toys of Bumblebee over the years have been fored to used a more generic hatchback car alternate mode as opposed to the original Beetle design. Bumblebee's appearance in comics was not affected, as he was still drawn as a classic Beetle in Dreamwave and IDW's comics.
It wasn't until the live-action film series made the Transformers name a multi-media franchise that was more well-known far beyond its toy and cartoon roots that Volkswagen had a change of mind, first licensing the Beetle for Takara's Japanese Masterpiece line in 2014, and subsequently also for Hasbro's release of the same figure in 2016. The Bumblebee film then saw a fully-fledged partnership between Hasbro, Paramount Pictures and Volkswagen, with the latter officially participating in the film's marketing, particularly in their home country of Germany.
Notes
References
- ↑ The Walmart exclusive "Vintage G1" reissue of the original 1984 Generation 1 Bumblebee figure was the first release of the toy that was officially licensed by Volkswagen (as evidenced by the presence of a "Volkswagen Official Licensed Product" symbol on the back of the packaging). All previous releases and redecos of this sculpt were not authorized by Volkswagen.
External links
- Volkswagen at Wikipedia
