Today I’m going to feature a character that Hasbro/Takara didn’t take seriously until the last few years: Cliffjumper. For decades, CJ was simply that red repaint of Bumblebee. In the G1 cartoons, CJ and Bee were distinct characters with distinct personalities. But as for the G1 toys, the two were awfully similar. Technically they were not repaints of each other (with different head molds and slightly different body molds), but it was obvious that the two figures were cut from the same cloth. It didn’t help matters that, early in G1 before the TF brand was properly established, Hasbro released red Bumblebees and yellow Cliffjumpers, further blending the identity of the two. As the years went on, the Bumblebee mold was often selected to be repainted as Cliffjumper whenever Hasbro felt like making a quick buck off the same mold.

At around 2009, things began to change. Cliffjumper figures began to see more variation from Bumblebee. If memory serves, the first Cliffjumper with a different head in this modern era is the Alternity figure. Technically Takara sold the figure as Bumblebee, but we all know he’s really Cliffjumper. In Transformers Prime, CJ is a completely different mold from Bumblebee. After all these years, Cliffjumper is finally getting the recognition that he deserves.

Below I proudly present my Cliffjumper collection.

Clockwise from top left: Classics deluxe, TF Prime RID deluxe, Movie deluxe, Alternity, Generations WFC deluxe.

G1 Keychain

Interestingly enough, I still have the packaging to all my Cliffjumper toys. Mostly because I didn’t open them. The only ones I opened are the Alternity and WFC figures (as shown in the pic above). But I keep the box to all my Alternities, and I have two of the WFC figure, one unopened. I plan to open TF Prime RID Cliffjumper and I don’t plan to buy multiples, so this trend of having all CJ’s packaging probably won’t continue.

From Casey Kasem to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson… Transform and Roll Out!