If you had asked just about any average kid into transformers back in the 80's, they would claim Rumble is blue because of how popular the show was. I remember thinking the toy version was the one that was "incorrect". Even today I prefer having the blue one be Rumble.

RUMBLE :argh

 

 

 

once upon a time everyone thought the earth was flat but that doesn't make it so

I bet you even think you're making a smart retort, but that doesn't make it so...

no need to get personal just because i'm right

Lets settle down. We all may be TF nerds, but the fact is that the colours of fictional robots is not worth getting upset about, and it certainly isn't worth getting personal with insults.

 

 

IMO it just comes down to a combination of what came first, author intent, and the sheer number of secondary sources. As much as the cartoon was the definitive medium for TF fiction, the fact is that it's in the minority when it comes to the Frenzy/Rumble colour debate, and there wouldn't even be a debate if some yahoo at Sunbow hadn't gotten the character models mixed up.

 

So what came first? Firebrandx claims that he felt the toy was the mistake and the show was right. Thing is though, the toy came first. And the toys were very clear that FIBRIR. The first released TF fiction was the Marvel comic series, and in it Frenzy is the blue one and Rumble is the red one. So the toys, which came first, establish FIBRIR, and the Marvel comics, the initial fiction, confirmed that.

 

Author intent makes its entrance here. If Hasbro packaged Rumble as the red one and Frenzy as the blue one, and then instructed Marvel to depict Frenzy as blue and Rumble as red, then it's fair to say that this was Hasbro's intention when it came to the Sunbow cartoon. Again, the production bible even lists Rumble as the "red robot." Then an idiot mixes up the character models and here we are 25 years later. So it seems that author intent favours FIBRIR. The fact that they got reversed is an animation mistake, IMO. One that lasted for a very long time.

As for Hasbro not correcting it, I doubt they cared enough to notice. The toys and comics were selling, and the show was a ratings success. They probably didn't have that deep of an interest in the show unless it was when they told Sunbow to introduce a new character. I doubt anyone even noticed they mixed up the colours for Frenzy and Rumble.

 

Yet Blitz is also right, despite being a mistake Frenzy being depicted as the red one and Rumble being depicted as the blue one did indeed happen. So why not tally the score? See who appears in what colour the most?

 

Frenzy is Blue Rumble is Red

G1 toyline

Marvel Comics

Japanese G1 show

DreamWave Comics

IDW Comics

Alternator toyline

Music Label toyline

 

Frenzy is Red Rumble is Blue

USA G1 show

Devil's Due comics

 

I admit that the G1 show is/was extremely popular and was the primary fiction during the G1 years. On this issue though, it's clearly in the minority, a minority it created itself though a production mistake. Sorry, but I have to side with siburke; FIBRIR.

I always had RIBFIR... Rumble seemed to be the more talkative character of the two, and I always remember him more often than not being blue from the cartoon.

i think the answer really depends on the question...

 

ultimately RIRFIB is the right answer - but RIBFIR applies to some situations (it also wins the "which acronym sounds better" award)

As I stated before, I'm not claiming RIB is correct, but rather that's how most everyone grew to know him (most everyone back in the 80's). So doing a comparison chart of how many references have him blue or red doesn't matter. The point is the "superbowl" reference being the cartoon kids loved has him blue, regardless of whether it is correct or not.