This is the blue release of the Brazilian Sedan, more commonly known as Bumblejumper. This particular repainted minibot is from the first series of Brazilian minibots manufactured by Estrela called "Robocar". Bumblejumper itself is strange enough, originally being a Microchange mini, then maybe planned for Transformers properly but ending up on Cliffjumper cards in 1984. Brazil had Bumblejumpers (Sedan) at every stage of their TF run, be it the Robocar series or the later Optimus vs Malignus line. The best part? In Brazil he would have TWICE had his own card art. TF-style card-art for Robocar, and a little more exaggerated card art for the yellow or green later Optimus vs Malignus releases.

Bumblejumper/Sedan, no matter what line he is from or what colour he has been cast in, is usually a little more sought-after and 'valuable' than other minibots that share the line. The blue and green versions of the Brazilian Bumblejumper are probably the most sought-after even though the 'standard' yellow Brazilian Optimus vs Malignus release is also extremely difficult to pin down.

The first Robocar releases of Sedan were in blue and also in white, so as I have mentioned before, seeing as they were part of the Robocar line their repaint schemes were reasonably conservative compared to the sometimes gaudy Optimus vs Malignus colour schemes of later Brazilian minibots.

I've always thought this toy looked a little strange. It's no doubt because I had the images of Bumblebee and Cliffjumper burnt into my mind as a boy then when I got more into Transformers at a later age I discovered the variations and the true origins. For those who will have followed Microman/Microchange from when it was around or were always familiar with it there wil be nothing strange about this toy, as the Mazda Familia 1500XG was available in blue, red and yellow but only made it to Transformers in yellow.

As with all Brazilian, and indeed Argentinian and Peruvian minibots the tires do not have the "Dunlop" text on them, and the quality is not quite up to Hasbro/Takara standards. Every time I look at this toy it still strikes me as pretty strange firstly because of the look of the mould itself and then of course because of the colour.

Robocar Sedan is actually one of the few Brazilian minibots for which the total package has been identified including the look and art of the card. The card would have had art for the white Bumblejumper on the front with the regular red TF-style grid pattern as the background, a small pic of the White Sedan in the top right hand corner and the toy itself bubbled in car mode.

You can see the Microman-style sticker on the roof but the sticker on the back of his head is nothing like the blue Microchange Bumblejumper's sticker. Here is a Blue MC Bumblejumper for comparison (thanks Ras!):

You can see how close the roof stickers are, but the headplate stickers are very different indeed. Another thing you will notice is how much lighter the Microchange blue is, almost turquoise. Here's the Brazilian blue Sedan in robot mode:

I think this one looks very good in blue, just as the Carrera does and the Volks no doubt does as well. Not a clash of colours at all, not outrageously eye-catching and the paint on the head doesn't interfere with the facial features. While the vehicle mode probably isn't as strong or easy on the eye as Bumblebee/Cliffjumper, the robot mode is in the same league. Smaller head pegs and lower build quality mean that it is not uncommon to find these guys with flapping arms and missing heads. That's if you find them at all...

The copyright shows that the figure is Estrela stamped (made in Brazil) and is the first place you can look to identify strange unfamiliar looking minibots, especially if they are lacking the tell-tale body-stickers.

Now for the Blue Man Group: Brazilian Blue Optimus Carrera, Brazilian Blue Robocar Sedan and Mexican Blue TF Cliffjumper:

It just looks like three rare blue minibots together but there's so much significance in the above pictures, especially when it comes to tiny details that cement a figure's origins. If you were looking at them in the flesh you would immediately notice that the Mexican Blue Cliffjumper (right) has slightly darker blue plastic but then the Autobot logo is the major give-away there. The Blue Carrera (left) has the Optimus sigil on his chest so immediately you know it's a second series minibot from Brazil as only Brazil had those strange faction symbols. Plus, the sticker on the back of Blue Carrera's head is exclusive to Optimus minibots as you will see a little later. The Blue Sedan (middle) of course has the microchange-style sticker on the chest and the non-MC sticker on the back of the head...plus it's nowhere near as light as an MC Bumblejumper. If all else fails, there's always the copyright.

Now here's a treat, I've dug up some old pictures I had used in my Green Bumblejumper article and stuck them crudely alongside the pictures I have of this blue Sedan for further comparison:

First off you can see that the green Sedan on the right has the faction symbol on his roof meaning he's from the second series Optimus Vs Malignus line. The faction green (and indeed the yellow) Sedan belongs to is the Optimus faction, just like the Blue Carrera (Cliffjumper) spotlighted above and in his own article.

Now you can see from the above picture that the Green Sedan has exactly the same sticker on the back of his head as the Blue Carrera/Cliffjumper does as they are both from the Optimus vs Malignus line. The Blue Sedan however has its own style of headplate sticker from the earlier Robocar line. These are all little facts that can totally reveal a minibot's origins. The final comparison picture below just gives you a small idea of how lovely these minibots would look if all placed alongside each other...

That brings this piece to an end as well. The Blue Sedan in my opinion is a very smart looking piece but that particular colour scheme is probably more synonynous with Microchange than the Brazilian Robocar line. It's a very tough one to find in good condition and carded ones you can pretty much forget about until some sort of case find is made or hoarders come out of the woodwork. They really are that rare in packaging. I think we are tremendously lucky even to have seen the exclusive Bumblejumper card art at all!

I personally do not have much attachment to the Sedan/Bumblejumper mould but I do know many collectors who are very fond of it as it's a close member of the Bumblebee and Cliffjumper family. Minibot enthusiasts and collectors of course would fall over themselves to obtain some of the repaints of this mould, especially the green Brazilian one which might well be the rarest of all Brazilian minibots along with blue Brawn and a couple of others. Having said that, I have enjoyed reviewing this blue Sedan very much, there's always a lot to say about the Bumblejumper mould and I just think these minibots look excellent in blue. Definitely one of the more welcomed additions to the world of rainbow minibots.

All the best
Maz