Goldbug was once a young Cybertronian drifter known as Bumblebee.  He survived on the streets of Polyhex with no real purpose.  Over time, he became skilled at sneaking around, stealing, eavesdropping and blackmailing.  When he heard of a new cause being led by Optimus Prime, he eagerly joined the Autobots in hopes of finding a place to belong and where his unsavory activities would be tolerated.  When the war began, Bumblebee showed extreme bravery in battle and often sought ways to be noticed by command.  In time, he worked his way up the ranks of the Autobots and was offered an upgraded form and a new identity as Goldbug, to take his place.  Although he holds a high position in the Autobot hierarchy, he is paranoid that someone will one day try to betray him and take his place as he has done to so many others in the past.

Bibliography of significant appearances: All characters of the Botcon 2008, "Shattered Universe" are personas existing in an alternate reality.  Their story was featured in the 2008 convention comic, several of the Transformers Collector Club comics and a few prose-only stories including "Dungeons & Dinobots." 

Other appearances:

- 1987 - G1 Goldbug (reformateed G1 Bumblebee)
- 2008 - Botcon Exclusive, Shattered Glass Goldbug

- 1984 -  G1 Original Bumblebee
- 1986 - G1 Goldbug is a reformatted Bumblebee
- 1987 - G1 decoy Bumblebee
- 1989 - G1 "Classic Pretender" Bumblebee
- 1990 - G1 Action Master Bumblebee
- 1993 - G2 Bumblebee
So the character persona then takes a 13 year hiatus from Transformers toys and fiction before finally reapparing as:
- 2006 - Transformers Classics Bumblebee
Then, (here's where it really gets crazy!)
- 2007 - Transformers Movie Legends Bumblebee, Robot Heroes (G1) Bumblebee vs. Soundwave, Robot Heroes (Movie) Bumblebee, Cyber Slammers: ' 74 Camaro Bumblebee,  '08 Bumblebee, Fast Action Battlers Plasma Punch Bumblebee, Movie Deluxe: 2008 concept Camaro Bumblebee, ' 74 Camaro Bumblebee, Evolution of a Hero 2-pack, Robot Replicas Bumblebee, Cyber Stompin' Bumblebee, Bumblebee Unleashed, Ultimate Bumblebee...   Classics Legends Bumblebee, 3" Titanium Movie Bumblebee, Japan only "Trans Scanning Bumblebee"
- 2008 - Transformers Animated Activator Bumblebee, Activator Patrol Bumblebee, Bumper Battlers Bumblebee, Bumper Battlers Sting Racer Bumblebee, Animated deluxe (the definitive) Bumblebee, Elite Guard Bumblebee, Cyber Speed Bumblebee... Transformers Movie Legends Bumblebee vs. Scorponok, Robot Heroes Armor Bumblebee vs. Starscream, Fast Action Battler Rally Rocket Bumblebee, Allspark Power Bumblebee, Deluxe Bumblebee (Premium), Stealth Bumblebee, Screen Battles Bumblebee, Screen Battles Longarm with heavily damaged Bumblebee, Bumblebee Allspark Blaster, Legends Animated Bumblebee, and Shattered Universe Goldbug.
- 2009 - Revenge of the Fallen Legends Bumblebee, Robot Heroes Bumblebee vs. Long Haul, RPM (Cyber Slammer) Bumblebee, Fast Action Battlers Pulse Blast Bumblebee, Gravity Bots Bumblebee, ROTF deluxe Movie preview Bumblebee, deluxe Cannon Bumblebee, (the IMHO definitive version!) Human Alliance Bumblebee, Power Bots Bumblebee, ROTF Ultimate Bumblebee, Bumblebee Voice Mixer Helmet, Bumblebee Plasma Cannon, RPM Bumblebee, Classics Legends Bumblebee...

... and my guess is, we're not done yet!