Eh, to be honest, as much as I do think its true that Bobby never ended up on a lot of X-Fans' radars in any lasting way because he was a non-factor in Claremont's run....I don't really see it as a missed opportunity because if Claremont's really just...not a fan of the character, it wouldn't necessarily be to the character's benefit to have an expanded presence under the pen of a writer who flat out doesn't find him interesting or like him based on who he already is.
Like I definitely always had the impression Claremont doesn't like Bobby or have any interest in exploring him (and while I can't find it either, I also remember seeing past comments from him attesting to his dislike of the character). One of the very few places Claremont DID write Bobby was in the story where the 05 leave after Krakoa, not wanting to stick around alongside the new team because they don't like the changes that came with 'their home' now being full of strangers they have no history with. Or at least that was the in-story justification for them all leaving the place they'd called home since they were teenagers, immediately after being rescued and without even trying to see how things worked with both them and the new team sharing the mansion. But of course, the real reason was Claremont wanted to focus on the new team, the characters he'd picked and been given that were explicitly and wholly associated with HIM and his run from that point on....and he had very little interest in just 'inheriting' characters that weren't to his preferences and he might not have had a ton of ideas for. So he just shuffled the characters he wanted offscreen....offscreen, as quickly and easily as he could, so he could put his focus on the characters he DID want to write.
So that one issue where Claremont writes the 05 first departing is IMO a fairly plausible glimpse of what Bobby might have been like under his pen, even if Claremont HAD been convinced to keep him around. And uh, quite frankly? Bobby was an asshole in that issue. Tbh I would likely have no interest in his character if that attitude became definitively associated with him....as it is, that one brief instance of Claremont writing him there, along with how he was written in the Arcade story....like, even that alone had repercussions later down the line. Chuck Austen cited the couple of times Claremont wrote Bobby as his inspiration and justification for characterizing Bobby as a belligerent asshole constantly sniping with everyone and picking fights in his run. I can't stand Austen's take on Bobby, lol. Literally my least favorite 'longterm run' with Bobby....he was just a douchebag in Austen's run, using his insecurities and alleged secondary mutation as an excuse to make everyone else around him miserable, trying to throw his weight around as one of the original X-Men and dismissive of everyone to come after....it was the complete opposite of everything that appeals to me about Bobby.
To be clear, there's elements of that in other runs that I have no problem with. I don't need my faves to be saints or perfect. And honestly, I LIKE Bobby being hot-headed and second-guessing the leaders of his teams, strong-willed about his own opinions and ideas and not looking to just go along with whatever he's told to do because that's what he's been ordered to do. I'm a big fan of Bobby with a brain and Bobby with a spine, and Bobby with his own stances on things and not just a yes-man for Scott or Xavier or whomever else is in charge. Its one of the reasons original X-Factor is such a fave of mine, not to mention the era of Uncanny when Bobby was visibly struggling with how he'd been affected by Emma's possession, the shifts in his power, his father's bigotry, etc...Bobby with rough edges, abrasive jokes that sometimes ARE a bit mean and not just light-hearted, with a quicker trigger finger and willingness to use harsh tactics than most other characters expect from him....I'm down for all of that.
BUT that's only because those things AREN'T the norm for Bobby. In the context of his overall history, times when Bobby's been an asshole or even just colder or harsher than usual...those are the exceptions to the rule, the outliers to his norm. They're times when he's acting out of character without ACTUALLY being OOC....where its not that his behavior is unbelievable, its just uncharacteristic and indicative of him being in a particularly bad headspace. Its him when he's Going Through It, not just him being....him. Like 'oh that's just how Bobby is.'
There's ways to have Bobby be hot-headed and with his own opinions and stances on things without him just being a dick about it. There's ways to show that Bobby's not always Mr. Nice Guy without treating it as though his nice guy persona is the real false face, an act that he puts on to cover up 'actually' being a mean-spirited, lonely asshole underneath. Austen didn't have any interest in nuance....he found the 'usual takes' on Bobby uninteresting, and talked about how he had to hunt through back issues to find an angle on Bobby he thought he could sink his teeth into....and then he found the issues Claremont had written him.
Now OBVIOUSLY, Claremont is a much better writer than Austen. There's no real comparison. But its not about comparing their execution for me, its about how like....even with as little as Claremont wrote Bobby, I can absolutely see HOW Austen got the characterization for Bobby that he did, based on just that. Its very much....an obvious interpretation or extrapolation of how Claremont seemed to see the character, and I think if Claremont HAD ended up writing Bobby more than he did....it would have followed very similar patterns of characterization. The 'funny man' who reacts badly and lashes out when confronted with people who don't find him funny or have a soft spot for him like the 05 did.
And given the personalities of the characters Claremont did prioritize.....I don't see much chance Bobby would get to be a fun, light-hearted jokester when Claremont already had Kurt in that role and cast in a much more sympathetic light.....Storm would have had little to no patience for a Bobby that constantly second-guessed her authority, especially if he kept doing so on the basis of 'I was here first'....Logan, Banshee, John and Shiro would likely have just seen him as a punk they had no interest in putting up with more than they had to. Like...the stage was not set for Bobby to find a niche among Claremont's overall cast.
Lastly.....the specific ways Claremont had Bobby get aggressive with John and Piotr and the others....were yikes. He basically had Bobby go off on Piotr based on anti-Soviet stereotypes that were the norm at the time, as well as him basically being racist towards John - like we're not talking about slurs here, but definitely dealing out micro-aggressions. And given that Claremont's All-New lineup included the characters it did specifically TO be way more inclusive than the 05 had been.....its a pretty likely bet that a 'natural direction' for Bobby in Claremont's eyes...aka the first thing he landed upon for a character he didn't want to do much with....was a stuck in his ways guy who was destined to be the odd man out and just not fit in with the more progressive lineup he 'just didn't get/gel with.'
In essence....Bobby by Claremont IMO held a very strong chance of ending up EXACTLY the kind of character his father was....rather than the character *I* grew to love specifically BECAUSE he broke the cycle of how he was raised and basically devoted his entire life to fighting against the kinds of intolerances his father was willing to espouse, even against his own family.
Sooooo....ngl, I've always breathed a sigh of relief about Claremont NOT doing more with his character. Being written by a good writer is no guarantee of getting good stories or characterization...if said writer doesn't actually like your character or WANT you characterized as any kind of likable, but sees you as more useful when depicted as a cautionary tale or a 'don't be like that guy' kind of character.
Obviously this is all speculation and just theorizing based on what little Claremont has done with Bobby or said about him, but its not like I'm pulling it out of nowhere, y'know? Everything Claremont's mentioned over the years, as far as I've seen, while maybe not being 'Oh I hate that guy, what a shitty character'....it all still seems to line up with this interpretation, whereas I've never seen so much as a single interview or comment from him that suggests Claremont's ever had ANY kind of ideas or positive angles for the character that he just never got to implement or views as a 'wish there'd been time/space to include this.'
*Shrugs* So tbh, all due respect to Claremont and his iconic run and all the work he did building the franchise and many of its characters into what they are today....
But personally, I think him NOT writing Bobby more is probably one of the best things to ever happen to the character, even if it does mean he missed out on the higher profile/visibility that would have come with more of a presence in Claremont's run.
We could've ended up with a very different 'core' characterization for Bobby's overall history, and I genuinely just don't think it would have been a characterization that I (or many Iceman fans) would have liked. But as always, YMMV.