Transformers

[J'Quille]

So my son got a black Ironhide for his preschool graduation last night from "Grandma and Grandpa", and I tell you, this thing is impossable to transform.  Maybe it's just me since I'm not used to this line of toys, but even following the darn directions doesn't help us get him completely into "robot" mode.  Especially his darn hood.  So now I have a 5 year old who "HATES Ironhide"  and a toy that I'm about ready to smash with a hammer.  Now I know that these figures have different difficulty levels on them, but have you guys ever come across and characters that are unusually difficult to transform?  Just curious.  I want to see if it is just me or the toy.  *whispers* Please say it's the toy, please say it's the toy. 

Jeff (trying to be smarter than the piece of plastic)

[Ben]

All of the movie toys are like that for me. Ironhide and Starscream are the worst offenders.

I just keep them all in robot mode, because I don't think there's anyway I'd get them back into vehicle mode convincingly.

[iFett]

Ya, me and movie Megs never got along and I litteraly threw him back in the box and haven't seen him since.  I still can't figure out how to get Leader Brawl into tank mode either, but I like him. 

Lame

[Ben]

Megatron was pretty lame. I can't believe I ended up with two examples of the Voyager mold. (Regular, and Best Buy Premium version.) At least I learned my lesson there and didn't get the Leader version. Blackout wasn't all that great either. Hell, I think all the Decepticons were great as toys, but bad as Transformers.

[Sugart]

My son loves the movie line, so Ive spent a lot of time transforming. Some of the worst offenders for me was Evac, Blackout repaint, and leader class Optimus Prime.

[DoctorPadawan]

Now I know that these figures have different difficulty levels on them, but have you guys ever come across and characters that are unusually difficult to transform?  Just curious.  I want to see if it is just me or the toy.  *whispers* Please say it's the toy, please say it's the toy. 

It's the toy. 

Ironhide is pretty difficult to get right, especially since (on mine, at least) the waist peg doesn't fit securely into his upper torso during the transformation process.  I still haven't perfected the upper torso/hood parts, and I don't know if I ever will.  Still, once you get him into a reasonable approximation of what he's supposed to look like, he's pretty impressive in robot mode. 

I know Hasbro puts that "parts are made to separate under stress" blurb on the instructions (which, I think you won't get any disagreements on this, are horribly vague and often incomplete), but some of these things are waaaaaaaaay too stiff/tough for adult to do without "separating" them, much less kids who got into them with the movie.

I still say the worst offender in terms of difficult transformations among the movie toys was Blackout.  The automorph feature was useless and actually impaired the toy rather than helped it, and the pieces (especially the side panels that "snap" onto the upper torso/cockpit section) look really flimsy and seem to want to stretch and/or break under the slightest pressure.  He looks great in robot mode and vehicle mode, but as Ben said about other Decepticons, as a Transformer, he kind of sucks.

I actually like Starscream, though.  Any word on when the "accurate" Target exclusive version will be coming out?  I saw the photos at either seibertron or tfw2005 and thought he looked really nice.

[J'Quille]

It's the toy.

Thanks guys for all of your feedback.  It's good to hear that it isn't my lack of knowledge of these figures or that we are getting defective toys.  Yes, Blackout is another one that my son just leaves in helicopter mode because it is such a pain in the butt to switch back and forth.  It sounds like we are having the same areas of issues with the same characters.  He gets so frustrated trying to get them back and then he gives it to me to figure out, then I get frustrated.     I think I have a better shot at a Rubix cube sometimes.  I hope that the animated figures will be easier to transform because those are what he will be eyeballing next.  Did I read that correctly, are they coming out in June instead of August now?

Jeff

[Ben]

Deep Space Starscream found!

This figure isn't due to hit the shelves of Target stores nationwide until the end of June. Deep Space Starscream was available through Target.com but the listing is no longer available via a recent search.

Well, at least we have an approximate release date. It'll probably be June 22nd, when the Animated toys hit shelves at Target.

Did I read that correctly, are they coming out in June instead of August now?

The Animated toys were always due to arrive in June-ish. It's the Classics/Universe line that hits in August. Though I expect to see those earlier than that, for some reason.

[JediJman]

Deep Space Starscream found!

That is one ugly robot.  Anyone else hate the design of the movie figures?  The only robot mold I can stand from these is Iron Hide.   

[jedi_master_sal]

I dig them. Bumblebee is probably my favorite.

What I'm surprised about is that I'm actually starting to like the Animated TFs. I haven't decided about buying them yet, but I'm edging ever so much closer to it. Problem is, I don't have cable to watch the darned program! So it will be hard to justify the cost.

[DoctorPadawan]

Color me surprised.  I walked into the local WM and found the pegs and shelves fully stocked with the animated TF Deluxes and Voyagers.  I don't know what the assortments were, but I definitely remember seeing:

Deluxes:  Cybertron Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Black Arachnia, and the bounty hunter bot
Voyagers:  Cybertron Megatron, Bulkhead, Starscream

I picked up the deluxe BB (he's okay) and Voyager SS (he's great in robot mode, but difficult to transform back into jet mode), as those were the only two I wanted, but the others looked like great representations of the animated style.  I can honestly say that the BB and SS, at least, look nearly identical to the animation in robot mode.

[Ben]

These things are really starting to grow on me. After seeing pics of Grimlock at 16bit.com and on Shortpacked, I'm almost ready to buy one. Good thing I haven't found the Animated toys yet, since I need to save that money for the Universe line.

[iFett]

Found a ****load of Animated figs today at WM.  I'm actually diggin the toon, and the figures look identical so I'm in for the most part, but I'm waiting for Target to reset so I can put those coupons to good use.  I'm just not happy with all the size variations that are coming out with ala Prime, Megs, & Bulkhead.  It also doesn't make sense to me that Blitzwing towers over Lugnut (stupid name btw) but a kick ass Con.

Swindle was on today's show as a Hummer I believe and he was quite true to his G1 form for the most part (most notible was the head and arm cannon).  I hope we get a combiner team or two out of this series as the Energon ones weren't quite up to par.

[J'Quille]

Found a ****load of Animated figs today at WM....but I'm waiting for Target to reset so I can put those coupons to good use.

So these are going to be at both WM and Targets?  Good.  We don't hit WM that often.

Are there going to be certain waves coming out at certain times of the year for these as well?  As mentioned a million times before, my son wants Grimlock, so I was wondering when to be on the lookout for that.

Jeff

[Neal]

In a complete "what the hell was I thinking" moment, I picked up the animated Voyager-class Megatron, Starscream, and Grimlock this morning.  They're still sitting in the trunk of my car.  I may take them back ... not sure yet.
The moral of the story, as always, is that I'm pretty stupid.