I had the opportunity to transform movie OP and BB. I must say that I really like the automorph gimic especially present at the feet. For those of you who have had the opportunity to try these figures out, what are your views on the automorph technology?? Thanx Transbot90210
It's a great gimmick in general. It doesn't seem to work so well on Blackout, but on Starscream it's very cool. Ratchet's is quite subtle, but Ironhide's is fantastic. Back end of truck - robot leg in seconds.
I've only picked up Jazz, Brawl, Bonecrusher and Barricade so far. Barricade's was so subtle I didn't even notice it until it was pointed out to me. Brawl's is freakin' awesome the way his upper torso all rolls into place along with his tank tread shoulders. Bonecrusher doesn't seem to have one IMO. Unless you count the lever that you move to make the mine sweepers go up and down, but that seems more like an action feature to me. Jazz... I like the way his feet automorph when you turn the lever on the sides, but for some reason his cheast doesn't automorph when his head automorphs like it's supposed to and I always have to do that part manually. Can't figure out why it would be screwing up though either. So far I'm about 50/50 on the feature and I'm hoping that future figures will make it more enjoyable.
I'd have to agree on Ironhide (tis' the only one I have, wait, Power Up VT6 has it too) I can't stop transforming his legs, it's so much fun watching all the pieces shift!
Make sure you lock the back windshield into place. Keep pushing on it until it clicks. If you just lower it softly, you'll only succeed in getting the head up. Wreckage's gimmick is really cool as well. His shoulders swing up, his chest folds down, and his cannon slides out, and a guard that hides the cannon swings out of the way in one smooth motion. Only problem with him is that he's got no pegs to lock everything into robot mode position, so sometimes when you go to position his shoulders, his chest starts transforming on you, and you've got to reset it. Overall, though, I really like it. It's not quite the same as autotransforming, you still get the satisfaction of transforming the figure yourself, but it offers up an interesting degree of visual complexity to the action, and mimics the movie's visual style pretty well. It also does away with those little fiddly bits of the transformation you always wind up forgetting to do, by doing it on its own. So far, it also seems they've managed to make it a fairly unobtrusive gimmick. It doesn't seem to really hinder any of the figures that have it, which is good.
Auto-morph is the best gimmick since firing-missiles, and I'd prefer this over them. Whenever I transform a TF in front of anyone that's not a fan, they make fun of the fact that it takes me 5 minutes to do it. I try to explain that that's half the fun of TFs, but they don't get it. With automorph they don't even question why it's impressive or fun to do it. They instantly get Transformers more.
Yeah. I didn't lock it into place the first time I transformed him until I realized that his head wasn't up at the proper level. Did it the second time though and the chest still needed adjusting a little, but it seems to be working for me now. A friend of mine told me that his knees move slightly when you're transforming his legs. Personally, I tried it a couple of hours ago and it's not working for me so I'm guessing he's either full of it or my Barricade is flawed in some way. But either could be the case seeing as the only figure whose automorph worked for me 100% on the first try was Brawl's and my friend at work tends to make shit up from time to time just to sound "cool".
I think (don't have him yet) that Blackout's head flips up in place of the middle of the cockpit when you move his legs or something.
That's it. The problem with it is that it makes his helicopter nosewheel relatively useless' put the toy's weight on it, and the cockpit section starts to rotate, spoiling the helicopter's lines.
I've only got Leader Prime. I was pleasantly amused by the gimmick. Now I don't have to work so hard to move the plastic around. *sits on couch and eats another twinkie*
I'm bumping this because I wanted to start this topic now that everyone has a chance to buy these things. I honestly think Automorph needs to be a standard feature in all future transformers and never look back. It displays an evolved form of engineering that truly separates them from past toys, even alternators. In fact, future alternators should definitely have it.
OK, Im unsure if this is the best place for this, but umm Im having problems with automorph technology. Blackout... In alt mode "Pave Low Mode" The legs and the head doesnt line up properly so straightening up one, causes the other to jump out of synch. Bumblebee... keeping him in alt mode, the front bumper keeps wanting to separate and jump into robot mode, cant seem to keep him a robot in disguise. Ironhide... in root mode... the two halves of the front end with the spring loaded keeps bouncing around and doesnt stay solid. So far I like the alt modes, the automorph technology difficulties will pass, but with the root modes I still think "Hoist goes to Hollywood"
I think my BumbleBee is broken, it keeps bending forward and not keeping in vehicle mode. Has anyone encountered this problem or figured out how to fix it? The automorph feature is fine but I can see already how springs can become a huge problem.
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=133639 Apparently folks are having a problem with Bumbles breaking. I've transformed him at least 20 times now (mine's defective) and haven't experienced a problem. I love automorph. I'm totally sold. I'd love to see it in future Alternators.
When you swing down the legs, the head flips up and the blade/tail section also swings down. Seperate the side tabs (that line up the cockpit to the tail section) before you try and fix it. Hold the large black linkage that goes to the tail section and then move the cockpit to a different area of the gearing. Holding the legs and moving the cockpit doesn't do it and I have stress marks on the tabs from messing with mine, all locked together.
It's a mixed blessing really. On the one hand I think it's a great idea (a gimmick that actually enhances the enjoyment of the toy!), but at the other end of the spectrum it makes me afraid to be too rough with some of them. BUMBLEBEE especially requires some care! The only one I've broken (so far) is the feature on BRAWL that raises the front tracks up to his shoulders - It works manually perfectly fine so I'm not too bothered.
