You know, let me start by saying I think the engineering behind behind Transformers of today is amazing. This is in no way meant to disrespect anyone at Hasbro or Takara...but.....


When I was younger, I could pretty much pick up any Transformer and figure it out with no instructions. They were fun and could be changed within seconds. Now, I have my son, his friends, tons of nephews, etc. who all have Transformers figures. Every figure that I see is always nothing more than a mistransformed pile of plastic. I sat down the other day with a leader sized Bumblebee and got it to start looking like a car but could never finish it completely.

I dunno if it's me being an old fart now, kids today are dumber, or what it is, but it just seems like Transformers have gotten TOO advanced for their own good. I just don't see how kids really enjoy them nowadays. Anyone else ever felt this way??

 

I do find a lot of present-day transformation sequences rather complex to figure out. Barring the TFA toys and one or two other exceptions, there isn't a single TF I've recently purchased whose transformations I can tackle without a moment's thought, or without a brief glance through its instruction manual. By contrast, I can transform the G1 figures I purchased two decades ago without any mental effort whatsoever.

This isn't my prime complaint about today's TF toys, however. My criticism is directed against how fragile they are. I hesitate to handle, say, my TFP Vehicon the same way I do my G1 Doubledealer. Even the act of transforming them necessitates a lot of caution on my part, lest I wind up snapping something. I miss the days when I didn't have to worry so much about breaking my toys.

 

I think Hasbro learned their lesson with ROTF in that there is a balance between the levels of transformation difficulty and playability in what makes a good TF toy. The movie figures, in trying to accurately depict the characters in the films, tend to go far overboard in how complex they are.

More recent figures, however, are considerably better engineered so that the transformations are involved enough that they don't feel lackluster, but not complicated to the point of frustration. Take PRID Soundwave for example; his figure is more or less plain vanilla in that the most complex part of it is just moving the arms down to form the wings in the transformation, but the figure itself is highly poseable, show accurate, and doesn't sacrifice much for the sake of its simple transformation.

 

Buy the figures made for a younger audience. They have less involved transformations

 

Yes. Some of them seem to be a little bit unintuitive at best. What did you think of the Animated series a while back? I thought that was a really nice balance of easiness and effectiveness.

 

I think your reason is the main reason why the FE molds had such a limited release. Out of the ones I have, only Bulkhead is fun to transform.

Also, G1 Transformers were/are fun as hell to transform. That is why I actually like the legends figures. They scale decently with G1 combiners and Metroplex/Scorponok and are fun little figures to play with.

 

The complexity of TF toys reached their peak with ROTF/HFTD. I'm sure parents/kids complaints about the figures being too difficult to transform caused HasTak to dial back the complexity and made the toys simpler in engineering starting with DOTM. By contrast, I thought the TF Animated toys were way too simplistic for the most part (not that they're bad figures; I admired how they captured the stylized aesthetic of the show but I personally found them unsatisfying to transform).

First Edition TF Prime toys brought back some of the fiddly complexity but then we got much simpler figures with the RiD mainline. I think TFP (both FE and RiD) hits that sweet spot between on-screen accuracy, transformation challenge, engineering, and sheer fun factor and playability. Classics hits this sweet spot as well, and I think the Masterpiece line has been trying to do so as well (especially with MP-08 and MP-10.... MP-09, not so much).

 

the whole idea of modern transformations at least for Movieverse Leaders/ Voyagers, is to challenge and mostly frustrate the hell out of collectors. But Takaratomy / Hasbro have realized that it's sucking the fun and simplicity out of the whole enjoyment process, and hence have rectified the issues in the recent toy-lines like Prime and Generations. But then we all know the Fandom as a whole still find excuses/ bitch about how toys are being too 'simplistic' and childish/ kid-like...blah blah...  Really?! I guess that one should just stick to the toys they find comfortable with playing and collect what they feel is personally valuable to them, right?!  
IMHO, Cyberverse is the way to go for me, as it's rather addictive and you don't have to worry about breaking the figure into little pieces when actively transforming them.  

 

What gets me is when you have characters done over multiple toys and a certain Optimus Prime, for example, just takes stupidly long to transform. It's like... you have allll these versions of this one guy. How did you stray so far off the map to come up with this hideous wreck?

 

I'm the total opposite of this. As someone who grew up at the tail end of G1 and really becoming a fan of G2, I can just as easily pick up a toy and transform it on the spot without instructions as easily as I can a G1 toy.

For the most part a lot of kibble often gives clues on orientation of parts in transformation and I look for those clues. Some transformations are easy because of how similar they are to others. First Edition Bumblebee is almost the same as the ROTF deluxe Bumblebee, and FE Arcee is easy as shit.

Bulkhead isn't complex at all. He's actually very simple, while I think FE Cliffjumper is probably the most complex of the ones I have. From what I've seen of FE voyager Optimus, he's probably the most complex but since I don't have him, I can't accurately judge.

Only two Transformers in recent years have given me any trouble. Generations/War for Cybertron Optimus and Masterpiece Hot Rod. Generations Optimus is pretty crazy and it isn't initially clear how some parts go, while I blame Hot Rod's transformation issues on poor design choices.

 

I was able to figure out PRIDE Cliff, 'Bee, and Soundwave without instructions (I had some trouble figuring out Wheeljack's legs), but the transformations are a LOT simpler now (not in a bad way, either!).

 

Yeah, I've thought about this a lot lately, and you are right.

I have 5 nephews between the age of 4 and 9, all of whom like Transformers to varying degrees. The one who likes TF most just turned 6. What can I give him other than Cyberverses or something? When the people who were that age during G1 got a TF -- any TF -- they could transform it. But now?

My nephew wants an Optimus Prime, but what am I going to give him? DotM Voyager? hahahaNO. PRiD Voyager? That thing would frustrate the shit out of him. Then he'd give it to his mom, my sister to help him and she'd curse my name. The most ridiculous part of this is that supposedly part of the reason for the PRiD remolds was to make them more kid-friendly in the transformations. But Voyager Optimus fails at that, big time. That part where you have to swivel the arms/shoulders around and stuff -- something is going to get snapped off by a kid. And 6 is too young to be doing all that panel lining up fiddling stuff, in order to get the vehicle mode right. These toys are just not kid-friendly. And if the parents aren't TF fans, you can forget about it. How many reviews have we all seen on Amazon from irate parents who claim to be "engineers" or "engineering students" who supposedly couldn't figure out their kid's toy when they needed help? It's a freaking epidemic.

So basically, I'm reduced to giving him one of my old Armada toys I don't care as much about anymore, or sticking to Cyberverses. At least for another year or two.


Now, on the other hand, for myself as an adult fan, I do appreciate and prefer the more intricate transformations and movie/show-accurate toys. But I can't be the primary audience for these things.

 

I only bought one or two of those and I actually like Swindle & Jazz. Glad to hear that they pulled back on some of the complex designs.

 

Yeah. Like, I think they're great for us, but I'd hate to be the guy presenting these to kids for some sort of focus group & seeing most of them fail horribly, even when it comes to the few who've bothered reading the instructions.

 

They are harder and less fun to transform. I got pissed with Generations Perceptor and threw him away. Twice. I did the same to Straxus too.

 

my problem with the older figs is how often things would shear off. You can't fix that. Lost a couple Optimuses, Soundwaves, and a few Hooks that way.

 

Maybe I am just a nerd. But I don't seem to have any trouble transforming anyone I buy. It may take me a little but I figure it out. Masterpiece Megs is the only one that really pissed me off, lol. He was a pain... but refused to give up. I am only 31. Sadly though, I have more trouble with setting up a bloody Surround Sound then a Transformer. Sheesh.

Best Regards,

 

Yeah, that is one thing I think is much improved about modern figures as relates to kids. Things designed to pop off when excessive force is applied, rather than snap off. I look like a hero when my nephew brings me a TF with one amputated limb and I can just pop it back on for him.

I still think the PRiD Voyager Optimus is a tragedy waiting to happen with kids, though. I predict many kids snapping those shoulder joints off during transformation. And that won't be fixable.

 

I personally love the challenge of the new figs and when it is too simple i end up hating it and selling it.

 

There's a lot of comments in this thread that I feel are missing the OP's point. We, as adults and collectors, should have no problem transforming these figures. But try handed a 5 year old a ROTF Skids or Mudflap and let them tackle it. Impossible.

With that being said, I think HasTak is really starting to find a great balance between easy and intuitive transformation. Even the recent PRID releases I would definitely feel comfortable handing over to a 5 year old.

I completely agree with the OP though, comparing the transformations of G1 figures to some of the recent releases, oh man forget about it; it's hard! I still think that what we have now is going to withstand the test of time and be fun for years to come.