From the begining of TFs, a lot of the gimmicks on the toys are either gears, lights, sounds, springs, and rarely motorized parts.

Is there a reason as to why there is not many motorized TF toys? This excludes Radio Control alt mode toys, but the only recent motorized transforming TF with motors was Ultimate BB. Why can't small motors be placed in the weapons of the toys. (for example like having helicopter TFs with motorized propellers and rotors, spinning gatling guns with sounds/light, or auto transformation/automorph with motorizes sections.)

I do know it may have to do with costs, but seeing some toys like ROTF Supreme Devastator with a near $100.00 price tag with only lights and sounds, it would make sense to have motorized features if toys are going to be expensive. Small motors found in current R/C helicopters and Tomy/Takara mini R/C can power basic parts in Transformers.

Should transformer toys start using more motorized gimmicks in future products?

 

I'd rather see Has/Tak concentrate more on the quality of the toys (for the money) than the electronic gimmicks.

 

NO, i'm pretty sure, motorised gimmick, cause design's flaws

 

Oh please NO !!!

The ROTF Leader class toys already suffer from (imo) redundant sound & light gimmicks - Prime being the sole exception - It compromises both proportions & engineering. Wiring & battery compartments eat away precious engineering space. Adding electric motors would even make battery life worse.

This would be a TF's worst nightmare.

 

I was just thinking too, but it would be possible to have two mini motors in the two rear wheels of a car transformer to make it a R/C car in alt mode and have the batteries stored in the bumper.

At the rate of the evolution of Takara's designing and QC they are doing are superior job, but money is still the issue I guess if they are to add motors.

 

Battery life is the main problem here. If those motors are supposed to provide main propulsion, 2 AA batteries are going to run dry real quick. (longer battery life will require a big & heavy propietary battery pack at a high price)

Plus... have you ever considered the weight issue ? The weight of the batteries + the electrical motors = off balance. Or the TF would have to have all weight in his feet, but that would make his feet & underlegs absurdly bulky.

Really... this is not a good idea. ..And I'm not even mentioning durability issues...

 

I'd like for cars ad such to be able to move, but it would compromise the quality of the toy  

 

No on electric motors. Those motors could complicate things WAY too much. If a gear broke, or a planel got caught, it'd be awful! Electronic motors would take up way too much space in terms of engineering.

 

I have a lot of battery based toys/hobbies and changing batteries frequently dont really bother me too much, but I do see your point especially if from the perspective of a child a fast battery life will bore the child.

But if thats the case, what is your opinion on the Ultimate BB toy? He has motorized door wings and a moving arm that shoots, light and sounds when pressed. I think thats a bit too much in my point as I only prefer maybe just a spinning gun feature or pulsing gun feature and eliminate the use of the push ratchet feature on some helicopter transformers and replace with small motors.

Another point that I think Hasbro should do is an auto cutoff feature for the electronics. If the button isn't pressed, the unit will shut off the power to conserve battery instead of draining it. (now I'm not sure what circuitry TF toys uses now, but I remember my TF movie Brawl battery died fast.)

But for weight goes, those small motors don't weigh all that much and if we are using AAA batteries, there shouldn't be a difference in weight. I think Hasbro and Takara needs to make a compact sound box and battery box as looking at ROTF Jetfire and Megatron, those battery packs were just large.


Ah the gearing is another point too...Looking at how the gears were done in Voyager ROTF Megatron's death claw, one of the gear was designed to pop off its strut and snap back in with a spring to avoid breakage of the gear. Can't that be used for some motor gear parts that are prone to breaking?

 

I use mini motors my custom TFs, most recent being a Springer out of Incinerator with motorized propellers that become his claws. The two motors cost me almost 10 each, not to mention labor to install, wiring and batteries switches.

I feel this would be cost prohibitive on any class other than Supreme or Ultimate.

I would rather Has/Tak put a little more into paint apps and creating figures that have high demand (Leader class Blackout and Bonecrusher for example)

Plus issues with more broken parts too.

 

Well, they are so big because that's what is needed to provide them reasonable battery life...and look at both Ldr Megs & Jetfire : they're HUGE already. And tbh... imo Voyager Megs is way better than the leader...one reason is the lack of electronic gizmos.

AAA batteries are really not gonna suffice btw.

You'd better stick to toys like this for gimmicks :

 

Can you fire the disks with the remote control on that?

 

no , just no keep the Tfs simple

 

points have already been made regarding batteries and design limitations, so I'll just say..

"NO!! NO!!! NO!!"

keep them simple, good quality with good (not sticky) paint apps.

 

lol too funny knoted! Well that explains then, but I do like my huge toys! A lot of my Japanese toys has AAA in them and they don't last too long, but still enjoyable. I do agree on the Voyager looking better than Leader Megs. I have both but to me its Apple and Oranges. I love em both. I do away with the Mech Alive features. I never really liked the feature of pulling a lever down to activate as this makes it more cheap in the design. Light up weapons were popular but I do wish they have motors in them to animate it.

 

The current Movie Leader Optimus Prime is a great example of superb engineering but the electronics on his back makes him bulky when looked at the sides.

I think the money should be spend on better paint apps and good design engineering of bot-mode and alt-modes. Though, I think its evolving now through leaps and bounds, but we can still see some hints of cost-cutting compromises here and here due to unecessary gimmiks.

 

Maybe as a subline but not in the mainline.

 

No.

Please, no. Just give me a vehicle that transforms into a robot. Or a dinosaur that transforms into a robot. No lights, sounds, or motors needed.

 

i said yes. but only in some toys. not a feature in all toys.

maybe a small line like HA.

 

Sounds like people want a very high quality replica car and a replica robot mode together if there is no light/sound/gimmicks involved which means its more on the line that people want the MasterPiece series. Which puts a fine line between "toy" and "collectors item"...

I do like Scantron's idea of having motorized TFs as a seperate line. I have couple old Japanese Beast Wars II figures (AutoJetter, AutoStinger, etc..)where you have to roll them forward to automatically transform, a seperate new line/series might be the answer.