This is a very smart point to make.

I hadn't thought about it before. You are right to point out that when engineering Combiner Wars figures, they had to think not only about how long it would take to transform individual figures, but how long it would take to transform the combiner as a whole. That could get tedious really fast.

 

I'd just like a little complexity in my transformers. I'm firmly on the side of the fence that thinks that simplistic transformations are not a good thing. Some of my favorite transformations are those that involve lots of steps. Heck I'm not even a movie fan but I at least appriciate that they (use to) have really involved transformations. I get it, some people get frustrated or peeved off with complex transformations, but personally I find complex transformations to be calming.  

 

Personally, undue complex transformations are frustrating and increase my blood pressure rather than decrease it.

I do find, however, if something is TOO simple and the payoff is awful, then it's not worth it. Likewise, a complex transformation with intuitive steps can be fun. But, generally, I prefer a Transformer to have about 8-10 steps. I should be able to convert a figure several times in the course of 5-10 minutes. Any longer than that and it ceases to function as a Transformer...it's either going to be left in action figure or vehicle collectable mode for the foreseeable future.

 

I think people get "complexity" and "elegance" mixed up a lot. Instead of complex vs. simple, a better way to look at it would be elegant vs. fiddly.

Combiner Wars are elegant. You've got however many different deluxe figures...but all of them ultimately have to fold up into an arm and leg that are relatively close to the same size. To pull that off on the scale Hasbro/Takara did was pretty impressive.

Meanwhile, you've got RtS Wreck-Gar, which I recently sold because I absolutely hated owning a transformer that was such a pain in the butt to change back and forth. I'd also put Generations Wingblade and RiD Sideswipe in this category.

But as Hasbro tries to find the balance between modern design and G1 appearances...you're going to see less complexity and more elegance. Because you can't recreate G1 "accurately" without mimicking elements of the transformation. And those were simple by design.

 

Yes, that's it! There's this sense of satisfaction and accomplishment after doing a complex transformation. Remember, a transformer figure is also in a sense a puzzle. And the fun in puzzles is solving them. It saddens me that Hasbro/Takara are in this mindset of "ten or less steps".  

Transforming a complex figure helps me with my anxiety.  

 

That said, if there's multiple points that actually make you anxious when attempting them, then it's not good. Hasbro these days seems to be wanting Transformers to be fun to play with in all modes. I'm glad that while Hasbro's figures are simple, they're not insultingly so. And Takara has their Masterpiece stuff for more complex options.

 

There's not any points that make me anxious, so no worries there.  

 

Deluxe Groove's legs are a pain in the ass to tab together, but nothing has been overly complex or frustrating.

 

All are easy
except when putting the back wheel together on afterburner and afterbreaker after splitting them apart.

 

Once you understand the trick to RTS Wreckgar it's very easy and satisfying how there were able to make that bike-bot really good. It's all in the pelvis ratchets.

I can understand issues with the folding legs of the Combiner War deluxes when you first get one but once you figure it out it's cookie cutter.

 

My 3yo can transform his CW deluxes. There's no way to say that without implying a significant amount of condescension so I'll just own it.

 

This is my answer try transforming a mp red alert now that's frustrating

 

Not at all! Way easier than movie figures

 

Just transformed G2 Bruticus last night. Very enjoyable distraction while watching a movie. I had stop and think maybe twice but overall quite easy. I actually prefer it being a little easier compared to some of those masterpiece transformations. MP Megatron was borderline frustrating.

 

How is Red Alert frustrating? I find MP Sideswipe fairly intuitive, and from what I can tell the only real difference between them are the top of the head and the new shoulders featuring false wheels.

RTS Perceptor, on the other hand... there is no fun to be had with that thing.

 

Easy for all the ones I transformed. Only difficulty I had with figures were some from ROTF and Binaltech Grimlock.

 

Thanks everyone, maybe I'm just out of practice. I found Takara Unite Lightspeed extremely difficult to transform back to car mode. Took a while to line parts up or fold the head back under the hood while the whole time feeling like i'm causing stress marks, paint chipping by forcing things.

I tried the Takara instructions but its in japanese and I find the pictures a bit small. The videos on youtube either make it look so easy   OR, say its a reused mold and just skip it  

 

In terms of Takara Unite Strafe, I still haven't figured out the correct official arm mode transformation.

Overall, it's great to hear the transformations are supposed to be easy....it just means I'm making things overly complicated or not looking in the right places for info.

 

breakdowns mold is preety bad, to be honest, mine came out of package with a snap on his upper chest area where the chest can conflict with the parts, the QC of this line had me being very carefull with all the toys just in case, they introduced some new ways of transforming legs in this line, i think that might of caught a few people out, but to be honest the whole line was rather simple.