For MP’s and 3P, I only transform to get them to bot mode and display. Most MP-esque figures are expensive and fragile and the more handling they get, the higher chance that you’ll have stress wear, paint rubbing off, breakages or something snapping where it shouldn’t. If something breaks on a MP/3P, it’s a painstaking, time-consuming and arduous process to return the figure (especially if it’s overseas) or obtain the parts to repair it. By not transforming them regularly, I’m protecting my investment. Just look at the new MP-Starscream and all the issues it’s having for reference.

For CHUG figures purchased at B&M stores, I transform them back and forth semi-regularly for photo-ops. I’m not too worried about something breaking because they’re fairly inexpensive, usually not as fragile and I can simply return them to the store within 90 days if something pops off where it shouldn’t.

 

People forget the “Transform” part of transformers. Why have 2 modes at all when you only ever leave it as 1 mode? Just to know it can do both? Buy an RED figure then buy a model car. If your leaving it in the shelf, how it feels and whether it transforms is immediately irrelevant to you.

 

once to bot mode if it comes in alt and then left on display and a great looking display with nearly all the g1 cast in mp form

 

Is that Snake eyes Riding Salmoore? Not a particularly fun transformation. How fast can you get from bot to bike I wonder? I've transformed him maybe 20x. I think with one warm up I can get sub 2 minutes.

Great picks btw. Always thought that Bull version of Sideswipe looked cool!

I'm gonna transform Siege Sideswipe with one hand when I get home, just for you.

 

For me, it depends.

All the legends scale stuff I have I got for the express purpose of transforming. I don't care too much if I damage one.

The MPs? Depends how I think they'll fair. My XTB and FT shit rarely gets transformed because I'm afraid I'm going to break something.

For my money, FansHobby has the formula down for a good painted transforming transformer. The transformations are fun and I never feel as though things might break. If FH made more shit (besides repaints) then I would probably have entire shelves of FH bots.

 

I started collecting seriously right around the same time Covid hit. I spend hours of my day on conference calls, and if I'm fiddling with a bot in my hand, I can still pay attention, whereas if I'm playing on my phone I'll totally tune out.

That being said, there's some bots that are absolutely more fun than others to transform (ER Optimus, Kingdom Cyclonus, a lot of the fansproject bots, some of the Fans Hobby ones, etc.) and there are definitely bots that are too fragile or too fussy to transform often (I'm looking at you MP-24, FP Snarl, PX Ultra Magnus).

 

Thanks! Yes that's them. Salmoore is not so bad, but it does take me a few minutes to figure out how to go from bot to bike. Bike to bot is easier.
The instruction paper for Salmoore was horrible. It looked like the 500th photocopy from grade school.

 

It was a hard choice between number 3 and the unnumbered “once a polka dotted blue moon.”

“Thankfully,” I have hobbies other than Transformers. I’ll transform them very randomly, every so often — but more often than not, I don’t.

Why? Because I don’t feel like it. “Transformer” or not I don’t give a shite. Don’t @me    

 

I'm going to @you because I get uppity at people who don't transform their figures. How dare you buy a Transformers figure with your money and not transform it! Sacrilege!

 

Much like a kid, I would play with my toys when it strikes me fancy, especially since I collect legends, and they're often fun to fiddle with.

Whichever it is, boom its getting played today.
Also when it comes to owning multiple for-display toys, I am also on team "That's weird", one thing I gotta respect tho, the hustle and the grind for the moolah in getting those toys, great work, keep it up    

 

Excellent thread!

I find that sometimes I can spend a good hour or two just staring at my displays, thinking of improvements, imagining how the next figures are going to fit in. When new figures arrive, they are usually transformed once then put in the display. As time allows, I grab one or two to fiddle with during meetings or while watching TV. But the most action my figures get are when my son asks me to transform one of them. They usually get converted once or twice and actually played with a bit.

 

Honestly, there’s a lot of MP that I wouldn’t trust multiple transformations on, a lot of XTB/KFC falls into this slot... I can think of some FT too.

 

With very few exceptions, I transform every new figure at least once (notable exceptions include MP36+ because I already own MP36 KO that I've transformed multiple times, and TE01 cell shaded because I already owned and transformed the original TE01). Beyond that, most I don't transform again unless I want to take pictures of their alt modes for some reason. I used to transform them a lot when my collection was much smaller but these days I can't keep all the transformations memorized plus a lot of 3P figures just aren't fun to transform.

There are still a few exceptions. Some of my mainline figures I'll still transform and I recently acquired Power Baser and he was enough fun that I transformed him several times.

 

Depends on what’s current on my desk. Currently it is NewAge Herbie which gets transformed multiple times a day.

But only figures that are easy and fun to transform get a spot on the desk so mostly legends scale and Reformatted toys.

I usually transform every toy once to check that none of the transformation pieces are broken/damaged and that there is mo paint rub in the other mode.
Only exceptions are toys that have a tendency to break or get damaged while being transformed (like FT Rouge).

 

Every now and then, but the appreciation that they (and I) can do it is always part of the enjoyment of the toys themselves.

 

never unless it comes in alt mode

To address some posts in here, I would buy the hell out of Sunbow accurate non-transforming figures or even statues. As far as I'm aware that product doesn't exist so Masterpiece and third party are the best options.

 

It really depends on the figure. Combiner teams are such a hassle that they stay in the one mode for weeks to months at a time just because turning them all into one mode or another is such a big investment of time that I actually kinda have to focus on. Smaller, less complex figures I'll just mindlessly transform back and forth if I feel like it, but since 3P is more complex than Hasbro figures on average, they also tend to be a bit infrequent.

 

constantly

now obviously i go from figure to figure and alot just chill on the shelf since my collection is pretty depressingly big at this point, but 75% of the reason im even in this hobby is to transform them. which is why sometimes on here i’ll have pretty batshit takes because no matter how good something is if the engineering is boring to me i won’t like it (MMC Brawl for example), or if a figure has some issues but i think the transformation is interesting to me (FT Warthog) i’ll usually ignore problems other people would be up in arms about

 

It definitely depends. Every other month or so I decide to unbox most of my figures to mess around with them. I transform each of them twice so I can still try and keep the easier transformations memorized. But there are definitely a couple I dont care for, like Wave Man. I also just keep Jinbao Devastator in combined form at this point, so I havent transformed him since last year.

 

Interesting to note that according to the poll, 82% seldom or never transform their figures (Option 1-3).

I would've guessed that it would've been a minority instead, but that's not the case. In fact, it's a vast majority.

36.8% transform often and above. (Option 4-6).

I don't know if the results are also more skewed, as multiple votes are allowed. I feel you should only be allowed to pick one option for a more accurate poll.

Also, I'm not a math whiz, so I don't know how the percentages are counted. But aren't they slightly off compared to the actual number of votes?

E.g. for those that vote "Never", it's 14 votes, so isn't it supposed to be 7.2% against total votes (194 at last count)?

The poll calculates it at 8.6%