Currently I'm designing a TF in CAD, and decided to take some ideas from RTS Perceptor.

After getting a couple ideas from him, I decided to TF him after a year or so sitting on the shelf in robot mode.

That was Thursday night. I got it, like 75% there.
Last night I could only ess with it for a few minutes.
This morning, after about an hour or so af fiddling, examining, and getting a piece 1 micron more over *here* so that something comes together *there*- I have declared it "Transformed enough".

Things got pretty dicey tho; was getting frustrated and alomost lot my temper... transforming 1 figure into multiple pieces through a technique utilizing high velocity and an abrupt stop against an immovable surface.

Ages 5 and up?

 

I sometimes get stuck when I pick a figure off my shelf for a random transform. And it'll be just one simple stupid thing I forget what to do with.

Last night I went to change PRID Arcee into bike mode and totally forgot that I had to bend the waist forwards to make the head go down. I'm staring at the figure going 'How do I make this head move!!?'. Such an embarrassingly simple thing, but I spent ten minutes looking at the joints and my brain just wouldn't engage with the solution.

But yeah, there are many (more complex) figures that I really wonder how kids are supposed to work them out and remember what to do.

 

I can never remember the trick for the Junkions in their transformation-which sucks, as I have like 6 of them lol

 

I always forget I need to rotate the chest piece on WFC Optimus. Sure, I remember it now I'm trying to think of such examples of 'senior moments' when transforming figures, but if I went and picked up the figure right now to transform I wouldn't be surprised if I immediately forgot that chest rotating step as soon as I got the figure in my hands.

 

Honestly with the junkion mold, I just fiddle with the seat and tank until they look ok then never touch them ever again lol

And yea, RTS Perceptor is an annoying complicated transformers, which sucks because he has an awesome alt mode. I'm kinda glad that since the prime line has started, the complexity of transformation has become a bit more simple.

 

I don't have this problem yet...but I am getting old.

Just transformed my new FE bulkhead without instructions...don't think I can do that 10 years from now.

 

I recently sold off alot of my DOTM toys and I was trying to transform Leader Sentinel, HA Roadbuster, and HA Leadfoot to make them more stable while shipping, but I got so damn frustrated trying to get them right that I just put them back in robot mode and wrapped them carefully.

 

...Is Perceptor really all that hard? Once I figured him out on my second try it all clicked and I can do him in a jiffy. Hell, even MP Hot Rod is easy for me now, it's just that I don't like to transform him.

I'd like to talk about two relevant things here:

1) I like to take to Transformations with an analytical approach. I rarely ever use instructions anymore even on a new figure, and I often don't watch video reviews. When I picked up voyager Dreadwing, even without instructions I got him down on my first try, and I've never watched a review. I picked up Classics Astrotrain and Octane, and I was able to get them into all three modes without instructions as well, and I've never picked up those figures before.

My secret? I take to transformations like an investigator. I pry parts apart, and if something is removable, then I remove it. I test parts to see what rotates, what swivels, what is on ball joints or not, and once I got that, I can figure out the rest. This process is just really like writing down notes during a lecture...it helps you cognitively get down transformations, and your steps may be all over the place, but you can do it without difficulty because you've committed mental computation to the transformation. You build dendrites and connections between neurons that commit stuff like this into your brain.

I really does help for a lot of figures that have complex transformations. Take it part by part and draw on your resource of transformations of other figures you've done before. **EVERY** figure has some transformation similarities with other figures, and knowing the "tools" will help you that much more.

2) This whole marketed to kids thing. I'll just say it...It is a wholly wrong statement to say that EVERY transformer toy is marketed to kids and kids alone. We in the community like to throw this whole "It's for kids!" statement around whenever people complain about lack of complexity or gimmick laden figures. Although it is true that many toys are marketed to children, you have to look at stuff like Classics, which are **CLEARLY** and unmistakably marketed to adult collectors.

How many kids know who Sideswipe is? How many kids know who Skullgrin or Darkmount/Straxus is? The Junkions? The last time they were in any American media was Transformers G1 season 3(not counting the anime stuff of course). The Coneheads? Just two years ago Dirge and Thrust got released, and the last time Thundercracker was in any media that kids could access was War for Cybertron. How many kids know who characters like Thunderwing and Sky Shadow/Black Shadow are? Voyager Bludgeon from ROTF? Kup? Scourge? Hot Rod and Cyclonus?

The EVIDENCE that many people seem to willfully ignore, is that even in retail Hasbro caters to the collectors market. They occasionally create toys of characters that, unless a kid is infused with G1 from the get go, they won't know who these characters are, and therefore they have little to no appeal to kids. They exist in the waves for people like **US**, the adults who know these characters intimately and grew up with them.

It is true that Transformers are made for kids, but we must also remember that Hasbrodoes make Transformers in the retail waves for adults too. If that wasn't the case, then the aforementioned Classics figures would not exist.

 

I use the instructions to transform each figure I get once, then I just remember how. I remembered how to transform fe starscream without instructions after a year since my first was eaten by my dogs. I just now transformed TFCC dion after two years of him sitting on my shelf.  

 

Cybertron Crosswise. that is all.

 

I know Perceptor has pissed me off a plenty many times, so did the RotF Twins (non-Ice Cream Truck, I love that one).

 

He's child's play. Just as complex as every other Cybertron toy. Not to difficult.

Perceptor is a toughie. Luckily I like his robot mode enough to not care.

 

Yeah, at some point in transforming my Perceptor a nearly invisible tab broke and now he has really droopy arms in bot mode. That particular mold has gone from being one of my favorites to one I won't be replacing now he's gone to the trash.

I just had this experience again though with WfC Optimus. I'm about to move offices and was packing him away in alt mode and dammit if that wasn't one of the most challenging transformations I've ever done.

 

RTS Perceptor is probably the worst transformation I have ever seen, except maybe one of the movie Bumblebee toys I have. I don't remember which version Bumblebee it is, but the transformation is so terrible, and all the ball joints pop out every time I try. The thing is just sitting in a corner somewhere, half way between modes, and is going to stay that way.

 

If you were to say that it was the BB that came with Soundwave and had those missile pods, then I would absolutely agree with ya.

I started to customize him into Prowl... but just can't TF that sombitch.

 

I don't remember Perceptor being terrible to transform, only that his chest/back portion would never quite stay pegged/in place.

 

I can't say exactly what it is, but I remember there's a little trick to it, maybe it was a peg or something, I wish I remembered off the bat. But I DO remember it's fucking annoying as fuck.

 

Yeah, there actually is a peg that holds the back assembly together. That was what broke on mine.

 

I find drift or tracks more challenging - they're all easy to get to bot mode, but to altmode can be annoying - only transformed these 3 bots to altmode once or twice, but I remember that perceptor wasn't that hard. I did pause to think about why the frobt wouldn't align with the front winfow for 10-15 sec before I rwalized that the legs peg into the middle section. Once I sorted that it was easy as can be.

Drift was hard because of how stiff his joints are and the arms were just annoying to get to get in place so that the doors fit.

Jazz was annoying because of his gun + arms. Took me a while to figure out that you should really bend the arms and attach them to the back piece with the gun facing the right way for them to fit together. A whole lot to figure out. The second element that was tricky about him was his speakers - being on ball joints you have so many ways of positioning them that it took some trial and error to get right.

I know, I know - I could have read the instructions, but to me figguring out the transformation is half the fun of a toy. Especially those rare occasions where you either miss something and find it after several transformations or when you transform them in a way that it was intebded to be transformed by the devs, but that wasn't clear to everyobe else because it was missed in the instructions.

 

The transformers I was struggling with for the last few days have been alot of the Moive ones. lol Especially 2007 Leader Megatron and Leader Jetfire.