The Toughest Transformers To Transform

The Toughest Transformers To Actually Transform by Luke Plunkett, 6/12/2012

Ok, so I was reading this article on Kotaku Australia and it made me realize just how much I actually can relate. Now I may be a serious collector of Transformers and a dedicated fan, but when it comes to actually transforming some of the toys (well, most of them), I am a bit of a noob. Except for maybe the Legends size figures and some of the simpler ones, I just can't transform my Transformers without their instructions, as well as a whole lot of patience. It generally takes me about half an hour to transform one, and that's only going one way (robot to alt, or alt to robot).

So I thought this would make a good topic for discussion. Is there anyone else like us out there?

For all you experienced transformers toy owners, what toy or toys would you rate as the most difficult to transform? Which ones do you absolutely need the instructions for? And which one(s), if any, have you not even attempted yet, for fear of damaging it, or that you'll never get it back again to its original form once you start! :eek:

I agree with the Alternators, they can be extremely frustrating

I dont recall MP Megs being that difficult though

MP Megs was pretty difficult at first but I guess over time you just got used to it, and then it'd break, and then just...

Y u so terribal MP megs ;_;

MP Megatron is by far the most frustratingly difficult Transformer to transform!! Graaargh!

I don't agree with RiD Side Burn... that toy's not hard at all. BT Smokescreen... well, all the BTs/ALTs (and Alternities) are tricky to transform, that's just the nature of these toys if you want highly realistic scale car modes and articulated robots - but by BT standards Smokescreen's pretty intuitive. I do agree with Grimlock (and thus Wheeljack) though... that design is counter-intuitive and I don't find it fun. I agree with ROTF Optimus Prime too -- that toy is very complicated to transform, and those two red bits under the front windscreen parts are a pain to lock in properly in truck mode. The DOTM Jetwing Optimus Prime retool has significantly reduced those parts and as such that toy is MUCH easier to transform than ROTF Leader OP! It's amazing what one little modification can do to make a transformation easier and more fun. :)

Big Convoy is also a pain in the butt to transform... a lot of effort to transform him into a rather underwhelming beast mode IMO. He's the king of shellformers. By G1 standards, I'd rate Darkwing as one of the less intuitive ones to transform, because part of the transformation is rather unsymmetrical. 1984 Jazz and Megatron were the trickiest of the first year TFs for me as a kid (not that I owned either toy, but I knew other kids who did). Darth Vader/Death Star is also cumbersome (another great shellformer).

I found the Suburu Alt/BT pretty decent to transform, once you've done it once, it sticks. Grimlock/WJ on the other hand are murder.

Agree with Gok about Big Convoy/Universe Nemesis Prime and DotM Prime being pains in the butt, I would like to add Sentinel prime as another large and frustrating figure to transform. I always found BW TM2 Megatron a bit of a pain to transform, but he always stays in Dragon mode for me.

There are a lot of figures that would be very difficult to transform if you didnt have the instructions or previous knowledge of what each mode/s is meant to look like. RID and the movie figures jump to mind, as does BW Depth Charge and Tigerhawk, context is key with those figures.

WFC Bumblebee and even Prime were pains, but not to the movieverse figures levels!

From my own experience, MP Megatron is the hardest, ROFT Leader Optimus and than DOTM Leader Sentinel Prime. Honourable mention to MP Rodimus (the freaking hands!!!)

Omega Prime (RiD Optimus & Ultra Magnus combo) was my first toy that required instructions to work out... for the Magnus part. Since then, there have been a fair few brain-teasers.

mp megs aint that bad lol, rotf prime and dotm sent are just a bit fidley.
The hardest ever is bw rattrap!

I had a bit of trouble transforming RTS Perceptor the first few times, but I've got the hang of it now.

The biggest pain in the buttocks I've had was Energon: Mirage. He's still sitting in a crate half transformed somewhere lol :rolleyes:

Can't say I really have any that frustrate the hell out of me. However the most difficult/annoying in my collection are:

MP Rodimus - After you have done it once or twice you get the hang of it. There are a few very good videos on YouTube that help heaps. Still annoying though

FansProject Warbot Defender - those bloody hands! I can never remember how they are supposed to go in chopper mode!

Maketoys Battle Tanker - Just too fiddly.

Classics Red Alert - it's quite hard to get everything to line up in car mode. And for such a sleek looking car it stands out.

Agree with many comments above. A few that bug me:

BW Rampage. Never got the treads to work in tank mode.
ROTF Rampage. Sold this recently in Mess mode because I couldn't figure out how to get it back to either mode.
ROTF Mixmaster. To truck or gun mode was a nightmare.

MP Megs, MP screamer, Alternators and Altermity Bee/Cliffy... that's all I can think as of now.

MP Rodimus by far given all it's awkwardness and nuances.

Definitely agree with movie leader Optimus Prime. Took me over an hour and a couple of YouTube videos to figure out how to transform him the first time. At least none of it's counter-intuitive; it's just fiddly. Lots of little touches which you can easily forget.

ROTF Deluxe Skids and Mudflap. Because they're annoying characters the fact their transformations are also frustrating tempts me to just never touch them ever again.

I'm kinda surprised that MP Megs is being mentioned so often. Makes me want to try...

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Originally Posted by Paulbot

Agree with many comments above. A few that bug me:

BW Rampage. Never got the treads to work in tank mode.
ROTF Rampage. Sold this recently in Mess mode because I couldn't figure out how to get it back to either mode.
ROTF Mixmaster. To truck or gun mode was a nightmare.

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I've got to agree with you on both RotF Rampage and Mixmaster. Actually, Rampage I managed to transform to robot mode most of the way without the instructions (he wasn't that bad). I only needed them later to work out what to do with his back legs, and how to get those tyre treads unfolded.

Mixmaster was the most fiddly and complicated one for me to transform to robot mode. I needed the instructions all the way.

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Originally Posted by SkyWarp91

ROTF Deluxe Skids and Mudflap. Because they're annoying characters the fact their transformations are also frustrating tempts me to just never touch them ever again.

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I was undecided about getting these two, mainly because I don't like the look of them lol. But now knowing that they would be a pain to transform as well doesn't help.

Scalpel from ROTF was an annoying little bugger as well to get right

the first G1 transformer I had trouble with was Megatron, at the ripe old age of maybe 5 or 6, I had to get help from my Dad. at least for the first time, just to figure it out.

I found the G1 decepticon clones to be very difficult to transform, the hands were extremely tight, I used to have to get something to use to pry them started so I could finish it by hand.

the 2007 movie leaders were quite hard the first time through, even Megs, mainly due to the fact that the final mode wasn't readily familiar:rolleyes:.

I'm yet to open my ROTF prime and Jetfire 2 pack.

ROTF Deluxe Skids and Mudflap are definitely up there, very difficult, and the final robot mode is so rubbish that there's no satisfaction from the transformation. The icecream truck wasn't too bad though. better than the individuals.

ROTF mixmaster was extremely difficult, and the weapons platform mode was just a little too non-descript to be sure you had it right.

A lot of the ROTF figures were very complex but many of them were interesting more than they were frustrating. I think these designs pushed the HASTAK design team to new heights with what they were able to attempt, and this knowledge will only pay of for us in the future.

MP megs was a cracker, after a while I went back to it to transform it and had forgotten a couple steps, in the end I had to dig out the instructions to figure it out, I was so scared of breaking it otherwise.

Generations Lugnut, where the tail slides towards the chest in robot mode, mine always sticks and I invariably crush my fingers when it pops into place. I can't remember the last time I experienced so much pain transforming a figure.

Generations Frumble, was difficult to get back into data disk mode the first time, not having seen the arms rotated and not having instructions. (brilliant engineering, especially designing it so that someone would be able to assemble it without it exploding in their hands before it was finished. something that I'm sure they don't usually have to take into account.)

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Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev

Scalpel from ROTF was an annoying little bugger as well to get right

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Another one I still haven't fully worked out! ;)

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Originally Posted by UltraMarginal

the 2007 movie leaders were quite hard the first time through, even Megs, mainly due to the fact that the final mode wasn't readily familiar:rolleyes:.

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Oh yes, I forgot to mention him, too. I got almost all the way to alt mode, but just can't work out what to do with the legs, so I gave up and left him in robot mode. The instructions didn't help!

Another thing I wanted to mention, is generally when the instructions only show you how to transform one way, so you have to "Reverse instructions for Robot/Alt mode" if you want to go the other way. Like it isn't hard enough as it is! :o

The problem with the movie Megatrons is that you don't intuitively know what the alt modes should look like. They transform from robots into... umm... some thing that flies, and then some thing that rolls. As tricky as ROTF Leader Optimus Prime may be, at least you instinctively know what the alt mode should look like and what you're trying to achieve. Megatron's alt modes are just so damn weird^abstract-fantasy-based that it's hard to intuitively know what you're trying to achieve.

This is why I prefer DOTM Voyager Megatron over TF1 and ROTF Leader Megatrons... he transforms into a truck... I know what the alt mode should look like and it makes it a helluva lot easier to get there. With TF1 and ROTF Megatrons, once you finish the transformations, let's face it - you only know it's correct because the instructions say so. :rolleyes:

DOTM Megatron - from truck to robot and back!
TF1/ROTF Megatron - from mangled-robot to robot and back!

Alternators Wheeljack (Ford Mustang). Think my pb transformation time was around 30mins. Sad, I know.

Easily Binaltech Grimlock. Managed to Transform the damn thing from car to robot and back and back to robot once more since I got him in 2005, before finally selling him off. And then that meant he went from "Awesome! New Grimlock toy with cool sword" to "oh my god this fl'oppy poorly contrsucted piece of crap with bad fists and too small a sword!

I had issues with Binaltech Asterix Alert, but that was more due to poor mould quality than anything.

My vote is DotM an RotF Leader Primes. MP Megs was tricky.

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Originally Posted by Paulbot

ROTF Rampage. Sold this recently in Mess mode because I couldn't figure out how to get it back to either mode.

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I didn't even sell him. I gave him away. Couldn't stand that piece of rubbish.

Panel lining on the Deathstar Vader takes time..

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Originally Posted by SkyWarp91

ROTF Deluxe Skids and Mudflap. Because they're annoying characters the fact their transformations are also frustrating tempts me to just never touch them ever again.

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Lol, this is funny. :D

I found forming Omega Prime quite time consuming for the first time. I actually remember breaking out in a sweat as I did. First time that happened.

One that I found fairly tricky was Sentinel prime from Movie 3. Managed to get in in the end, but only tfed him once, mainly because of all that damn panel aligning. Really irritated me no end that did, as soon as I had one part set, the part I had previously done would pop out.

Yep, sold that sucker soon enough.

Because I don't want to stress or break something, I always use the instructions when transforming something, and for something particularly intricate, I may watch videos of the transformation. That said, I agree with MP Rodimus - everything has to be aligned just-so - and RotF/DotM Leader Optimus - getting the arms and chest transformed into truck mode requires more than a little patience (although the lack of spring-loaded blades on Jetwing Optimus made it a bit easier).'07 Leader Megatron nearly had me the first time I transformed him into space cruiser mode - I had to look at Seibertron's gallery to figure out how to transform the legs correctly.