The Toughest Transformers To Transform

[Megatron]

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!

[Starscream77]

I agree with the Alternators, they can be extremely frustrating

I dont recall MP Megs being that difficult though

[Ploughmans Lunch]

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 ;_;

[GoktimusPrime]

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_amtrunks]

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!

[Kazza]

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!!!)

[griffin]

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.

[KalEl]

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

[Bidoofdude]

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

[BigTransformerTrev]

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