Honestly, I always enjoy more complicated and in depth transformations so long as they're justifiable. RiD Sideburn, ROTF Mixmaster, those I don't mind, but the recent MPs that overcomplicate themselves so thoroughly because they absolutely have to match a dated cartoon model that often didn't even try to match the actual licensed alt modes the toys have, those I dislike.
That reminds me, none of the G1 toy alt modes are licensed, they were just released that way because you didn't need to have to pay licensing fees to car brands at the time. But nowadays since that is a lot more strict when it comes to their licensing Hasbro has to make sure with the correct brand that they can use that obviously very similar alt mode. It's the reason why as of recent years we have never seen another jazz reissue, because of Porsche being notoriously stingy with licensing their cars to transformers.
@@consof8724Oh no you needed just in Japan copyright is a lot more loose. And when Hasbro started importing the toys toys, the car companies simply didn’t know about it. It’s only when they started doing the reissues they caught on, and banned Hasbro from doing so without their approval. Porsche especially held a grudge against Hasbro.
I think the reason there are so many speed names is the characters are more high-octane because they have to be in order to pull off their transformations in the span of a 5-10 second clip.
For me I believe it would be the original Dark of The Moon Leader Class Sentinel Prime. The amount of moving panels and hinges on that toy was insane. Even with the instructions it took me a long time transform the thing.
@@Cdr2002 Gonna disagree. The voyager class one is really easy. The leader class one has so many panels and even then it still doesn't tab in flush 100%. Still a great toy, but still very complex and only beat out by ROTF Optimus Prime
I grew up in the difficult to transform era, had a big DOTM Prime with the brick of death trailer and that WFC Bumblebee, so for all the flack that Tracks got I really enjoyed the more sophisticated transformation (until the window started to crack)
Armada Scorponok. It wasn’t difficult to transform, but the damn thing nearly took one of my fingers off. My Boys left it in alt mode until big enough and fearless enough to manhandle it.
If anyone makes a list of 3rd party figures, that video is gonna be hours long lmao. What I don't like about 3rd party figures is that they seem to overcomplicate things for no reason other than to justify a high price point. Sometimes, the transformations feel more like work than play that I end up thinking "They should have paid ME for this".
Sideburn is definitely on my list (and I own both versions, lol). MP Megatron v2 and MP Hound are also on the list. Megs for the scary paint and Hound for the fragility. One modern one is Kingdom Tracks. Not because it's complicated but the translucent plastic scares the crap out of me.
I honestly hold up Mixmaster as one of the best figures out of the RotF line. I dunno, I loved the complexity of the line and it was a nice pairing with the simple but satisfying Animated line.
maybe it’s just me but as someone who was a child when ROTF came out i absolutely loved that the toys were complicated, i remember my friends and i were taken aback when the toys became less involved with DOTM and AOE
yeah same grew up with the latter half of the Unicron trilogy and I remember looking at the Transformers aisle from 2014-2017 and thinking "man these aren't even for teens"
I recently bought Side Burn and X Brawn, waiting for Prowl to have all 3, and I had no idea how tough Side Burn was to transform until looking up guides, god damn!
I have a couple: The first mold of MP Starscream. While both modes are lovely, especially for the era, I'm scared it'll break the next time I try to fiddle with it. I'm specifically talking about the hinges that connect the wings to the body, as mine have cracks in them from even infrequent use. I own 2 versions of the toy, both with the exact same issue at the wings. Animated Swindle thanks to the clear plastic in key joints. It's confined to vehicle mode in my collection. Titans Return Fortress Maximus. He's big, unwieldy and neither the base mode or the spaceship mode feel worth the hassle of handling him. Easily the worst Titan as of writing this.
Masterpiece Barricade is actually a really fun, fairly simple process that takes the older toy transformation schemes and refines them. Honestly the SS toy they made from the same basic engineering is way worse because half of it is built on a ball joint on a transparent panel. Great idea, guys!
For me, it would be Kingdom Rhinox. I'm sure there's a way to do it without issue, but every time I transform him, it's always the legs. Everything down there just bumps into everything else.
I love complex transformations like these, MP-36 Megatron and MPM-04 Optimus Prime and two of my absolute favorite figures to transform, so much so that I recked my Masterpiece Megatron from transforming it so much. I stopped collecting transformers in part due to the fact that lots of new figures simply weren’t challenging enough to interesting me, so I might actually like some of the ones on this list
You truly nailed it with ROTF Optimus, Mixmaster, and MP-05 Megatron! I have them all and only ever transformed Megs ONCE I was so terrified that I was going to risk breaking something because the tabs and pieces felt so fragile. It's an awesome robot mode and the gun mode is oversized, for sure, but it looks amazing!
I have never had a problem transforming a new figure from intuition, usually without the instructions. HOWEVER, back in 2009, a friend of mine got that ROTF mixmaster and I just could not get it transformed… The ROTF prime frustrated me until I realized how the shoulders hinge back for truck mode and then I could flip it back and forth with ease. MPM Prime is just… broken. The mold is broken. And then there is 3rd and 4th party yikes
I've never owned any of the ones in the video, but for me it has to be Studio Series Barricade. So many small parts on hinges that have to be perfectly placed. Then the last step of folding the arms into the car, needs you to tab them into slots that you can't see from any angle. I'll try again at some point but I'm dreading that day.
oddly enough I just got the Buzzworthy two pack that he and the clunker bee came in and I feel ya. my second time around I was able to get it clean and all but honestly I had more trouble with the bumblebee in that set. the flap that makes up the car mode hood has that front bumper section that has no clearance past the other too fender parts on his bot mode chest so I got frustrated and shaved down the sides of the bumper section. Sure now theres gaps in the lower front bumper but idc
Ironically, I just got a Super Speed Breaker yesterday & have yet to transform him. I totally agree about the Alternators & Binal Tech as some were no longer fun & got sold off. Another 1 I'd add to the list is Generations Perceptor, though I liked his vehicle mode he was a pain to transform. When a toy is no longer fun, it's time to be done!
Oddly enough, I don't have any figures that I don't want to transform because of the transformation itself. I've had one of those before - WFC Optimus Prime. When I first got this toy, the transformation was so confusing, I vowed to never transform it again. But then, a few years later, I decided to mess with it again, and now it became one of my favorite figures to transform. As for the figures I don't want to transform again now, they come in 3 main flavors. Two figures I don't want to transform due to breakage. MP Bluestreak has a broken off arm, so he will probably spend the rest of his days in the car mode. Just the other day I decided to transform Thrilling 30 Sky-byte and broke the joint his shark nead sits on. Even though I have glued the joint back to functional state, I'll probably won't risk transforming him again. Although, the shark head seems to be locking good enough in both modes without reliance on the joint, so maybe I'll try to transforming him sometime when I feel like it. And if the joint brakes again, the figure's probably going to function well enough as a part-former. The other reason to not transform figures again is space. I don't see myself disassembling and transforming any combiner I have, because I ran out of space to display individual bots. The third reason is I simply don't care about certain figures enough any more to mess with them again. Some figures I've got just to complete the set. For example, TR Broadside. I got him just because I was trying to get as many Wreckers as I could. Bulking up the team is all that figure is good for, there's no reason for me to see its altmodes ever again. And some figures I've got just because I was in the mood to get a new toy and grabbed whatever was available at the store that day, or when I came across a good deal. Ended up with way more Bumblebees than I ever cared for that way.
I always remember my dad bought me a live action movie ratchet when I was kid, and I hated transforming it so much I didn't buy a transformer for 12 years
I had the Voyager Ratchet from 2007 when I was 4, ngl I liked it a lot. I just lost the axe piece right away. The 2007 toyline definitely started the trend towards more complex transformations but I think the figures were still really great! The rotf toyline was where transformations became nightmarish however...
@@Noble0563 I am pretty sure it had to be the second movie, I was like 10 or 11, wich would 2008 or 2009, but you have to take in count that my only other transformer before it was crosswise from RID, so maybe a couple levels of difficulty
For me it was definitely the Moon Studios Raiden figure, I love the figure but I nearly tore my fingers apart trying to transform them between their individual modes and combined mode so now they’re combined and they’re staying that way 😅
I think Beast Machines Nightscream was the first time my young self saved up to buy a toy, got it home, and had such a miserable time with it I knew I'd wasted my money. Trying to get those translucent pegs to stay pegged... Trying to get him to STAND UP...
Animated Ultra Magnus. He’s fine until you get to the double hinge on his cab/shoulders. They’re in an inaccessible spot and the joints are so stiff if feels like it’s gonna break off or break your knuckle.
I actually never had an issue with Side Burn. I loved that figure. I don't have mine anymore, I gave it away with the itent to replace it with the red version cause I like the color scheme better than the original but I never found the red version at my local Wal Mart. The toys I think are the worst to Transform, and I'm only speaking on the toys I have personal experience with, I'm sure there are worse ones but I don't own anything worse than these. So my first experience with difficult Transformers was Beast Machines and it's not that they were inherently difficult transformations it's that the instructions weren't really clear what I was meant to do and the joints were so stiff on mine I didn't realize those parts were even intented to move. The Deluxe Optimus Primal I had no idea where his robot mode head was or how to get it out. Checked the instructions and they were no help at all. I did eventually figure it out after an embarassingly long amount of time. Jetstorm, again the Deluxe version I actually transformed wrong for YEARS giving him this super tall robot mode not even realizing the jet could fold in half. 2007 Leader Megatron, it looks like it should be a simple transformation since the jet mode doesn't even really look like anything and the robot is fully visible in vehicle mode however that toy manages to some how have more clearance issues than any other toy I've ever owned. You'd think Optimus would be the harder one to transform but he's difficult for an entirely different reason. RotF leader Optimus Prime, the first time I transformed him technically took me over 8 hours but I wasn't transforming him that entire time. I started to transform him, had to go to work, left him a half transformed pile of loose parts on my bed at home then came back to him after work. The chest is the scarriest part because the tabs holding it in place for robot mode are super tight and thin transluctent plastic so I'm always scared of breaking it. RotF Jetfire I don't like transforming at all because he has rubber parts that have been known to deteriorate over time and basically the only mode that doesn't put pressure on those parts speeding up that process is robot mode. G1 Devastator I also spent a really long time trying to transform but that's because mine was a knock off with no instructions and the picture on the packaging was backwards so my issue was trying to figure out where his arms connected. If you've never seen G1 Devastator before the arms have completly different connection methods so if your trying to put them on backwards there's no actual place to connect them. I eventually had to look it up online before I realize the box art was mirrored. Generations Rattrap. Going to Robot mode is fine, easy, going back to beast mode if his robot arms or legs aren't possissioned exactly right it won't fit properly back into beast mode. Most transformers that transform that way have a bit of leway or at least some tab points to help line it up right but not Rattrap you just gotta fiddle with stuff untill you can actually close up the beast mode. WFC Bumblebee has the opposite problem where there are too many tabs and I actually broke 2 of the tabs off... I don't know why he even had those 2 tabs in the first place cause he holds together just fine without them and it actually makes him easier to transform when they aren't there. MP01 Optimus Prime. I did not realize there were buttons in his legs I needed to press to extend them one of his legs is broken internally so that button no longer even works. Generations Junkion mold, I have 4 of these and two have broken handle bars now. My original ones never had the issue until I got the second set to customize then suddenly they broke and now I'm kinda worried about transforming them again even though I love my custom Junkions. Cyberverse Grimlock... and this is entirely due to how the tail turns into the legs. I hate Transforming that figure and I've actually considered getting a second one both because I hate the Transformation and because Grimlock in the show has DID and literally met himself from another universe in one episode giving me a reason to have 2 different Grimlocks representing his two different personalities. For anyone who's not seen Cyberverse his beast mode is the more familiar "Me Grimlock" personality you would expect of someone named Grimlock while his robot mode oddly enough reminds me more of G1 Tracks than any character called Grimlock.
Spot on indictments of Side Burn and Mach Kick (and BW Neo in general). Revenge of the Fallen was peak for it, but I find the vast majority of Movie-verse toys to be too heavily reliant on panels and precise alignment. Some of them I'm pretty sure were designed in such a way that their parts were meant to phase through each other. And Dark of the Moon (other than Leader Sentinel) was nicely pleasant to transform mostly. More recently, Kingdom Tracks is just... bad. There's no reason his leg transformation should be that complex. I remember being fairly frustrated with Doubledealer (only going into bird mode), Apeface and Snapdragon too. I may just be getting old, but I find I have much less patience for complex transformations than I used to. These days, my ideal standard is something like the WfC Datsuns or Sideswipes. I'll take some degree of complexity if it's nicely innovative. Kingdom Cyclonus, Earthrise Wheeljack, or Titans Return Kup are really good examples of different but intuitive. It doesn't help that instructions have been getting poorer and poorer for years.
I'll be honest, its gotta be the masterpiece Arcee/Nightbird mold. I remember wanting to buy my first mp and heard Nightbird was great to pose even with the massive back kibble, but man she will never see her alt mode ever again as long as I can help it. I'm just tired of every fembot having to be just a skinny humanoid robo lady with an alt mode shell around her. On the flip side thats why I love Legacy Elita-1/Minerva. sure it still has huge back kibble but at least it actually works the robot mode legs into the back kibble and its a fun and easy conversion.
You think these are bad, compare it to some 3rd party monsters of spaghetti engineering ie. deformation space crimson wings, alien attack mackron, devil saviour split, etc.
I honestly can't think of any Transformer I've ever had that I never wanna transform again. some of the more difficult ones I'll put off to the side for awhile, but I always eventually come back to them. I think for me it may be because the thing I love most about Transformers IS figuring out the transformation.they're like brain teaser puzzles that test our logic and problem solving abilities
I only have one thing in my entire collection that fits this category: Darth Vader/ Death Star from the old Star Wars crossover line. It's simple in theory, but you need to put all the death star panels into place in the right order and if it doesn't line up (it almost certainly never does), then you're stuck undoing large portions of the transformation just to hope you get this one piece in place. Honestly? It's a pain in the ass. I only transform him when someone asks me to because I just dread thinking about it.
Alternators grimlock was my first transformer in 2005 ish. I was five years old at the time. My father and I didn't know how to transform him at the time so he ended up coming apart.
For me it was X-Transbots Boost/Hatch (Tailgate & Windcharger), I actually broke Boost (Side window came of during the first review I did) and had to repair it and I left Hatch in robot mode since I only wanted them for the car mode since finding a 3rd gen firebird in their scale that isn't a Knight Rider KITT car and is just the normal base model of that car nearly impossible. I ended clipping most of the tabs off and while the legs on both are still annoying it made the figures way more fun but infuriating I had to modify them that much to enjoy them.
Masterpiece Lio Convoy, Toyworld Knight Orion, and Jiujiang Winged Dragon are like that for my collection. With Lio Convoy and Winged Dragon (MP TM2 Megatron), every time I mess with them, more paint chips off. And it’s especially frustrating with Lio Convoy, because I feel they absolutely could have just molded those chippable parts in red plastic and they would have been perfectly durable. Knight Orion just SUCKS. He’s what happens when you try to force the 3A CAD model to actually transform. I’d rather transform Alien Attack Mackron than Knight Orion, just because you can tell Mackron was actually prototyped and tested, and most importantly FITS TOGETHER in both modes.
I would argue that the masterpiece figures are justified in their complexity as they're meant more as display pieces than for actual play, whereas the more affordable toys should strike a fine balance between simplicity and accuracy and be able to withstand extended wear and tear. If there's one transformer I never want to transform again, it's Kingdom (Beast) Megatron. The soft plastic panels on the exterior of the toy are constantly getting in their own way, particularly on the tail, There are a ton of clearance issues, the hips don't stay tabbed in while in beast mode, and worst of all are the ridiculously easy to break slider joints on the beast mode thighs.
Seige ravage mold. After my seige one broke I’m terrified of my more exclusive Netflix or SG breaking as well so I now own four of that mold with one always in robot mode.
i watched someone transform mpm ironhide and man even I was sweating with just how tightly everything fits together and how perfect you need to be or something will snap.
If you extend beyond Transformers, then I would name all MG scale Zeta Gundam, ReZel and Victory Gundam and their variants. They are all super fragile at their transformation joints with too much weight hanging on them. Sometimes, they will break on the first transformation
ROTF Scalpel, my biggest regret was buying that pos. I was never able to transform it to "robot" mode or fold its legs in properly for the microscope mode
Never mind again, I never successfully transformed ROTF Mixmaster back to vehicle mode at all, I think the shells popped off and I put them back wrong or something 'cause I never managed to get it to align ever
TLK Leader Megatron _was_ one of these for me till this November when I finally *got* the final steps to work (robot to jet), now I honestly kinda love the jet mode
The combination of eggshell plastic, insanely tight tab/slot connections and some iffy joints take all the fun out of transforming him. But damn, that jet mode!
From my memory, I've had a few cases of toys I just never wanted to transform again. ROTF Leader Prime being one of them. I love this toy. He looks fantastic in both modes. Just PLEASE never ask me to transform it again. Luckily my workaround was buying the HFTD version (I missed out on the initial run) and then getting the Jetwing Prime from DOTM. The HFTD guy stays in truck mode with the Jetwing guy stays in robot mode. Problem solved. Otherwise, I have to agree that the movie toys from back in the day were just super complicated for the sake of being complicated, like DOTM Leader Sentinel Prime. That's another one I almost never want to transform and don't have an easy workaround, especially now that he goes for much higher prices. Another one on my mind is the Prime Beast Hunters Smokescreen mold in which I found he was more complicated than I think he needed to be. After a while, I got used to it, but he was such a pain to go through. Especially when the arms would keep popping off and not stay put. And while I don't own any modern MPs (thank you, sky-rocketing prioces), a lot of those transformations scare me. And on top of that, you have cases like with Hound and 3.0 Prime where you can break something. Like okay, yeah, no thanks. And it's third party, but I'd like to give an honorable mention to Apollyon, a toy that I got in May 2015 and have NEVER transformed because of the horror stories I've heard. It seems third party companies have a lot ot learn about plastic tolerances and QC, so at least Hasbro and Takara mostly have them beat there.
Or even own the thing. The only reason I have a version is becuase it’s an elita one and now that the legacy elita came out that Netflix one can join its mold sister.
Mine is the "86 Series" Kup (not the OG one from 86). I love the look for both his modes, but getting his parts to fit together correctly in vehicle mode is a pain in the ass.
That ROTF Optimus Prime...I remember him so well...for taking me over an hour to transform. Never again. Though to be honest, the one I REALLY never wanted to transform again... In fact, I never even fully transformed it was the Leader class Megatron from the first live action Transformers movie. There just seemed to be a couple of steps missing to get him into the Cybertron jet mode. I got halfway through transforming him, got confused by the instructions and then turned him back to robot mode.
Honestly i really enjoy transforming sideburn and WFC bumblebee. I dont find eithers transformation hard, that said i also enjoy more complex transformations
Both Masterpiece and Kingdom Tracks and their variations. Both with leg clearance issues due to the transformation not being as intuitive as it should be (especially on the KI figure, seriously it makes me long for me to get my RTS figure back from whichever nephew of mine has it), and the MP actually has a worse backpack because of the poor way it "locks" in. Also MP-9 Rodimus Convoy and Hasbro MP Rodimus Prime. It was a nice thought to try to execute a Hot Rod and a Rodimus as the same toy, but the litany of issues: *A backpack that would just not lock into place because it relied on a hinged box covering a pair of tabs that didn't actually grip anything *Overly powerful springs in the feet that made you fear you would break something *Side panels on the calves connected by a fragile armature that would almost certainly break on the panel side (it did on mine's right leg) *The sheer fiddle factor of getting the legs properly transformed, and the other calf panels not wanting to stay locked in place and thus end up dragging on the underside (again, tabs into slots that did not have enough friction to stay put) *The gap in the trailer for the spoiler being so narrow that it guaranteed the spoiler would get scraped *The spoiler itself being attached with shallow screws due to the nature of its assembly, making it an easy candidate for breaking off (as mine eventually did) *The front end of Rodimus Prime's vehicle mode that was connected to the trailer, specifically the windshield hatch not locking in place so that when tucked away for battle station mode it would drag on the underside *Hasbro's version not only lacking the trailer, but the chrome on the hubcaps, so just swapping the Hasbro version into the Takara trailer doesn't look as good - unless you want to try to disassemble both figures to switch the wheels, but even that's risky because of the last point: *Hasbro's use of more brittle plastics, virtually guaranteeing the figure will eventually break - it's not GPS, and it won't crumble in hand as easily as a Randy, but it's close!
Me personally, I would never want to transform DOTM Leader Class Sentinel Prime again because that figure (my copy) is just a floppy mess and not fun at all in my opinion. And that's it. Only 1 figure I would not want to transform again.
I think it's just gets easier with repetition. I've gotten to the point now with figures like Starscream and Megatron that it is just super easy. Like anything, you have to practice if it's complicated. We should do speed runs on Megatron.
The only movie Masterpiece figures I bought are BB Optimus Prime, 2007 Megatron, StarScream, and Blackout, and the transformations of Blackout and Prime are easier than most of the Movie Masterpieces. I refuse to transform Masterpiece 2007 Megatron. It is AWFUL!!! Never transforming it again.
Yeah, Movie Mixmaster, MP-05 Megatron, and the Alternators Mustang mould are the ones I have that I am not inclined to ever want to transform, ever again.
That War For Cybertron Bumblebee… I own that one and I’m sad to say that thanks to those small, translucent tabs, it’s one of the few figures I have broken transforming it. I do really want to own a Mach Kick one day.
I think for the wfc generations segment, it would have been more fitting to have shown the Optimus prime from that line. Bumblebee was also a pain yes, but that Optimus was the most complicated I felt. The end result alt mode was great however
I have an Alternators Wheeljack, (somewhere) so that's my obvious answer. My copy of WFC-Kingdom BW Megatron doesn't want to transform into beast mode at all, and the amount of force I need to use in places actually hurts me. I don't think I've transformed him since I photographed him almost 2 years ago. In terms of fragility, I still have my childhood G2 Electro. He is broken but not badly, and his truck mode holds his pieces together very well. I'm never transforming him again, as I'm just going to treat him like a Fabergé egg.
My main problem is MPM-08 Megatron. My copy has a slightly misaligned backpack so the diecast parts don't line up properly in vehicle mode. Took me 3 hours and 2 EmGo videos to get him transformed for the review.
For me the one that is just not fun to transform is definitely Kingdom Beast Megatron. He looks amazing in both modes, but getting from one to the other is the exact opposite of satisfying. None of it feels good to manipulate, he feels both super-dense and also fragile making me feel like at any moment he's going to break, it's not a good time.
Pulling apart the robot pelvis for dino mode on mine requires way more force than I'm comfortable with. I've also seen images of the super thin mushroom peg the tail-arm is on, so I'm always extra careful moving that.
@@trewerd Tip for the pelvis: push the legs together and pull them down at the same time. That's my goto and it's served me well so far. He's tougher than you'd think, LOL.
For me, it's TFP voyager class Shockwave. It took me around 45 minutes to transform it from robot-mode to alt-mode and I don't think I even did it correctly, and that was with instructions. I only tried it once and ended up immediately turning it back to robot-mode anyway :p
Remember Masterpiece Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime? The one with Very Fragile Knee Ratchets so tight that it breaks the soon as it moves? that Thing is WORSER than MP-5 Megatron, Not only are His Knees were Fragile, But attaching the Car to his Trailer was a PAIN to do, The fact that he's NOT on here is WILD AF Lol
For a figure I don't transform because of complexity: MPM Bumblebee movie Bumblebee. I got so fed up trying to get the back end of the beetle to behave that I left it in robot mode for over a year before giving it another shot and realizing what I did wrong. Guess what? It wasn't super clear in the instructions. A figure I don't transform because of fragility: Kingdom Tracks. I do not trust that roof section to not break on me after converting it too many times. I've transformed it twice after I got it and was so scared that I haven't since. Plus his knees are hella weak on my copy for some reason.
I don't think Takara actually moved out of that Beast Wars Neo/Car Robots philosophy if you look the last time they did a line on their own with Transformers Go. Those things look rickety and rattly like a friggin' Shinkalion. And Shinkalions are basically one step changers so that make sense.
For me it's the Transformers War for Cybertron Kingdom Beast Wars Megatron ( some of his connections, particularly the groin area where the dino mode legs connect together and where the robot chest locks in,are so tight and hard to connect/disconnect with sharp edges that my 3rd or 4th time transforming him i cut open the back of my finger) Kingdom Rhinox ( also for overly tight connections and hurting my fingers, though thankf4not drawing blood this time ) Legacy Beast Wars Inferno ( where every time I touched it, i had a weird almost allergic reaction.. What kind of plastic/ paint are they using in the factory these days? ) and Kingdom Dinobot ( somer overally tight connections but also overly loose robot foot, so he has to lean a bit against the shelf and a loose-ish robot waist/ Dino neck that would only get worse with time if I were to try transforming him a lot)
LOL OMG Sideburn. Sideburn was a Christmas gift from one of my brothers. It was the first TF toy I had owned since the G1 days when I was 10! Imagine, to my surprise, or should I say horror, how ridiculous it was going from the simplicity of the G1 toys to Sideburn! Even as an adult I refuse to transform it, this after handling masterpiece figures.
Up until 6 months ago, I pretty much exclusively collected 3rd and 4th party movie masterpiece-style figures. I actually quite like the transformations, even though I would never want to transform more than a handful on any given day. With that in mind, fetch the Newage Mista! I love the design of that DOTM Soundwave, and I can appreciate the brilliance of its engineering, but to this day, I need the Emgo tutorial and at least an hour of free time to convert him from either mode!
I never even bothered transforming MPM Starscream, it's the only MP toy that I own and just looking at the instructions makes me dizzy I also have that studio cell Unicron 3P figure that I'm not brave enough to turn into a planet, I've heard from other people it can be a painful process. However I think the most interesting one for me is Siege Starscream, the transformation is simple enough but the shoulder stacks that form the front of the tetrajet tab in so tightly that thinking about separating them is enough to disuade me from that conversion.
I'm really glad I took the precaution to pre order two Fanstoys Jazz figures, because while both modes are damn near perfect and feel amazing in hand, the transformation is such an over-engineered mess that I don't plan on transforming either of them again. I was always planning to keep one pristine in robot mode and have one that I could freely transform without worry of ruining the paint, but after one conversion I decided that one wasn't leaving car mode or else it would probably end up breaking mid tf.
A couple of Transformers figures I never want to transform ever again, R.I.D 2002 X Brawn just having to rotate so many parts are frustrating, and Alternators Smoke Screen, so many Pannels to move it becomes fiddley to work with the clearance issues to transform him into vehicle mode are a nightmare, and getting the tabs to lock into place, that figure just makes me angry.
Alternators Grimlock.... Car to Robot: I slip into Rain Man Mode and just intuit what needs to fold out Robot Back to Car takes forever and I always stall out with getting his arms back under the hood -- for so long I seriously questioned my IQ with it It's probably been 5 Years since Grimlock, has left vehicle mode and their place along side my 1:24 Collection.. -- I played around with Hound and Ravage during the Pandemic somewhere on a memory Card I have low quality Pix of Ravage posed with my 1:24 Corvette
when i got 07 movie leader megatron i had a hell of a time transforming it. it took me 4 years to even realize how the legs had a automorph fold up gimmick
A toy that I never managed to transform as a kid was Human Alliance Roadbuster. Was turning it from car to robot and nobody could figure it out so it remained as a mess of plastic.
Studio Series Barricade. Bought it a week ago just managed to transform him today. Those door tabs refuse to connect to the hips. Also Studio Series VW Bee. Let's not talk about that nightmare.
I was so hyped when MMC announced their Carnifex (Overlord). The first time I spent this much money on a toy, the first time I pre-ordered one - and now he's taking up shelf space because his shoulder assemblies are so fiddly and fragile, I don't want to mess with him. Transformed him once into each mode and decided I'll not risk it any more.
Surprised that Universe Galvatron wasn't on this list. For years ROTH Voyager Mixmaster was the only non legends figure i had from the line, and from the first time i transformed him ive never had any issues. I dont transform him much, but i did get a Universe Galvatron to see what he's like. I understand the issues others have with him, but i still like the figure. I got Neo Longrack last year, & he is very finicky, but i like him and wanted to get something a little challenging.
I hated transforming Razorclaw from G1 Predacons. He had this sticker on his chest that when you put him in robot mode, you moved his lion head onto the chest and there was no way to protect that sticker on the chest. Plus, the two pieces of plastic liked to dig into each other.
Kingdom Tracks, I guess they took his "I'd rather stay in my stunning auto mode" phrase to heart.
Good ol' Mr McFloatyFeet.
Honestly, I always enjoy more complicated and in depth transformations so long as they're justifiable. RiD Sideburn, ROTF Mixmaster, those I don't mind, but the recent MPs that overcomplicate themselves so thoroughly because they absolutely have to match a dated cartoon model that often didn't even try to match the actual licensed alt modes the toys have, those I dislike.
Just like Jobby said: "not even the G1 cartoon is cartoon accurate"
That reminds me, none of the G1 toy alt modes are licensed, they were just released that way because you didn't need to have to pay licensing fees to car brands at the time. But nowadays since that is a lot more strict when it comes to their licensing Hasbro has to make sure with the correct brand that they can use that obviously very similar alt mode. It's the reason why as of recent years we have never seen another jazz reissue, because of Porsche being notoriously stingy with licensing their cars to transformers.
This is what we as a fandom brought upon ourselves for constantly bumming and asking for g1 accuracy in everything
Different Strokes for different folks. Because I love the cartoon accuracy and really enjoy what it takes to get that.
@@consof8724Oh no you needed just in Japan copyright is a lot more loose. And when Hasbro started importing the toys toys, the car companies simply didn’t know about it.
It’s only when they started doing the reissues they caught on, and banned Hasbro from doing so without their approval. Porsche especially held a grudge against Hasbro.
Kingdom Rhinox, dear god what were they thinking when they designed the legs?! They’re a transformation nightmare.
Came here to say the same thing. I can see why I got him so cheap at an outlet store, that thing is infuriating.
Oh man, the red sideburn was my very first Transformer brought as an adult. I was up all night trying to work it out
I eventually got good at ROTF Prime. But there were always issues. Adding Jetfire to him was much harder than just Prime.
I think the reason there are so many speed names is the characters are more high-octane because they have to be in order to pull off their transformations in the span of a 5-10 second clip.
For me I believe it would be the original Dark of The Moon Leader Class Sentinel Prime. The amount of moving panels and hinges on that toy was insane. Even with the instructions it took me a long time transform the thing.
Every DOTM Sentinel was annoying transformation wise imo
Oh yeah, to the dusk with that thing…
@@Cdr2002 Gonna disagree. The voyager class one is really easy. The leader class one has so many panels and even then it still doesn't tab in flush 100%. Still a great toy, but still very complex and only beat out by ROTF Optimus Prime
@@alexthibodeau979 it’s not so much the mechanical motions as fitting everything together I had trouble with
Nearly anything from the Alternators line had some really difficult transformations.
I grew up in the difficult to transform era, had a big DOTM Prime with the brick of death trailer and that WFC Bumblebee, so for all the flack that Tracks got I really enjoyed the more sophisticated transformation (until the window started to crack)
People are transforming Tracks the wrong way. The way I transform him, the window slides out without any sort of snapping at all.
@@AAX1975 regardless, the toys need to be built to withstand more.
Armada Scorponok.
It wasn’t difficult to transform, but the damn thing nearly took one of my fingers off. My Boys left it in alt mode until big enough and fearless enough to manhandle it.
Every Masterpiece toy from the last 10 years.
What about Skids?
Even the Fairladies?
I'll stick with mp10
I dunno, the Masterpiece Movie aerial Decepticons aren't bad, they're just long (Can't comment on the others)
MPM-3 was easy
If anyone makes a list of 3rd party figures, that video is gonna be hours long lmao.
What I don't like about 3rd party figures is that they seem to overcomplicate things for no reason other than to justify a high price point.
Sometimes, the transformations feel more like work than play that I end up thinking "They should have paid ME for this".
I think they do it because they think complicated = collector grade/high end
A prime example is alien attack mackron. That thing is horrendous
xtbs overheaat simply due to the brittle shoulders
Devil saviors mixmaster…. I’m never touching that thing again
Never forget about Magic Square Megatron (The reason is. Well. They tried to give a Masterpiece toy style transformation to a Legends figure)
Sideburn is definitely on my list (and I own both versions, lol). MP Megatron v2 and MP Hound are also on the list. Megs for the scary paint and Hound for the fragility. One modern one is Kingdom Tracks. Not because it's complicated but the translucent plastic scares the crap out of me.
I honestly hold up Mixmaster as one of the best figures out of the RotF line. I dunno, I loved the complexity of the line and it was a nice pairing with the simple but satisfying Animated line.
maybe it’s just me but as someone who was a child when ROTF came out i absolutely loved that the toys were complicated, i remember my friends and i were taken aback when the toys became less involved with DOTM and AOE
yeah same grew up with the latter half of the Unicron trilogy and I remember looking at the Transformers aisle from 2014-2017 and thinking "man these aren't even for teens"
Owning Revenge of the Fallen Mixmaster as a kid was hell
I recently bought Side Burn and X Brawn, waiting for Prowl to have all 3, and I had no idea how tough Side Burn was to transform until looking up guides, god damn!
I have a couple:
The first mold of MP Starscream. While both modes are lovely, especially for the era, I'm scared it'll break the next time I try to fiddle with it.
I'm specifically talking about the hinges that connect the wings to the body, as mine have cracks in them from even infrequent use. I own 2 versions of the toy, both with the exact same issue at the wings.
Animated Swindle thanks to the clear plastic in key joints. It's confined to vehicle mode in my collection.
Titans Return Fortress Maximus. He's big, unwieldy and neither the base mode or the spaceship mode feel worth the hassle of handling him. Easily the worst Titan as of writing this.
Masterpiece Barricade is actually a really fun, fairly simple process that takes the older toy transformation schemes and refines them. Honestly the SS toy they made from the same basic engineering is way worse because half of it is built on a ball joint on a transparent panel. Great idea, guys!
RotF leader Prime still scares me with how the chest transforms
Just trying to untab those red pieces on his chest still scares me to this day
@@notrod0918 same here
@@notrod0918 Same here. That is the one thing that keeps me from touching my leader prime
For me, it would be Kingdom Rhinox. I'm sure there's a way to do it without issue, but every time I transform him, it's always the legs. Everything down there just bumps into everything else.
fr. idk why they thought that 0 clearance, parts clashing transformation was even good enough to make it to shelves
YES! A thousand times yes. I'm a very emotional guy and I had to put him down for half an hour because I simply could not deal.
Mine broke🤣🤣🤣
I love complex transformations like these, MP-36 Megatron and MPM-04 Optimus Prime and two of my absolute favorite figures to transform, so much so that I recked my Masterpiece Megatron from transforming it so much. I stopped collecting transformers in part due to the fact that lots of new figures simply weren’t challenging enough to interesting me, so I might actually like some of the ones on this list
I had that ROTF Optimus when I was a small child. Neither me, nor my dad could figure it out lmao
You truly nailed it with ROTF Optimus, Mixmaster, and MP-05 Megatron! I have them all and only ever transformed Megs ONCE I was so terrified that I was going to risk breaking something because the tabs and pieces felt so fragile. It's an awesome robot mode and the gun mode is oversized, for sure, but it looks amazing!
One toy that surprised me at its difficulty to transform was reveal the shield Perceptor, its such a weird transformation.
AGREEMENT. And that red plastic felt like it was gonna fall apart like cheese wax.
Kingdom Rhinox. Those legs are such a pain to transform.
I have never had a problem transforming a new figure from intuition, usually without the instructions.
HOWEVER, back in 2009, a friend of mine got that ROTF mixmaster and I just could not get it transformed…
The ROTF prime frustrated me until I realized how the shoulders hinge back for truck mode and then I could flip it back and forth with ease.
MPM Prime is just… broken. The mold is broken.
And then there is 3rd and 4th party yikes
Mixmaster seems like a joke in comparison to what we have now a days.
RoTF Mixmaster is like comfort food to me by now.
I've never owned any of the ones in the video, but for me it has to be Studio Series Barricade. So many small parts on hinges that have to be perfectly placed. Then the last step of folding the arms into the car, needs you to tab them into slots that you can't see from any angle. I'll try again at some point but I'm dreading that day.
oddly enough I just got the Buzzworthy two pack that he and the clunker bee came in and I feel ya. my second time around I was able to get it clean and all but honestly I had more trouble with the bumblebee in that set. the flap that makes up the car mode hood has that front bumper section that has no clearance past the other too fender parts on his bot mode chest so I got frustrated and shaved down the sides of the bumper section. Sure now theres gaps in the lower front bumper but idc
Ironically, I just got a Super Speed Breaker yesterday & have yet to transform him. I totally agree about the Alternators & Binal Tech as some were no longer fun & got sold off. Another 1 I'd add to the list is Generations Perceptor, though I liked his vehicle mode he was a pain to transform. When a toy is no longer fun, it's time to be done!
Oddly enough, I don't have any figures that I don't want to transform because of the transformation itself.
I've had one of those before - WFC Optimus Prime. When I first got this toy, the transformation was so confusing, I vowed to never transform it again. But then, a few years later, I decided to mess with it again, and now it became one of my favorite figures to transform.
As for the figures I don't want to transform again now, they come in 3 main flavors.
Two figures I don't want to transform due to breakage.
MP Bluestreak has a broken off arm, so he will probably spend the rest of his days in the car mode.
Just the other day I decided to transform Thrilling 30 Sky-byte and broke the joint his shark nead sits on. Even though I have glued the joint back to functional state, I'll probably won't risk transforming him again. Although, the shark head seems to be locking good enough in both modes without reliance on the joint, so maybe I'll try to transforming him sometime when I feel like it. And if the joint brakes again, the figure's probably going to function well enough as a part-former.
The other reason to not transform figures again is space. I don't see myself disassembling and transforming any combiner I have, because I ran out of space to display individual bots.
The third reason is I simply don't care about certain figures enough any more to mess with them again.
Some figures I've got just to complete the set. For example, TR Broadside. I got him just because I was trying to get as many Wreckers as I could. Bulking up the team is all that figure is good for, there's no reason for me to see its altmodes ever again.
And some figures I've got just because I was in the mood to get a new toy and grabbed whatever was available at the store that day, or when I came across a good deal. Ended up with way more Bumblebees than I ever cared for that way.
I always remember my dad bought me a live action movie ratchet when I was kid, and I hated transforming it so much I didn't buy a transformer for 12 years
I had the Voyager Ratchet from 2007 when I was 4, ngl I liked it a lot. I just lost the axe piece right away. The 2007 toyline definitely started the trend towards more complex transformations but I think the figures were still really great! The rotf toyline was where transformations became nightmarish however...
Out of all the toys it was a Movie Ratchet? Are you serious? 😐
@@Noble0563 I am pretty sure it had to be the second movie, I was like 10 or 11, wich would 2008 or 2009, but you have to take in count that my only other transformer before it was crosswise from RID, so maybe a couple levels of difficulty
@@magnolia549 Don't tell me to back off.
For me it was definitely the Moon Studios Raiden figure, I love the figure but I nearly tore my fingers apart trying to transform them between their individual modes and combined mode so now they’re combined and they’re staying that way 😅
I think Beast Machines Nightscream was the first time my young self saved up to buy a toy, got it home, and had such a miserable time with it I knew I'd wasted my money. Trying to get those translucent pegs to stay pegged... Trying to get him to STAND UP...
Animated Ultra Magnus. He’s fine until you get to the double hinge on his cab/shoulders. They’re in an inaccessible spot and the joints are so stiff if feels like it’s gonna break off or break your knuckle.
I actually never had an issue with Side Burn. I loved that figure. I don't have mine anymore, I gave it away with the itent to replace it with the red version cause I like the color scheme better than the original but I never found the red version at my local Wal Mart.
The toys I think are the worst to Transform, and I'm only speaking on the toys I have personal experience with, I'm sure there are worse ones but I don't own anything worse than these.
So my first experience with difficult Transformers was Beast Machines and it's not that they were inherently difficult transformations it's that the instructions weren't really clear what I was meant to do and the joints were so stiff on mine I didn't realize those parts were even intented to move. The Deluxe Optimus Primal I had no idea where his robot mode head was or how to get it out. Checked the instructions and they were no help at all. I did eventually figure it out after an embarassingly long amount of time. Jetstorm, again the Deluxe version I actually transformed wrong for YEARS giving him this super tall robot mode not even realizing the jet could fold in half.
2007 Leader Megatron, it looks like it should be a simple transformation since the jet mode doesn't even really look like anything and the robot is fully visible in vehicle mode however that toy manages to some how have more clearance issues than any other toy I've ever owned. You'd think Optimus would be the harder one to transform but he's difficult for an entirely different reason.
RotF leader Optimus Prime, the first time I transformed him technically took me over 8 hours but I wasn't transforming him that entire time. I started to transform him, had to go to work, left him a half transformed pile of loose parts on my bed at home then came back to him after work. The chest is the scarriest part because the tabs holding it in place for robot mode are super tight and thin transluctent plastic so I'm always scared of breaking it.
RotF Jetfire I don't like transforming at all because he has rubber parts that have been known to deteriorate over time and basically the only mode that doesn't put pressure on those parts speeding up that process is robot mode.
G1 Devastator I also spent a really long time trying to transform but that's because mine was a knock off with no instructions and the picture on the packaging was backwards so my issue was trying to figure out where his arms connected. If you've never seen G1 Devastator before the arms have completly different connection methods so if your trying to put them on backwards there's no actual place to connect them. I eventually had to look it up online before I realize the box art was mirrored.
Generations Rattrap. Going to Robot mode is fine, easy, going back to beast mode if his robot arms or legs aren't possissioned exactly right it won't fit properly back into beast mode. Most transformers that transform that way have a bit of leway or at least some tab points to help line it up right but not Rattrap you just gotta fiddle with stuff untill you can actually close up the beast mode.
WFC Bumblebee has the opposite problem where there are too many tabs and I actually broke 2 of the tabs off... I don't know why he even had those 2 tabs in the first place cause he holds together just fine without them and it actually makes him easier to transform when they aren't there.
MP01 Optimus Prime. I did not realize there were buttons in his legs I needed to press to extend them one of his legs is broken internally so that button no longer even works.
Generations Junkion mold, I have 4 of these and two have broken handle bars now. My original ones never had the issue until I got the second set to customize then suddenly they broke and now I'm kinda worried about transforming them again even though I love my custom Junkions.
Cyberverse Grimlock... and this is entirely due to how the tail turns into the legs. I hate Transforming that figure and I've actually considered getting a second one both because I hate the Transformation and because Grimlock in the show has DID and literally met himself from another universe in one episode giving me a reason to have 2 different Grimlocks representing his two different personalities. For anyone who's not seen Cyberverse his beast mode is the more familiar "Me Grimlock" personality you would expect of someone named Grimlock while his robot mode oddly enough reminds me more of G1 Tracks than any character called Grimlock.
Spot on indictments of Side Burn and Mach Kick (and BW Neo in general).
Revenge of the Fallen was peak for it, but I find the vast majority of Movie-verse toys to be too heavily reliant on panels and precise alignment. Some of them I'm pretty sure were designed in such a way that their parts were meant to phase through each other. And Dark of the Moon (other than Leader Sentinel) was nicely pleasant to transform mostly.
More recently, Kingdom Tracks is just... bad. There's no reason his leg transformation should be that complex. I remember being fairly frustrated with Doubledealer (only going into bird mode), Apeface and Snapdragon too.
I may just be getting old, but I find I have much less patience for complex transformations than I used to. These days, my ideal standard is something like the WfC Datsuns or Sideswipes. I'll take some degree of complexity if it's nicely innovative. Kingdom Cyclonus, Earthrise Wheeljack, or Titans Return Kup are really good examples of different but intuitive.
It doesn't help that instructions have been getting poorer and poorer for years.
I'll be honest, its gotta be the masterpiece Arcee/Nightbird mold. I remember wanting to buy my first mp and heard Nightbird was great to pose even with the massive back kibble, but man she will never see her alt mode ever again as long as I can help it. I'm just tired of every fembot having to be just a skinny humanoid robo lady with an alt mode shell around her. On the flip side thats why I love Legacy Elita-1/Minerva. sure it still has huge back kibble but at least it actually works the robot mode legs into the back kibble and its a fun and easy conversion.
You think these are bad, compare it to some 3rd party monsters of spaghetti engineering ie. deformation space crimson wings, alien attack mackron, devil saviour split, etc.
Spilt makes rotf mixmaster look like a one-step changer!
One of the hardest to transform figures I've ever had was G1 Guzzle.
...All the parts on mine were gunked shut.
I honestly can't think of any Transformer I've ever had that I never wanna transform again. some of the more difficult ones I'll put off to the side for awhile, but I always eventually come back to them. I think for me it may be because the thing I love most about Transformers IS figuring out the transformation.they're like brain teaser puzzles that test our logic and problem solving abilities
I only have one thing in my entire collection that fits this category: Darth Vader/ Death Star from the old Star Wars crossover line. It's simple in theory, but you need to put all the death star panels into place in the right order and if it doesn't line up (it almost certainly never does), then you're stuck undoing large portions of the transformation just to hope you get this one piece in place. Honestly? It's a pain in the ass. I only transform him when someone asks me to because I just dread thinking about it.
Alternators grimlock was my first transformer in 2005 ish. I was five years old at the time. My father and I didn't know how to transform him at the time so he ended up coming apart.
That's a great toy but just so much work. Terrible for a 5 year old or amateur.
Unlucky.
If you want a fun MPM that's pretty easy to transform and is fun to transform and is a gorgeous piece get Barricade
For me it was X-Transbots Boost/Hatch (Tailgate & Windcharger), I actually broke Boost (Side window came of during the first review I did) and had to repair it and I left Hatch in robot mode since I only wanted them for the car mode since finding a 3rd gen firebird in their scale that isn't a Knight Rider KITT car and is just the normal base model of that car nearly impossible. I ended clipping most of the tabs off and while the legs on both are still annoying it made the figures way more fun but infuriating I had to modify them that much to enjoy them.
Masterpiece Lio Convoy, Toyworld Knight Orion, and Jiujiang Winged Dragon are like that for my collection.
With Lio Convoy and Winged Dragon (MP TM2 Megatron), every time I mess with them, more paint chips off. And it’s especially frustrating with Lio Convoy, because I feel they absolutely could have just molded those chippable parts in red plastic and they would have been perfectly durable.
Knight Orion just SUCKS. He’s what happens when you try to force the 3A CAD model to actually transform. I’d rather transform Alien Attack Mackron than Knight Orion, just because you can tell Mackron was actually prototyped and tested, and most importantly FITS TOGETHER in both modes.
I would argue that the masterpiece figures are justified in their complexity as they're meant more as display pieces than for actual play, whereas the more affordable toys should strike a fine balance between simplicity and accuracy and be able to withstand extended wear and tear.
If there's one transformer I never want to transform again, it's Kingdom (Beast) Megatron. The soft plastic panels on the exterior of the toy are constantly getting in their own way, particularly on the tail, There are a ton of clearance issues, the hips don't stay tabbed in while in beast mode, and worst of all are the ridiculously easy to break slider joints on the beast mode thighs.
I've always appreciated that Masterpiece Grimlock more or less transforms exactly like the original toy.
Seige ravage mold. After my seige one broke I’m terrified of my more exclusive Netflix or SG breaking as well so I now own four of that mold with one always in robot mode.
i watched someone transform mpm ironhide and man even I was sweating with just how tightly everything fits together and how perfect you need to be or something will snap.
RID Sideburn? Love him. ROTF Mixmaster? Love him.
*Alternity Bumblebee?* [PTSD screeching]
If you extend beyond Transformers, then I would name all MG scale Zeta Gundam, ReZel and Victory Gundam and their variants. They are all super fragile at their transformation joints with too much weight hanging on them. Sometimes, they will break on the first transformation
that Deluxe Bumblebee from Revenge of the Fallen. Jesus christ I still remember how hard it was to transform that thing back to vehicle mode.
The 2001 Robots in Disguise Fire Optimus Prime and Utra Magnus merger is impossible.
I feel this way about a lot of the studio series. Movie toys are always the most fiddley and they're no exception
ROTF Scalpel, my biggest regret was buying that pos. I was never able to transform it to "robot" mode or fold its legs in properly for the microscope mode
Never mind again, I never successfully transformed ROTF Mixmaster back to vehicle mode at all, I think the shells popped off and I put them back wrong or something 'cause I never managed to get it to align ever
TLK Leader Megatron _was_ one of these for me till this November when I finally *got* the final steps to work (robot to jet), now I honestly kinda love the jet mode
The combination of eggshell plastic, insanely tight tab/slot connections and some iffy joints take all the fun out of transforming him. But damn, that jet mode!
From my memory, I've had a few cases of toys I just never wanted to transform again. ROTF Leader Prime being one of them. I love this toy. He looks fantastic in both modes. Just PLEASE never ask me to transform it again. Luckily my workaround was buying the HFTD version (I missed out on the initial run) and then getting the Jetwing Prime from DOTM. The HFTD guy stays in truck mode with the Jetwing guy stays in robot mode. Problem solved.
Otherwise, I have to agree that the movie toys from back in the day were just super complicated for the sake of being complicated, like DOTM Leader Sentinel Prime. That's another one I almost never want to transform and don't have an easy workaround, especially now that he goes for much higher prices. Another one on my mind is the Prime Beast Hunters Smokescreen mold in which I found he was more complicated than I think he needed to be. After a while, I got used to it, but he was such a pain to go through. Especially when the arms would keep popping off and not stay put.
And while I don't own any modern MPs (thank you, sky-rocketing prioces), a lot of those transformations scare me. And on top of that, you have cases like with Hound and 3.0 Prime where you can break something. Like okay, yeah, no thanks. And it's third party, but I'd like to give an honorable mention to Apollyon, a toy that I got in May 2015 and have NEVER transformed because of the horror stories I've heard. It seems third party companies have a lot ot learn about plastic tolerances and QC, so at least Hasbro and Takara mostly have them beat there.
No one wants to transform ER Arcee, due to the fact that it's practically an insult to transformation engineering
Or even own the thing. The only reason I have a version is becuase it’s an elita one and now that the legacy elita came out that Netflix one can join its mold sister.
APC Toys Megatron. His transformation isn't horrendous, but the vehicle isn't worth accidentally scratching him up
Mine is the "86 Series" Kup (not the OG one from 86). I love the look for both his modes, but getting his parts to fit together correctly in vehicle mode is a pain in the ass.
That ROTF Optimus Prime...I remember him so well...for taking me over an hour to transform. Never again. Though to be honest, the one I REALLY never wanted to transform again... In fact, I never even fully transformed it was the Leader class Megatron from the first live action Transformers movie. There just seemed to be a couple of steps missing to get him into the Cybertron jet mode. I got halfway through transforming him, got confused by the instructions and then turned him back to robot mode.
Honestly i really enjoy transforming sideburn and WFC bumblebee. I dont find eithers transformation hard, that said i also enjoy more complex transformations
Side Burn was my first ever Transformers figure, and it took me almost 7 years to get the robot mode right
Both Masterpiece and Kingdom Tracks and their variations. Both with leg clearance issues due to the transformation not being as intuitive as it should be (especially on the KI figure, seriously it makes me long for me to get my RTS figure back from whichever nephew of mine has it), and the MP actually has a worse backpack because of the poor way it "locks" in.
Also MP-9 Rodimus Convoy and Hasbro MP Rodimus Prime. It was a nice thought to try to execute a Hot Rod and a Rodimus as the same toy, but the litany of issues:
*A backpack that would just not lock into place because it relied on a hinged box covering a pair of tabs that didn't actually grip anything
*Overly powerful springs in the feet that made you fear you would break something
*Side panels on the calves connected by a fragile armature that would almost certainly break on the panel side (it did on mine's right leg)
*The sheer fiddle factor of getting the legs properly transformed, and the other calf panels not wanting to stay locked in place and thus end up dragging on the underside (again, tabs into slots that did not have enough friction to stay put)
*The gap in the trailer for the spoiler being so narrow that it guaranteed the spoiler would get scraped
*The spoiler itself being attached with shallow screws due to the nature of its assembly, making it an easy candidate for breaking off (as mine eventually did)
*The front end of Rodimus Prime's vehicle mode that was connected to the trailer, specifically the windshield hatch not locking in place so that when tucked away for battle station mode it would drag on the underside
*Hasbro's version not only lacking the trailer, but the chrome on the hubcaps, so just swapping the Hasbro version into the Takara trailer doesn't look as good - unless you want to try to disassemble both figures to switch the wheels, but even that's risky because of the last point:
*Hasbro's use of more brittle plastics, virtually guaranteeing the figure will eventually break - it's not GPS, and it won't crumble in hand as easily as a Randy, but it's close!
Oh yeah, ROTF Prime and Jetfire, impossible.
Me personally, I would never want to transform DOTM Leader Class Sentinel Prime again because that figure (my copy) is just a floppy mess and not fun at all in my opinion. And that's it. Only 1 figure I would not want to transform again.
The guy who designed Sideburn also went on to make the Alternity Questors. Make of that what you will
Looking at Mach kick, somehow all I can think is
“FEAR ME, FOR I AM THE EXPLODED HORSE!”
I think it's just gets easier with repetition. I've gotten to the point now with figures like Starscream and Megatron that it is just super easy. Like anything, you have to practice if it's complicated. We should do speed runs on Megatron.
This is a random figure, but Cyberverse deluxe Prowl actually hurts to transform.
For me it Studio Series Dark of the Moon Bumblebee, because his parts break during transformation.
Universe galvatron hate that thing
The only movie Masterpiece figures I bought are BB Optimus Prime, 2007 Megatron, StarScream, and Blackout, and the transformations of Blackout and Prime are easier than most of the Movie Masterpieces.
I refuse to transform Masterpiece 2007 Megatron. It is AWFUL!!! Never transforming it again.
Yeah, Movie Mixmaster, MP-05 Megatron, and the Alternators Mustang mould are the ones I have that I am not inclined to ever want to transform, ever again.
That War For Cybertron Bumblebee… I own that one and I’m sad to say that thanks to those small, translucent tabs, it’s one of the few figures I have broken transforming it. I do really want to own a Mach Kick one day.
I think for the wfc generations segment, it would have been more fitting to have shown the Optimus prime from that line. Bumblebee was also a pain yes, but that Optimus was the most complicated I felt. The end result alt mode was great however
I have an Alternators Wheeljack, (somewhere) so that's my obvious answer. My copy of WFC-Kingdom BW Megatron doesn't want to transform into beast mode at all, and the amount of force I need to use in places actually hurts me. I don't think I've transformed him since I photographed him almost 2 years ago. In terms of fragility, I still have my childhood G2 Electro. He is broken but not badly, and his truck mode holds his pieces together very well. I'm never transforming him again, as I'm just going to treat him like a Fabergé egg.
My main problem is MPM-08 Megatron. My copy has a slightly misaligned backpack so the diecast parts don't line up properly in vehicle mode. Took me 3 hours and 2 EmGo videos to get him transformed for the review.
For me the one that is just not fun to transform is definitely Kingdom Beast Megatron. He looks amazing in both modes, but getting from one to the other is the exact opposite of satisfying. None of it feels good to manipulate, he feels both super-dense and also fragile making me feel like at any moment he's going to break, it's not a good time.
Pulling apart the robot pelvis for dino mode on mine requires way more force than I'm comfortable with. I've also seen images of the super thin mushroom peg the tail-arm is on, so I'm always extra careful moving that.
@@trewerd Tip for the pelvis: push the legs together and pull them down at the same time. That's my goto and it's served me well so far. He's tougher than you'd think, LOL.
For me, it's TFP voyager class Shockwave. It took me around 45 minutes to transform it from robot-mode to alt-mode and I don't think I even did it correctly, and that was with instructions. I only tried it once and ended up immediately turning it back to robot-mode anyway :p
Remember Masterpiece Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime? The one with Very Fragile Knee Ratchets so tight that it breaks the soon as it moves? that Thing is WORSER than MP-5 Megatron, Not only are His Knees were Fragile, But attaching the Car to his Trailer was a PAIN to do, The fact that he's NOT on here is WILD AF Lol
For a figure I don't transform because of complexity: MPM Bumblebee movie Bumblebee. I got so fed up trying to get the back end of the beetle to behave that I left it in robot mode for over a year before giving it another shot and realizing what I did wrong. Guess what? It wasn't super clear in the instructions.
A figure I don't transform because of fragility: Kingdom Tracks. I do not trust that roof section to not break on me after converting it too many times. I've transformed it twice after I got it and was so scared that I haven't since. Plus his knees are hella weak on my copy for some reason.
I don't think Takara actually moved out of that Beast Wars Neo/Car Robots philosophy if you look the last time they did a line on their own with Transformers Go. Those things look rickety and rattly like a friggin' Shinkalion. And Shinkalions are basically one step changers so that make sense.
For me, it's Fanstoys Quietus, only because of the damn hands
For me it's the Transformers War for Cybertron Kingdom Beast Wars Megatron ( some of his connections, particularly the groin area where the dino mode legs connect together and where the robot chest locks in,are so tight and hard to connect/disconnect with sharp edges that my 3rd or 4th time transforming him i cut open the back of my finger) Kingdom Rhinox ( also for overly tight connections and hurting my fingers, though thankf4not drawing blood this time ) Legacy Beast Wars Inferno ( where every time I touched it, i had a weird almost allergic reaction.. What kind of plastic/ paint are they using in the factory these days? ) and Kingdom Dinobot ( somer overally tight connections but also overly loose robot foot, so he has to lean a bit against the shelf and a loose-ish robot waist/ Dino neck that would only get worse with time if I were to try transforming him a lot)
LOL OMG Sideburn.
Sideburn was a Christmas gift from one of my brothers. It was the first TF toy I had owned since the G1 days when I was 10! Imagine, to my surprise, or should I say horror, how ridiculous it was going from the simplicity of the G1 toys to Sideburn! Even as an adult I refuse to transform it, this after handling masterpiece figures.
For me it's ROTF Optimus Prime. Cool toy, pain in the ass to transform. (Oh hey, video mentions it, ye ye)
Up until 6 months ago, I pretty much exclusively collected 3rd and 4th party movie masterpiece-style figures. I actually quite like the transformations, even though I would never want to transform more than a handful on any given day. With that in mind, fetch the Newage Mista! I love the design of that DOTM Soundwave, and I can appreciate the brilliance of its engineering, but to this day, I need the Emgo tutorial and at least an hour of free time to convert him from either mode!
I never even bothered transforming MPM Starscream, it's the only MP toy that I own and just looking at the instructions makes me dizzy
I also have that studio cell Unicron 3P figure that I'm not brave enough to turn into a planet, I've heard from other people it can be a painful process.
However I think the most interesting one for me is Siege Starscream, the transformation is simple enough but the shoulder stacks that form the front of the tetrajet tab in so tightly that thinking about separating them is enough to disuade me from that conversion.
I'm really glad I took the precaution to pre order two Fanstoys Jazz figures, because while both modes are damn near perfect and feel amazing in hand, the transformation is such an over-engineered mess that I don't plan on transforming either of them again. I was always planning to keep one pristine in robot mode and have one that I could freely transform without worry of ruining the paint, but after one conversion I decided that one wasn't leaving car mode or else it would probably end up breaking mid tf.
A couple of Transformers figures I never want to transform ever again, R.I.D 2002 X Brawn just having to rotate so many parts are frustrating, and Alternators Smoke Screen, so many Pannels to move it becomes fiddley to work with the clearance issues to transform him into vehicle mode are a nightmare, and getting the tabs to lock into place, that figure just makes me angry.
Alternators Grimlock....
Car to Robot: I slip into Rain Man Mode and just intuit what needs to fold out
Robot Back to Car takes forever and I always stall out with getting his arms back under the hood
-- for so long I seriously questioned my IQ with it
It's probably been 5 Years since Grimlock, has left vehicle mode and their place along side my 1:24 Collection..
-- I played around with Hound and Ravage during the Pandemic somewhere on a memory Card I have low quality Pix of Ravage posed with my 1:24 Corvette
when i got 07 movie leader megatron i had a hell of a time transforming it. it took me 4 years to even realize how the legs had a automorph fold up gimmick
The twin ice cream truck from the movie....2 robots in one vehicle...ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE TO PUT BACK IN VEHICLE MODE!
A toy that I never managed to transform as a kid was Human Alliance Roadbuster. Was turning it from car to robot and nobody could figure it out so it remained as a mess of plastic.
Studio Series Barricade. Bought it a week ago just managed to transform him today. Those door tabs refuse to connect to the hips. Also Studio Series VW Bee. Let's not talk about that nightmare.
I was so hyped when MMC announced their Carnifex (Overlord). The first time I spent this much money on a toy, the first time I pre-ordered one - and now he's taking up shelf space because his shoulder assemblies are so fiddly and fragile, I don't want to mess with him. Transformed him once into each mode and decided I'll not risk it any more.
Surprised that Universe Galvatron wasn't on this list. For years ROTH Voyager Mixmaster was the only non legends figure i had from the line, and from the first time i transformed him ive never had any issues. I dont transform him much, but i did get a Universe Galvatron to see what he's like. I understand the issues others have with him, but i still like the figure. I got Neo Longrack last year, & he is very finicky, but i like him and wanted to get something a little challenging.
I hated transforming Razorclaw from G1 Predacons. He had this sticker on his chest that when you put him in robot mode, you moved his lion head onto the chest and there was no way to protect that sticker on the chest. Plus, the two pieces of plastic liked to dig into each other.