# Wait... This Optimus Prime Toy Transforms Into What? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028 "2007-07-16T19:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/1 "2007-07-16T19:52:06Z")
In an odd bit of irony, Hasbro has made Transformers Optimus Prime toy that turns from a big-rig into…[a pistol](http://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Movie-Optimus-Battle-Blaster/dp/B000OKS6ZC)? Who thought this up, and is it a really obscure joke? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/2 "2007-07-16T19:58:52Z")
So, uh … Optimus Prime transforms into … Megatron? I’m confused. Oh! No. He just transforms into _a completely random configuration_ that also happens to be capable of shooting Nerf arrows. [sub]Seriously, what is that thing supposed to look like? Someone couldn’t even be bothered to phone it in and was just leaving messages on the machine with incoherent mumbling.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/3 "2007-07-16T20:00:18Z")
Off to Cafe Society with you. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/4 "2007-07-16T20:00:55Z")
if it is a joke, [it’s certainly a gift to Letterman.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcEqerCrr3Y) Might be NSFW if you’re sensitive to playing with plastic … ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/5 "2007-07-16T20:01:44Z")
If irony could roll out… My favorite Transformers these days are the ones that [don’t transform](http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/ProductsByCategory.htm?CD=2&BR=496&SBR=499&ST=SO&ID=19710&PG=1). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/6 "2007-07-16T20:37:23Z")
[QUOTE=Ice Wolf] if it is a joke, [it’s certainly a gift to Letterman.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcEqerCrr3Y) Might be NSFW if you’re sensitive to playing with plastic … [/QUOTE] Wow. Jokes aside, they really put no effort into make the transformation process interesting at all, did they? “Spirit of Transformers,” my ass. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/7 "2007-07-16T23:34:21Z")
It’s a automatic transformation, designed for durability. This isn’t a complicated toy. Pull a lever, it flops over. There’s also an Optimus Prime and Megatron Nike Sneaker transformer. And a tank that turns into Optimus that turns into Megatron! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/8 "2007-07-16T23:58:12Z")
[QUOTE=SkipMagic] If irony could roll out… My favorite Transformers these days are the ones that [don’t transform](http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/ProductsByCategory.htm?CD=2&BR=496&SBR=499&ST=SO&ID=19710&PG=1). [/QUOTE] [Not a new concept.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Masters) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/9 "2007-07-17T00:24:24Z")
[QUOTE=Ice Wolf] if it is a joke, [it’s certainly a gift to Letterman.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcEqerCrr3Y) Might be NSFW if you’re sensitive to playing with plastic … [/QUOTE] Another fine product from Hasbro, makers of the [Super Soaker Oozinator](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdAIt4MgnHc). I sense a theme here. ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9fc29f/32.png) [@I\_m\_Ron\_Burgundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_Ron_Burgundy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/10 "2007-07-17T01:26:05Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Wow. Jokes aside, they really put no effort into make the transformation process interesting at all, did they? “Spirit of Transformers,” my ass. [/QUOTE] As opposed to the Unicron I have that takes half an hour and an instruction manual? If I were a kid, I’d take the one touch gun. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/11 "2007-07-17T01:41:59Z")
[QUOTE=I’m Ron Burgundy?] As opposed to the Unicron I have that takes half an hour and an instruction manual? If I were a kid, I’d take the one touch gun. [/QUOTE] I’d go with the even simpler ones…the Jumpstarters, where the vehicle to robot transformation consisted of…pulling them back and letting them transform themselves. And transforming them back was just folding them at the hip. On the other hand, there was Double Dealer, who was by far the most obscenely difficult Transformer I ever owned. (I never had Unicron…I can certainly see him being worse. At least Double Dealer came with all the parts he needs.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/12 "2007-07-17T01:42:41Z")
[QUOTE=I’m Ron Burgundy?] As opposed to the Unicron I have that takes half an hour and an instruction manual? If I were a kid, I’d take the one touch gun. [/QUOTE] You and I are very different. The more complex the transformer, the more fun it was to transform. The magic of them–for me and my friends at any rate–was just how cleverly they were put together to create such dissimilar objects. I hated Go-Bots because they all transformed pretty much the same way–pop down the legs, pop up the arms, reveal the head. Bo-ring. I loved my Omega Supreme (which wasn’t terribly difficult to transform, but it still took a little time–and it walked!) and that Six-Shot transformer that had six separate transformed states…that was amazing (even if it was plastic and not die-cast like the early ones). There was a real beauty in how well those things were thought out and engineered. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/13 "2007-07-17T04:29:28Z")
> [@](#): > > You and I are very different. The more complex the transformer, the more fun it was to transform. I agree. The really good Transformers, you felt a sense of accomplishment when you figured out how to transform them. And even once you figured it out, it was complex enough that transforming it was actually _doing_ something. You could spend a good deal of playtime just transforming back and forth and marvelling at it. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-this-optimus-prime-toy-transforms-into-what/412028/14 "2007-07-17T05:16:04Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] I agree. The really good Transformers, you felt a sense of accomplishment when you figured out how to transform them. [/QUOTE] You clearly played completely differently than I did. For me, Transformers were action figures, not puzzles. Long, difficult transformations took time that should have been spent on the stories. There were a couple cool ones with complex transformations - Jetfire, Megatron, Double Dealer - but the real neat ones were simple to transform\* - Prime, Grimlock (and probably the other Dinobots, but Grimlock’s the only one whose transformation I can remember), Soundwave, the early tapes, the Decepticon jets, the Combiners… - We’re talking on the level that pulykamell complains about it - fold down the legs, slide out the arms, flip up the head. Add a few body parts and accessoriess for the ones that aren’t the Minicars. About the only sense of accomplishment I ever got from transforming a TF was not snapping off Double Dealer’s wings the first few times I changed him from vulture to rocket carrier.