# Where did Optimus Prime's hands go when he transformed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 7, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168 "2000-11-07T19:47:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jovius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@jovius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovius)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/21 "2000-11-08T00:17:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Inky- \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Starbury \* > > **Starscream’s sexual orientation aside, he was by far the coolest Decepticon.** > > The hell! Have you forgotten Soundwave? He was the casette recorder with the enigmatic wraparound sunglasses/ninja mask face who shot casette tapes that transformed into panters and . > > \*\* Hehe, I still have this guy and one cassette tape left (I’ve regrettably lost the other ones). He’s one of my coolest transformer collection left (though then again, I’ve lost most of the other ones; I wish I’ve got Optimus Prime and Megatron). I think to-date still, Transformers (the classic ones) are the coolest toys on Earth - not one of these pussy toys that springs wimpy plastic missles out that can even lauch out of the barrel. I feel sorry for kids nowadays that they have to endure toys like Power Rangers or Pokemon or other sissy toys. Hehe… BTW, Starscream = gay. Cheers, jov ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/22 "2000-11-08T04:26:47Z")
I’ve got a Soundwave and a cassette tape (the one that came with Soundwave) left too! I always thought that was kind of lame, turning from a fearsome robot into a walkman. I always figured that once Optimus Prime would pick him up, strap him on his ears and force Soundwave to play Abba songs. Funny story about my Soundwave: my nephew was playing with it once, snapped the head off and asked Grandpa to glue the head back on. Unfortunately he glued the head on backwards and when my nephew saw the results he started to cry. Now every time he comes over to the house (which isn’t too often, he lives several thousand miles away) his first question is always “where’s the robot?” with the hope that the head has turned back by itself. So far he’s been disappointed every time. ☹ ---
**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:** [November 8, 2000, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/23 "2000-11-08T05:19:14Z")
Ya know, much as I’m enjoying this thread, it really isn’t a General Question anymore, it’s a bunch of folks reminiscing about the toys and cartoon. I’ll bump it over to MPSIMS for you, so you can continue properly. By the way, did Soundwave also have a tape that turned into a hawk? I had such a tape, but I’m not sure if it was a genuine Transformer or an imitation (not that I cared; I considered Go-bots and Transformers to be more-or-less interchangeable). ---
**Author:** ![Starbury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Starbury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starbury)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/24 "2000-11-08T15:01:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*By the way, did Soundwave also have a tape that turned into a hawk? I had such a tape, but I’m not sure if it was a genuine Transformer or an imitation (not that I cared; I considered Go-bots and Transformers to be more-or-less interchangeable). \*\* Yeah, Soundwave had a hawk. I think it was black and purple. In the cartoon, it was alawys used to spy on the autobots. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/25 "2000-11-08T15:16:47Z")
> [@](#): > > I considered Go-bots and Transformers to be more-or-less interchangeable Heresy. [Go-Bots](http://www.toyarchive.com/Gobots/GobotsRegular.html) were small,goofy looking, and shoddily-crafted. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2000, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/26 "2000-11-08T17:57:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*By the way, did Soundwave also have a tape that turned into a hawk? I had such a tape, but I’m not sure if it was a genuine Transformer or an imitation (not that I cared; I considered Go-bots and Transformers to be more-or-less interchangeable). \*\* There were five cassettes altogether: Ravage, the black panther; Rumble and Frenzy, humanoid robots (one blue, one red); and Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, birds. Buzzsaw was mostly gold, and I think Laserbeak was somewhat reddish. A site I found also lists one called Ratbat, but I don’t remember that one. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/27 "2000-11-09T15:36:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*Ya know, much as I’m enjoying this thread, it really isn’t a General Question anymore, it’s a bunch of folks reminiscing about the toys and cartoon. I’ll bump it over to MPSIMS for you, so you can continue properly. > > By the way, did Soundwave also have a tape that turned into a hawk? I had such a tape, but I’m not sure if it was a genuine Transformer or an imitation (not that I cared; I considered Go-bots and Transformers to be more-or-less interchangeable). \*\* Early on, I thought Go-Bots and Transformers were the same company or something (I was, what, nine? 10?). But once I did figure out the difference, I dropped the Go-Bots real fast. They sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Foaming\_Pipe\_Snake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/958977/32.png) [@Foaming\_Pipe\_Snake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foaming_Pipe_Snake)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/28 "2000-11-09T15:51:11Z")
In this climate of partisan bickering can’t we the doper community come together, Men and Women, Republicans and Democrats, Transformers and Go-Bots, Regular and Decaffinated, and agree that T-Bob the transforming Scooter-Robot from the M.A.S.K. cartoon was a lamer. ---
**Author:** ![cblackhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@cblackhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cblackhand)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/29 "2000-11-09T19:02:06Z")
We have resolved that Starscream was gay. We know Grimlock would kick Rodimus’ butt. As for what happened to Optimus Prime’s hands… On the toy they were detachable and, IIRC, there was a small storage area behind the windshield that they were supposed to be put in. In the cartoon they ignored this and they retracted in to his arms. And yes T-bob sucked Wasn’t there a group of Go-bots that transformed in to rocks? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/30 "2000-11-09T20:18:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Wasn’t there a group of Go-bots that transformed in to rocks? You might be thinking of [Stonedar](http://www.he-man.org/toys/motu/load.cgi?stonedar) and [Rokkon](http://www.he-man.org/toys/motu/load.cgi?rokkon), a couple of extremely lame transforming toys from the He-Man series. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/31 "2000-11-09T20:36:15Z")
Optimus Primal The Transformer with a depilatory problem. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/32 "2000-11-09T21:05:23Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Starbury \* > \*\* > And the matrix was used more than once. IIRC, the Decepticons stole it once, and used it as a weapon, and it was also used to get rid of that “Transformer Plague”, that turned them all red and angry. Rodimus used the Matrix to cure everyone with it. > I really think it would be able to take out even a robotic T-Rex._\* \ **Optimus** opened the matrix to cure the plague. Rodimus got his ass kicked nine ways from Sunday by Optimus who extracted the matrix from Rodimus’ chest (now THAT is badass!). As far as Rodimus against Grimlock, the matrix would only open in the Autobots’ “darkest hour” and I daresay that Grimlock kicking the crap out of Rodimus would hardly qualify. Besides that, let’s remember Ultra Magnus getting blown to pieces while trying, with much futility, to use the matrix against Galvatron. \ ---
**Author:** ![sk8rixtx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@sk8rixtx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sk8rixtx)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/33 "2000-11-09T21:51:13Z")
Anyone enjoy Beast Wars? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2000, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/34 "2000-11-10T13:47:04Z")
> [@](#): > > A site I found also lists one called Ratbat, but I don’t remember that one. I had that one. Actually, I pretty much had ALL of them… Even the huge ass transforming Autobot City -not Metroplex, but the main base, the HeadMaster City, with the head that was a robot who had a human as its head… can’t remember the names though. Why is it that everyone here seems to think the toys came out first? Everyone keeps saying that the cartoons ignored the toys… The toys were just the best/most economical attempts at recreating the characters in the cartoons. As for Optimus’s hands… They most definitely retracted into his arms. In one of the first episodes (and probably several later) he gets hurt in some explosion on the side of a mountain. He tries really hard to transform and he does so very slowly. It shows the hands going back into his wrists and the headlights coming out. ---
**Author:** ![inoci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/50afbb/32.png) [@inoci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inoci)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2000, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/35 "2000-11-10T14:01:53Z")
Some points on optimus’ hands: The first thing you have to come to accept, is that in most of the episodes, especially the earlier ones, few of the transformers ever transformed the same way twice. I think once the toys started selling the way they did, the show tried to be faithful as best it could, and that’s probably why the transforming methods became more uniform. Besides the hands, you all are missing hte real question. Where the heck did that semi trailer go off to (i’m talking about hte show, not hte toy)? As you may recall, if ofen would just drift offscreen behind him, and simply disappear. And when Optimus would go back into semi mode, the trailer would just roll up behind him. The same thing happened with his hands a couple of times. In one of the first episodes, Optimus rolls onto screen to do action. As the cab transforms, the trailier just meanders off behind him, and the hands fly in from off screen, complete with the gun itself. So may they just flew around linked up with his wrist stubs when he called them. Bear\_Nenno is right though, they did move in and out of the headlights sometimes, especially in the type of dramatic sequence described. Maybe all the transformers just changed mode in a way depending on mood. I mean, it isn’t like the cartoon had to depict something that was real. It was fun to watch, so leave the illusion alive and stop asking questions that just shouldn’t be answered… ---
**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:** [November 10, 2000, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/36 "2000-11-10T14:38:18Z")
One thing to remember is few, if any, early Transformers started as Transformers - they were renamed, restickered, versions of older Japanese toys. Once it really caught on (In Japan too!), they started releasing Transformers that were strictly Transformers. The large vehicles, Dinobots, and Insecticons were from a line called Diaclone. Ironhide and Ratchet were powered-armour, not robots in Diaclone - which is why they have no heads. Also, all the Diaclone robots had pilots - thus the little cockpit thingies in the Dinobots. The little vehicles, Soundwave and Megatron started out as part of the Microman line. Jetfire was taken from the Macross line. (Not Robotech. Robotech was at that time the American name for the Macross models released by some company that I can’t remember.) A couple other lines were used, but those were the biggies. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2000, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/37 "2000-11-10T22:32:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bear\_Nenno \* > **I had that one. Actually, I pretty much had ALL of them… Even the huge ass transforming Autobot City -not Metroplex, but the main base, the HeadMaster City, with the head that was a robot who had a human as its head… can’t remember the names though.** Taxing my memory, but I believe that was Omega Supreme. Talk about your bad-asses…I always wanted that one. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2000, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/38 "2000-11-10T23:34:20Z")
no no no no… Omega Supreme was the tank and Moon Rocket combo… He was huge, yes. But the one I am talking about was gigantic. I will search the web to see if I can find a picture. BTW, I also owned Omega Supreme. He was a little less than a foot tall as a toy. The toy I am talking about was like two or two and a half feet tall when in robot form. Remember the Head Masters? Well, this guy hand a Transformer the size of Optimus Prime for a head. And THAT robot/head had a human as a head. This base was featured on the later cartoons. Expecially the episode when they turned Cybertron back to Golden again. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2000, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/39 "2000-11-10T23:39:12Z")
OK… the character was called Fortress Maximus. Cerebros was the transformer who turned into the head of Frotress Maximus. And Spike (all grown up now) transformed into the head of Cerebros. Gasket and Gromet were also included in the set. They were just little transport vehicles to drive around the base. I am still looking for a picture. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2000, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-optimus-primes-hands-go-when-he-transformed/40168/40 "2000-11-10T23:42:40Z")
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