The Energon Pub

So starting this with a small but relevant tidbit, i'm autistic and i grew up in the age that went from beast wars to the end of prime. That being out of the way, why does it seem like collectors see a fun gimmick like a cyber key or mech tech as something that may as well have been made by a satanic cult? As much as i genuinely adore legacy override and metroplex and will probably adore starscream and hot shot, i mist the gimmicks man. i love the idea of being able to plug a minicon onto red alert to bring out a hidden disc launcher. automorph was really cool on figures like 07 leader brawl. electronics can be cumbersome if they're not properly implemented yes but they're also fun. Am I missing something here or is it just that mech tech is too good a stim toy for me to pass up? Till all are one I hope youre all doing well stay safe stay well and stay awesome.

Speaking just for myself:

Oftentimes the figure is just ruined for the sake of the gimmick. Sure some figures have well integrated gimmicks (Unicron springs to mind), but all too often the entire figure are compromised (all the Energon Autobots, basically).

And, as an adult collector, after a couple of minutes of fun electronics are just wasted on me. Even simple ones. It's just hard for me to care and they just wind up sitting on the shelf or in a box just waiting for their batteries to leak. They can also be really annoying when you transform the figure.

I was just too old to really appreciate the Cyber Key and Minicon gimmicks when they were a thing.

I liked the cyberkey since it was usually relegated to weapons, not hindering articulation. Hindering articulation or jeapardising a design element (like proportions) is my main pet peeve with gimmicks.

The extra gimmicks, while they can add playability, have often been at the expense of a figure.

Best example I can cite is Cybertron Vector Prime. Fantastic mold, but his articulation was limited because of the cyber-key gimmick.

Granted ... these are figures aimed a kids so playability is at the forefront so as much as the gimmick bugged me, I got over it because I knew the figure wasn't aimed at someone like me.

Gimmicks are a hit-and-miss most of the time, it depends on the type of gimmick, really.

For line-specific Gimmicks, the Auto-Morph and Mech Alive gimmicks from the first two movie lines I really like because they added life and personality to the toys, if properly executed. Titan Masters I like too because of the pilot thing, having something human-scaled to interact with, because Transformers do work with humans and similarly-sized characters, right? Prime Masters with their Decoy Suits... Why is Waverider left out for Amalgamous? For that matter, Nexus, Prima and maybe Onyx, all should be re-released with their proper Pretender Shells!

I know, beating a dead horse...

Electronics... eh, hardly use them, if anything they get annoying quick (an on/off switch wouldn't be a luxury here). What else... anything spring-loaded is fine I guess, punching is a not really...

Simply put, if a gimmick negatively affects a figure in transformation, articulation (especially if it's only on one side) and/or looks, don't expect me to like and use it.

Why gimmicks can be terrible? I give you Armada Side Swipe and his many repaints:




Why gimmicks can be good when well implemented:




Nuff said.

Gimmicks rule, you're right and you should say it. Articulation is just another play feature, and while my hierarchy is generally transformation, articulation, and then gimmicks, I'm willing to accept trade-offs among them when the final product works. My contemporary collecting is now almost exclusively Generations, but my favorite toy of the last couple decades is Animated Activators Bumblebee, a perfect Transformer.