The Energon Pub

When I was young, I used to buy Godaikin die cast robots and Japanese robots of all kinds. Fast forward 20 years to the movie, and I find myself buying robot toys again, this time TFs.

One thing I notice is that the missiles seem pretty limpd***. At first I was not sure if it was just very poor QC, but later someone said it could be deliberate due to safety issues.

Bascially my problem is: the missiles on my toys like Ultimate BB, Longarm, Arcee etc seem to almost just fall out of the barrel when the launch missile button is activated. Okay I'm exaggerating, but they seem to go anywhere from 2 inches to 5.

When I was a kid getting my Jap robots, it was always a pleasure to see how far we could shoot (the possible innuendos in this post are amusing by the way). Most of the time we could get at least 12", but I have a God Sigma that still manages to give me 15" and a Daltanias lion that fires 16".

So what the hell is happening here, and is there a way to fix the problem? It's ridiculous how useless the firing mechanism seems; why have it at all if that's as much one is able to shoot off?

Just you.

not just you - i had the turbomasters and predators as a kid dug those out recently and they put modern missile launchers to shame

Personally ... I'd rather that the cannon designs be purely for aesthetic value. IMHO ... it's better to have a cool looking one, rather than something silly that pukes out a pc of plastic.

Yeah I'd rather have a great looking cannon/gun/whatever for the figure than a crappy looking one that shoots a plastic pleasure stick.

Besides, if they don't have missles, you get to make up your own sound effects when they're supposed to be shooting.

Do-do-pchew!

As far as I'm concerned, missiles = playability. look at the Cybertron line...

But, but... if a movie Leader cybertronian Prime ever got released I'd gladly have it without a rifle that shoots a projectile - just a play value-less rifle would do.

Yeah it american safety laws there worried that some kid is going to look down the end of the missle launcher and press the button and shot his eye out or cause damage to it at the very least. So missle aren't allowed to fire as far they once were. You could try figure out what kind of spring it use and replace the spring in the weapon with a more powerful spring.

The launchers were changed due to safety issues.

A kid was killed by a missile from a Battlestar Galactica toy back in the early '80s. The missile fired right down his throat and choked off his windpipe.

They gutted the spring on Boba Fett soon after, which prompted rumors that it was Fett, not the BG toy that did it.

Now, the missiles launchers have little to no force, and if they even force the missile out, it's just enough to leave the barrel without damaging anything.

At one point, the companies were using sheets of tin foil to test the strength. I'm not sure how many sheets it is/was, but basically...if the projectile can rip through the tin foil, then it's too dangerous and raises injury warnings.

Hell, at least the launchers work today. G1 launchers were gutted and the instructions basically said so.

Ah. The late '70s, early '80s...no one gave a damn and kids still had fun. Missile launchers that could kill, and lawn darts. All hail the mighty lawn dart!

...all joking aside, Lawn Darts kicked so much ass.

EDIT: Here's some more info...

http://www.radarmagazine.com/features/2 ... uncher.php

http://theswca.com/textf/toydeath.html

The parents sued Mattel for $14 million.

Well, for most modern figures you can just open up the launcher, and replace the spring with a more powerful one.


I might just do this with Armada Unicron. Imagine that big chest missile with some punch to it!

The Master Blaster wrote:Well, for most modern figures you can just open up the launcher, and replace the spring with a more powerful one.


I might just do this with Armada Unicron. Imagine that big chest missile with some punch to it!

I accidently fired that at my then girlfriend's face once. It packedc enough of a punch.

The missile launchers I have seem to be hit-or-miss. Like on the classic Camaro movie BB, he's got two identical launchers (well, mirror images of one another) and one fires pretty decently, the other is really limp. OTOH, all of starscream's missiles are pretty decent. There was a problem in packaging my classics Grimlock and the missile is actually jammed and won't fire. So it's all over the place in my collection.

Autobot032 wrote:The launchers were changed due to safety issues.

A kid was killed by a missile from a Battlestar Galactica toy back in the early '80s. The missile fired right down his throat and choked off his windpipe.

They gutted the spring on Boba Fett soon after, which prompted rumors that it was Fett, not the BG toy that did it.

Except that they also modified all Battlestar product so that the missile could not even launch...there's a button, it can be 'cocked' but then when fired it springs forward...meer millimeters.

I tend to be a believer in the BSG product as opposed to Fett which came out later.

Redimus wrote:

The Master Blaster wrote:Well, for most modern figures you can just open up the launcher, and replace the spring with a more powerful one.


I might just do this with Armada Unicron. Imagine that big chest missile with some punch to it!

I accidently fired that at my then girlfriend's face once. It packedc enough of a punch.

It's never powerful enough!

When it leaves a dent in my wall, then it's powerful enough

Anyhows, mine isn't quite that powerful. QC seems to be incredibly inconsistent when it comes to missile launchers.

My classics Jetfire has a missile launchers that make the dog jump and bark when I shoot at him.

Movie Leader Prime on the other hand looks like a 76-year old with a prostate problem and no Viagra in a Bangkok brothel.

tigertracks 24 wrote:

Autobot032 wrote:The launchers were changed due to safety issues.

A kid was killed by a missile from a Battlestar Galactica toy back in the early '80s. The missile fired right down his throat and choked off his windpipe.

They gutted the spring on Boba Fett soon after, which prompted rumors that it was Fett, not the BG toy that did it.

Except that they also modified all Battlestar product so that the missile could not even launch...there's a button, it can be 'cocked' but then when fired it springs forward...meer millimeters.

I tend to be a believer in the BSG product as opposed to Fett which came out later.

Oh, of course. I mean the proof is in the pudding that it was BG toys that did it, not Fett. It was a year before TESB even came out, plus it clearly said Battlestar Galactica was the source of the toy(s) in the news articles.

I think part of the reason people said it was Fett, was for promotional issues. A lot of people covet the item they're not supposed to have, demand goes up, etc.

Fett's just another harmless action figure with a bad rep.

did u ever try puttin some sh*tty gi joes in the launchers....they make great projectiles

Autobot032 wrote:

tigertracks 24 wrote:

Autobot032 wrote:The launchers were changed due to safety issues.

A kid was killed by a missile from a Battlestar Galactica toy back in the early '80s. The missile fired right down his throat and choked off his windpipe.

They gutted the spring on Boba Fett soon after, which prompted rumors that it was Fett, not the BG toy that did it.

Except that they also modified all Battlestar product so that the missile could not even launch...there's a button, it can be 'cocked' but then when fired it springs forward...meer millimeters.

I tend to be a believer in the BSG product as opposed to Fett which came out later.

Oh, of course. I mean the proof is in the pudding that it was BG toys that did it, not Fett. It was a year before TESB even came out, plus it clearly said Battlestar Galactica was the source of the toy(s) in the news articles.

I think part of the reason people said it was Fett, was for promotional issues. A lot of people covet the item they're not supposed to have, demand goes up, etc.

Fett's just another harmless action figure with a bad rep.

But of course, its the same reason that I want some of the launching BSG toys.

Autobot032 wrote:The launchers were changed due to safety issues.

A kid was killed by a missile from a Battlestar Galactica toy back in the early '80s. The missile fired right down his throat and choked off his windpipe.

They gutted the spring on Boba Fett soon after, which prompted rumors that it was Fett, not the BG toy that did it.

Now, the missiles launchers have little to no force, and if they even force the missile out, it's just enough to leave the barrel without damaging anything.

At one point, the companies were using sheets of tin foil to test the strength. I'm not sure how many sheets it is/was, but basically...if the projectile can rip through the tin foil, then it's too dangerous and raises injury warnings.

Hell, at least the launchers work today. G1 launchers were gutted and the instructions basically said so.

Ah. The late '70s, early '80s...no one gave a damn and kids still had fun. Missile launchers that could kill, and lawn darts. All hail the mighty lawn dart!

...all joking aside, Lawn Darts kicked so much ass.

EDIT: Here's some more info...

http://www.radarmagazine.com/features/2 ... uncher.php

http://theswca.com/textf/toydeath.html

The parents sued Mattel for $14 million.

Set phasers to stun!

Sorry. Had to get that out of my system.

Bonecrusher27, have you personally seen what the projectiles of the attaktix figures can do?

I am quite happy with my G2 Dreadwind's missle projectiles' abilities

I think it's hit or miss with the figures.

I have some bots where the missle wont even stay in place, I have some that do just drop when fired, and some that won't even fire.

But the ones that erk me the most are the ones that just go off on their own.

I can't tell you how many times I've been in my TF room and either has a rocket just wing by me, or moved something and found a rocket for a guy on the other side of the room.

I could go on but I'm sure you get the point by now.

To be honest, it upsets me that the rockets are more and more part of the figure now a days, because otherwise(energon Scorpinoc for example) I'd realy just like to leave them labeled in a bag.

But so many figures look to incomplete without the ammo though!

My leader Prime's seem to fire pretty far. If I shoot it straight up, it goes a 2-3 feet, and horizontally it'll go across my waterbed and land behind it, making me crawl under the side of it to find it.

Pontimax 01 wrote:My leader Prime's seem to fire pretty far. If I shoot it straight up, it goes a 2-3 feet, and horizontally it'll go across my waterbed and land behind it, making me crawl under the side of it to find it.

I hate tracking them down too!

DeathAura wrote:Bonecrusher27, have you personally seen what the projectiles of the attaktix figures can do?

I am quite happy with my G2 Dreadwind's missle projectiles' abilities

No I haven't, but if it's anything like my old Japanese Godaikin toys I'd be happy. Unfortunately (or I should say fortunately!) right now my interest is only in the TF 2007 movie line, and that's my only modern day impression as far as missiles go. Although I must say that I am happy with my Voyager Starscream's missiles. Go quite far by movie toy standards, and love the Gatling gun effect of them going off in sequence

The Master Blaster wrote:It's never powerful enough!
When it leaves a dent in my wall, then it's powerful enough

My uncle had this metal army truck that could launch missiles. It was battery powered and from around the late 1940's to early 1950's. Somehow it came into posession of my younger brother 40 years later and he would launch those mini screw drivers INTO his bedroom wall (he was aiming at a different target and would miss). This truck was so cool yet deadly at the same time. The entire truck had sharp, jagged, exposed metal pieces that would cut you if you weren't careful in just picking up the truck. So to me every missile launcher is weak...

SnapTrap wrote:

The Master Blaster wrote:It's never powerful enough!
When it leaves a dent in my wall, then it's powerful enough

My uncle had this metal army truck that could launch missiles. It was battery powered and from around the late 1940's to early 1950's. Somehow it came into posession of my younger brother 40 years later and he would launch those mini screw drivers INTO his bedroom wall (he was aiming at a different target and would miss). This truck was so cool yet deadly at the same time. The entire truck had sharp, jagged, exposed metal pieces that would cut you if you weren't careful in just picking up the truck. So to me every missile launcher is weak...

As cool as that is, it does make you wonder...WTF were they thinking? Don't get me wrong, sometimes we go too overboard with the concerns (Fortress Maximus comes to mind....) but past a certain point...something that literally fires a projectile (with an electric motor no less!) and is capable of actually causing harm...shouldn't be a toy.

Those absolutely idiotic moves then are why we have assholes today.

The Battlestar Galactica thing....was merely an absolutely sad and unfortunate accident. No one actually knew that poor little boy would actually swallow the missile, etc.