The Energon Pub

4 months ago I purchased my Takara ROTF Supreme Devastator. Everything was fine with the toy: every time I pushed the button that opens his mouth he would say something different (among 7 or 8 possibilities).

Everything changed after I transformed Mix-master (Devastator's head) to the vehicle mode for the first time. Since them , my Devastator is only able to say one full sentence: "Crash autobots". All other sentences ans sounds just got mixed up, or are not "pronounced" anymore (like "I am decepticon ... Devastator, destroy").

Does anyone have a Devastator with the same type of "Speech deterioration" ? Is it possible to fix it ?
What kind of mechanism selects which sentence/sound Devastator will "pronounce" ?

It is very sad to see the most expensive TF I ever bought without his most interesting gimmick working properly ...

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

Stupid question: have you tried changing the batteries? Honestly, that's the only thing I can think of that would cause the issues you describe.

Mine has the same problem. One saying and thats it.

Skyfire77 wrote:Stupid question: have you tried changing the batteries? Honestly, that's the only thing I can think of that would cause the issues you describe.

Indeed, I didn't try to change the batteries yet. But I don't think that's the problem:

My Devastator's "speech confusion" was not progressive, it happened suddenly after I transformed it the 1st time. Also, 2 months and half later, it didn't get worse.

If the problem were the batteries, it would get worse slowly with time as the batteries decay. That's not the case. The "speech confusion" is not getting worse. it's just the same as in the day it started.

I believe Devastator's "speech sentence" selection is based on some kind of electromechanical device, and it is triggered by acceleration and/or displacement of Devastator's head. The day I transformed it for the 1st-time I had pull the bottom-side of Mix-master very very hard. I think the extreme acceleration of the movement disassembled partially the electromechanical switch that triggers Devastator's sounds and lights. That's my theory ...

However I don't know where the movement/acceleration sensor is located. Without opening the toy, it is only possible to locate the small switch that triggers the transformation sounds.

Skyfire77 wrote:Stupid question: have you tried changing the batteries? Honestly, that's the only thing I can think of that would cause the issues you describe.

Man, what can I say ? Thank you very much !

Today I opened Devastator's batteries compartment to check the AA batteries. I removed them and checked if they were still charged. Because they were almost fully charged, I put them back and closed the toy.
Then, I miracle happened ...

When I tested Devastator, he was back to the original state ! The speech problems are gone ! It perfectly cycles through 6 or 7 sentences (including the transformation sound).

Somehow just removing the batteries reset Devastator's "speech processor" to its original state !
Unbelievable !


If you have the same problem with ROTF Supreme Devastator, just do the test: remove the batteries for at least 30sec and place them back (do not replace them). Then test the toy !

After you try it, please leave feedback in this topic. I want to know if I'm just too luck or if that's the real solution for the problem.

Glad to hear it. Hopfully you won't encounter the same problem again.

Just proves the first law of Tech Support: Reboot the unit. Clears up 85-90% of weird issues.

Skyfire77 wrote:Glad to hear it. Hopfully you won't encounter the same problem again.

Just proves the first law of Tech Support: Reboot the unit. Clears up 85-90% of weird issues.

I could have sworn it was slap it around until it worked right. That would have been my suggestion.

LOST Cybertronian wrote:

Skyfire77 wrote:Glad to hear it. Hopfully you won't encounter the same problem again.

Just proves the first law of Tech Support: Reboot the unit. Clears up 85-90% of weird issues.

I could have sworn it was slap it around until it worked right. That would have been my suggestion.

That fixes the other 10-15%

Evil_the_Nub wrote:

LOST Cybertronian wrote:

Skyfire77 wrote:Glad to hear it. Hopfully you won't encounter the same problem again.

Just proves the first law of Tech Support: Reboot the unit. Clears up 85-90% of weird issues.

I could have sworn it was slap it around until it worked right. That would have been my suggestion.

That fixes the other 10-15%

LOL

Evil_the_Nub wrote:

LOST Cybertronian wrote:

Skyfire77 wrote:Glad to hear it. Hopfully you won't encounter the same problem again.

Just proves the first law of Tech Support: Reboot the unit. Clears up 85-90% of weird issues.

I could have sworn it was slap it around until it worked right. That would have been my suggestion.

That fixes the other 10-15%

Nah, percussive maintenance doesn't work on solid state tech.