Mech Alive? Mech Dead.

[JediTricks]

The first movie had Automorph, and that gimmick, while mixed results, left people feeling fairly positive about it.

So far, with movie 2, the gimmick intended to be the successor is Mech Alive, and pretty much every bit of it has been a flop. From "costed out" gimmicks that have evaporated but remain on packaging, to just mediocre execution, it seems like Mech Alive has delivered only lesser toys. Of all the figures with MA, I think only Starscream so far has had consistently positive comments about the turning gears with the head. I'm reviewing Voyager Megs right now, and his MA gimmick is such a turkey, some over-scaled gears turning inside his chest and you can only see them if you peer into him. He's also got open spots on his forearms for turning detail from the lower arms pegged into there, but it's underwhelming.

Ultimately, I think MA is going to be this line's biggest albatross around its neck, and hard to get away from.

[Onslaught Six]

At least most of the Mech Alive gimmicks seem unintrusive. Sideways' is barely noticable, but it doesn't detract very much from the figure--aside from possibly being the reason his arm gimmicks are gutted.

[onslaught86]

I like Starscream's turny chest gears, and it's a clever idea in theory, but something I hope they scrap quickly. Automorph was much more interesting and effective, if potentially more intrusive. I'd certainly take Automorph, or hey, 'no' intended gimmick, over gutted ones.

At least we have the Basics.

[BWprowl]

Automorph has persisted though, to the point that we've seen it in a lot of non-Movie toys, like Animated, Universe, and even some ROTF figures. MechAlive just seems so...small. It's unintrusive, yeah, but that just contributes to how forgettable its inclusion is. I barely notice when Sideswipe's knees pop out. The automorphing scissor blades are much more interesting.

[138 Scourge]

Automorph has persisted though, to the point that we've seen it in a lot of non-Movie toys, like Animated, Universe, and even some ROTF figures. MechAlive just seems so...small. It's unintrusive, yeah, but that just contributes to how forgettable its inclusion is. I barely notice when Sideswipe's knees pop out. The automorphing scissor blades are much more interesting.

Well, you look hard enough, you can see it in G1 and BW, too. Insecticon's got an automorphy thing going on, and Snaptrap's fists do what's basically an automorph thing, to name a couple examples.

[JediTricks]

At least most of the Mech Alive gimmicks seem unintrusive. Sideways' is barely noticable, but it doesn't detract very much from the figure--aside from possibly being the reason his arm gimmicks are gutted.

Sideways' Mech Alive gimmick is a fantasy, it doesn't exist. The spinning blade is the mech alive, the grille-gimmick isn't. And the arms seem fattened up for the leftover movable mech alive gearing, so I do feel it detracts from the figure since it could have been even better.

I picked up Voyager Megatron, his Mech Alive survived, but it's such shit. Turn his waist and if you peer into his chest enough to see how cheap and hollow it really is, you'll see overscale plastic gears turning - whoopie! He's also got sculpting that does stuff inside his biceps, but it's such a non-event.

[onslaught86]

Eh, what's left of Sideways' gimmick isn't too obtrusive, arm-fattening aside. It may be a gimmick that affects his aesthetic, but it doesn't affect his functionality or simplify his transformation any. Automorph regularly does both in other figures.

Starscream's Mech Alive impresses. Turning the robot head turns two little knobs on either side of the jet cockpit. The transformation matches the jet's horizontal stabilizers with these knobs, and there are gears on the bottoms of said stabilizers. Knobs fit in holes, turning head turns gears. It's the transformation that impresses more than the gimmick itself, and ROTF Starscream is NOT a very impressive toy, but I do like the Mech Alive.

[JediTricks]

Eh, what's left of Sideways' gimmick isn't too obtrusive, arm-fattening aside. It may be a gimmick that affects his aesthetic, but it doesn't affect his functionality or simplify his transformation any. Automorph regularly does both in other figures.

IMO, his arms don't match the rest of his build, they're the arms of a bruiser, not a courier with thin torso and legs.

Starscream's Mech Alive impresses. Turning the robot head turns two little knobs on either side of the jet cockpit. The transformation matches the jet's horizontal stabilizers with these knobs, and there are gears on the bottoms of said stabilizers. Knobs fit in holes, turning head turns gears. It's the transformation that impresses more than the gimmick itself, and ROTF Starscream is NOT a very impressive toy, but I do like the Mech Alive.

Yes, that's why the opening post mentions that Screamer is the only one who gets positive marks in the MA department.

[Onslaught Six]

Well, that's because Sideways is Barricade. Or at least, I'm convinced he was going to be.

We can argue all day about toys supposedly not meshing with their character. Longarm's a terrific example--I got him because his character was awesome. Doormat helper naive Autobot? Yes please. And then I 'got' him and he turned out to look badass as all hell.

[Dominic]

My Starscream's mech-alive gimmick does not even work.

I am with 86, better to have no gimmick than neutered gimmicks.


Dom