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Transformers Toy Review Archive (older series, 1984 to date)

Officially mistransformed toys


For whatever reason, official promotional photography intended to advertise Transformers toys occasionally does not depict the toys the way they are supposed to look. In some cases, they're just set up in bizarre poses, but sometimes, the toys are mistransformed so badly you have to wonder whether the photographer actually ever bothered to take a look at the instructions. This gallery is intended to showcase the most hilarious examples.

Any contributions are welcome, please send either the images or a link where I can find them to tabman (at) t-online.de (if you are a human being, you should be able to find out the correct address). If you're sending me the images directly, make sure that they're in JPG, GIF or PNG format and not needlessly large (single images with a filesize near 1 MB or larger and resolutions of 2048x1536 and similar abominations are a waste of bandwidth - please keep it small!). Also, make sure to let me know where you found the images - they have to originate either from Hasbro themselves or from a professional website that specializes in selling toys. No pictures from eBay auctions, no photos from private collectors - the title of this page is "OFFICIALLY mistransformed", after all.

As much as I'd like to claim credit for the idea of this gallery, Ben Yee already started a similar gallery almost two years ago, which can be found here. However, Ben hasn't updated his gallery in years, and it doesn't look as if that's going to change anytime soon. Therefore, I'm here to fill in the spot. I'm trying to avoid any doubles with Ben's gallery unless I can still find the original site that has the image in question or have additional information regarding the origin and use of the image to offer. Also, I'd like to express special thanks to onslaught86 and Cyclone X who both provided a lot of useful suggestions for this gallery.



Clicking on an image will pop up a larger version.


The official 1985 Transformers catalog, Autobot side. Powerglide during his workout. Scan taken from own inventory.

The official 1985 Transformers catalog, Decepticon side. Long Haul sure could use a little heads-up, the Decepticon Planes' arm cannons appear to be pointing in random directions, and Laserbeak's weapons are attached in the wrong positions. Scan taken from own inventory.

Taken from the 1985 Sears Wish Book. Soundwave got the same gun twice instead of his shoulder cannon, Inferno saw something interesting in the sky, and Omega Supreme is looking back while charging forward. Also, the Decepticon Planes' arm cannons are pointing in random directions again. Scan courtesy of TFU.info.

1985 Sears Wish Book, second Transformers-related page. Bewarrrre... the mighty Devastatorrrrr! Also, Astrotrain's chest plate has reached a new low, even if you go by the official instructions, as have the legs, whereas the space shuttle mode is missing the tail fin. Scan courtesy of TFU.info.

Taken from the 1985 Sears Wish Book, Canadian edition. Note Soundwave's head sticking out in tape player mode, the right arm being severely misplaced in robot mode, Optimus Prime's trailer/combat deck being halfway transformed, Kickback's arms being messed up, Red Alert's legs not being separated, and Thrust only having one arm cannon, which is pointing in a random direction once again. Scan courtesy of Action Figure Archive.

1985 Canadian Sears Wish Book, second Transformers-related page. Not only are the Constructicons mistransformed, they're also facing the wrong direction, as is Cosmos. Devastator looks like he's about to tumble forward, Jetfire and Hoist are both totally messed up, Astrotrain's chest plate is serving as a "plate" in the truest meaning of the word, and Omega Supreme is looking the wrong way again. Scan courtesy of Action Figure Archive.

The official 1986 Transformers catalog, Autobot side. Eject and Rewind are midgets in robot mode, First Aid serving as Defensor's arm is mistransformed, and both Defensor's and Superion's arms are generally kinda short. Scan taken from own inventory.

The official 1986 Transformers catalog, Decepticon side. Motormaster in an early Pat Lee pose. Also note Galvatron's slightly misplaced backpack, Onslaught's chestplate being upside down and Vortex' backpack being unrotated, and of course the random arm cannon poses for the Decepticon Planes. Bruticus' arms are debatable, since this is what the instructions depict as the proper transformation. Scan taken from own inventory.

The official 1989 Transformers catalog, Pretenders side. Even ignoring the unfinished prototypes with missing paint applications, stickers and guns randomly taken from other toys, Vroom's inner robot certainly doesn't need the sidecar/base part for his vehicle mode, and the inner robot for Pretender Jazz has his chest/car front piece assembled on backwards (!) in robot mode. Also, a point could be made for Pretender Starscream's wings being supposed to be flipped upside down in robot mode, but then, the official instructions depict him without the wings in robot mode altogether. Scan taken from own inventory.

The tech specs for Beast Machines Obsidian. The cockpit is turned around the wrong way... Image courtesy of Cobra Island Toys.

The tech specs for Beast Machines Thrust, doing his hunchback impression. Image courtesy of Cobra Island Toys.

The tech specs for the Beast Machines Motorcycle Drone, which looks somewhat anorexic, with his chest transformed incompletely. Image courtesy of the Hartman's now defunct International Tech Spec Archive website. Thanks to FortMax for the suggestion.

The tech specs for RiD Bruticus... and one of the reasons why a large number of fans never managed to transform this toy correctly. Also depicted on the toy's card itsef. And yes, this is a photo, albeit a heavily touched up one. Scan courtesy of Cobra Island Toys.

RiD Ultra Magnus when he was small. Used by Hasbro's European division for their local websites, also used for printed ads found inside Titan's trade reprints of the Marvel G1 comics.

The back of RiD Scourge's box. That's Scourge Junior, the one with the shorter legs and the hanging shoulders. Also depicted on the front and the side of the box and used for the tech specs. Scan kindly provided by KillerMel.

RiD Mega-Octane, cannons pointing the wrong way. Found at Hasbro's website, but also used for printed ads.

RiD Movor, not directly mistransformed, but the guns are attached the wrong way and thus prevent the wings from folding down properly. Taken from Hasbro's website, but also used for printed ads.

The back of the Wal*Mart exclusive RiD urban camo Ruination's box. There's so much wrong here, I won't even start counting the mistransformations... although the fact that Rollbar's robot mode is depicted next to Armorhide's vehicle mode and vice versa is particularly bad. Image kindly provided by Galaxy Convoy.

The Wal*Mart exclusive Universe desert camo Ruination. Note the dislocated hips. Found at Transformerland.com, but also used on the back of the actual toy's box (see next image).

The back of the Wal*Mart exclusive Universe desert camo Ruination's box. Amazingly enough, almost everything that was wrong on the urban camo version's box is still wrong here, down to the swapped vehicle modes for Rollbar and Armorhide. Image courtesy of Cobra Island Toys.

Universe Optimus Primal in mid-transformation. Taken from Hasbro's own website.

Universe Nemesis Prime. I don't usually comment on the box art, but this one is wrong on so many levels, it's not funny. Image courtesy of Cobra Island Toys.

The back of Universe Skydive's card. I seriously can't see him being able to fly with his center of gravity in front of his wings like that. Image courtesy of Cobra Island Toys.

Universe King Atlas as featured on Hasbro's website. Apparently the photographer confused "feet folded down, wings folded back".

Universe Inferno's hips look kinda dislocated. Found at Hasbro's website, but also used for printed ads and depicted on the back of the actual toy's card.

The night of the living mistransformations, starring: Universe Razorclaw. Found at Amazon.com.

Also from Amazon, the accompanying alternate mode for Universe Razorclaw. Decent attempt at the official "attack mode", but nevertheless to no avail.

Universe Silverbolt appears to have incorporated lobster parts into his Fuzor DNA. Taken from Amazon.com again.

Universe Depthcharge after a rough night with Unicron. From Hasbro's website.

Universe Tankor (from the two-pack with Obsidian) is sporting a fancy hat. Taken from Transformerland.com, but also used at Hasbro's own website and for printed ads and depicted on the back of the actual toy's card.

Universe Obsidian (from the two-pack with Tankor) shows off his flamingo neck. Found at Transformerland.com, but also used at Hasbro's own website and for printed ads and depicted on the back of the actual toy's card.

From the back of the Wal*Mart exclusive Universe Prowl's card. That's even more kibble in robot mode than the official transformation requires. Image courtesy of Cobra Island Toys.

Universe Stockade looks kinda depressed. Taken from Hasbro's website.

Universe Makeshift Mini-Con (from Autobot Whirl). Taken from Transformerland.com, but also used at Hasbro's own website.

The Universe Overbite & Repugnus two-pack. The beast mode's feet are misassembled on Repugnus, and so is the lower jar (the latter of which actually made it onto the actual toy, as well as on the various BotCon exclusive repaints of the Beast Machines Buzzclaw mold). Also, the robot mode's legs aren't really supposed to serve as extra legs in beast mode. From Hasbro's own website.

Universe Long Haul (from the two-pack with Hightower). The hips are severely dislocated, and I guess the wheels on the legs are folded out in order to improve his balance? Taken from Walmart.com, but also used at Hasbro's own website (see next image).

The Universe Long Haul & Hightower two-pack. Additionally to the problems with Long Haul, Hightower also seems to have problems with his balance, hence the folded out wheels on his legs. Found at Hasbro's own website.

Universe Scavenger (from the two-pack with Bonecrusher) does his "Dying Swan" impression. Taken from Walmart.com, but also used at Hasbro's own website.

Armada Super-Con Optimus Prime would like you to know that the larger version's super mode is soooooo big. Taken from Amazon.com.

Armada Powerlinx Optimus Prime has been turned into a zombie, judging from the position of his arms. From Amazon.com.

Armada Corona Sparkplug (from Powerlinx Optimus Prime). Now, this is so severely misaligned, it appears the photographer didn't actually care at all. Once again from Amazon.com.

Armada Cyclonus. Nothing major, although the hip section is supposed to be folded down. From Hasbro's website.

Armada Sideways and what I would describe as the "Energon Ironhide Syndrome", with the head sticking out in vehicle mode. Found at Hasbro's website.

Armada Jetfire appears to have joined the Breastforce, but still needs to learn how to aim his gun properly. Also, the arms are wrong in too many ways, and the heel thrusters won't help him fly that way in robot mode either. From Amazon.com.

Armada Jetfire in space shuttle mode, with somewhat unstable wings. Taken from Amazon.com again.

Armada Powerlinx Jetfire appears to have passed on the Matrix and is about to deliver himself the final blow. Additionally, the shoulders are somewhat dislocated. From Amazon.com again.

Armada Powerlinx Jetfire in what appears to be his parking mode, as indicated by the folded up wingtips. Once again from Amazon.com.

Armada Unicron is trying to balance without his feet extracted. Found at Walmart.com.

Alternators Smokescreen as advertised by Amazon.com. I won't even start trying to describe what's wrong here.

Alternators Smokescreen from Amazon.com, side view. At least they bothered fixing the gun this time...

Alternators Smokescreen, taken from the website of Hasbro Netherlands. Not actually mistransformed, but half his deco is either missing or misplaced. Appears to be an early prototype - but then, why could it only be found at Hasbro.nl?

Alternators Smokescreen as depicted at KBToys.com. Would you consider this robot fit to handle a gun?

Alternators Tracks as shown at Hasbro's website. Not mistransformed per se, but several parts are severely misaligned. An edited version of this image also exists, with the gaps and seams photoshopped out.

Alternators Meister, just back from a belly operation. Taken from Walmart.com, also found at Hasbro's own website and even depicted on the back of the actual toy's packaging.

Alternators Meister as seen at Amazon.com, also featured at the German Hasbro website. The photographer actually managed to "improve" the official stock photo by not only having the chest opened, but also keeping the the rear doors folded out, similar to TakaraTomy's miniature Kiss Players Autorooper toy.

Alternators Shockblast - words fail me. I'm starting to believe Amazon's photographer might actually be doing this on purpose.

Alternators Shockblast as shown at BigBadToyStore.com. Not only are the feet set up in a horrible pose - the hood is unhinged and just sitting loose atop the chest!

Amazon's take at Alternators Wheeljack. I can understand that he's a pain to transform, but even then, where'd his, erm, buttplate go?

Dear Amazon photographer. You managed to transform Alternators Decepticharge properly with the exception of the chest. But you can't seriously tell me that you think this is a good pose that shows the toy in all its glory.

Numerous people reported that their Prowl came with two of the same hands. Apparently, Hasbro are now trying to pass this off as the way he is supposed to be. From Hasbro's own website.

Looks like we found the corresponding piece with two left hands... From Amazon.com.

Alternators Skids' backpack just fell down. Also, the right arm appears to be severely twisted. Found at Walmart.com, also used at ToysRUs.com.

Alternators Sunstreaker as featured at Hasbro's website as well as about every other place that uses official promotional images provided by Hasbro, including the back of the actual toy's box. Not sure if the "wings" are Hasbro's attempt at visually distinguishing him from Dead End, but either way, the roof/rear window piece is not supposed to stick out that prominently regardless.

Alternators Sunstreaker as depicted at Walmart.com. Essentially the same problems as found in the official stock photo.

Energon Optimus Prime couldn't decide whether he wants to transform into super mode or not. Taken from Woolworths.co.uk, and to make matters even worse, they advertised it as "Megatron".

The Energon Perceptor team as shown on Amazon.com. They managed to transform Grindor and Sureshock properly, so what exactly was the problem with High Wire?

Energon Skyblast in mid-transformation. Taken from Hasbro's own website.

Energon Storm Jet. Once again, not mistransformed per se, but the gorilla-like arms aren't exactly the the best way to pose him. Found at Hasbro's website.

Energon Scorponok in Gerwalk mode. From Amazon.com.

Energon Ultra Magnus, with Knock Out keeping the head up. Taken from Hasbro's website.

Energon Ultra Magnus in what appears to be his secret "base" mode. Also note the awkwardly posed Mini-Cons. Found in a Toys'R'Us ad from Israel, kindly provided by dedicon.

Energon Megatron from Target.com, presenting his Energon Ironhide impersonation. Image kindly retrieved by EmineX, because Target eventually replaced it...

...with this. I guess it's supposed to be the robot mode. Looks like even Target couldn't decide which way to pose him.

Energon Megatron during his workout. Taken from Amazon.com.

The smaller two-pack Energon Megatron joins the fray with a funky dance pose. Also note the crown. Found at Amazon.com.

Energon Roadblock powerlinxed with Energon Energon Hot Shot, desperately trying to keep the upper hand. What happened to "each sold separately"? Found at Target.com.

Energon Omega Supreme showing off his new antlers. From Target.com.

The back of the Energon SWAT Team's box - nothing really big here, but Checkpoint's feet are wrong, and Prowl is suffering from the hanging shoulders syndrome, which looks almost better than the official transformation. Image kindly provided by Fit For Natalie.

Energon Quickstrike. Looks like someone forgot to close the doors. Found at Walmart.com, but also depicted on the back of the actual toy's box.

This is how Casefresh.com advertised the Commemorative Series VII Rodimus Prime reissue. Not mistransformed per se, but the robot mode sure isn't right for this particular toy...

Heads up, Rodimus. Found at Amazon.com.

The e-Hobby exclusive "Go-Bots" repaints of the reissue Minibots. Pathfinder (Cosmos) is joining Rodimus Prime in the "heads up" department, and Treads (Warpath) has a flamingo neck. From e-Hobby's own website.

Beast Wars Returns Black Widow wearing a new backpack. From the Japanese Toys'R'Us website.

Cybertron Optimus Prime - these shoes were made for walking... And hey dude, where's my Matrix? Found at Amazon.com.

Cybertron Optimus Prime - what's really bad is that this is for once not Amazon's fault, but actually what Hasbro considers to be the official super mode, contrary to what's shown on the cartoon...

Cybertron Scourge - an example of how one missing step in the transformation can make the robot mode look awkward.

Cybertron Scourge from Amazon.com, close-up - looks slightly better, but the chest is still mistransformed.

Cybertron Jetfire, from Amazon.com. Nothing really wrong here - if you ignore the rear wings.

Cybertron Landmine. Also note the wheels on the legs. From Amazon.com.

Cybertron Dirt Boss. It's nearly impossible to put up the shoulder guns like that on the actual toy. Found at Hasbro's own website, but also depicted on the back of the actual toy's card.

Cybertron Vector Prime doesn't know what to do with his wings. Taken from Amazon.com.

Cybertron Vector Prime's face isn't there to blend. Found at Amazon.com.

The Cybertron Vector Prime/Starscream two-pack, from Amazon.com. It appears that "shoulders up, wings down" was already too confusing for the photographer.

Cybertron Mudflap's feet are looking kinda weird, at least compared to the Japanese version's official transformation. Image taken from Walmart.com, but also depicted on the back of the actual toy's box.

Cybertron Dark Scorponok lost his head. From Walmart.com.

Cybertron Dark Scorponok - interesting for a fan mode, bad for an official photo. From Amazon.com.

Cybertron Dark Scorponok in Gerwalk mode. Found at Amazon.com.

Amazon's fan mode for Cybertron Dark Scorponok, rear view.

Cybertron Blurr. The backpack is somewhat unfinished. From Hasbro's website.

Cybertron Buzzsaw. Don't expect him to walk forward with those legs. Found at Hasbro's website.

Micromaster Tankor (sold on a "Universe" card in the USA but on a "Cybertron" card in Europe) facing the other way, with his shirt pulled above his head. Found at Argos.co.uk.

Cybertron Razorclaw is keeping his arms high above his head, whereas Steamhammer prefers to hide his head. Found at Amazon.com.

BotCon exclusive Deathsaurus. Nothing really major here, although the shoulder pads could use some straightening up, and the waist arms appear to have started a life on their own. Image taken from the official Transformers Collectors' Club website.

Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Waspinator is doing a poor job hiding his legs. From at Hasbro's website, also used at ToysRUs.com.

Movie Leader Optimus Prime wearing his best Sunday shoes. Taken from at Hasbro's website.

Admittedly, people did say that Movie Starscream has "chicken legs", but the way the Fast Action Battlers version is "transformed" here is just ridiculous. Found at the German Hasbro website.

Movie Bonecrusher doing his best zombie impression, as seen at Hasbro's website.

Real Gear Robot Speed Dial 800 speaking no evil. Taken from Hasbro's website.

Real Gear Robot Spy Shot 6 doing his best basketball player impression, as seen at the German Hasbro website.

Unless Hasbro want to visually distingish Real Gear Robot Wire Tap V20 from Speed Dial 800, his legs are turned the wrong way. Found at Hasbro's website.



 
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