Sparking gimmick

You have no clue how difficult it was to take this photograph.

{{#if:Victor Caroli, narrating the Monsterbotcommercial|

Some Transformers toys have had the ability to produce showers of sparks, simulating weapons or hot exhaust.

These sparks are produced by a mechanism that, when activated, allows a spinning steel wheel to rub against a flint, similar to that contained in a cigarette lighter.

Sparking mechanisms are notorious for wearing out after prolonged play, and for littering a toy's surface with burned-in crunchy bits, giving the spark-exit area a black-peppered appearance.

Though this gimmick is cool and fun, it isn't one that Hasbro considers much any more for use in toys, after a similar gimmick in Barbie dolls drew national attention for setting children's underwear on fire (no, we didn't make that up). However, this gimmick returned many years later in the form of the Age of Extinction Dino Sparkers.

Toys

The Transformers

• Monsterbots (1987)

The Monsterbots feature sparking gimmicks which launch sparks from their creature mouths (or chest, in the case of Doublecross). The sparks are activated by pushing a button that in turn activates the flint wheel.

• Sparkabots (1988)
• Firecons (1988)
• Sparkdashes (1988)

The Sparkabot and Firecon molds (which, together, were reused as the Sparkdashes) feature a sparking gimmick activated by rolling them across a hard surface, with a rubber wheel turning the flint wheel.

Age of Extinction

• Dino Sparkers (2014)

These feature pull-back motors which activate a sparking mechanism.