Sparking gimmick: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Repugnus-toy-sparks.jpg|thumb|right|300px|You have no clue how difficult it was to take this photograph.]] | [[Image:Repugnus-toy-sparks.jpg|thumb|right|300px|You have no clue how difficult it was to take this photograph.]] | ||
{{bigquote|And they've even got ''sparks'', BLASTING out of them!!|[[Victor Caroli]], narrating the [[Monsterbot]] [[commercial]]}} | {{bigquote|And they've even got ''sparks'', BLASTING out of them!!|[[Victor Caroli]], narrating the [[Monsterbot (G1)|Monsterbot]] [[commercial]]}} | ||
Some Transformers toys have had the ability to produce showers of '''sparks''', simulating [[Weapon|weapons]] or [[Anatomic euphemism#Tailpipe|hot exhaust]]. | Some Transformers toys have had the ability to produce showers of '''sparks''', simulating [[Weapon|weapons]] or [[Anatomic euphemism#Tailpipe|hot exhaust]]. | ||
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==Toys== | ==Toys== | ||
===Generation 1=== | ===Generation 1=== | ||
* [[Monsterbot| | * [[Monsterbot (G1)|Monsterbot]]s (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. | :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. | ||
Revision as of 16:27, 13 May 2020
| “ | And they've even got sparks, BLASTING out of them!! | ” |
—Victor Caroli, narrating the Monsterbot commercial | ||
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 has returned recently in the form of the Age of Extinction Dino Sparkers.
Toys
Generation 1
- 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.
