Sparking gimmick

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

“	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 any more for use in toys, after a similar gimmick in Barbie dolls drew national attention for setting children's underwear on fire.

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

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.