Transformers Toys

Camero Bumble Bee with our own Bumble Zareef (i choose this T-shirt knowing we were getting his Bumble Bee)

We finally found/bought Bumble Bee (Zareef's favourite transformers). Not without much effort i might add. We went through at least 7 toy stores (Sunway + Midvalley + 2 days) before we found an original ROTF one of the right size in Toys R Us Bangsar Village. It was the last one in the store. When i first saw it, i snatched it up as though it was made from gold. Now i understand what shopaholics/makcik2 time raya go through.

During our 'toy search' adventure, we did find a few other transformers action figures. There were the cartoon, oldies, collectors version et al. But we were only interested in the recently ROTF released models. It has to be exactly like in the movies, kalau tak - anak ngan ayah sekali kecewa. Whats pathetic was that some sales man was trying to push their so called 'oliginal' toy to us as though they personally picked them up from the Hasbro production line.


One transaction attempt went as followed:

"Boss, saya mau beli Bumble Bee original, ada ka.. kena betul2 original?" me asking the salesman

"Ada... sini semua 'oliginal'! "was the answer. He went back and came out with a toy.

"Then how come 'oliginal' have no box", i asked while looking at the toy being unwrap in a half a cent plastic cover.

"Ini collectors punyaaa, kalau tak 'oli' .. mesti RM5 saja", was the bold B.S. answer and he was selling it at RM65.

Lying so blatantly in my face, i thought to myself

"Boleh you tunjuk dia tukar jadi kereter" asked him to transform the Bumble Bee into a Camero.

"Boleh2.. senang saja.. tak payah instructions" he answered while transforming it.

It became so obvious that it was a rip off when pieces were coming apart during the transforming. At that time, i felt like shoving the fallen pieces in his mouth.

More so, these sales people were trying to make us feel bad/miss out if we didnt buy their stuff. Bunch of unethical hustlers in my opinion. Most of KL sales people act like this for what reasons, i dont know. Its just so rampant and they do it without feeling guilt and shame. Maybe its because they dont lose anything in trying.

So back to the toys. They were several original ROTF toys out there and it seems all so cool. Check transformers.com (currently Zareef's favourite site) for more details and pics. I particularly like the big sized Bumble Bee (RM400+), medium sized Megatron (RM120) and enormous Constructicon Devastator (RM400+ = combine 6 robots together). But being a grown up, i would not indulge myself in this (yeahh rightttt!!). So i tell myself. The truth is, i'll buy every single transformer if i can afford it and get away with it without feeling guilty or ridiculed. As my defence i would also like to state, i was a little deprived of my childhood. I didnt have toys and all my time i have was for studying. You can ask my parents, school mates and siblings if you dont believe me.

Apart from its awesomeness, another wonderful part of the new transformer toys is that they are so robust. They dont damage without serious effort and easy to put together if pieces came apart. Proven when the kids have been playing with one (the robots name is Long Haul - it can turn into a truck) for a couple of months but it still is intact (another reason i dont mind sharing the transformer if i finally buy them). Not many toys come up standing after a few days in our house especially something like Long Haul, being played with every other day. I also have to state that, its amazing how creative and intuitive the toy makers are - to be able the robots to actually change into cars, planes, trucks and so forth. Transforming them is also not an easy task . Real cases - 'kalau tak dapat transform tu, blame it on the toy eventhough org lain buat ok je' or 'tak kisah pun takleh transform after actually trying for the past 10 minutes or so'. No doubt, Zareef and Zara really loves playing with these transformers and i believe it is one of those toys kids can grow up together with (when Zara is old enough, we will do this with a Barbie). Zareef is also keen (just like me) about the movie. I think he has watch the the first transformer movie not less than 10 times. No doubt the 'Transformers' culture has really captured our family.

In a nutshell, in the case of 'Transformers' i can really say 'Whats make my children happy, makes me happy' and 'Parents live their dreams through their children'.

ps.. as a Grid Power engineer, i deal with actual high voltage transformers on a daily basis. Eventhough i ought to concerntrate more on the actual transformer, i would rather be fascinated with the Optimus, Megatrons and Bumble Bees.

Long Haul in robot mode


Bumble Bee in robot mode


Zara also enjoying the transformers