Transformers.
When I was but a nipper, I used to love Transformers, both the toys and the cartoon.
Obviously, the cartoon was shit, but kids don't notice that sort of thing, so there no point moaning that a glorified advert wasn't really very good television. The toys, on the other hand, well, the toys were good in that they were plastic crap that could be either a car or a robot, had laser guns, and could be stood up (or leant against a book) to form mighty battle scenes. Shitty, but kid pleasingly so.
That was the toys of my youth - easy to transform, and basically indestructible. The new toys, on the other hand, are absolute toss. Why oh why oh why, does a child's toy require a whole A4 of illustrated, yet incomprehensible, instructions? When I was little, Transformers didn't have knees, elbows, or wrists, and that was a good thing, because then their legs didn't fall of mid-transformation, and they folded neatly back into a car. Not any .
Pah! I don't know who to blame, but I'd like to slap them. My eldest was given a box of cast off, recent generation Transformers, and I was overjoyed, right up until the moment he brought one before me and asked me to turn it into a car. It's basically just a box of severed limbs, now.

EDIT: I've just realised that this is the opposite of the question being asked. Fuck it.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 29 Aug 2013, 20:29, 11 replies)

What are your top ten?

( BraynDedd Natasha Kaplinsky's labia majora, Thu 29 Aug 2013, 20:31, closed)

Alright, emvee.

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 29 Aug 2013, 20:35, closed)

Hahahahaha
Whenever we visit friends with kids, within the first ten minutes one of the parents will sidle up to me with a mish-mash mangle of plastic joints and ask..."Can you turn this back into a truck for us?"

And you're being a bit kind on the original Transformers - Prowl's arms were/are a nightmare to put away, especially what with the fact that his roof is held on with the slenderest of plastic bits and he'll become a convertible if you so much as breathe on him funny.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Fri 30 Aug 2013, 8:05, closed)

To be fair, I am basing my opinion of "classic" Transformers
on the single HeadMaster that we retrieved from my parents loft. 4 points of articulation! The kids lost his head pretty quickly, though. :(
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 30 Aug 2013, 8:56, closed)

Yeah that was a major drawback to the Headmasters
I've got a couple without heads though I do have a couple of spare heads for others that I picked up at a car boot sale for abut 10p each. The other problem was that they tended to be kinda blocky to incorporate the gimmick - the Targetmasters that were released alongside them are better as they don't suffer from either of these issues.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Fri 30 Aug 2013, 9:29, closed)

The novelty of the transforming head wore off pretty quick.
Don't remember TargetMasters, although I do recall going off Transformers when Pretenders were released, as it struck me as a particularly stupid gimmick.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 30 Aug 2013, 9:53, closed)

When I was a lad
For some reason my mum went to the model shop and got me the metal transformers.
I've had to listen to how expensive they were for a fucking ages. I wish I had the shite plastic ones if I'm honest.
I lost bits. Twat child!
(waxdart hello., Thu 5 Sep 2013, 0:22, closed)