Ann and I recently went to Budapest and we saw lots of amazing things and it was all sunny and lovely but the thing that has most stuck in my mind about the trip is a sight I spotted in Prestwick Airport on our way out the country.
In amongst the range of strange items that the Duty Free shop sell - (do people really buy camcorders and televisions in airports on their way onto the plane?) - I spotted some toys including a range of Transformers. Having just recently seen the nonsense, rubbish that was the last movie I decided for some reason to take a closer look.
In amongst the range of strange items that the Duty Free shop sell - (do people really buy camcorders and televisions in airports on their way onto the plane?) - I spotted some toys including a range of Transformers. Having just recently seen the nonsense, rubbish that was the last movie I decided for some reason to take a closer look.
Now I'm no expert on the subject but I am pretty sure that there is one key component that all Transformer toys will probably share - the ability to Transform into cars and planes. Imagine my surprise then when I discovered that the new range of toys do not transform. You can buy each character in either robot form or in vehicle form! Requiring parents to buy two different toys to appease their young cubs. This is insane!!! The whole point of the blooming things was that they can Transform from one object into another, ensuring hours of flexible playtime and huge frustration as impatient young stubby children fingers press too hard and snap off a leg.
Hasbro have stolen this experience from today's kids and instead all they get is a crappy plastic immovable robot for £6 and then have to go buy an equally crappy plastic toy car for another £6. The toy car has the hilarious addition of the robot's form imprinted onto the bottom like a shriveled up mummy. It makes it look like the robot has been run over by a comedy steam roller.
The amazing thing is no matter how badly these toys have been made, and no matter how poorly thought through the design, execution and intent might have been, they are still a million miles better than the Transformers 2 movie - in which giant monster robots doing battle in the centre of Tokyo are a secret covert force. Biggest load of Micheal's and Zoe's that I've seen in a long, long time.
The amazing thing is no matter how badly these toys have been made, and no matter how poorly thought through the design, execution and intent might have been, they are still a million miles better than the Transformers 2 movie - in which giant monster robots doing battle in the centre of Tokyo are a secret covert force. Biggest load of Micheal's and Zoe's that I've seen in a long, long time.
This was another sign that the world has truly gone mad. It started a couple of years ago when "Wash and Go" decided to bring out two separate bottles for "those that want a bit more control".
