Customer Reviews

Transformers Movie Performance Track

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

We just purchased and assembled this toy for my 7yo son. It was easy enough to put together with adult help. My son pointed out the pin on the flat piece which inserts into the launcher... if the pin is not facing up as the instructions indicate, then launching will be near impossible. We assembled it correctly and have no issues launching. However, there are some issues with this toy. First, there is no volume control and it is quite loud. Loud enough that I require my son to play with it in another room so the rest of us can have conversation. Second, the Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and "finish line" pieces are simply part of the exterior box which you must cut out yourself. The Bumblebee and Optimus Prime pieces have to be bent in such a way that they tear or break easily. Luckily these pieces are not necessary to make the toy work, but they look cool and your child will want them cut out and attached so it will look like it does on the box. They also do not cut out easily with a regular pair of (adult) scissors. Seems like it would have been simple enough to make these parts from plastic with stickers on them rather than part of the actual box. If the box is damaged, then these pieces are likely damaged too. And, because you have to cut up the box to fully assemble the toy, you no longer have it to return or store the toy if necessary. Third, this toy is not easily moved from room to room. Pieces come apart and for the most part they can be easily reassembled, but the cardboard pieces fall off and become more damaged each time they have to be re-attached. Lastly, for the price tag, this toy is not a good value. It looks and feels like a less than twenty dollar toy, not a forty to fifty dollar toy.

First off we got this toy locally for cheaper than is displayed here so I'm basing my opinion on the paid price and not the price listed. We also got a couple extra cars with it so we were able to test this thing with more than just what was included.

What you get with the package is the track itself and a small Skids vehicle. The vehicles themselves are rather lame when compared to the regular transformers (even the mini versions). These do not transform and resemble a Hot Wheel with a robot picture on the bottom of it. Still, they're durable for what they do and that's good. Keep in mind that there are no included batteries (3 AA's). Most toys now a days have the cheapo brand included, but we had enough foresight to pick up a package of 8 batteries (good thing we didn't get the 2 battery set).

Upon opening it (my son who's 4 tore the box apart to get at it) we realized that there's some extras that are attached to the box. Well he ruined those and that's the downside of having them made onto the box. A simple package (plastic bag) inside could have avoided that. Had I known I may have opened it myself, but there was no warning on the box.

We assembled the pieces which were pretty straight forward and I realized something I hadn't before. To my surprise the head of Devastator needs to be manually moved. In the images I saw of the item I always assumed it was battery operated to move on its own. This means that it's very hard for solo operation (meaning that if my son wants the keys to get "chewed" up, he needs to either run around faster than the car can move, or have someone else push the button... which is what I ended up doing for him).

Now after a couple days of playing it we have found some flaws in the toy. The track design allows for only some of the cars to travel all the way to the top (Bonecrusher which we bought separate seems to be too heavy to make it around the first turn). At the top of the ramp is a bar that you can also lock a swing to. However, some cars like Bumblebee can't push through it and stop there. Now some cars when they make the first turn launch off the track and onto the floor or fall over (like Optimus). Once into the mouth of Devastator if you manually chew on the car the rock that is positioned ahead always falls. It wont stay up and you need to release it after the cars go by. If you chew on the cars, expect to give them a push through because they wont just slip by afterwards (they get caught on the ramp). The rest of the operation seems to go ok. Sometimes the swing will catch a car further down the track and knock them off (which is cool).

One of the biggest pains is the sound volume. The toy is EXTREMELY loud. Right now my son is playing with it in the kitchen some three rooms away and down a hallway and I can hear it clearly. I made him move it there to not disrupt the living room. There's no option to lower the volume and the audio repeats too often (becoming repetitive).

All in all, the fun factor is pretty high for this toy. No obvious educational value, and the loud noise may be a problem for some people or some kids may get discouraged with the way in which it operates. But for less than $30, I'm happy (he has been wanting this toy since he saw it in a magazine ad some 4 months or so ago). keep in mind the following cars seem to work best with this toy:

- Bumblebee (2010 Camaro version)
- Barricade
- Skids

We found that Optimus worked 50% of the time as did the old style Bumblebee. Bonecrusher we got up the ramp once and then never again.

I'm sure many Transformers fans have looked at this track set, but perhaps hesitated on buying because of mixed reviews. My kids and I are new Transformer fans, and I would like to share my comments on the toy:

1. Once assembled properly (see below comment on the launcher), the track set is a lot of fun for two kids to play the opposing Autobot-Decepticon together. It can be played without the batteries (batteries are for voice clips) if the sound becomes too loud/repetitive for adults.
2. The swinging drill is fun because it adds hit-or-miss variety to play. The vortex grinder "chomps" or bites on the vehicle passing by; it is too easy to catch the vehicle, imo, but is also fun because you can play catch-n-release game with it. The wrecking ball will launch automatically when the vehicle rolls by, or can be launched automatically (adding to interactive fun).
3. We also bought the RPM Multipack #1, which contains the following 6 cars:
> Bumblebee (works well on track)
> Jolt (works well on track)
> Optimus Prime (works well on track, but its longer body means it may get hit by drill more often)
> Ironhide (works well on track, but its longer body means it may get hit by drill more often)
> Mixmaster (doesn't really work with the track - gets stuck around the first bend)
> Long Haul (launches 1/2 of the time; will get hung up at the crashing gate near drill)
4. The green autobot skids that came with the track works well, of course.
5. We have tried many Hotwheels cars we have at home, and found that about half of them will work with the track. The ones that work tend to be narrow body and low profile (height). If the car's ground clearance is too low, it will drag around corners and get stuck.
6. Once you make sure the launcher work smoothly, show your kids how to rapid-launch vehicles one after another and watch them go nuts with excitement!

Overall PROs:
+ The toy can be enjoyed by a kid alone or with his/her friends (one launches vehicles, i.e., being an Autobot, while others being Decepticons try to wreck the vehicles).
+ Sturdy, easy to assemble.
+ Some Hotwheel or Matchbox cars will work with the track set.

Overall CONs:
- The launcher can be hard to operate, like an adult has to put a lot of force on the thumb to actuate it. The manual doesn't explicitly mention this, but in order to make the launcher usable by a kid, the tiny square tab underneath the launcher must be fully depressed by assembling the launcher tight against the red launching strip. Once it is setup exactly as described, the launch button will be much easier to activate. If you setup the track for use on carpet, this may cause launching problems (too hard to activate). Recommend putting track on hard surface or tape the red strip to the bottom of the launcher.
- As noted in a prior comment, the paper carton cutouts for completing the game scene is a cost-cutting shortcut that might have shaved a few cents off manufacturing costs, but leaves a cheap feeling to the toy. Plastic inserts would have served the purpose much better than paper cutouts that parents will have to cut from the carton.

Despite these flaws, I felt that the toy is quite fun for l'il Transformers fans, and therefore, deserves a 4 or 5 star.There are enough interactivity in the toy to keep 1 or 2 kids engaged. Overall, it's a great toy for kids who love the Transformers.

If you don't pay the list price, worth the purchase. My son had a lot of fun with this, but track tends to fall apart after using a few times. I got it for only $[...] so well worth it, but can't imagine paying $[...] for it.

like it alot. boys play with it alot. Needs more cars with it. lots of parts to put together. batteries last along time in it.

Got this for my son for Christmas. I thought the voice was a little too demonic for younger kids and insist it is turned off. It aslo falls apart about every five minutes and the button to start it is WAY to hard for small kids. The box said four and up, and I disagree...

I bought this gift for my 6 year old nephew. All I can say was that he called me the coolest aunt ever! Yay!

The awesome transformer logos an set pieces?
All cheap cardboard. It doesn't show in the
pictures well, but it's basically baseball card thin cardboard.

Won't last more than a week, after that it's just a car
set, but still great fun for kids.

We bought this for our kids Christmas '09. They liked it for about a week, then it sat collecting dust for a bit, then it went into a storage box into the the garage. We just got it out after a recent interest in Hot Wheels and all things car sets and now the launcher doesn't work. Yes, I know about the tabs on the bottom, those should be obvious to anyone.

The problem is the launcher lacks the power to send the cars all the way up and around the track. To quote my 5-year-old: This stinks!

I would say pass on this toy.

On a side note: I would say that 80 percent of the toys we buy are total garbage, not even worth the packaging they come in. We returned 3 out of 5 gifts my 9-year-old received for his birthday recently because of the quality or because my son was disappointed by the disparity between the way the toy was depicted in the commercial and reality. I would live to start a .org comprised of parents and their kids rating the toys and edu-toys that are being put on the market, especially when considering the cost.

My son loves it but you have to cut the box up to use bumble bee and optimus on it so where do you put it not in the box dumb idea from hasbro my son enjoys it but the bottom part does come undone alot that should have been designed better. But he still really likes it bought some cars to go with it.