Transformers fans and mechanical aptitude...

[Echotransformer]

I was pondering the overall skills and abilities of most if not all Transformers fans and thought about how so many of us are mechanically-savvy. Ok maybe stating the obvious here but if you think about it, it's pretty cool how much the fandom knows about when it comes to:

-joint design-ratchet, ball, mushroom, pin...you name it
-tolerances
-plastic quality (and the importance of plastic thickness)
-different materials, metal with plastic, rubberized plastic, etc.
-paint adhesion
-vacuum metalization-Chrome parts
-metalized plastics, thanks to the infamous GPS issue
-stability in both modes
-interferences, tabs, etc.
-ingenious usage of floor polish
-using hydrogen peroxide to reverse sun fading!?
-and lots of other stuff!

Let's face it, even if you don't talk about these things as a fan, you innately understand these things simply by handling and transforming them!

Of course that is if you open the boxes...lolzzz

What about you guys? What do you think? Have you found that Transformers have given you a mechanical sixth sense?

[optimusb39]

Absolutely. Its gotten b to a poinnt where i can pick up anything transformer or not and understand intuitively how it works or goes together. Ive also notice in myself and alot of fellow collectors that we are all mechanically inclined and mostly work in trades with their hands. Its become a second nature skill.

[Chigimus]

Nope. Maybe I'm the exception then, because I can't say that about myself. Electronically inclined, sure, I'll admit to that, but not mechanical. I can do simple mechanical things like regular maintenance things on my car such as changing the oil, tire rotation, brake replacement, and solve my own plumbing issues around the house but ask me to change my valve cover gasket, replace headers, distributor, water pump, etc. I don't have the first clue. I fully understand the function of those parts, but I have no idea how to fix or replace things like that.

On the other hand, I can install my own LED lighting into the air vents around my car's dash, installed my own HID projectors on 2 rides, and change the backlit colors on the cluster gauges. I've taken apart monitors, TV's, laptops and PC's to do upgrade installations and service them myself. I solve my own software problems with respect to driver conflicts, networking issues, manual registry key manipulation, etc.

But some of the things Echo listed that I don't think I know about are:

- ball, ratchet, pin, mushroom (I can identify what these are of course, but what makes which connection more superior or what makes one ball joint better than another ball joint, I don't think I could say)

- plastic quality, tolerances, interferences (these all come with experience but through talking with other people, these matters vary in the eyes of each beholder)

-paint adhesion (I know enough that surfaces should be roughed up before applying paint, beyond that not sure what else there is to know)

-metalized plastics, thanks to the infamous GPS issue (don't know what this GPS issue is unless it's like the flaking away of paint over time that I get from my sample of Beast Machines Jetstorm, for example)

- ingenious usage of floor polish (comes with experience and word of mouth among the community, not something I would've intuitively used without being told about this trick)

-using hydrogen peroxide to reverse sun fading!? (really? never knew that until THIS very thread)

I am not in a trade. I have always had a sales background. Started in concessions at amusement parks and theatres, then moved onto retail electronics for about a decade. Now I'm in the insurance industry for the last 8 years.

[optimusb39]

Originally Posted by Chigimus

Nope. Maybe I'm the exception then, because I can't say that about myself. Electronically inclined, sure, I'll admit to that, but not mechanical. I can do simple mechanical things like regular maintenance things on my car such as changing the oil, tire rotation, brake replacement, and solve my own plumbing issues around the house but ask me to change my valve cover gasket, replace headers, distributor, water pump, etc. I don't have the first clue. I fully understand the function of those parts, but I have no idea how to fix or replace things like that.

On the other hand, I can install my own LED lighting into the air vents around my car's dash, installed my own HID projectors on 2 rides, and change the backlit colors on the cluster gauges. I've taken apart monitors, TV's, laptops and PC's to do upgrade installations and service them myself. I solve my own software problems with respect to driver conflicts, networking issues, manual registry key manipulation, etc.

But some of the things Echo listed that I don't think I know about are:

- ball, ratchet, pin, mushroom (I can identify what these are of course, but what makes which connection more superior or what makes one ball joint better than another ball joint, I don't think I could say)

- plastic quality, tolerances, interferences (these all come with experience but through talking with other people, these matters vary in the eyes of each beholder)

-paint adhesion (I know enough that surfaces should be roughed up before applying paint, beyond that not sure what else there is to know)

-metalized plastics, thanks to the infamous GPS issue (don't know what this GPS issue is unless it's like the flaking away of paint over time that I get from my sample of Beast Machines Jetstorm, for example)

- ingenious usage of floor polish (comes with experience and word of mouth among the community, not something I would've intuitively used without being told about this trick)

-using hydrogen peroxide to reverse sun fading!? (really? never knew that until THIS very thread)

I am not in a trade. I have always had a sales background. Started in concessions at amusement parks and theatres, then moved onto retail electronics for about a decade. Now I'm in the insurance industry for the last 8 years.

All i have to say is... you are mechanically inclined. Ask the average person how to change their oil and they say "at jiffy lube" and couldnt even tell you what oil looks like new...
So it doesnt really matter if your a trade or a sale rep you have skill and still qualify as a mechanically (and electronically) inclined person. Case proven...

[Sun Swipe Prime]

Here's something to think about. Does being a TF fan make you more mechanically inclined or is it because you're mechanically inclined so you appreciate the mechanics of TFs and that makes you a fan?

I'm a little like Chigimus. I can do odds and ends here and there, but I'm also the guy who almost electrocuted himself changing a light receptacle because he didn't know how to use the voltage detector right.

Generally speaking, I know or can figure out enough to get me into trouble, but not enough to get me out of it.

[optimusb39]

Originally Posted by Sun Swipe Prime

Generally speaking, I know or can figure out enough to get me into trouble, but not enough to get me out of it.

Lol. I thonks thats a common trait!

[Echotransformer]

I guess I'm overall just really impressed with the fandom and how they discuss these things, and how much they know...Chigimus your post impressed me, I mean, wow, that's a lot more than most people...

I guess it's a bit of both...many of us like the hobby because we appreciate mechanical things AND many of us learn more about mechanical things simple because of the hobby.

A parallel example might be those that enjoy wine...they can describe all these details about how sweet it is, what the grapes were like, what wood was used to age the wine, etc. etc....me, I can hardly tell the differences.