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[Fighbird]

Did inventory/rotation of my collection today, and happened upon my boxed Octane. He's not the mintiest toy, and I hadn't really fiddled with him for a long time, so I figure I'd take him out and clean him up; there was a lot of sticker residue left on him from his now-gone stickers.

When I clean a toy, I usually take it apart completely. Both to get to otherwise unreachable areas, as well as... well, for fun.

As I made my way through the body of him -- upper torso, middle torso and pelvis/legs are the 3 "main chunks" of the body -- I discovered something in the middle torso section. For transformation, you can slide the upper torso forwards, so that the cab section is in level for truck mode. Looking at the connector between the middle torso and the legs, there seems to have been plans on doing the exact same thing for these two sections as well! If you gently "juggle" the legs and the torso, it actually "feels" a bit like a joint, that you just can't figure how to get to move, if you know what I mean.

The idea was -- apparently -- that the pelvic/leg section should be able to slide forward for robot mode, giving him better proportions (the chest reeeeeally sticks out in front), but was aparently abandoned because the toy would get backheavy (or rather: his heels, which are rounded for transformation, aren't too stable). So, the general slide "mechanism" is still in there, they just added 2 small "walls" inside the slide trench to keep the pieces in place.

Seing as this is probably one of the most non-destructive (at least for physical appearance afterwards) mod you can do, I decided to remove the "stops" inside those trenches, and now my Octane looks less gimpy in robot mode. Has some balancing issues, but the "feet" luckily bend a bit to balance him a bit better. If I want him to look "original", I just don't perform that step. Oh, and it doesn't affect any of the other modes in any way.





Now here's the funny part: Looking at the box, the toy used for the photo shoot appears to be able to do the same thing, so I'm guessing that it was done very late in the design progress -- which also explains the "stops" instead of a completely modified and stable connection there.



That's one secret down...

Oh, and did anyone ever notice the big chunk of metal inside his leg section? I sure didn't untill today, so I guess that's the second secret.

Now, can anyone tell me what the 2 pegs on each side of the arms are good for? They don't line up with the screws on the inside, so they aren't there to support the screws.

EDIT: Discovered! He can hold the extra tanker truck cover as a shiled (there's a peghole on the inside of it). So now he can hold all his accessories (2 shields and 1 gun).



Also noticed the two pegholes underneath each wingtip (visible on the pictures above). My best guess is that those were originally used to help "pin" the tanker truck cover down better, but the pegs on that were probably too unstable, so they nixed it. No clue on that from the box, but my best bet. OR, Octane maybe originally had 2 guns, which each could be held underneath each wing in jet mode. But that's just an even wilder guess.

[predaking]

Yes, pictures, please! What a cool discovery. I got my MiB Octane yesterday, but I believe it is still sealed to the card, so I'm not going to open him and check it out for myself. I looked at the pictures at the box, and uh, I can't really notice anything different from how I remember the robot mode. Do you have the original, or the classics version?

[Tetsuro]

No modification is going to change the fact that Octane's a pretty crappy toy, though.

I mean...his arms...in truckmode...you know what I mean...

This post has been edited by Tetsuro: 15 June 2007, 02:25

[Fighbird]

Yes, pictures, please! What a cool discovery. I got my MiB Octane yesterday, but I believe it is still sealed to the card, so I'm not going to open him and check it out for myself. I looked at the pictures at the box, and uh, I can't really notice anything different from how I remember the robot mode. Do you have the original, or the classics version?

Original. Pictures are definitely needed, yes, but no can do before tomorrow (the only computer that'll accept my camera is at campus, and I'm not getting in the vicinity of it before that).

BTW, if possible, I'd love to see pics of the insert (in-box, out-of-box front, out-of-box angled) so I possibly could construct something similar for my own one, who's missing his insert.

No modification is going to change the fact that Octane's a pretty crappy toy, though.

I mean...his arms...in truckmode...you know what I mean...

I dunno... I really like Octane. Engieneering-wise: Yes, the arms are much too far out in truck mode, but with a little bit of imagination, truck mode i passable, jet mode is awesome and robot mode is excellent (compared to a lot of other 1986 designs) -- especially with the mod.

[Fighbird]

Added pictures now -- in the first post.

[Vector_Sigma]

I must say...great improvement to this cool toy( I actually dont own one yet,but remember hogging my mate`s Octane when we were kids )
And great discovery about the tank cover also,me for one find Octane very nice in truck mode.

[palaste]

Damn it, these pictures are making we want to buy an Octane for the third time.
(I wish I could afford an SGI Octane too... )

[Fighbird]

SGI Octane...

[SureShot]

Mmm maybe there are secrets on the other triplechangers too

[Fighbird]

Good point!

Of the ones I've dissected over the years, though, none had any latent secrets (that I remember). This includes Astrotrain, Sandstorm, Springer and Blitzwing... can't say about Broadside, though.

[palaste]

SGI Octane...

http://www.sgi.com/products/legacy/mips.html

[Thunderclash]

SGI Octane...

http://www.sgi.com/products/legacy/mips.html

Nerd ! Stick to the topic....


Knut Ingar

[Fighbird]

Well, well, well... Sorry to revive an old thread, but it seems that my work is inspiring people.

http://pleasesavemerobots.blogspot.com/2007/08/hot-mod.html

Have actually just done this myself to a junker I had, and I'm not so sure I like it. But for "prototype features/obscurity" purposes, it fits perfectly with Octane. I wonder what else we're missing out on on the 1986 toys...

[Inkku]

Well, well, well... Sorry to revive an old thread, but it seems that my work is inspiring people.

http://pleasesavemerobots.blogspot.com/2007/08/hot-mod.html

Have actually just done this myself to a junker I had, and I'm not so sure I like it. But for "prototype features/obscurity" purposes, it fits perfectly with Octane. I wonder what else we're missing out on on the 1986 toys...

that was interesting..

i have to do some small modifigation to my Classic Mirage, i did not get the Mirage's back to go to how it should be, so i cut the small beck out of the back and now my Mirage can stand back straight again..

[Fighbird]

Now here's the funny part: Looking at the box, the toy used for the photo shoot appears to be able to do the same thing, so I'm guessing that it was done very late in the design progress -- which also explains the "stops" instead of a completely modified and stable connection there.

Right, a buddy of mine who owns the actual toy used in the photo shoot for the box has now verified that the "shifty pelvis" was indeed included on that hardcopy of Octane. Goes to show how close that "feature" was to being included in the production toy. Big shout-out to my man Ras for the info!