diff --git a/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java b/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
index 17937609a0..246e54f023 100644
--- a/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
+++ b/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
@@ -109,6 +109,23 @@ public interface Operator<R, T> extends Func1<Subscriber<? super R>, Subscriber<
         // cover for generics insanity
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Passes all emitted values from {@code this} Observable to the provided {@link ConversionFunc} to be 
+     * collected and returned as a single value. Note that it is legal for a {@link ConversionFunc} to 
+     * return an Observable (enabling chaining). 
+     * 
+     * @param conversion a function that converts from this {@code Observable<T>} to an {@code R}
+     * @return an instance of R created by the provided Conversion
+     */
+    @Experimental
+    public <R> R x(Func1<? super OnSubscribe<T>, ? extends R> conversion) {
+        return conversion.call(new OnSubscribe<T>() {
+            @Override
+            public void call(Subscriber<? super T> subscriber) {
+                subscriber.add(Observable.subscribe(subscriber, Observable.this));
+            }});
+    }
+    
     /**
      * Lifts a function to the current Observable and returns a new Observable that when subscribed to will pass
      * the values of the current Observable through the Operator function.
@@ -127,17 +144,17 @@ public interface Operator<R, T> extends Func1<Subscriber<? super R>, Subscriber<
      *  <dd>{@code lift} does not operate by default on a particular {@link Scheduler}.</dd>
      * </dl>
      * 
-     * @param lift the Operator that implements the Observable-operating function to be applied to the source
+     * @param operator the Operator that implements the Observable-operating function to be applied to the source
      *             Observable
      * @return an Observable that is the result of applying the lifted Operator to the source Observable
      * @see <a href="https://github.com/ReactiveX/RxJava/wiki/Implementing-Your-Own-Operators">RxJava wiki: Implementing Your Own Operators</a>
      */
-    public final <R> Observable<R> lift(final Operator<? extends R, ? super T> lift) {
+    public final <R> Observable<R> lift(final Operator<? extends R, ? super T> operator) {
         return new Observable<R>(new OnSubscribe<R>() {
             @Override
             public void call(Subscriber<? super R> o) {
                 try {
-                    Subscriber<? super T> st = hook.onLift(lift).call(o);
+                    Subscriber<? super T> st = hook.onLift(operator).call(o);
                     try {
                         // new Subscriber created and being subscribed with so 'onStart' it
                         st.onStart();
@@ -163,7 +180,6 @@ public void call(Subscriber<? super R> o) {
         });
     }
     
-    
     /**
      * Transform an Observable by applying a particular Transformer function to it.
      * <p>
@@ -7752,11 +7768,15 @@ public final Subscription unsafeSubscribe(Subscriber<? super T> subscriber) {
      * @see <a href="http://reactivex.io/documentation/operators/subscribe.html">ReactiveX operators documentation: Subscribe</a>
      */
     public final Subscription subscribe(Subscriber<? super T> subscriber) {
-        // validate and proceed
+        return Observable.subscribe(subscriber, this);
+    }
+    
+    private static <T> Subscription subscribe(Subscriber<? super T> subscriber, Observable<T> observable) {
+     // validate and proceed
         if (subscriber == null) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("observer can not be null");
         }
-        if (onSubscribe == null) {
+        if (observable.onSubscribe == null) {
             throw new IllegalStateException("onSubscribe function can not be null.");
             /*
              * the subscribe function can also be overridden but generally that's not the appropriate approach
@@ -7780,7 +7800,7 @@ public final Subscription subscribe(Subscriber<? super T> subscriber) {
         // The code below is exactly the same an unsafeSubscribe but not used because it would add a sigificent depth to alreay huge call stacks.
         try {
             // allow the hook to intercept and/or decorate
-            hook.onSubscribeStart(this, onSubscribe).call(subscriber);
+            hook.onSubscribeStart(observable, observable.onSubscribe).call(subscriber);
             return hook.onSubscribeReturn(subscriber);
         } catch (Throwable e) {
             // special handling for certain Throwable/Error/Exception types
diff --git a/src/test/java/rx/ObservableConversionTest.java b/src/test/java/rx/ObservableConversionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..543c44780b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/rx/ObservableConversionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,234 @@
+package rx;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentLinkedQueue;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+
+import static junit.framework.Assert.*;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import rx.Observable.OnSubscribe;
+import rx.Observable.Operator;
+import rx.exceptions.OnErrorNotImplementedException;
+import rx.functions.Func1;
+import rx.functions.Func2;
+import rx.internal.operators.OperatorFilter;
+import rx.internal.operators.OperatorMap;
+import rx.observers.TestSubscriber;
+import rx.schedulers.Schedulers;
+
+public class ObservableConversionTest {
+    
+    public static class Cylon {}
+    
+    public static class Jail {
+        Object cylon;
+        
+        Jail(Object cylon) {
+            this.cylon = cylon;
+        }
+    }
+    
+    public static class CylonDetectorObservable<T> {
+        protected OnSubscribe<T> onSubscribe;
+        
+        public static <T> CylonDetectorObservable<T> create(OnSubscribe<T> onSubscribe) {
+            return new CylonDetectorObservable<T>(onSubscribe);
+        }
+
+        protected CylonDetectorObservable(OnSubscribe<T> onSubscribe) {
+            this.onSubscribe = onSubscribe;
+        }
+
+        public void subscribe(Subscriber<T> subscriber) {
+            onSubscribe.call(subscriber);
+        }
+
+        public <R> CylonDetectorObservable<R> lift(Operator<? extends R, ? super T> operator) {
+            return x(new RobotConversionFunc<T, R>(operator));
+        }
+        
+        public <R, O> O x(Func1<OnSubscribe<T>, O> operator) {
+            return operator.call(onSubscribe);
+        }
+
+        public <R> CylonDetectorObservable<? extends R> compose(Func1<CylonDetectorObservable<? super T>, CylonDetectorObservable<? extends R>> transformer) {
+            return transformer.call(this);
+        }
+        
+        public final CylonDetectorObservable<T> beep(Func1<? super T, Boolean> predicate) {
+            return lift(new OperatorFilter<T>(predicate));
+        }
+        
+        public final <R> CylonDetectorObservable<R> boop(Func1<? super T, ? extends R> func) {
+            return lift(new OperatorMap<T, R>(func));
+        }
+
+        public CylonDetectorObservable<String> DESTROY() {
+            return boop(new Func1<T, String>() {
+                @Override
+                public String call(T t) {
+                    Object cylon = ((Jail) t).cylon;
+                    throwOutTheAirlock(cylon);
+                    if (t instanceof Jail) {
+                        String name = cylon.toString();
+                        return "Cylon '" + name + "' has been destroyed";
+                    }
+                    else {
+                        return "Cylon 'anonymous' has been destroyed";
+                    }
+                }});
+        }
+        
+        private static void throwOutTheAirlock(Object cylon) {
+            // ...
+        }
+    }
+    
+    public static class RobotConversionFunc<T, R> implements Func1<OnSubscribe<T>, CylonDetectorObservable<R>> {
+        private Operator<? extends R, ? super T> operator;
+
+        public RobotConversionFunc(Operator<? extends R, ? super T> operator) {
+            this.operator = operator;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public CylonDetectorObservable<R> call(final OnSubscribe<T> onSubscribe) {
+            return CylonDetectorObservable.create(new OnSubscribe<R>() {
+                @Override
+                public void call(Subscriber<? super R> o) {
+                    try {
+                        Subscriber<? super T> st = operator.call(o);
+                        try {
+                            st.onStart();
+                            onSubscribe.call(st);
+                        } catch (OnErrorNotImplementedException e) {
+                            throw e;
+                        } catch (Throwable e) {
+                            st.onError(e);
+                        }
+                    } catch (OnErrorNotImplementedException e) {
+                        throw e;
+                    } catch (Throwable e) {
+                        o.onError(e);
+                    }
+                
+                }});
+        }
+    }
+    
+    public static class ConvertToCylonDetector<T> implements Func1<OnSubscribe<T>, CylonDetectorObservable<T>> {
+        @Override
+        public CylonDetectorObservable<T> call(final OnSubscribe<T> onSubscribe) {
+            return CylonDetectorObservable.create(onSubscribe);
+        }
+    }
+    
+    public static class ConvertToObservable<T> implements Func1<OnSubscribe<T>, Observable<T>> {
+        @Override
+        public Observable<T> call(final OnSubscribe<T> onSubscribe) {
+            return Observable.create(onSubscribe);
+        }
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void testConversionBetweenObservableClasses() {
+        final TestSubscriber<String> subscriber = new TestSubscriber<String>(new Subscriber<String>(){
+
+            @Override
+            public void onCompleted() {
+                System.out.println("Complete");
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void onError(Throwable e) {
+                System.out.println("error: " + e.getMessage());
+                e.printStackTrace();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void onNext(String t) {
+                System.out.println(t);
+            }});
+        List<Object> crewOfBattlestarGalactica = Arrays.asList(new Object[] {"William Adama", "Laura Roslin", "Lee Adama", new Cylon()});
+        Observable.from(crewOfBattlestarGalactica)
+            .x(new ConvertToCylonDetector<Object>())
+            .beep(new Func1<Object, Boolean>(){
+                @Override
+                public Boolean call(Object t) {
+                    return t instanceof Cylon;
+                }})
+             .boop(new Func1<Object, Object>() {
+                @Override
+                public Jail call(Object cylon) {
+                    return new Jail(cylon);
+                }})
+            .DESTROY()
+            .x(new ConvertToObservable<String>())
+            .reduce("Cylon Detector finished. Report:\n", new Func2<String, String, String>() {
+                @Override
+                public String call(String a, String n) {
+                    return a + n + "\n";
+                }})
+            .subscribe(subscriber);
+        subscriber.assertNoErrors();
+        subscriber.assertCompleted();
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void testConvertToConcurrentQueue() {
+        final AtomicReference<Throwable> thrown = new AtomicReference<Throwable>(null);
+        final AtomicBoolean isFinished = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+        ConcurrentLinkedQueue<? extends Integer> queue = Observable.range(0,5)
+                .flatMap(new Func1<Integer, Observable<Integer>>(){
+                    @Override
+                    public Observable<Integer> call(final Integer i) {
+                        return Observable.range(0, 5)
+                                .observeOn(Schedulers.io())
+                                .map(new Func1<Integer, Integer>(){
+                                    @Override
+                                    public Integer call(Integer k) {
+                                        try {
+                                            Thread.sleep(System.currentTimeMillis() % 100);
+                                        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+                                            e.printStackTrace();
+                                        }
+                                        return i + k;
+                                    }});
+                    }})
+                    .x(new Func1<OnSubscribe<Integer>, ConcurrentLinkedQueue<Integer>>() {
+                        @Override
+                        public ConcurrentLinkedQueue<Integer> call(OnSubscribe<Integer> onSubscribe) {
+                            final ConcurrentLinkedQueue<Integer> q = new ConcurrentLinkedQueue<Integer>();
+                            onSubscribe.call(new Subscriber<Integer>(){
+                                @Override
+                                public void onCompleted() {
+                                    isFinished.set(true);
+                                }
+        
+                                @Override
+                                public void onError(Throwable e) {
+                                    thrown.set(e);
+                                }
+        
+                                @Override
+                                public void onNext(Integer t) {
+                                    q.add(t);
+                                }});
+                            return q;
+                        }});
+        
+        int x = 0;
+        while(!isFinished.get()) {
+            Integer i = queue.poll();
+            if (i != null) {
+                x++;
+                System.out.println(x + " item: " + i);
+            }
+        }
+        assertEquals(null, thrown.get());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/rx/ObservableTests.java b/src/test/java/rx/ObservableTests.java
index 5f1667deb6..55e43896d3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/rx/ObservableTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/rx/ObservableTests.java
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@
 import rx.functions.Func0;
 import rx.functions.Func1;
 import rx.functions.Func2;
-import rx.functions.Functions;
 import rx.observables.ConnectableObservable;
 import rx.observers.TestSubscriber;
 import rx.schedulers.TestScheduler;
@@ -1157,4 +1156,19 @@ public void testForEachWithNull() {
         //
         .forEach(null);
     }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void testExtend() {
+        final TestSubscriber<Object> subscriber = new TestSubscriber<Object>();
+        final Object value = new Object();
+        Observable.just(value).x(new Func1<OnSubscribe<Object>,Object>(){
+            @Override
+            public Object call(OnSubscribe<Object> onSubscribe) {
+                onSubscribe.call(subscriber);
+                subscriber.assertNoErrors();
+                subscriber.assertCompleted();
+                subscriber.assertValue(value);
+                return subscriber.getOnNextEvents().get(0);
+            }});
+    }
 }