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Very disappointed with quality, this days

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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby fenrir72 » Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:01 pm

Motto: "Power to the strong and the right!"
Weapon: Plasma Cannon
They just don't make 'em like before. I've got to admit that. Usually more modern techniques of manufacture would have "improved" on the mistakes of the past but compared to the old releases.....well I'm biased for the older ones.
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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby Omegatron10 » Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:07 pm

Motto: ""uh... Scorponok rocks!!""
Weapon: Automatic Machine Gun
well if they loosely based all there moulds on the G2 Octane Oiltanker optimus prime they wouldn't have this problem. A clear example of a popular/good priced figure with plenty of poseability and durability.

They could do all TFs simply based on this formula screwed joints/clickable. Screws are far stronger than most plastic and efficient for movement last 10 years longer than most toys of today which last all of a week before being broken/damaged.

I think the problem is the plastic is of low quality and the ball joints are more useful on human based figures rather than complex designed Robots.
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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby southpawdragon » Sat Mar 16, 2013 1:51 pm

I was at a toysrus and was looking at foc soundwave and from looking in the box to see the figure the plastic looks flimsy and almost knockoff ish plastic. Sorry to the folks that bought it I hope its only looks that way in packaging
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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby RAcast » Sat Mar 16, 2013 5:30 pm

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Weapon: Rocket Launcher
southpawdragon wrote:I was at a toysrus and was looking at foc soundwave and from looking in the box to see the figure the plastic looks flimsy and almost knockoff ish plastic. Sorry to the folks that bought it I hope its only looks that way in packaging

I can assure you that it's quite solid.
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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby Omegatron10 » Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:08 pm

Motto: ""uh... Scorponok rocks!!""
Weapon: Automatic Machine Gun
Waht about the Reissues I keep seeing on eBay and also the TFC/Maketoys and others. What are the quality issues like on them?
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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby fenrir72 » Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:06 am

Motto: "Power to the strong and the right!"
Weapon: Plasma Cannon
Depends on which you mean.Encore is a mixed bag. For example Encore Convoy. In the original release, Convoy's dark blue plastic is glossy smooth. The Encore has lost some of the shiny smoothness.

Same with Skids. the TFC book type release had a different type of plastic which was a bit heavier.
Ratchet's plastics look kind of cheap. Omega Supreme Encore's red plastic was lighter color than the original.
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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby o.supreme » Tue Jun 28, 2016 2:53 pm

Motto: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
So...I have been doing some research online. As is evidenced by this thread which started a few years back, but has not been added to in over 3 years I was wondering what the fans/consumers overall feeling towards the quality of the product is currently.

Now I'm not talking about R&D, or the characters themselves. It seems innovation and playability seem to be as strong as ever. However I'm more talking about durability. It seems more and more fans are complaining about the inferiority of materials being used, more subject to breakage etc...

Also the lack of detailing/coloring etc... and the increased reuse of parts as opposed to new molds is a source of frustration as well.

Although there has been a seeming slight decline over the years, does anyone feel that there is an extraordinary amount of quality decrease since operations moved from China to Vietnam in the last 12 months? Does anyone fear quality will still continue to decline if Hasbro/TT manufacturing actually moves to India?

This interests me because I am actually in the world of quality control in my job. Unfortunately my job involves QC'ing a service, and nothing to do with toys, but it still interests me from a QC Point of view. I have actually been out of the toy collecting phase for 10 years and it was the Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors line that actually drew me back in. But from looking online, not just at Transformers but dozens of Hasbro brands there seems to be quality issues. Any objective comments are appreciated.
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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby Hellscream9999 » Tue Jun 28, 2016 3:03 pm

Motto: "Never forgive, never forget."
Weapon: Black Magic
Well, the plastic used for the cw line was noticeably 'wibbly', some of th eplastic made the worst noise - specifically the white plastics used in quickslinger and a/b when trying to tab it to itself - but no breakage. Hotspot is really thin and is actually squishy, not something I like, but again, no breakage, and I know that the light-weight nature of him helps keep the combiner standing, I just don't like how soft the plastic is.

But I have had to replace my Silverbolt already, after a year of light use, the neck plate that holds the combiner head on has all but snapped clean off - not cool. And I also bought 2 leader Magnus', both of whom had legs that couldn't handle the strain of transforming, and consequently the interior mechanism for transforming the legs shattered completely, leaving them at a perpetual 45 degree angle, unable to move- shame, as I had really wanted him.

I despise the relative lack of paint apps on a lot of the new figures (see cw wave 6), it will immediately turn me off from getting that figure - see tr blurr - but it could be easily altered with smart app placement, or multiple plastics - see rid quillfire.

I honestly feel the best quality can be found in the rid line right now, I have a couple figures, and they are really nice and solid, with nice paint apps (tru megs and fracture), but their faux-click joints irritate me as I know they will shave off the plastic eventually and be worthless; so no, not enjoying my tf's right now like I would want to be.
I am not a G1 fan, please treat my opinions as such.


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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby Evil Eye » Tue Jun 28, 2016 4:51 pm

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Weapon: Acid Spray Gun
Awesome, a thread where my bitter moaning about the recycled nappies CW seems to be made of is actually on topic! Yay! :-D

Seriously though. I'm not sure quite what they made the CW/UW toys out of but I don't like it. Now granted there's more to durability than plastic quality (my Cybertron Dark Scorponok has gorgeous plastic but his ratchets have mostly failed and his shoulders are cracking, largely due to overly strong springs I reckon) but it is definitely a major factor.

Now, gather round children, and let me tell you the tale of the sad demise of UW Defensor (for the hundredth time).

I bought UW Defensor for the princely sum for £115. He looked great. Looked. Whilst he was a handsome rogue, he had serious structural issues. His plastic felt...cheap, with Hot Spot being a particular offender. They were constructed primarily out of two "textures" of plastic- smooth, glossy and hard plastic, and rougher, more matte and slightly softer plastic. Both plastics felt awful- especially on Hot Spot. His ladder felt like it would collapse with minimal pressure, and even the "hard" plastic of his legs was oddly squishy. To make matters worse, his inner leg mechanisms that let his legs fold up for combined mode were extremely loose, and felt worryingly bendy. Like, I was afraid to tighten them up lest they snap.

The big problem however was the limb bots, specifically their HFG ports. They were very poorly toleranced, and when I inserted a foot into Blades his port cracked. At first I assumed it was because I was using Nonnef's feet kits, but then Groove suffered the same fate from his standard HFG.

So I contacted TFS Express telling them the item was defective and that I wanted to return it. Fortunately they were total bros about it, accepted the return and refunded me, no questions asked. But it has made me swear off official combiners for good. I'm not out of buying official Transformers full stop of course, but I'm convinced the plastic they use just isn't up to the task of the rigours of combining.
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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby Hellscream9999 » Tue Jun 28, 2016 6:19 pm

Motto: "Never forgive, never forget."
Weapon: Black Magic
Delta Magnus wrote:Seriously though. I'm not sure quite what they made the CW/UW toys out of but I don't like it. Now granted there's more to durability than plastic quality (my Cybertron Dark Scorponok has gorgeous plastic but his ratchets have mostly failed and his shoulders are cracking, largely due to overly strong springs I reckon) but it is definitely a major factor.

Now, gather round children, and let me tell you the tale of the sad demise of UW Defensor (for the hundredth time).

I bought UW Defensor for the princely sum for £115. He looked great. Looked. Whilst he was a handsome rogue, he had serious structural issues. His plastic felt...cheap, with Hot Spot being a particular offender. They were constructed primarily out of two "textures" of plastic- smooth, glossy and hard plastic, and rougher, more matte and slightly softer plastic. Both plastics felt awful- especially on Hot Spot. His ladder felt like it would collapse with minimal pressure, and even the "hard" plastic of his legs was oddly squishy. To make matters worse, his inner leg mechanisms that let his legs fold up for combined mode were extremely loose, and felt worryingly bendy. Like, I was afraid to tighten them up lest they snap.

The big problem however was the limb bots, specifically their HFG ports. They were very poorly toleranced, and when I inserted a foot into Blades his port cracked. At first I assumed it was because I was using Nonnef's feet kits, but then Groove suffered the same fate from his standard HFG.

Yeah, I despise the noise the white plastice makes at the thinner spots on q/s and a/b :SICK:

And yeah, some of the plastics are not capable of handling the strain of transforming - it kind of sickens me to think about it - it's like buying a Lego set, and the bricks crack when you try to build the set, it's pathetic =;
I am not a G1 fan, please treat my opinions as such.


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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby Noideaforaname » Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:05 pm

I haven't handled any of the actually-combining Combiner Wars toys, so I can't personally speak of quality, but I'll never forget the thread were somebody thought they found an "unused" joint on one of the jets that allowed the cockpit to open up -- turned out the toy was broken!
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Re: Very disappointed with quality, this days

Postby Optimum Supreme » Wed Jun 29, 2016 5:28 pm

Motto: "That's [not out yet/never came out] in my area."
Weapon: Nuclear Charged Fusion Cannon
My Ultra Magnus hasn't broken, but that's probably because I only transformed it a couple of times after major stress marks showed up in the feet after the very first time I transformed it. It now sits packed away in a box where hopefully it won't fall apart. Shame on you for that piece of junk, Hasbro. Can't even hold its weapons properly.

I've found that my Trailbreaker, while otherwise pretty good, just can't properly hold its legs together when trying to form an arm out of the figure. Which is a real shame because I love the weird claw hand that the figure's hfg makes in arm mode.

Skylynx... ugh those feet that just won't stay in position. Mine also has problems fitting together in shuttle mode, lots of gaps and stuff and everything super tight. How things can be super tight and gappy at the same time I dunno, but bravo Hasbro, for you have managed it somehow.

Devastator... many of the Constructicons have loose hips, but my main gripe is with Devvy himself. His left arm is loose at the shoulder and while it doesn't immediately flop down, most poses are doomed to droop due to gravity over a few hours time. I really need to try the floor polish trick to tighten that up. But honestly, I expect better when I'm paying more than a hundred freakin dollars for something. And this is after having the retailer replace an arm on Scavenger. He came with two left (or was it two right) fists out of the package.

Granted, some figures I get no problem at all with, like Megatron. There's a real beaut.

I also have no problems at all with my Silverbolt beyond those dumb soft plastic antennae on the Superion head not quite being able to go all the way up.

I don't know what happened between Optimus (red version) and Motormaster, but Op seems pretty okay other than the issue with ratchet gears in his legs being designed wrong, meanwhile MM feels almost like a knockoff in comparison, especially in Menasor mode. Of course neither of them can hold their little chest car buddies on in combined mode without some sort of modding or glue or something...
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