The Energon Pub

The Amazon exclusive PotP Punch/Counterpunch is incorrectly assembled resulting in a vehicle mode that does not line up properly. User IronMagnus on fellow fansite TFW2005 has pointed out an easy fix to the issue, but we've added images so you can also follow these easy steps to correct the problem:

First off, remove the arms at the ball joint.


The problem part is here. It is installed upside down. The flat edge should be facing up and the rounded edge should be facing down.


You're going to remove those parts and flip them. To start, unsnap the chest at the indicated point:


From here it's a bit tough. You're going to use force to pry the part out off of the peg. I've done three of these now and I can tell you that you will not stress any parts if you're careful and go one at a time. Once removed, make sure you reinstall them with this orientation:


Once finished, everything lines up much better and the arms tab in properly in alt mode.


Also, as IronMagnus said, flipping the Decepticon panel when going into alt mode makes the panels line up much easier.

Video update:
https://twitter.com/ME_Counterpunch/status/1041506823549771777?s=19

Thanks!

1. Please sticky this.
2. Do I cancel my still pending Amazon order and wait for the "corrected" Takara version?

When you say "pry the part out off the peg", is there any way to fully disconnect the chest piece to access the parts without potentially snapping a peg or piece? It doesn't look like there is a whole lot of room to work with.

Crosscheck wrote:When you say "pry the part out off the peg", is there any way to fully disconnect the chest piece to access the parts without potentially snapping a peg or piece? It doesn't look like there is a whole lot of room to work with.

No. But I added a video and there isn't really even a chance of stressing or breaking something.

Counterpunch wrote:

Crosscheck wrote:When you say "pry the part out off the peg", is there any way to fully disconnect the chest piece to access the parts without potentially snapping a peg or piece? It doesn't look like there is a whole lot of room to work with.

No. But I added a video and there isn't really even a chance of stressing or breaking something.

Perfect. You definitely make it look pretty easy. I guess I was thinking there would be less clearance, but it looks like it will be okay. I will post an update once I get it done when my P/CP comes on Tuesday.

Hello, PCP owner here. I have the same exact assembly as the top post, but it's not an issue, I'm pretty sure the fix is overhyped. The part that he seems to think causes an issue is that there's two conflicting bits that seem to be spaced too closely, but in fact there's a little more clearance in shoulder you can compress into. I just transformed my figure into car mode just fine.

Are there any comparison pics showing a difference in the alt mode before and after the fix?

It's not an assembly issue. There's two tabs that seem to hit each other, but there's actually space to compress so that they don't. I can transform mine with the same assembly into car mode just fine.

The stock photo on Amazon has the round side up, pretty sure the fix is superficial.

thnx for this! quite an unfortunate QC issue

I did that I shaved down the pegs that are on his shoulders that his wheel cowling clips onto in punch mode so they don't stress the plastic around it and I popped out the mushroom pegs and shaved down the flat part. That's what keeps them from turning.

Exastiken wrote:The stock photo on Amazon has the round side up, pretty sure the fix is superficial.

All I can say is, transform him before the fix and feel how the arms fit in and seem to be just slightly off.

Then do the fix and feel how they snap into place.

It's a minor thing, but it does make it better.

Just got mine and changed him a few times. Seems fine. I don’t have issues

Okay but... why is this acceptable? If I got any other product from Amazon that required me to take it apart and reassemble it for it to work correctly, I would get a refund or replacement.

Is this still a bonafide assembly error at this point? There's lots of conflicting information about it's necessity, and this thread has now been moved to the "customization" forum. Is this really more of a preference than a needed fix?

Wolfman Jake wrote:Is this still a bonafide assembly error at this point? There's lots of conflicting information about it's necessity, and this thread has now been moved to the "customization" forum. Is this really more of a preference than a needed fix?

Hey Guys,

IronMagnus here. I posted about this on the tfw2005 forum origionally.

Nothing short of an official tweet from Hasbro acknowledging the issue will convince some people I think.

If your figure transforms great without doing anything, then congrats! Many have had trouble and this change has fixed it for every single one.

As far as it being a "bonafide assembly error", I believe that it is.

The very fact that every in-hand photo and stock photos all show it one way, with the round side up, just points to the fact that it's a mistake in the assembly procedure from the beginning, not a case of one worker getting things wrong sometimes.

What I WOULD point people at are the RENDERS on the package and in the instructions.

These renders would be from the original CAD files and how the actual designer of the toy created it, not how someone in a factory told their workers how to put it together.

On these renders, you can see that the flat edge of the piece in question is on the top.

Edit: Here is a close up picture of the instructions from fellow tfw2005 forum poster Jtprime17:



Here you can see that the flat edge is on the top.

I hope this helps anyone who is having trouble with their figure.

fenrir72 wrote:Thanks!

1. Please sticky this.
2. Do I cancel my still pending Amazon order and wait for the "corrected" Takara version?

Takara and Hasbro put out the same figures now. I doubt that the Takara one will be any different.

The fix is so quick and easy that there is no point in cancelling your order. Let it go through and take 30 seconds to fix it on your own

I would like to add that removing the arms from the ball joints isn't necessary, but I think it gives you more room to work with. I did it originally as I was investigating the issue and didn't know what all would be required, were they asymmetrical? Would the connectors need to swap sides or something? (they don't)

If you're worried about damaging the figure on that step (you shouldn't be), then you can try leaving the arms on and removing the entire assembly from the body before twisting around the connector piece and placing it back in.

Exastiken wrote:Hello, PCP owner here. I have the same exact assembly as the top post, but it's not an issue, I'm pretty sure the fix is overhyped. The part that he seems to think causes an issue is that there's two conflicting bits that seem to be spaced too closely, but in fact there's a little more clearance in shoulder you can compress into. I just transformed my figure into car mode just fine.

Hi there. Thanks for your honest criticism of the issue. I welcome it as it's the best way to find out when something is truly wrong or not.

"The part that he seems to think causes an issue is that there's two conflicting bits that seem to be spaced too closely"

This fix has nothing to do with those parts. It affects how closely the arm sits to the robot body.

You CAN manage to get it into car mode without the fix, but in doing so the door panels are pressing the arms into place when they shouldn't be under that kind of stress. All they should have to do is tab into those connector bits to stay in place.

TheForgottenTaxi wrote:Okay but... why is this acceptable? If I got any other product from Amazon that required me to take it apart and reassemble it for it to work correctly, I would get a refund or replacement.

It’s not required. you don’t have to do it and go ahead and demand a replacement for a figure that’s out of stock and is being reported as all of them are like this.

Again you don’t have to. I’m not going to do mine because I don’t feel it’s necessary. I’ve changed mine several times since I got it and it’s also got full range.

Exastiken wrote:It's not an assembly issue. .

Awww sh*t fire!!! Assembly issue or not there's no excuse...you hear this ???

But I guess we're past due on having some crap like this happen since the huge problems Trypticon had.



there's too much damn money involved for us to have to deal with this...'nuff said!

Nemesis Destron wrote:

Exastiken wrote:It's not an assembly issue. .

Awww sh*t fire!!! Assembly issue or not there's no excuse...you hear this ???

But I guess we're past due on having some crap like this happen since the huge problems Trypticon had.



there's too much damn money involved for us to have to deal with this...'nuff said!

Put your torches and pitchforks away and calm down. It’s not like the toy is broken out of the box. You can either do a fix or you not. That’s it.

What’s with you people acting like it’s the end of times. Jeez, kids screaming in toy aisles calm down faster than grown adults.

I got my P/CP today. Without the fix, his arms would not peg properly to the sides of the torso properly. They would pop out of place. So I did the fix. The arms now pop into place properly. No reduction in mobility for any of the joints.

In short, for me, the fix was necessary for the figure. Like Counterpunch's demonstration said, it is easy enough to do and I only just barely felt like I was stressing any of the parts.

Crosscheck wrote:I got my P/CP today. Without the fix, his arms would not peg properly to the sides of the torso properly. They would pop out of place. So I did the fix. The arms now pop into place properly. No reduction in mobility for any of the joints.

In short, for me, the fix was necessary for the figure. Like Counterpunch's demonstration said, it is easy enough to do and I only just barely felt like I was stressing any of the parts.

Excellent. Happy to hear it.

Randomhero wrote:

TheForgottenTaxi wrote:Okay but... why is this acceptable? If I got any other product from Amazon that required me to take it apart and reassemble it for it to work correctly, I would get a refund or replacement.

It’s not required. you don’t have to do it and go ahead and demand a replacement for a figure that’s out of stock and is being reported as all of them are like this.

I'm well aware that demanding a replacement is not feasible. I'm saying that this should be viewed as unacceptable by the community and by Hasbro, and it's galling that there's nothing we can do to really hold Hasbro accountable unless we want to give up on the figure entirely.

(Assuming it's as bad as reported; mine has for some reason not shipped yet, so I can't comment on that.)

My figures were delivered this afternoon. When I get home tonight, I'll give them a thourough going over myself and give you my thoughts. I remember not too long ago that people were convinced that Studio Series Jazz was messed up and nothing lined up correctly in vehicle mode until people started to figure out that they were missing a step in the transformation. That one little step made all the difference. Granted, it wasn't clearly shown in the instructions, but it proves that sometimes it's just user error and not a manufacturing problem. Like I said, though, I'll post my findings later when I've had time to open and inspect my own copies.