The Energon Pub

News Credits: 1452 · by **Blurrz** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:26 am

They're the enemy of all non-Mint-in-Box toy collectors. To many of us Transformers fans, they are the last hurdle before we take our precious figures out of their plastic prisons. Some are easy, some are agitating, and some are just excruciatingly painful to deal with. (Have a go with the Titanium series lately?) No matter what vaccines we have, whether it is clippers, scissors, or swift fingers, twist-ties are like a virus that always get to us every time we buy a Transformer!

And now we come to the gist of this story, as our website's creator, Ryan, stumbled upon a revelation when working on the upcoming galleries of Battlefield Bumblebee and Infiltrator Soundwave. Instead of the usual plastic and metal combination of twist-ties, the figures were held in with twined paper ties. Now one might wonder what the big deal is with the change of material in twist-ties. Well, they are more economically friendly, and that's exactly what Hasbro told us at Botcon 2009

Are you guys looking into moving away from using so many twist ties?
We are looking to move away from them and moving towards smaller packaging which is more biodegradable. In the future you’ll see smaller packages with Tam, which is easier to cut and biodegradable.

Take a look at the change below, as many will be dealing with these when the Battlefield Bumblebee vs. Infiltrater Soundwave two-pack is sent out to mass retail.

So there we have it, looks like the nightmarish twist-ties are a figment of the past! Have any stories of the wrong doings you've experienced with twist-ties? Share it with us in the Energon Pub!

Keep it at Seibertron.com - The most informative Transformers news site on the net!

by **Orthobotrex** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:48 am

This is a small step for environmental responsibility!!! But its always welcome! And I hope that's the main drive for this step, and not purely for the economy of it! I hope its also from recycled paper!!!

News Credits: 7 · by **Chaoslock** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:56 am

I prefer the japanese' idea: No twisty-ties, but the figure is between two, very good sealing plastic. Looks better MISB, and the figures are easier to pack back.

News Credits: 402 · by **Mkall** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:57 am

MISBers might be up for a shock 10 years down the road...

by **Ultra Markus** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 5:10 am

those always bothered me, most the time with wire cutters a couple snipes and the toy is out
but usually the problem is not the twist ties them selves, its what there tied to, for example
a plastic bubble that is behind the figure glued to the inside of the box and that is what it is tied to so you cant just simply untwist it you have to partially remove the figure then cut the tie or rip out the bubble. I have also had problems thing i got every tie then go to pull the figure out and end up with the arms and legs off the figure. I miss the old days when they were packed in the hard foam and tape.

News Credits: 1452 · by **Blurrz** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 5:12 am

I actually had a gruesome time with what the toy line that I was referring to in the news post - Titanium. I don't know about you guys, but wow the twist-ties for the figures were freaking hideous. I remember I somehow ended up chipping paint off figures because I had to cut the twist-ties off. I think this a turn for the better and a phenomenal job by Hasbro!

News Credits: 10 · by **Trikeboy** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 5:20 am

Twist ties are a right pain. Have you seen how many are holding Hasbro MP Skywarp in place. I always use a pair of tiny nail clippers I once got in a Christmas cracker. They are very good at getting into smaller places.

Lets not hail this new idea until we can experience it for ourselves though.

News Credits: 2 · by **starfish** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 5:41 am

Yeah, nail-clippers are the way to go with twisty-ties.

However, I'm not quite sure whether the new bits of string are any easier to remove. I got this two-pack yesterday (it's out at Argos in the UK), and although most of the ties were easy to get at with the nail-clippers, the ones round Bumblebee's feet were wound very tightly indeed. So much so that I was unable to get a good grip with my nail-clippers OR a pair of scissors.

So whilst with twisty ties I find they're alway easy to snip away, with these two pieces of string I was forced to rip the cardboard away from the plastic and manually untie the knot in behind the figure!

So yeah, the campaign to bring back twisty-ties begins here!

by **Shadowstream** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 6:02 am

Dear environmentalists, please stop. I can live with twist ties, I've had relatively little need to clip them in the past. They don't need replacing with stupid string, that would be going BACKWARDS! Sincerely yours, Irritated.

News Credits: 2 · by **starfish** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 6:11 am

Shadowstream wrote:Dear environmentalists, please stop. I can live with twist ties, I've had relatively little need to clip them in the past. They don't need replacing with stupid string, that would be going BACKWARDS! Sincerely yours, Irritated.

Exactly. I mean really, how much plastic and metal is there in three-or-four twisty ties? Considering that Transformers themselves are made of plastic and metal (for screws, rods, hinges etc), is a teeny bit extra really going to damage the environment that much? I mean, just look at the amount of plastic in the packaging, for example (the bubble, the window).

Another point - twisty ties are nice and sturdy; they hold their shape. When you go at a twisty-tie with a clipper it's not going to suddenly leap out of the way. Not so with string. It moves, it shifts. It's a bugger, actually.

News Credits: 3 · by **Name_Violation** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 6:16 am

starfish wrote:So whilst with twisty ties I find they're alway easy to snip away, with these two pieces of string I was forced to rip the cardboard away from the plastic and manually untie the knot in behind the figure!!

thats what i was afraid of. stupid knots.

News Credits: 6 · by **Jacob P. Galvatron** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 7:00 am

Huh.
Maybe my scissors will be more effective now?

News Credits: 2 · by **X3ROhour** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:29 am

Chaoslock wrote:I prefer the japanese' idea: No twisty-ties, but the figure is between two, very good sealing plastic. Looks better MISB, and the figures are easier to pack back.

here here!

News Credits: 1 · by **stocky** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:31 am

Blurrz wrote:"they are more economically friendly"

While these new ties may also be more economical, I think that you meant to write that they are more ecologically-friendly...

And to all those whining, go to Home Depot and buy yourself a pair of $5.00 wire snips. They'll cut through both the plastic/metal ties and these new ones as well, and they'll let you get into the tightest of spots so you don't have to worry about accidentally cutting your figure.

by **hinomars19** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:35 am

I shall forever remember getting armada unicron out of his box... :sad:

News Credits: 2 · by **starfish** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:08 am

stocky wrote:And to all those whining, go to Home Depot and buy yourself a pair of $5.00 wire snips. They'll cut through both the plastic/metal ties and these new ones as well, and they'll let you get into the tightest of spots so you don't have to worry about accidentally cutting your figure.

As I say, I have first-hand experience of these new string ties, and yes, I found these toys harder to free than those packed using the metal ties.
However, I was only using standard nail-clippers (I also tried using scissors) so obviously I can't comment on the use of wire snips. All I can say for sure is that these pieces of string were tied tightly around Bumblebee's ankles, and the only way for me to free him without risk of damaging the toy was to cut open the back box and un-knot the string from behind.

Whether my box was representative of the whole set, I don't know. Other fans may be lucky to have strings that aren't as tightly attached as mine were.

PS I find it a tad ironic that, by complaining that people are whining, you yourself become a whiner - because you're essentially whining about people whining. All together now: "It's like raaaain on your wedding daaaay..."

by **Nickolai** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:36 am

Oh God, I'm thankful for this change, but I already went through the horror that is Universe Unicron. My fingers will never be the same.

News Credits: 2 · by **X3ROhour** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:42 am

now my shoplifting will be so much easier! yay! :grin:

News Credits: 10 · by **Agamemnon** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:52 am

These are the clippers I use from Home Depot (the red handled ones on the bottom).

This kit is a bit more expensive than Stocky suggested ($12 in Minnesota) but they work wonders on all forms of clipping: twist ties, electrical cable, my dog's nails, the tip of my finger, cleaning up some of the engineering mistakes on some figures so that they transform correctly (Classics Sunstreaker, for instance), unintentional modding of some figures as I removed twist ties (can you say, "Battle Damage!!"?

News Credits: 2 · by **Requiem Prime** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:23 am

I hope these new ties are weak enough to resolve the original issues. If it's too tightly tied or strongly woven to break through we're back where we started.

News Credits: 21 · by **dragons** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:12 am

let it be true let it be permanant that would be wonferul

News Credits: 11 · by **kirbenvost** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:48 am

Awesome!

Still prefer the clamshells though, but yeah, I guess that's not as environmentally friendly.

by **MagnaBlade** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:50 am

I will actually miss the plastic-over-steel-wire ties. They come in so handy for using as ties for computer and audio cables, and anything else you want to bundle up and secure. Especially the really long ones from leader class figures! :-?

News Credits: 15 · by **Ravage XK** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:02 pm

I hope that these DO NOT break easily. Twisty ties allow you to repack figures easily. I dont want paper ties that break or crumble or rip! I'd rather they use the close fitting clam shell type as seen in Alternity or Binaltech (just without the single long twistie).

by **Rycher Prime** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:17 pm

I soo hate the twisty ties.It took me like 45 mins to get my Masterpiece Optimus Prime out of the packaging.I mean did they need to put like 20 ties on this figure?? Don't even get me started on the Leader Class figures.Whenever I get a new figure,I reach for my wire cutters and have them out in mins.