Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

GrangerPerry wrote:There’s 26,211 Victory Sabers right now. If less than 15% backers replace their figure there will be 30,000 Victory Sabers. If these were a regular release in stores I doubt people would be as sensitive to issues. That would be funny if they end up with more victory sabers made then say the ark or something like it

I asked this when they started the campaign. No one that I saw had official production numbers but the estimate for Titans was north of 50k.

But I am in agreement that they probably could have pulled this off as a Titan at the higher production run and solved a lot of the issues involving expectation. They would have been hit with the "but it's not one huge dude, it's Teo smaller dudes with a bunch of stuff" that the Leader Class gets but I think it would have worked. And maybe the additional profit margin would ha e gotten them better protection for chrome parts in shipping.

Flashwave wrote:

GrangerPerry wrote:There’s 26,211 Victory Sabers right now. If less than 15% backers replace their figure there will be 30,000 Victory Sabers. If these were a regular release in stores I doubt people would be as sensitive to issues. That would be funny if they end up with more victory sabers made then say the ark or something like it

I asked this when they started the campaign. No one that I saw had official production numbers but the estimate for Titans was north of 50k.

But I am in agreement that they probably could have pulled this off as a Titan at the higher production run and solved a lot of the issues involving expectation. They would have been hit with the "but it's not one huge dude, it's Teo smaller dudes with a bunch of stuff" that the Leader Class gets but I think it would have worked. And maybe the additional profit margin would ha e gotten them better protection for chrome parts in shipping.

I think the fact that it hit 25k means they would classify it as flop if only that many sold out of a 50k run, which would bode badly for Deathsaurus. There's also the matter of which corners would have been cut to make it a retail product.

Interesting, someone on farcebook said they had only offered them a % off their next purchase on hasbro pulse but they supposedly didnt get all of the accessories with it. Good to see Hasbro offering this, shame the factories arent still in china so they didnt crank out a few extra thousand KOs.

Yup got the same email. I'm leary about sending it back for a replacement, since part of the issue with mine is how it was butchered by fedex.

ZeroWolf wrote:

Flashwave wrote:

GrangerPerry wrote:There’s 26,211 Victory Sabers right now. If less than 15% backers replace their figure there will be 30,000 Victory Sabers. If these were a regular release in stores I doubt people would be as sensitive to issues. That would be funny if they end up with more victory sabers made then say the ark or something like it

I asked this when they started the campaign. No one that I saw had official production numbers but the estimate for Titans was north of 50k.

But I am in agreement that they probably could have pulled this off as a Titan at the higher production run and solved a lot of the issues involving expectation. They would have been hit with the "but it's not one huge dude, it's Teo smaller dudes with a bunch of stuff" that the Leader Class gets but I think it would have worked. And maybe the additional profit margin would ha e gotten them better protection for chrome parts in shipping.

I think the fact that it hit 25k means they would classify it as flop if only that many sold out of a 50k run, which would bode badly for Deathsaurus. There's also the matter of which corners would have been cut to make it a retail product.

1) they absolutely would cut corners to make it a retail product anyway just because they can
2) they absolutely would not have given us the trays and reversible packaging for the box.
3) in a perfect world it’s already sold at retail prices for a Titan (one can argue the cost and value of the size of the figures and number of accessories that it’s probably not worth Titan priceso they shouldn’t have to cut costs. And with the higher production run and the liability of sales on the stores, not Hasbro, that means a lower production cost per unit
That also means higher logistical costs and overhead from the shelves so it might be a wash, though
4) On the one hand, yes 26k is only half the product run but that is 50% of the sale in preorders. That actually seems like a significant chunk based on what little I know. Impulse purchases, sales, and Junior going “look mommy at the cool lion space ship thing!” Might add up the rest of the sales, or to whatever the threshold is for success and right off

No thanks. I'll keep my broken piece on Victory Leo's thigh port. I've already worked around it by tightening up the transformation hinge on the hip cannon. Not to mention that I already put the fillers into his cannons and it's going to be a bitch to get those back out. And I've already tightened up the rest of the joints to my liking as well.

The last time I sent them something back to be replaced, back when they were actually doing that, the replacement needed to be replaced as well. One of my three Reflectors had two left arms. I sent the three pack back only for a different one of the three to be missing the front pelvis plate. This all took over three months to accomplish even though I shipped out immediately. Had they just worked these things like Amazon where they send you the replacement first, then when you confirm the replacement is satisfactory, you send back the item with the problem. At least that way I could've just swapped the arm I needed and sent back the one set that would now have had two problems instead of two sets with one problem each. At the very least they did let me keep the second problem set when sending out the third set. I just wish it was the first set as two left arms is better than a missing front pelvis.

However if someone in the SW Florida area that needs to send their set back for another reason would like to swap the problem piece on my Victory Leo with the one they're sending back that would be awesome. It's the figure's right hip piece on the backside. So when looking at the figure's back, it's the one also on your right. Just need to unscrew two screws and that white piece that comes off first is the piece I need replaced. Mine caved in on the port when the leg was snapped into place before it was packaged.

Maybe others could get together to try and swap other defects before sending back a set. Try to get as many problems onto a single set before shipping the set back. I'm sure there's people with hair under their chrome who would like that. Assuming that's not a problem they're addressing.

I really need to get on the ball and contact Hasbro.

cloudballoon wrote:I got the same email. I wonder where the shipping destination will be? The email is from the US, but I live in Canada. They might have me shipped to Montreal, Quebec.

It's still a poopy decision to go for the replacement (instead of Hasbro shipping me the missing V-Lock Cannon handle). Guess I'll reopen my Victory Saber & Deathsaurus at the same time...

This poopy decision is part of their standard approach to create an extra obstacle to deter people from taking action. Same way people make it harder to unsuscribe from stuff or get insurance money.

Bummer, I really just needed a new Saber only

Wow. This whole release has been a crazy wreck. I'm thankful mine arrived and seems to be intact other than the seemingly common faceplate scratch and victory leo's face cover being SCARY tight at first. Paint apps seem to be fairly good and other than the non-ratcheted part of the elbows, joints are nice and tight.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Bummer, I really just needed a new Saber only

That is my issue as well. The rest of the figure is great and I really don't want to end up with a figure that has a different issue. And the issue with my Saber is only really present in his robot mode (one of the shin panels snapped the literal first time I transformed him). The larger robot body and Victory Leo are 100% perfect.

So what happens to people like me who bought him on ebay and have an issue? We won't have Hasbro Pulse invoices to submit.

VictoryRicko wrote:So what happens to people like me who bought him on ebay and have an issue? We won't have Hasbro Pulse invoices to submit.

Contact them and see what they offer you

william-james88 wrote:

cloudballoon wrote:I got the same email. I wonder where the shipping destination will be? The email is from the US, but I live in Canada. They might have me shipped to Montreal, Quebec.

It's still a poopy decision to go for the replacement (instead of Hasbro shipping me the missing V-Lock Cannon handle). Guess I'll reopen my Victory Saber & Deathsaurus at the same time...

This poopy decision is part of their standard approach to create an extra obstacle to deter people from taking action. Same way people make it harder to unsuscribe from stuff or get insurance money.

My issue is the whole V-lock Cannon's handle is missing on my copy. But on TFW2005's forum I know someone in Australia 3D designed a substitute piece. The designer sells the design, but he's willing to print & mail it at cost to people like me (that doesn't have a 3D printer). I wonder if I can contact Hasbro again to issue me a Hasbro Pulse credit or something (equivalent to the cost of me getting the 3D printed version) rather than a refund/replacement. As other people already mentioned, there's no guarantee the replacement is QC perfect...

william-james88 wrote:

VictoryRicko wrote:So what happens to people like me who bought him on ebay and have an issue? We won't have Hasbro Pulse invoices to submit.

Contact them and see what they offer you

Pointless.
At best, they'll ask you to send back the whole thing so they can send something of "equal value" like a Rescue Bots playset.

And of course, ALL of this could have been avoided if Hasbro had just paid a little more attention to quality control at the factory BEFORE sending these things out.

Measure twice, reap ONCE.

Are there any chances the defective versions will become MORE valuable over time, like old tyme stamps printed upside-down?

DeathReviews wrote:Are there any chances the defective versions will become MORE valuable over time, like old tyme stamps printed upside-down?

No

william-james88 wrote:

DeathReviews wrote:Are there any chances the defective versions will become MORE valuable over time, like old tyme stamps printed upside-down?

No

Effectively.
In all of TF History, defective units never, ever gained any value. Some tries their luck on eBay by selling a "highly valuable" defective toy and each times, the shame gets on display for weeks or months.

Even "Prototypes" that try to sell for high prices, I dont think are very successful. Defective Transformers wont gain value.

As for Haslab VS. I truly am sorry for anyone who has had QC issues, and I hope Hasbro makes it right replacing everyone's, not exchanging for value paid because the item itself is worth far more than a full refund. Still with 26K+ units, if only 1% had issues, that would be 260. I know there are multiple reports, but I know if mine were defective I'd be very vocal. I seriously doubt however the number of defective units is anywhere near 15%, if they were even 5% it would be an unmitigated disaster, its probably closer to 1%, hopefully less.

o.supreme wrote:Even "Prototypes" that try to sell for high prices, I dont think are very successful. Defective Transformers wont gain value.

As for Haslab VS. I truly am sorry for anyone who has had QC issues, and I hope Hasbro makes it right replacing everyone's, not exchanging for value paid because the item itself is worth far more than a full refund. Still with 26K+ units, if only 1% had issues, that would be 260. I know there are multiple reports, but I know if mine were defective I'd be very vocal. I seriously doubt however the number of defective units is anywhere near 15%, if they were even 5% it would be an unmitigated disaster, its probably closer to 1%, hopefully less.

Either way, I would expect Hasbro to keep a closer eye on that factory in future.

Did any of the other haslabs suffer from bad QC?

I agree 100%, should not happen on a crowdfunding project like this. I heard some complaints about the knees being loose on the Haslab Sentinel, for which there was a home fix that involved tightening screws. However with Galactus, I've heard nothing but good things, fixed any issues the Sentinel had. Not that they shared any parts, but just the same challenges of a large bipedal figure with many points of articulation.

My VS is one with the missing peg cutout on the Saber jet nose. I've not been paying attention — has there been a publicized DIY fix for this?

The only other issue I have is that the antennae on the helmet are very loose and floppy.

What is the timeline on sending back defective units? Do they let you keep it until the new one arrives, or do they want it now? If the former, I'd consider applying for a replacement, swap out the pieces I need, then send back the unwanted version, but I feel like we're not lucky enough for that.

ZeroWolf wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Even "Prototypes" that try to sell for high prices, I dont think are very successful. Defective Transformers wont gain value.

As for Haslab VS. I truly am sorry for anyone who has had QC issues, and I hope Hasbro makes it right replacing everyone's, not exchanging for value paid because the item itself is worth far more than a full refund. Still with 26K+ units, if only 1% had issues, that would be 260. I know there are multiple reports, but I know if mine were defective I'd be very vocal. I seriously doubt however the number of defective units is anywhere near 15%, if they were even 5% it would be an unmitigated disaster, its probably closer to 1%, hopefully less.

Either way, I would expect Hasbro to keep a closer eye on that factory in future.

Did any of the other haslabs suffer from bad QC?

Yes, Sentinel had issues with the knees and the sail barge also had QC issues (not sure exactly what though, I just know customer service tickets were opened for that one).

WeatherManNX01 wrote:My VS is one with the missing peg cutout on the Saber jet nose. I've not been paying attention — has there been a publicized DIY fix for this?

The only other issue I have is that the antennae on the helmet are very loose and floppy.

What is the timeline on sending back defective units? Do they let you keep it until the new one arrives, or do they want it now? If the former, I'd consider applying for a replacement, swap out the pieces I need, then send back the unwanted version, but I feel like we're not lucky enough for that.

There is no easy DIY fix for that if you don't know how to handle specific power tools. The entire hole is filled so you need to recreate a hole with a drill and then carve out a hole at the top with a hobby knife.

Also, Hasbro won't send you anything unless you send them your copy first.

william-james88 wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:There is no easy DIY fix for that if you don't know how to handle specific power tools. The entire hole is filled so you need to recreate a hole with a drill and then carve out a hole at the top with a hobby knife.

Also, Hasbro won't send you anything unless you send them your copy first.

I was afraid of that.

I was afraid of that, too.

Well, crap.

WeatherManNX01 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:There is no easy DIY fix for that if you don't know how to handle specific power tools. The entire hole is filled so you need to recreate a hole with a drill and then carve out a hole at the top with a hobby knife.

Also, Hasbro won't send you anything unless you send them your copy first.

I was afraid of that.

I was afraid of that, too.

Well, crap.

The options are basically to live with it or roll the dice. I have the same issue and I'm gonna roll the dice.