The Energon Pub

I'm considering getting some Henkei figures that look much better than their Classics/Universe counterparts (Hound and Astrotrain). I don't "play" with my figures, but I do transform them somewhat often, and I make stop-motion movies with some of them, so I'm a little worried about the plastic quality. I've heard that at least some Japanese figures have somewhat weaker plastic (mainly the Japanese version of Masterpiece Starscream), probably due to different toy safety laws. How does the plastic of Henkei figures compare to that of most American figures?

I'd say they're on par with the Hasbro versions. I own six of them (Prime, Grimlock, Ironhide, Ratchet, Sunstreaker, and Dinobot) and I haven't had any problems with them whatsoever. The only Henkei figures I've heard recieve compliants are for both Thundercracker and Skywarp. This is due to their lose joints and overall poor QC. The only thing I'd watch out for in Henkei is the chrome. It is prone to scratching and/or chipping if there's rough play involved. However, since you only transform your figures, you should have no problem with chrome. I'd recommend you at least pick one up and see how you like it. I'm sure you'll be very pleased with the Henkei line

As far as I can tell the difference is not really significant and tends to be a bit hit and miss in most cases, though I have heard the rereleases from earlier this year of Hound and Convoy were generally pretty bad. Out of all of them though, I can only recommend Hot Rod/Hot Shot from the Henkei line as being a complete mold improvement.

Most if not all of my Henkei buys outside of Convoy and Megatron were cases of things I missed out on a US release of and the Henkei ones were generally cheaper online... at least at the time. The only things I can note are that Convoy has clicking joints in his arms and hips that I'm not sure any other version of the mold ever had, Megatron's shell is trickier to get lined up and clicked together in gun mode, Prowl's door paint will still melt like his Universe counterpart, and Bumble will forever suffer from splits in his windshield even before you get it out of the package.

Bumblebee's windshield splitting problem is common to every version of the mold - Hasbro or Takara. There is no difference in plastic quality between Hasbro or Takara. Just get whatever looks best to you.

Also, I haven't had any problems with my Universe Prowl, maybe I got a later-released one.