The Energon Pub

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum mods...it did not seem right putting it in the "Transformers Toys" forum. Please move it if it is in the wrong area, thanks.

Well guys, tonight, after owning my Yamato 1/15 Garland for the better part of 6 months, and having only transformed it twice very gently, the shoulder/arm socket cracked into four pieces. The plastic in this thing is complete and utter $***. I have not broken anything since I was like 11. Now $100, down the drain.

This reminds me of the 1/60 VF-1S I used to have, also produced by Yamato. Also with the same light, thin, brittle plastic in all the wrong places.

It was not always this way. Say what you will of Takara, but I have found the quality of their plastic to be very robust and abuse-absorbing compared to Yamato's weak offerings.

Bandai as well, with thier 1/55 VF-1S (Jetfire) reissue, have offered great hard-wearing, durable plastic that feels like it is practically unbreakable. It does not hurt that the design borders on perfection, IMHO. It just feels so solid, like a damned tank. It was only 1,400 Yen on clearance at a Tokyo TRU I frequented no less!

So, does anyone else have a Yamato product? Is anyone else having concerns? I am very slow and delicate with all of my figures, and this is my first break in over a decade.

I have e-mailed Yamato USA for a replacement part/Garland, so we will see how this saga unfolds. Is it just me, or does Yamato use 3rd-rate materials for 1st-rate products? Kind of like making a handgun from potmetal instead of galvanized steel? Anyone know what I am talking about???

Am I imagining the lack of quality or what?

I got a VF-1A Miriya 1/60 from them. Some of the most **** horrible quality I've ever seen in a toy or collectors piece for that matter. I haven't bought anything from them or Toynami since. Can't believe they get away with such a con artists scam.

TheMuffin wrote:I got a VF-1A Miriya 1/60 from them. Some of the most **** horrible quality I've ever seen in a toy or collectors piece for that matter. I haven't bought anything from them or Toynami since. Can't believe they get away with such a con artists scam.

Thank you! Someone who understands!

I think even if I get a replacement part/figure, this is the LAST Yamato item I will EVER purchase.

It is a shame really, the Valkeries and this Garland are amazing designs, but the materials implimented are just sub-par at best.

Thanks for the response, TheMuffin.

Everyone eles, please let me know what you think. Am I right? Am I overreacting? Tell me your thoughts on this plastic quality for Yamato's offerings please.

While I don't have any personal experience with this, I just made a mental note Not to buy anything from Yamato. So I just consider this a friendly warning

Damn shame about this whole ordeal though. I Hope you get replacement parts or something else to compensate for this.
Keep us updated on the response of yamato on your mail?

I don't have much experience with Yamato, but Toynami sucks hard ballz.

What the hell were those 'Masterpiece' Alpha Fighters?

A: Absolutely crap.

I have several 1/60 Valkyrie's and have had no problem with them. I am quite pleased w/Yamato. However, I am not pleased with their prices. I Love Valkyrie's, however, I couldn't afford the 1/48 scale so I chose 1/60, (at they time they had more models). However, their new 1/60 line now costs the same as the 1/48 line and that sux! So I stopped collecting.

I have VF-1A,J,S,D (various colours), VT-1 Super Ostrich, VE-1 Elint Seeker, Super (sumo) Armour, and Strike Armour. I love the toys and have not had a single issue with the toys. I just can't afford them and my Xformer hobby also.

DJDrew&ScoobyDoo wrote:I have several 1/60 Valkyrie's and have had no problem with them. I am quite pleased w/Yamato. However, I am not pleased with their prices. I Love Valkyrie's, however, I couldn't afford the 1/48 scale so I chose 1/60, (at they time they had more models). However, their new 1/60 line now costs the same as the 1/48 line and that sux! So I stopped collecting.

I have VF-1A,J,S,D (various colours), VT-1 Super Ostrich, VE-1 Elint Seeker, Super (sumo) Armour, and Strike Armour. I love the toys and have not had a single issue with the toys. I just can't afford them and my Xformer hobby also.

Thanks for the responses guys, really, thank you.

I am glad to hear your 1/60 Valks have had no issues, especially considering what they charge for the damned things!

My issue is not the designs, which are just outstanding. My issue is with the plastics used. disposable forks use better plastic!

But yeah, I also knew of Toynami...*shudder*

I am calling Yamato USA when there offices open today, because the damned e-mail will take a calendar year for a response, I am affraid.

UPDATE: Just got off of the phone with a nice guy at Yamato, and he said the warehouse guy would send out TWO new arms out tomorrow, free-of-charge!

The guy was really professional, sounded like he heard it a dozen times this month. Anyway, when they finally arrive, I will give an update, post-arm transplant surgery.

Crappy plastic, but at least they stand by their product after the fact.

All this said, Takara has NEVER given me a problem to begin with! this includes MP-05 Megatron and MP-03 Starscream, btw.

I've found Yamato stuff to generally be crap.

That said, my Garland is absolutely fine. It's all the other stuff I've had problems with.

Godzilla wrote:I've found Yamato stuff to generally be crap.

That said, my Garland is absolutely fine. It's all the other stuff I've had problems with.

Thing is, if those arm/shoulder sockets were DIECAST, this would NOt be an issue, and Yamato would not be shipping new Garland arms all over the place free-of-charge!

Screw what the haters say, bring me DIECAST!

Yamato may make crap, that is certain, but damn, it is the prettiest crap I have ever seen!

DJDrew&ScoobyDoo wrote:I have several 1/60 Valkyrie's and have had no problem with them. I am quite pleased w/Yamato. However, I am not pleased with their prices. I Love Valkyrie's, however, I couldn't afford the 1/48 scale so I chose 1/60, (at they time they had more models). However, their new 1/60 line now costs the same as the 1/48 line and that sux! So I stopped collecting.

I have VF-1A,J,S,D (various colours), VT-1 Super Ostrich, VE-1 Elint Seeker, Super (sumo) Armour, and Strike Armour. I love the toys and have not had a single issue with the toys. I just can't afford them and my Xformer hobby also.

I have to concurr with this actually, I own several 1/60 and 1/72 valkyries and the ONLY Valkyrie I had problems with is the 1/72 VF-11B as it had a last minute design change that made the hipjoint incredibly fragile. yes, that IS A screwup BUT...in Yamato`s defense, they DID correct that with the VF-11 FAST pack edition. in general the first releases of Yamato product are flawed, the later versions will have all the little designbugs worked out smoothly.the new releases of the Garland would have any design problems of the first release smoothed out aswell.

The thing is that they shouldn't have to release a second version to correct their **** ups from the first release. It would take maybe an hour of quality control to realize that the product is made horribly and then they could fix it. It's a scam to get people to buy two of the same figure.

TheMuffin wrote:The thing is that they shouldn't have to release a second version to correct their **** ups from the first release. It would take maybe an hour of quality control to realize that the product is made horribly and then they could fix it. It's a scam to get people to buy two of the same figure.

they don't release the same thing twice in a row with the fixes, they implement fixes in new models and paintjobs.they may reissue the first paintscheme with these fixes but never immediately after the first release.and in case you didn`t yet know, Yamato does NOT have the budget, facilities and resources such as Takaratomy or Hasbro behind them.they`re a fairly small company in the world of toys and cater to the more mature collector, NOT a child.

Just because they are a small company doesn't mean that they should get away with serious design flaws. If anything they should strive to go above and beyond with their quality to ensure more people come back to them. The fact that their products are fragile because of bad designs and cheap plastic tells me that they don't take into consideration how much they're charging for the item. If they want to charge that much for the figure then they should take more care when designing and testing the item. I don't care if it was made for adult collectors or not. The product shouldn't break through normal use because of a piss poor design.

I'm sorry but when I can get a knock off Transformers figure from Big Lots and it has better plastic than a $200 figure from Yamato or Toynami, theres a serious problem.

I have a couple of 1/48th VF-1's and aside from some user created damage (VF-1S took a tumble off of a shelf and snapped the backpack joint), I have had no issues.

TheMuffin wrote:Just because they are a small company doesn't mean that they should get away with serious design flaws. If anything they should strive to go above and beyond with their quality to ensure more people come back to them. The fact that their products are fragile because of bad designs and cheap plastic tells me that they don't take into consideration how much they're charging for the item. If they want to charge that much for the figure then they should take more care when designing and testing the item. I don't care if it was made for adult collectors or not. The product shouldn't break through normal use because of a piss poor design.

I'm sorry but when I can get a knock off Transformers figure from Big Lots and it has better plastic than a $200 figure from Yamato or Toynami, theres a serious problem.

I have to agree, ALL THE WAY.

Hell, a deluxe TF has better plastic than anything Yamato I have owned! Inexcusable.

Again, I don't really fault the designs, but the shoddy materials! This is why I don't pay $200 for a 1/48 Valkerie!

Hell, they could not even get the YF-19 right, and I was loving that design!

I don't expect them to stay in one piece after falling off of a shelf, I mean, this is not MP Prime or anything, but if I can buy a Takatasou (sp?)/Bandai reissue designed originally in 1983 (With diecast where it is NEEDED, and it's CHEAPER!) by Kawamori-san himself and transform it every month or so with no problems, then Yamato should just stop making high-end toys and concentrate on what they would be better at producing with their brittle plastics: disposable dinner utensils.

Okay here is my update:

Yamato's package arrived two days ago, but I was out of town so I only just opened it today.

There were TWO sets of arms/front wheel assemblies, including new screws in the 8 oz. box.

After about ten minuites of delicate surgery with the tiny screwdriver required, my Garland is back to serviceable condition.

Below you will see an image of the weakest link in the Garland, this brittle plastic socket joint, which is supposed to be load-bearing. The new parts supplied are NOT, I repeat NOT a new, stromger design. I suppose they will be stronger than the others if they wish hard enough instead of redesigning the damned things! Again, if this attachment point for the arms were diecast, this thread would not exist. Is Yamato terrified of metal or something? At this point, it shocks me to think they don't use plastic screws! Metal is not evil, Yamato. Try it sometime, you might like it.

Unless they start making Valkeries with a little diecast, Yamato can count me out from here on. I will now avoid them like the plague, lesson learned children.

I glad to here that you got the parts and was able to repair the figure.

I'm sorry to here that Yamato went to sh!t.

All in all how do you like the figure? I was on the fence about it. I have seen a different colour version (Brown) and I thought that I heard that there is another coming later. Would you get these repaints after the experience with this one? Would you buy another toy from Yamato?

DJDrew&ScoobyDoo wrote:I glad to here that you got the parts and was able to repair the figure.

I'm sorry to here that Yamato went to sh!t.

All in all how do you like the figure? I was on the fence about it. I have seen a different colour version (Brown) and I thought that I heard that there is another coming later. Would you get these repaints after the experience with this one? Would you buy another toy from Yamato?

Thanks for asking.

I love fast bikes, and I love transforming mecha, so the Garland and I were a natural fit. It is only $90 at BetaToys, which is a reasonable price, as I would NEVER spend more than $100 for it. The transformation is very original, complex, but still simple...if that makes sense. His transformation reminds me very much of G1 Starscream, actually.

I think the design is exquisite, but it is too fragile for it's own good. This thing makes MP SS feel like all die-cast in comparison. But don't buy it if you actually want to change it once in a blue moon, as I sadly learned.

Would I buy from Yamato again? Honestly? F*** NO!

This could have all been avoided by using the same amount of diecast metal as only one U.S. quarter! People may talk smack about my BrickFormers like re-issue God Ginrai, but you know what? I have NEVER had an issue with him, or ANY Takara product. The plastic is MUCH better, and diecast is used where it is necessary to hold weight and stress again and again.

In short: If this figure used diecast, it would easily be a 10/10. But as it stands, fragile as a supermodel's ego...it is a 6/10. Even that rating is generous.

Hope that answers your question.