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My current collection is a mix of the generations line to include the war for Cybertron trilogy as well as the studio series 86 figures.

Is it just me or is a plastic on the studio series 86 figures and fear to that of the war for Cybertron trilogy figures? The latter appear to be "more solid" feeling even though they are both very hollow.

I've seen many YT Reviewers "demonstrate" the difference in plastic quality, sometimes among different toys in the same line, same year. However in a recent fan Roundtable (IIRC) Hasbro claims it has been using the same quality of plastic since the mid 90's (Beast Wars)...so I'm not sure...

Maybe it merely has something to do with the depth of the mold when it is made. Perhaps the plastic itself is the same, but if the panels, parts etc. are themselves thinner vs thicker, it may give an appearance of being made of lower quality?

That might be the case. I received Legacy Blaster and 86 Sludge for Christmas from my wife, and I thought Sludge's plastic felt thinner...

Mkdlmr wrote:That might be the case. I received Legacy Blaster and 86 Sludge for Christmas from my wife, and I thought Sludge's plastic felt thinner...

It all depend though. Often, "thicker" and "harder" (that's what she said!) aren't necessarily a good thing. So many of my older toys, from G1 to Beast Wars, to Armada, are made of that plastic. And guess what? TOO OFTEN THE DAMN THINGS SHATTER LIKE GLASS when forced the wrong way.

Many decries the current uses of semi-soft thin plastics as being "cheap". I see this as an improvement because if you bend things the wrong way, the part will just flex instead of shattering. Will these plastics remains flexible in 10 or 30 years? That remain to be seen.

But for now, I'm tankful for the current plastics of our modern Transformers. Only the hollow bits like the inner thighs or underside of weapons that looks incomplete and needs of filler parts that bum me a little or a lot. But that's another thing entirely.