The Energon Pub

News Credits: 2 · by **Sid Burn** » Mon May 12, 2008 12:04 pm

Man, I hate that I feel the need to post this thread but I have been soooooo disappointed with the QC on paint application for the animated line thus far.

Cyb Prime, Prowl, Lockdown, Bulkhead, Screamer and Cyb Megs are pretty widely available in Toronto now, and with all my searching I have yet to find one with a quality paint job.

The designs are so simple, you would think that animated would fare much better than the movie line which was plagued with paint issues. Unfortunately it seems the trend will continue.

Lockdown's green sections are consistently messy, Prowl's gold striping isnt crisp, The red on Bulkhead's sirens are blotchy and messy.

I have been through 2 walmarts, 3 Toysrus and only found one lockdown worth buying.

I am pretty anal about this kind of thing, but I just hate seeing a beautiful mold made ugly because the paint application was done in a rush by human hands. I wish they could implement a machined paint job for the little details.

Alright, rant over, any thoughts on this?

News Credits: 127 · by **Counterpunch** » Mon May 12, 2008 12:07 pm

They are using more matte colors on Animated, maybe that's the cause of the unevenness...

News Credits: 2 · by **Sid Burn** » Mon May 12, 2008 12:13 pm

Counterpunch wrote:They are using more matte colors on Animated, maybe that's the cause of the unevenness...

I was actually pretty happy with that decision, gives the molds a kind of PVC look.

But splatter, overpainting and underpainted sections shouldnt be happening.

These paint schemes thrive on the clean, simple lines of the new TF Animated aesthetic.
For that to work, the need clean tight paint application.

Am I asking too much?

News Credits: 9 · by **Sowndwave76** » Mon May 12, 2008 12:19 pm

I was just hoping this wouldn't happen...
And I did think these molds would be easier to paint.
Could be the paints, but sounds like there's also some flat-out slop going on.

News Credits: 5 · by **--B--** » Mon May 12, 2008 12:59 pm

Not specifically any of the posters in this thread, but much of the fandom as a whole HAD to have these things as early as they could, so Hasbro rushed the process, and this is what you get.

Animated (the show) came out too early, leaving Hasbro's factories in catch-up mode. Some factory supervisor probably pushed production too far so the higher ups would be happy with being ahead of schedule.

I'll bet most of the later waves look better, as they won't be so rushed.

by **Uniprimus** » Mon May 12, 2008 2:09 pm

Is the paint actually scratching off? I hope not.

News Credits: 2 · by **Sid Burn** » Mon May 12, 2008 4:06 pm

--B-- wrote:I'll bet most of the later waves look better, as they won't be so rushed.

I hope this is the case, I dont know though.

These were pretty bad, I must have sifted through a dozen lockdowns in one store alone and they were all brutal, even though he only has a handful of painted sections.

Screamer seems to have faired the best from what I saw, Lockdown and Prowl were the worst.

by **Lockdown72** » Mon May 12, 2008 4:13 pm

My Lockdown is missing paint apps on the legs, mainly the purple on the gray area and the green highlight towards the ankle, plus the arms are painted reverse of what they ahould be (although if they were maroon, they would be visible as per the card back photo shows). Plus the chest has a few paint issues and some of the spikes are still black at the tips, not to mention the minor yellow missing from the 'hook' section. I won Lockdown from Botcon, though, and he still is pretty bad-ass even without some paint apps, so I'll be keeping him. With his legs mostly hidden by my minicons :mrgreen:

News Credits: 972 · by **i_amtrunks** » Mon May 12, 2008 5:50 pm

My Grimlock figure seems to be fine, no messy/ uneven paint apps, no discoloured paint, in fact he is easily one of the better painted Hasbro figures I own.

News Credits: 2 · by **Sid Burn** » Mon May 12, 2008 8:01 pm

i_amtrunks wrote:My Grimlock figure seems to be fine, no messy/ uneven paint apps, no discoloured paint, in fact he is easily one of the better painted Hasbro figures I own.

I think Grimlock is wave 2 right?

This supports the theory to some degree that the later waves will be painted with more care.

I really REALLY hope this is the case. I want to collect this line but the headache of choosing good paint apps in store during the movie line was a drag.

News Credits: 1 · by **fnlrun** » Mon May 12, 2008 10:06 pm

A little more lead would help it adhear better. BUT OH GOD WE CAN'T HAVE THAT........I'm tired of people helping me by keeping me safe.

Sorry for the hi-jack/ rant just had a long day.

But I agree, even if it's 10-20$ QC could be stepped up a bit.

by **woosh** » Tue May 13, 2008 2:37 am

Looks like repainters will have a lot to work on... Like the movie series wasn't enough fior them. HASBRO, give customizers a break please.

News Credits: 668 · by **Autobot032** » Tue May 13, 2008 11:41 am

My figures were a bit of a mixed bag...

Blackarachnis seems to have stepped right out of the screen and into my hands.

Bumblebee is just about perfect.

Lockdown has no paint errors (thankfully) in fact, he's quite well made on mine.

Megatron (2-Pack) seems to have all of his paint apps in the correct places. (Though I wouldn't know for sure, I find him to be abysmal.)

Optimus Prime (2-Pack) has a small yellow splotch on his windshield and it's factory applied, it didn't rub off from something or anything like that. Other than that, he's painted with skill.

Prowl is missing his gold paint for the spikes/eyebrows. Completely missing. The side of his bike mode has a swirl in the paint where you can see the factory worker spun the brush during the process. (other wise, the details are top notch.)

Ratchet is painted well, although his winch has two flecks of silver painted in among the black and it stands out when you have him up close. It's a little odd looking. Otherwise, he's fantastic.

Starscream...not a single complaint. His paint job is the best of the bunch, not a single error on him, whatsoever.

I must say...the figures are well worth your investment folks, buy 'em, you'll love 'em.

News Credits: 2 · by **Sid Burn** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:49 am

Well, I feel somewhat relieved

I was able to find and purchase Prowl and Lockdown, both of them with beautiful paint apps.

Took some searching but the good is out there amongst the bad. Bumblebee is going to be a challenge, his yellow and black scheme magnifies sloppy paint work.

I actually enjoy the process to a degree, not only finding that rare figure, but finding one with tight paint as well.
Adds to the challenge I guess.

by **Cyber-Kun** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:19 am

well, I have Lockdown that I bought retail in Kitchener, and not a single problem, I love this toy in every way

News Credits: 1 · by **timothyVritchey** » Wed May 14, 2008 4:40 am

my complaint really isn't a QC issue.. but i really wish the decepticon insignia on leader megatrons chest was purple rather than translucent red. i'd have preferred accuracy over lights.

News Credits: 11 · by **kirbenvost** » Wed May 14, 2008 2:47 pm

timothyVritchey wrote:my complaint really isn't a QC issue.. but i really wish the decepticon insignia on leader megatrons chest was purple rather than translucent red. i'd have preferred accuracy over lights.

I agree. I have a big sheet of Reprolabel faction symbols, I might stick one on if it looks okay.