The Energon Pub

[Malicron]

First time I've been grateful for BBTS's slow service; it gave me the time to read all of this and cancel my order. If they do another production run, or if a third party makes a replacement crotch out of plastic that can handle the strain, I'll give it a go. But right now it sounds like getting this would be the same as buying a GPS affected figure; an exercise in wishful thinking.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Decided to examine mine again, some weeks later now. Still no visible cracks or breakages. That said, I transformed him once, out of the box and he has being stoically posed in Bot Mode on the shelf ever since. Just like the rest of my MP Beast Wars. Standing next to my Storm Collectables Goro and Soul of Chogokin Gold Lightan. Where they will remain... The rest is silence

[william-james88]

Look at how much is expected of that ratchet:

I'm not sure what you are stating. That's a standard "transforming noise" click-click-click ratchet that's been in Transformers for decades.

I just mean I feel bad for that ratchet, it seems to be under lots of pressure (from the spring) to the point that its being stripped.

[Burn]

That spring is not applying much pressure at all. It provides enough pressure to keep the clicker against the cog.

Like Ryan said, this is a system that's been part of TF's for decades. They wear out over time, if it's wearing out quickly, that's probably an indication of the quality of the plastic.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Alright, after taking him to work almost all week last week, Megatron is frikkin stompin'! This guy is fantastic. I still dread the breakage, but he is so much fun!

[Nemesis Maximo]

Those are some awesome pics, D-Max!

So far, my Megs is still avoiding the ol’ scrotum scratch. Fingers crossed!

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Those are some awesome pics, D-Max!

Thanks! He is gorgeous and so posable!

scrotum scratch!

X 5000

[william-james88]

Those are some awesome pics, D-Max!

So far, my Megs is still avoiding the ol’ scrotum scratch. Fingers crossed!

Mine too. Having a major problem retracting his beast head into his arm though for some reason. I am just not getting it.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

[shajaki]

Got my hands on another (this makes 4 now?) cancelled MP coin!

And why was it cancelled? Cause of the misprinted Maximal symbol on the packaging

[Seibertron]

Think I'm tackling taking apart MP-43 Beast Megatron's crotch today. Wish me luck!

[AllNewSuperRobot]

[Seibertron]

So I think I "fixed" MP-43 Beast Megatron, or at the least I formalized a process to hopefully decrease the risk of breakage, though there are certainly no guarantees due to the poor design of the crotch piece. In addition, I figured out an additional step from the instructions or suggestions above that other Seibertronians shared to help with this problem. I recorded some videos last night (which I'm currently working on editing) which demonstrate the difference between one that I fixed and a 2nd one that I opened last night that wasn't fixed (essentially a "before-and-after"). I duplicated the process with the 2nd MP-43 Beast Megatron, but recorded the steps that I went through so that I could share it with all of you. As always (and maybe as expected), my video is yet again long-winded and boring, so I'm working on editing it right now to see if I can trim it down from 30 minutes to something more manageable. Hope to have something up tomorrow to share with all of you.

[Seibertron]

Back on topic, how long until we see this guy? The Megatron mold is too expensive for them to only use once after all....

While I think it'd be fun to get Beast Machines T-Wrecks, I think we'll get an MP-43+ Beast Megatron (toy version) first with mutant mask and other toy-accurate oddities to go along with the toy version of Optimus Primal (which should have been a + instead a separate number, but I digress).

[Seibertron]

Some BW molds already have their limits. Optimus Primal, other than the "burning" variant, hasn't got anywhere else to go. Cheetor has one more variant that is perhaps too unlikely to actually happen, in Nightprowler

I'd still go for a MP+ Cheetor with toy accurate colors and mutant head.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

While I think it'd be fun to get Beast Machines T-Wrecks, I think we'll get an MP-43+ Beast Megatron (toy version) first with mutant mask and other toy-accurate oddities to go along with the toy version of Optimus Primal (which should have been a + instead a separate number, but I digress).

Some BW molds already have their limits. Optimus Primal, other than the "burning" variant, hasn't got anywhere else to go. Cheetor has one more variant that is perhaps too unlikely to actually happen, in Nightprowler

I'd still go for a MP+ Cheetor with toy accurate colors and mutant head.

Cheetor's Mutant Head exists (and is far more aesthetically pleasing) in MP Shadow Panther. By the same token, I doubt the Beast Wars MP line will go with a series of anime+ style toy accurate redecos. This line exists to represent show accuracy, not to recreate the toys. The only reason MP Primal alone has a toy accurate redeco, is because that version appeared in BW II. Everyone else only had one default version that existed in the show. To recreate their toy counterparts as MP, physically or just the colour palette, would be redundant. As the toys in many cases were be a significant downgrade from the show models [points to Megatron and Rhinox]

[Seibertron]

I think I'm going to give up on editing the video. It's kind of a mess, boring to watch, and is a lot of me rambling on about fixing MP-43 Megatron. Biggest thing I did different than ScottyP above was I compressed the 4 springs with a vice-grip (2 in the crotch and 2 in the upper thighs). This reduced the amount of pressure being exerted on the inner walls of those plastic pieces. You'll have to tinker around with how compressed the springs should be. I compressed one of the small springs too much initially so it wouldn't support the weight of his upper torso, but was able to stretch it back out to the right amount so that it didn't take so much force to move his legs.

From what I've gathered from messages others shared in this topic and my own experience, there are basically 4 areas of concern:

1. Springs need to be compressed with a vice grip to reduce pressure. I have no idea if the force from a vice grip is needed or if just compressing them as much as you can with another tool would work.
2. Screws inside the crotch pieces are over tightened, causing a lot of pressure from the die-cast piece on the plastic pieces.
3. Inner crotch screws need to be removed to verify that the cog is seated properly and was not mis-aligned or damaged.
4. Swirly purple plastic was a bad idea with all that is being asked of the crotch piece. Nothing you can do about that (except hope someone makes replacement parts at some point). Addressing the 3 issues above will help.

There is no guarantee that the "fixes" above will prevent breakage, but hopefully those 3 issues will reduce the pressure and the force needed to move his leg back and forth.

I may revisit my video again at a later date because there is some neat before-and-after demonstration stuff that I show with the two MP-43 Megatrons that I had, but for now I'm going to sideline the project because it's taking up too much time.

[Ironhidensh]

Meh, I just sold mine before it could break and I wouldn't get full value for it.

[Nemesis Maximo]

However many months later and I still have no breakage. I understand that I’m one of the lucky few, but still worth mentioning.

[MadProject]

However many months later and I still have no breakage. I understand that I’m one of the lucky few, but still worth mentioning.

I just got mine today, so far no issues of any kind during the transforming, and the ratchet of the hips doesn't sound too hard.

[King Kuuga]

I never got around to getting MP Megs, still want to, but I wanted to revisit this thread. Did any third party ever come up with a replacement part/parts for the crotch issues? Any solutions beyond what was tossed around last year? Any word on a possible reissue that might address the problems? With Kingdom on the horizon, that Megatron is going to be a nice fiddle figure but I still want to get the MP Beast Wars stuff.

[Burrithor]

Got mine from BBTS today, transformed him once (not being aware of the issue) and, when finished, noticed a line starting from the back of the hip. Been looking for solutions, hopefully some third party releases a replacement part for this.
For now I’ll try the solutions posted here and maybe apply some superglue ☹️

[william-james88]

Got mine from BBTS today, transformed him once (not being aware of the issue) and, when finished, noticed a line starting from the back of the hip. Been looking for solutions, hopefully some third party releases a replacement part for this.
For now I’ll try the solutions posted here and maybe apply some superglue ☹️

Could you post a picture of the issue?

[Burrithor]

Here!
(Also waist is pretty loose)

[william-james88]

Thanks for sharing and DAMN, I thought we were done with the issue.