The Energon Pub

[Wireless_Phantom]

The question I have being, is the torso slide supposed to be that tight, by design?

Probably not. It's kinda like some figures where a certain joint is super tight at first, then becomes smooth after the first transformation.

I really hope this MP Megatron nonsense is just a 1 in a million incident. A 300$ figure like this should not have any issues like that, and this gets me more worried about the upcoming MP-44, who is both more expensive and looks more complex.

Tell that to the mp-36 paint scratching

Now there is a figure who really should not have been so heavily painted

[Immortal Starscream]

This has me genuinely weary of buying this guy now. I know it could easily be a 1 in 1000 chance that mine could so this too, but see, I have a history with transformers. a good 4 to 6 out of 10 figures I buy end up being factory defects. so far that hasn't applied too much to the masterpiece line, as the only defects I got were rodimus prime, first version of megatron, ravage and lazerbeak, the latter two of which cracked apart just like the bw megatron crotch is. was able to apoxy ravage back together and he transforms fine, but lazerbeak is not salvageable. with my luck, I do feel like I would get the exploding crotch action feature on my bw megs.

[DeathReviews]

That's a bummer, to be sure. To pay truckloads of cash for something so brittle? I wasn't planning to get this one (never been a huge fan of Beast Wars). But I feel for those who are fans, and who spent good money for something this flawed.

Those of you who already have one - what are the options? I know 3rd party outfits like Perfect Combiner often make replacement parts for figures. Could a replacement part be installed by the user? Or would you have to tear the whole thing apart to replace the codpiece? If that part can't be replaced easily, then the makers have only two choices. Issue a product recall and eat the cost, or fix it for future batches, and tell the suckers who bought it early to kiss off.

[bvzxa]

Looks like the paint is causing the plastic to crack. I have the United Seekers Elite set. That set uses a heavy coat of paint. For some reason the paint on Skywarp was causing the figure to crumble. First it was the legs and the rudder section, and then the nose cone just disentergrated. I rarely played with it and it sits in the box for months at a time. Went to show my friend after fixing the tail rudder and leg and then the nose cone fell off and cracked at the connector piece. You basically can remove it while transforming but glue will not work to fix it

Paint can eat thru plastic I remembered I had an old Gundam model kit that a painted red using Gundam markers. After just a few days the plastic started splitting , and finally it just fell apart. I did replace the kit and painted it again this time it held.

[Gladky]

After reading through new reports I cheked my MP BW Megatron again. Unfortunatelly today I learned that my piece broke as well... from standing still... . I Transformed this figure 3 times, super carefully and did not notice any stress markes and cracks at the time. Today when I checked my piece after it was standing on the shelf for a few days, I found out that the central crotch piece is cracked in two places... I disassembled the figure to check the damage and it looks like half of the ctotch piece cracked exactly where the swirls are. I am seriously disappointed, as figures costing so much should not have such basic issues as not being able to stand without breaking... . I will inform shop where I bought this figure from about the issue, however after this I seriously advise you to think your purchase through as the glittery material is simply rubbish and should not be used in the first place. I felt like I was messing with 20 years old gold plastic syndrome figure, not a brand new hi-end collector grade figure.

[TFmonkeybiz]

I think the best thing to do in this situation is for anyone who's having breakage issues to return the figure and hope for a reissue. Can anyone confirm the claim on the wiki that the Takara release's instructions actually give the owner guidance on how to move the shoulders and waist without causing breakage? 'Coz if that's true, that means Takara and possibly Hasbro knew this was a possibility which raises a few awkward questions.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Can anyone confirm the claim on the wiki that the Takara release's instructions actually give the owner guidance on how to move the shoulders and waist without causing breakage? 'Coz if that's true, that means Takara and possibly Hasbro knew this was a possibility which raises a few awkward questions.

Indeed. I wonder if this was the Real reason for:

Originally scheduled for release on January 26, 2019, Megatron was delayed to March 30

[Skritz]

This is why I'm glad I never got into Masterpiece.

[Wireless_Phantom]

Reports of the figure seemingly breaking from having just been standing on a shelf? What is this, MP09?

[Gladky]

Funny thing is I had 2 MP09s, both Takara and Hasbro - no issues, two MP05 Megatrons - also no issues and XTB Apollyone in great condition. I think I really know how to handle my figures not to break them... and now this happens...

[william-james88]

Obviously a big deal is being made of these breakages due to the price tag, but before we all start hysterically table flipping on this figure, what percentages are we talking about?

1 in 10? in 100? in 10,000?

That's the detail that matters more so than any handful of pics or reports from isolated individuals: context and perspective.

I get it but that wont help any of the people that this happens to. The main thing to understand here is that it's no longer a one off, it is a defect that some people can experience and something that should be noted. Because many thought it was a one off. It is not, and that's all that the news meant to state (as a callback to the previous news story).

[ilikerobits]

I'd be willing to bet that the people having the issue with this figure are simply transforming it too much. These figures are not meant to be manhandled and transformed repeatedly. They're collectors pieces capable of transforming, but really they're just meant to sit on a shelf and look pretty. If you want a toy to "play" with, buy chug or something.

[Ultra Markus]

and there you have it, a 300 dollar quality piece of crap

[Dan14thPrime]

Mines all good.

The only thing that I can think people are doing to create that breakage is that when you transform back to Dino mode or even already in Dino mode, the upper thigh sits flush against the pelvis on the Dino underside. If you try to push the Dino leg up, the upper thigh creates torque on the joint because it’s basically levering over the pelvis. You need to be careful and know your range of movements on this figure.

[Ultra Markus]

Mines all good.

The only thing that I can think people are doing to create that breakage is that when you transform back to Dino mode or even already in Dino mode, the upper thigh sits flush against the pelvis on the Dino underside. If you try to push the Dino leg up, the upper thigh creates torque on the joint because it’s basically levering over the pelvis. You need to be careful and know your range of movements on this figure.

Being this expensive I would have thought that on all the weak points diecast would have been used especially on the part that's cracking

[bvzxa]

I'd be willing to bet that the people having the issue with this figure are simply transforming it too much. These figures are not meant to be manhandled and transformed repeatedly. They're collectors pieces capable of transforming, but really they're just meant to sit on a shelf and look pretty. If you want a toy to "play" with, buy chug or something.

...I digress.

Also remember MP-09, you couldnt even finish transforming the toy before the knee joing broke. So your statement is just all wrong.

[Emerje]

Looks like the paint is causing the plastic to crack. I have the United Seekers Elite set. That set uses a heavy coat of paint. For some reason the paint on Skywarp was causing the figure to crumble. First it was the legs and the rudder section, and then the nose cone just disentergrated. I rarely played with it and it sits in the box for months at a time. Went to show my friend after fixing the tail rudder and leg and then the nose cone fell off and cracked at the connector piece. You basically can remove it while transforming but glue will not work to fix it

Paint can eat thru plastic I remembered I had an old Gundam model kit that a painted red using Gundam markers. After just a few days the plastic started splitting , and finally it just fell apart. I did replace the kit and painted it again this time it held.

The part that's breaking isn't painted at all. There's actually very little "paint" on the figure. Most of the color comes from tampographing a very thin layer of pigment to the dino skin. A lot of parts, like the black and purple on his torso (and I think the green on his legs) are two different colors of plastic screwed together. There's only a few places like most of the silver, some spots on his face, and a few other details are actually painted. There's no reason to believe paint is a factor here.

I'd be willing to bet that the people having the issue with this figure are simply transforming it too much. These figures are not meant to be manhandled and transformed repeatedly. They're collectors pieces capable of transforming, but really they're just meant to sit on a shelf and look pretty. If you want a toy to "play" with, buy chug or something.

Transformers only do one thing: transform. Masterpiece transformers for the price should be precision made and capable of being transformed hundreds of times if you're giving them the care of an expensive figure. Any Masterpiece that you can only carefully transform 3 times before it starts breaking is no masterpiece.

Emerje

[angtre]

Man, I am about to receive this figure and now I'm more scared than ever. The worst part is reading that the crotch might break just by standing still, that is all one usually asks to a MP figure.

[SpikeyTigertron]

Megatron’s only known weakness... Snu Snu

[DedicatedGhostArt]

For everyone saying we need to keep perspective, here's some:

I own 10 masterpiece figures in hand (soon will own 14, but I'm dreading what will come of this figure). 4 of those arrived to me with significant factory defects. The boxes were flawless, undamaged, shipped with exquisite care. The insides showed no signs of tension or rubbing or cramping or anything. And yet the figures right out of their little plastic divot had issues ranging from heavy scrapes/ruined paint to cracks (in places where pieces were anchored, which seems to scream manufacturing tolerance issue) to stressed plastic and paint overspray to outright bent die cast that prevented an entire transformation. That's a 60% success rate in masterpiece from one collector. I don't buy from a single source, and I only buy from very reputable sources. At this rate, I may as well be gambling (which is how my wife feels about it).

If I encounter another single major issue (and I could probably forgive a stress mark as long as the piece seemed like it would hold together, and heaven knows I don't care about some little paint chips) then I am done with Masterpiece. It will be an easy decision at that point. Which is a crying shame, because this is Beast Wars coming alive in a whole new way for me, and I dig it like I dug it as a kid in 1996. But I've got better things I can do with my money (like collect entire lines for roughly the same now-greatly-inflated price of Masterpieces across a year).

See? The problem with Masterpiece is, if it's messed up, you're ****. With more general retail stuff, the worst issues I've had were slightly loose joints or a bit too much plastic in a joint area which hindered mobility, and both of those are very easy issues to fix mostly. Do what you guys want, but unless Masterpiece holds UP TO the quality it promises, I say skip it, evaluate your lives, and then move onto something more worth your money. Or hell, move on to MakeToys or a more reputable manufacturer. Pretty sad when the official and MUCH PRICIER stuff feels like KOs in comparison to fan-made 3rd Party figures or even actual KOs. Some people go with KOs both for better price as much as for better quality. (Black Mamba specifically.)

[snavej]

War is a dirty business. #ow-my-crotch

[PadForce]

Megatron’s only known weakness... Snu Snu

Haha, enjoyable.

On a serious note i really feel for the people experiencing damage on such an expensive figure. Hopefully Takara does right by its customers ultimately, if not people will be perfectly justfifed with the inevitable 3p repair kits or just not buying the official model at all.

The idea that a masterpiece transformer shouldnt be transformed is non sensical.

[SpikeyTigertron]

Megatron’s only known weakness... Snu Snu

Haha, enjoyable.

On a serious note i really feel for the people experiencing damage on such an expensive figure. Hopefully Takara does right by its customers ultimately, if not people will be perfectly justfifed with the inevitable 3p repair kits or just not buying the official model at all.

The idea that a masterpiece transformer shouldnt be transformed is non sensical.

Was taking a closer look at mine.... and I think I have hairline fractures forming on the backside. And it really *does* follow the swirl pattern.

What boggles my mind is why not just use painted plastic for a load baring joint like that. Other than his upper thigh it’s the only place they seem to use it....just doesn’t make sense.

Though I think Takara should just ship out new crotches. I don’t think anything is pinned down there?

[SpikeyTigertron]

For everyone saying we need to keep perspective, here's some:

I own 10 masterpiece figures in hand (soon will own 14, but I'm dreading what will come of this figure). 4 of those arrived to me with significant factory defects. The boxes were flawless, undamaged, shipped with exquisite care. The insides showed no signs of tension or rubbing or cramping or anything. And yet the figures right out of their little plastic divot had issues ranging from heavy scrapes/ruined paint to cracks (in places where pieces were anchored, which seems to scream manufacturing tolerance issue) to stressed plastic and paint overspray to outright bent die cast that prevented an entire transformation. That's a 60% success rate in masterpiece from one collector. I don't buy from a single source, and I only buy from very reputable sources. At this rate, I may as well be gambling (which is how my wife feels about it).

If I encounter another single major issue (and I could probably forgive a stress mark as long as the piece seemed like it would hold together, and heaven knows I don't care about some little paint chips) then I am done with Masterpiece. It will be an easy decision at that point. Which is a crying shame, because this is Beast Wars coming alive in a whole new way for me, and I dig it like I dug it as a kid in 1996. But I've got better things I can do with my money (like collect entire lines for roughly the same now-greatly-inflated price of Masterpieces across a year).

See? The problem with Masterpiece is, if it's messed up, you're ****. With more general retail stuff, the worst issues I've had were slightly loose joints or a bit too much plastic in a joint area which hindered mobility, and both of those are very easy issues to fix mostly. Do what you guys want, but unless Masterpiece holds UP TO the quality it promises, I say skip it, evaluate your lives, and then move onto something more worth your money. Or hell, move on to MakeToys or a more reputable manufacturer. Pretty sad when the official and MUCH PRICIER stuff feels like KOs in comparison to fan-made 3rd Party figures or even actual KOs. Some people go with KOs both for better price as much as for better quality. (Black Mamba specifically.)

Megatron *feels* fine, and he’s perfectly sturdy *except* their poor choice in a plastic composition. I personally have found my 3rd party figures to feel fiddle-y. While there’s still a certain flow or elegance to many of HasTak’s builds.

As for “KOs because they’re cheaper and *sometimes* better quality”. I’d never support/condone IP/Engineering theft.

[Dorkimus]

Well this kind of sucks. I don't have ordered that one since I don't really care that much about BW. If this would have been a bit cheaper, then who knows. It doesn't look that bad, save the crotch. But it just isn't very cool if these things happen to a such expensive toy.

I don't think that any fellow collector feel any better if you say that "well, maybe this affects only to 10/100 figures or some such". Doesn't feel very good if you happen to be one of those unlucky ones. I also find comments about transforming BW Megatron a bit ridiculous. What do you mean that you can only ever transform it once or twice and after that it will tear off it's own dick (hence the crotch damage). This is supposed to be a collectable toy that you can transform, and you shouldn't feel like disarming a roadside bomb while transforming it. Yes, yes. Some people manhandle their ummm...toys, but that doesn't explain all the issues here.

It is kind of sad as well, that my trust to Takara MP line is plummeting. Ridiculous pricing, quality issues (despite the price hike) and cycling of the same old same old characters. Another Mp Optimus Prime...gee, that is exactly something I didn't realize I even needed or wanted. Same goes for that horrible "cartoon accurate" Bee. How about some new characters...no. Ok. I just trop collecting any official transforming transformers. Simple as that. Many official statues are still nice (though a bit pricy as well), and everything Flame Toys does is really awesome, but the rest is meh and even lame to me. If you like those kind of basic TF toylines, then more power to you. Nothing wrong with that. I just don't care about that "bulk" stuff.

Studio series might actually be better, but most of those are Bayformers, though Blackout seems rather nice. Seems like 3p is way to go, even though some of those might have quality issues as well. However the current pricing alone makes MP toys less desirable. These cost now more than many 3P toys.

I can also tell that it is rather far fetched that the paint would cause this. Sure, some Gundam markers and whatnot may be too strong for thin plastic parts, if put it on a bare plastic without any coat of a varnish of surface primer. I have painted scale models and miniature figures about 24 years and I really haven't seen paint eating/softening plastic like that. Specially if the paint is meant for plastic model kits and figures. And even some sprays for actual 1:1 cars are rather safe to use. Not all of those obviously, but many are if the plastic is hard enough.