The Energon Pub

News Credits: 8 · by **Forgotten** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:05 pm

I just received my Giant set B from tfsource.com today. I opened them up & transformed them to robot mode immediately. While transforming dump truck there is a panel on each side of the grill that has the headlights on it. These swivel back & peg in as part of the transformation. The truck's left hinge(facing the truck) was extremely tight to swivel. Upon returning it to vehicle mode that hinge snapped off completely. There was a large piece of mold flash that caused the pin housing to flex & snap. I'm working on repairing it right now, hopefully i'll be able to. I just wanted to post this real quick so that other people would know to watch out for this problem. I'll let everyone know if i'm successful in my repairs later.
Have a good one,
Forgotten

by **robofreak** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:23 pm

Can you share pictures of the break? I'm interested in seeing this.

Website · by **Flux Convoy** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:29 pm

That is a bummer. Good luck on the fix.

News Credits: 8 · by **Forgotten** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:57 pm

This color is really hard to make the camera focus on. I had already done some filing by the time I took these but hopefully you can still see what to watch out for.

by **robofreak** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:03 pm

A break like that is usualy not your fault entirely but a factory thing.

You might want to show the pics to tfsource and see if they will replace it.

News Credits: 8 · by **Forgotten** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:14 pm

[quote="robofreak"]A break like that is usualy not your fault entirely but a factory thing.

You might want to show the pics to tfsource and see if they will replace it.

by **robofreak** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:25 pm

[quote="Forgotten"][quote="robofreak"]A break like that is usualy not your fault entirely but a factory thing.

You might want to show the pics to tfsource and see if they will replace it.

News Credits: 5749 · by **El Duque** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:29 pm

You're in luck my friend, MakeToys announced via their website the next set will come with replacement parts.

by **robofreak** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:34 pm

Looks like it's a widespread issue and awesome that they are fixing it.

Like how TFC supplied their fixes.

News Credits: 8 · by **Forgotten** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:50 pm

Awesome news. I filed out the inner area of the hinge that the pin goes through to cut down on friction. I believe it would hold as I took out pretty much all resistance in the area as far as fighting movement. I am glad that I don't have to find out though. It's great that MT is rectifying the issue. I really wanted these guys to display in individual bot modes since I have Herc in combined mode. They make a great G2 set of Classics-esque Constructicons.

by **DJrasmo** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:59 am

Posted this once already, but since I can't ever resist an opportunity to pay back injustice:

I remember way back when the Herc craze was in full swing, and the G.O.M. ("Giant Offshoot Movement", LoL) was just beginning with prototype pics, and all the people over at the SHH! Headquarters (thats the Society of Herc Haters) had to say about Herc was always "QC issues blah blah blabbity blah...shouldnt cost so much and have errors blabbity blab blab..."

..and now the SAME thing is happening to the Giant set.

Admittedly, the more I think about it the more I might end up selling my Herc set and getting the Giant green set so all my Gestalts are roughly the same size, but the irony is still funny.

News Credits: 8 · by **Forgotten** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 5:05 am

[quote="DJrasmo"]Posted this once already, but since I can't ever resist an opportunity to pay back injustice:

I remember way back when the Herc craze was in full swing, and the G.O.M. ("Giant Offshoot Movement", LoL) was just beginning with prototype pics, and all the people over at the SHH! Headquarters (thats the Society of Herc Haters) had to say about Herc was always "QC issues blah blah blabbity blah...shouldnt cost so much and have errors blabbity blab blab..."

..and now the SAME thing is happening to the Giant set.

Admittedly, the more I think about it the more I might end up selling my Herc set and getting the Giant green set so all my Gestalts are roughly the same size, but the irony is still funny.

by **Court Jester** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:42 pm

I got this set in today, and was able to avoid the issues. Thankful for the heads up before I got them in hand. Beyond my expectations. Mobile Crane is big. I love the transformation. I do think they still need to send out the replacement parts (just in case stress on transformation over time), but if you're careful on where you're putting pressure, you should be okay.

Plastic quality is consistent between sets A and B, so rest assured this is the finest quality plastic (I say this in regards to my experience with yellow plastic). They really chose their materials well. Now, Dump Truck has made my day. It's perfect, and without nitpicking, is worth the time to admire the sculpted detail.

So far I have to say I must eat my words of concern. I have no problems keeping my preorder with BBTS on the Green Giant. Well done, and I look forward to MakeToys reveals in the coming months during convention season. Great design, great artwork, awesome articulation, master sculpting, and an overall professionally presented collector oriented release. Really. Thank you for this. :grin:

by **TraitorJ** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:36 am

[quote="Court Jester"]I got this set in today, and was able to avoid the issues. Thankful for the heads up before I got them in hand. Beyond my expectations. Mobile Crane is big. I love the transformation. I do think they still need to send out the replacement parts (just in case stress on transformation over time), but if you're careful on where you're putting pressure, you should be okay.

Plastic quality is consistent between sets A and B, so rest assured this is the finest quality plastic (I say this in regards to my experience with yellow plastic). They really chose their materials well. Now, Dump Truck has made my day. It's perfect, and without nitpicking, is worth the time to admire the sculpted detail.

So far I have to say I must eat my words of concern. I have no problems keeping my preorder with BBTS on the Green Giant. Well done, and I look forward to MakeToys reveals in the coming months during convention season. Great design, great artwork, awesome articulation, master sculpting, and an overall professionally presented collector oriented release. Really. Thank you for this. :grin:

News Credits: 8 · by **Forgotten** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 7:35 am

[quote="Court Jester"]I got this set in today, and was able to avoid the issues. Thankful for the heads up before I got them in hand. Beyond my expectations. Mobile Crane is big. I love the transformation. I do think they still need to send out the replacement parts (just in case stress on transformation over time), but if you're careful on where you're putting pressure, you should be okay.

Plastic quality is consistent between sets A and B, so rest assured this is the finest quality plastic (I say this in regards to my experience with yellow plastic). They really chose their materials well. Now, Dump Truck has made my day. It's perfect, and without nitpicking, is worth the time to admire the sculpted detail.

So far I have to say I must eat my words of concern. I have no problems keeping my preorder with BBTS on the Green Giant. Well done, and I look forward to MakeToys reveals in the coming months during convention season. Great design, great artwork, awesome articulation, master sculpting, and an overall professionally presented collector oriented release. Really. Thank you for this. :grin:

by **TraitorJ** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 7:59 am

[quote="Forgotten"]
I'm glad you're enjoying them & extremely glad you have managed to avoid the break issue on Long Haul. I agree that they are very well done figures. If I was going to gripe about them my fault would really be with Hook. They should have put a swivel on the crane arm ala Cybertron Mudflap to allow it to get out of the way better. I just watched a video on these guys & apparently the Devy head being stuck looking down is a hit or miss issue so i'll be taking the head apart later to see if it is assembled improperly. Set C is the set i've really been looking forward to though. That Scrapper will hopefully be "Deluxe Of The Year" for me. I love the design, hopefully the execution will be what I expect.

by **Court Jester** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 9:46 am

Yeah, the crane on Mobile Crane is an issue. I look at the shoulder articulation on Dump Truck and think of the potential. As it is though, unscrewing the crane from the arm and storing on the back is a cheap, quick, and dirty (like my women) resolution. If I were any kind of optimist, I would think there would be some talented entrepreneur out there with an upgrade - turning the crane into a RPG with a flip out targeting reticle and articulated handle.

Believe me, I'm a cynic when it comes to evaluating the things I buy. I'm really not willing to dismiss major flaws when my expectations are sky high.

I'll say this though... it's nice to know that the adult collector market is what this product is intended. The very survival of this company is dependent on how happy I am with this product. The ticket price is still high. $360 ($720 for the double dip) can go to so many other things, and with the summer blockbusters coming up, this will mark the end of my major purchases for toys for the year until FansProject returns.

The personal value being worth the price remains to be seen. $60 per figure. I seem to recall the Colossus components costing that much (give or take 5 bucks), but instead of scouts with a ton of weapons, we get medium to large deluxes with a few accessories. Again, we'll see... now, just a few short weeks until Cement Mixer is mine.

News Credits: 13 · by **grimdragon2001** » Tue May 01, 2012 6:52 pm

My Dumptruck broke at the left fender joint, but luckily its still able to clip onto the joint and still works. filed away some of the plastic on the hinge so i wont have as much resistance. its a little loose now but it could be worse

News Credits: 8 · by **Forgotten** » Tue May 01, 2012 7:35 pm

[quote="grimdragon2001"]My Dumptruck broke at the left fender joint, but luckily its still able to clip onto the joint and still works. filed away some of the plastic on the hinge so i wont have as much resistance. its a little loose now but it could be worse

News Credits: 5749 · by **El Duque** » Wed May 02, 2012 11:06 am

Now that I have four of the six Giant figures and have been able to do a reasonable comparison to the Hercules figures (also saw the fully combined Giant at BotCon :-$

) I feel the TFC Toys set is better. Individual figures is where I feel the Hercules sets really shines. I find it very annoying that Mobile Crane's hook has no articulation, where Dr.Crank has a fully functional crane. I also like the individual bot modes of Hercules MUCH better. Mobile Cranes weird arm crane is ridiculous.

by **Wh33l Jck** » Fri May 11, 2012 6:02 pm

So how much do you think set C will be delayed for them to offer up this fix for set B?????

Its already just about 2 weeks into May, it takes about 2 weeks just to ship to the States?

They said May for set C, but I think it is looking more like early June for stateside.

I don't know its too hard to pick a winner between Herc and Giant. To me individual bots are just as important as the combined. As far as individual robot forms across the board neither set of 6 are perfect.

News Credits: 9 · by **Mykltron** » Wed May 16, 2012 6:46 am

In the fix instructions it says 'push slowly with caution' the first time you transform Dump Truck. I did that and the hinge still broke. It's not flash - it's bad design. The thing that causes the break is supposed to be there to hold the panel in place in both positions.

[quote="warzon3"]So how much do you think set C will be delayed for them to offer up this fix for set B?????

Its already just about 2 weeks into May, it takes about 2 weeks just to ship to the States?

They said May for set C, but I think it is looking more like early June for stateside.

by **NTESHFT** » Thu May 17, 2012 3:07 pm

[quote="Mykltron"]In the fix instructions it says 'push slowly with caution' the first time you transform Dump Truck. I did that and the hinge still broke. It's not flash - it's bad design. The thing that causes the break is supposed to be there to hold the panel in place in both positions.

[quote="warzon3"]So how much do you think set C will be delayed for them to offer up this fix for set B?????

Its already just about 2 weeks into May, it takes about 2 weeks just to ship to the States?

They said May for set C, but I think it is looking more like early June for stateside.

by **josheppaul** » Tue May 22, 2012 11:51 pm

I have seen your pictures of transformers, after seen I also want to make these kind of transformers at my home. So would you like to tell me that how can I made it? I am very interested to make it.