The Energon Pub

A little over a month ago, I posted on another message board that the flaps that attach Vortex/Blackout to Onslaught/Barricade stressed and fractured due to the strain.

I've included an attachment with the area circled, in case you're still wondering.

So you know, once it fractures, he still connects, but the plastic will become fragile and you must take extra care with it. Now, both flaps on mine cracked, so I knocked the pins out and swapped them with the connector on Blast Off/Explorer. Problem fixed, right? Wrong. Went to transform it a few minutes ago and saw that one of the replacement flaps is now stressed but not cracked.

The problem is leaving them combined for a long period of time. For some odd reason, transformation isn't the problem, it's being combined for an extended period of time.

Now, I can't say that every Vortex will be affected by this, so ymmv. Also, it should be noted that I have the Energon Blackout original of the mold, and not the Superlink original or the ROTF/Universe redeco. I don't know if mold degradation helped the newer 'Copter fit the flaps better or not.

I say it's a design flaw because forcing three pieces of plastic to wrap around the torso of a figure and fasten with a post/hole configuration under immense strain just doesn't seem reliable for long and seems I'm vindicated in that judgment.

Before anyone asks, no, I do not rough house. I transform them from mode to mode infrequently and most of the time they're on display and nothing more is done. Just sitting there is what did it.

So folks, check your Bruticus and make sure your's isn't suffering the same problem.

Ugh, thanks for pointing this out man. I had mine combined for the last week or so since I reviewed it and just noticed the fracture right after seeing this post. Though I've had it combined back and forth for longer periods of time before, I can't say I've ever noticed it until now. While that kinda thing is sad, especially on a Fansproject release, I can't say I'm too dissapointed since I've had crap worse than this happen to a lot of my official figures.

Still, perhaps an appeal should be made to FP asking if they can find a way to address this problem if this does turn out to be a more common problem.

Shadowstream wrote:Ugh, thanks for pointing this out man. I had mine combined for the last week or so since I reviewed it and just noticed the fracture right after seeing this post. Though I've had it combined back and forth for longer periods of time before, I can't say I've ever noticed it until now. While that kinda thing is sad, especially on a Fansproject release, I can't say I'm too dissapointed since I've had crap worse than this happen to a lot of my official figures.

Still, perhaps an appeal should be made to FP asking if they can find a way to address this problem if this does turn out to be a more common problem.

Sorry to hear you got hit with it too. But, now you can attest that the fracture doesn't prevent combination, just that extra care is required.

If anything, I think it's more or less just letting off the pressure that built up from all of that stress. It has to go somewhere. Fortunately, it doesn't break all the way.

And I agree, FP should address this situation. I'm wondering if this is the piece they had a fitting problem with when they had delays back in July/August,

BTW. Which version of Vortex/Blackout are you using?

Autobot032 wrote:Sorry to hear you got hit with it too. But, now you can attest that the fracture doesn't prevent combination, just that extra care is required.

If anything, I think it's more or less just letting off the pressure that built up from all of that stress. It has to go somewhere. Fortunately, it doesn't break all the way.

And I agree, FP should address this situation. I'm wondering if this is the piece they had a fitting problem with when they had delays back in July/August,

BTW. Which version of Vortex/Blackout are you using?

The ROTF Vortex version. I've considered for the longest time trying to get the energon versions, since I kinda prefer the brighter colors, but I couldn't be bothered for the longest time.

I find the thing seems to be holding on well enough with just the one flap on the back, and I can even turn it up without it slipping, but I'm not sure if it would hold if he was holding a gun. To be honest those flaps have always been an annoyance anyway since they seem to be too loose to hold up at certain angles in vehicle mode.

Now that you mention it maybe this was the part they were delaying the set over. If so I'm still not taking back everything I said back when I was being impatient about it.

EDIT: I tested the weapons and they all hold up fine with just the one flap holding it up, but it is still pretty precarious, so that doesn't help.

I believe the fitting problem they had that caused the delays was the energon connectors ports...but I could be wrong.

Mine is fine and has been in combined form since I got it after its initial release. I do own the ROTF version.

sorry to hear about these problems

I've had mine combined since I got it. No stress or breaks here. Still, it's something to watch out for.

Fistful of Energon wrote:I believe the fitting problem they had that caused the delays was the energon connectors ports...but I could be wrong.

You are not wrong. There is a slight difference between the Energon connector ports and they wanted it to combine with all versions of the molds.

Same here- I've had mine combined since the second day owning it, and I see nothing wrong. I will continue to watch for it.

I just checked mine and no stress marks on the connector.

zodconvoy wrote:

Fistful of Energon wrote:I believe the fitting problem they had that caused the delays was the energon connectors ports...but I could be wrong.

You are not wrong. There is a slight difference between the Energon connector ports and they wanted it to combine with all versions of the molds.

thanks for confirming this. Its good to know that you can learn something by obsessively frequenting this site daily

maybe temperature related? i find that if a figure is in a cooler room the plastic becomes more rigid (city commander) if i set him in the sunlight for a little while it becomes much easier to remove his leg armor. i only say this because iirc they use the same type of plastic. anyhow sorry to hear about that.

What about the position he could be posed? - Just trying to help figure out the cause....

No signs on mine, but something to watch out for. Thanks for the heads up.

Well I sent a message to FP seeing if they had any thoughts in regards to this problem. I doubt I'll get a replacement piece, but I guess it's better than ignorance. Maybe it's a case of a bad production batch or something? Like maybe some sets ended up with the non-refitted parts or something? All I do know is this has gotten my brother all riled up and he's practically demanding a solution ASAP, cuz he figures it'll break all the way through if we want to keep it displayed like that.

Also, can anyone who has both ROTF and Energon versions of the mold show us how well that part fits on each?

No marks on mine, it's been transformed/combined for 2 months straight.

Interesting, I'll have to check mine when I get home.

If this is the first major issue for FP, that's a pretty good track record.

I just checked mine and it's fine. I've had it Transformed since early September...

I have the ROTF version of Vortex, so I'm not sure if that's what makes the difference or not. To be perfectly honest (and I'm not trying to come off as a douche), but I'm really confused about what you're talking about. Are you saying that the Crossfire02 connector piece has stressed, or the Vortex mold connection piece. The picture you provided doesn't really help.

WolfDawg wrote:I just checked mine and it's fine. I've had it Transformed since early September...

I have the ROTF version of Vortex, so I'm not sure if that's what makes the difference or not. To be perfectly honest (and I'm not trying to come off as a douche), but I'm really confused about what you're talking about. Are you saying that the Crossfire02 connector piece has stressed, or the Vortex mold connection piece. The picture you provided doesn't really help.

The Crossfire 02 connector piece, not the figure. The hole in the panel that slides down around the posts on Vortex's sides, that's where the stress is. If you see a white stress mark on it, look closely because there may be a break that you can't see.

I'll try and get a better picture.

EDIT: Got one. The white mark I drew in, shows you where the stress mark and breakage occurs.

Ah, thanks for the clarification Autobot032. I just checked mine again and there's no stress marks whatsoever to report. I'm just going to assume that the ROTF version of the mold is "immune" to this. Seems like the set was designed around the ROTF version anyway.

Rechecked it, too. No stress marks on mine. Thanks for the clarification.

checked mine and it looks as good as they day it was taken from the box and combined. and i'm using energon blackout for my set as i couldn't get a hold of a vortex from rotf set. it seems to me it just might be a couple poor random souls were unlucky.

mine has stress marks on both sides, but no breaks to note. its a sad thing but i really cant think of a way Fansproject could have avoided this

grimdragon2001 wrote:mine has stress marks on both sides, but no breaks to note. its a sad thing but i really cant think of a way Fansproject could have avoided this

Mine broke this morning. I'm currently using a clear rubber band to vortex on.

Thankfully mine seems unaffected. Shame this has happened to many collectors though.

Mine was fine.