zemper wrote:Metal Ed wrote:Expect some minor paint chips and misaligned chest doors straight out of the box. And maybe some bleeding paint on the Autobot symbol. Possibly some smudges on the chrome grill, like someone at the factory had greasy hands when they packaged it.
have you verified this, and is this common to the second run of the MP-01? thanks. i'm really looking forward to getting one myself but i'd be kicking if i dropped $200 and got these defects instead of a quality toy instead.
Zemper - I have owned two second run MP-01's. The first, now sold off, had major chest misalignment issues - almost as bad, but not quite as bad, as what I've seen in pictures of MP-04's. I did not check for paint chips straight out of the box, so I don't know if there were any. However, I did find that the paint chipped incredibly easily whenever I transformed it or handled it in any way. And I handled it extremely gently. In contrast, my DVD Prime chips much, much, much less, and I handle it roughly.
The second MP-01 that I bought has never had its tie-downs removed. I only open it to slide it out and look at it in the tray. I noticed a couple of small paint chips right there in the tray. I also noticed what looked like smudge marks on the chrome grill, as if a man with greasy hands had been holding it. Finally, there is some running of the paint on the Autobot symbol on his arm. However, I will say that the chest door alignment is pretty good on this one.
I have never owned an MP-04 so I can't compare. Maybe the QC is even worse on those. I wouldn't know.
Honestly, if you like or are ambivalent about the burn marks, then go for the 2004 (non-DVD) 20th Anniversary Prime instead. Get a pair of long smoke stacks and it's good to go. The QC is much better overall on those than on the second run of MP-01's, and it'll cost less too.
I am less upset about the paint chips than I am the paint running. Apparently die cast chips easily and virtually all MP and 20th Primes have at least a little chipping from what I have seen, but again, it seemed as though the paint chipped much more easily on the first second run MP-01 that I used to have. I have thought about applying some kind of lacquer or other other paint protector to the die cast parts of my second MP-01, but I wouldn't know what product to use. I also suspect that touch-ups would be fairly easy with some fine-point brushes. His color appears to be fire engine red, but no one seems able to confirm this for me. And I haven't the foggiest clue what color blue his feet are.
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