The Energon Pub

News Credits: 12 · Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:25 pm

I got this guys from eBay yesterday. He's pretty cool. I had no idea just how BIG he would be!

Anywhere, here are my two problems/questions, both relating to the Bat (alt) mode:

1) What do I do with his hips? They just seem to be "floating" on his sides, not really anchored to his pelvis in any way. There are those orange bars which go into the sides of his torso to keep the legs sort-of-in-place, but then the hips are just sort of loosely hanging there. He's still able to stand "on all fours", but when I pick him up his legs are floppy. So what gives? Am I doing something wrong? Is it broken? Or just poor design?

2) What's the set of gears in the bat head's neck supposed to do? It looks like there should be a switch somewhere to make his head turn, or that turning his head should cause something else to turn. But the gear attached to his head doesn't quite meet the gear in his neck, so the one gear doesn't actually turn the other. Again: Am I doing something wrong? Is it broken? Or just poor design?

http://www.seibertron.com/images/toys/f ... eam013.jpg

Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:55 pm

1) Those orange bars are as good as it'll get, there's no other way to secure them.

2) The gears actually do serve a purpose. Pull out the disk launcher from his chest (or back, since he's in bat mode), then rotate it around so it's pointed forward over his head. Once it snaps into place, his head will move side to side with the launcher as you turn it.

Thu Apr 22, 2010 8:24 pm

Just a tip. Be careful when transforming his legs. The ratchets are made of REALLY weak translucent plastic. The first Nightscream I ordered had his legs snap right off in my hands. According to a lot of collectors, this is a pretty common problem with the figure (and translucent plastic in general).

News Credits: 12 · Fri Apr 23, 2010 9:52 am

WolfDawg wrote:Just a tip. Be careful when transforming his legs. The ratchets are made of REALLY weak translucent plastic. The first Nightscream I ordered had his legs snap right off in my hands. According to a lot of collectors, this is a pretty common problem with the figure (and translucent plastic in general).

I've noticed. As I was removing it from the package, a piece of clear plastic that extends from the back/side of the robot head snapped off. Luckily, it didn't serve any structural purpose and it's hardly noticeable. But I've been really careful with him.

The head-turning gimmick is really lousy; it hardly works and feels like the gears are going to snap off. Same thing with the disc launcher: doesn't work well and feels like it will break easily. (By contrast, Depthcharge's disc launcher is sturdy and works great.)

I'm disappointed with the engineering and quality of this figure, but damn if he isn't cool looking! I love his alt mode.

News Credits: 5 · Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:48 am

Certified Beast Machines guy here. The hips just hang so poor design. It sounds like the gears in the neck aren't lined up properly, the head and cannon should move quite smoothly barring degeneration or corrosion. Make sure the head is straight forward when you connect the cannon. I never had anything break on my Nightscream but I can believe it.

As for scale, try the McDonald's Happy Meal Beast Machines line. In scale Nightscream and Rattrap and screen accurate Megatron and Tankor plus the fact that they rarely cost more than a dollar on eBay so you really can't lose!