Video Review - Takara Tomy Transformers Legends Slipstream

Quite a few fans were let down by Transformers Legends (LG-17) Blackarachnia because of one thing, a chest gap. Every reviewer has been quite adamant about pointing it out, here is a sample of screencaps from reviews all around from TJ Omega to honoured friends of ours on these boards.







They actually happen to be all transformed incorrectly. This toy should have no gap and when this figure was first introduced to us, Takara themselves had properly transformed it.



While the instructions don't specify just how far you have to push the chest piece up, it turns out you can push it until there is no gap. The new tooling allows the chest to extend upwards beyond markings.

Almost everyone is lifting it to here:



But you can keep pushing it up and it actually keeps sliding and then locks into place leaving no gap:



This was actually found in Emgo's review of the figure.

So there are a few lessons to learn from this. One being that there can never be too many reviews or reviewers and secondly that we should have more faith in Takara. I now feel foolish for having doubted them but my love for this figure and them has only grown because of this. I hope you will all better enjoy your figure as I do.

Wolfman Jake wrote:
YES! YES! A THOUSAND TIMES, YES! Billy-J, you just saved this figure for me! I thought something was really off about that gap. Glad to know Takara's engineering didn't let us down after all!

Haha, it made a world of difference, I will touch up my post and make some news of it. It seems almost every reviewer is blasting this figure for something that isnt true.

People couldn't work that out?

Seriously ... even without reading the instructions I saw the gap, and just pushed the chest higher.

padfoo wrote:

Burn wrote:People couldn't work that out?

Seriously ... even without reading the instructions I saw the gap, and just pushed the chest higher.

I don't usually jump on the bandwagon, but this was obvious to me too.

I totally agree that something was obviously wrong. But I really didnt know what to do to get it right since the amount of force needed was quite big. As the article shows, I did my research to see what was the right way to do it, I didnt just accept the figure as it was. But still, I can understand how some people gave up. Collectors dont want to break their figures and can thus be more hesitant about exerting too much force.

william-james88 wrote:

padfoo wrote:

Burn wrote:People couldn't work that out?

Seriously ... even without reading the instructions I saw the gap, and just pushed the chest higher.

I don't usually jump on the bandwagon, but this was obvious to me too.

I totally agree that something was obviously wrong. But I really didnt know what to do to get it right since the amount of force needed was quite big. As the article shows, I did my research to see what was the right way to do it, I didnt just accept the figure as it was. But still, I can understand how some people gave up. Collectors dont want to break their figures and can thus be more hesitant about exerting too much force.

Same. I haven't own the animated mold for years and the first I transformed BW blackarachnia I saw the gap and said "this looks...off...wait doesn't her chest push up?" Boom. Total difference. It is a little scary however because those boobs are clear plastic and I was worried about cracking but if you just raise them down and apply pressure to the spider head you push it as far as needed.

Mkall wrote:Congratulations, just when I thought I was done fondling her, I had to do it some more. This girl requires some force...

This is likely the most disturbing and/or eyebrow-raising thing I've ever read on these boards.

Mkall wrote: This girl requires some force...

Said the man an hour before he was taken in by the authorities.

Well, after having the time to try the proper chest transformation myself, I can say it improves the gap, but doesn't eliminate it. You can still see it from any angle that isn't straight on, like if you look from above. Plus, there is now a small gap in her abdominal area as well. So, you can either have a big gap up top, or two much smaller gaps above her chest and below it. Still, it definitely saved this Blackarachnia figure for me.

Note: My figure's chest doesn't really "lock" into place when pushed up all the way. In fact, it's a very squishy stop, if you know what I mean. I pushed hard as hell to get it just a bit further up, but it's a no go. Sometimes, after trying to pose my figure or fiddle with the spider legs in the bag, the chest will kind of sag back down again, requiring another "lift."

The gap isnt the real problem with this figure though.. the damn plastic choices are. The soft plastic is even worst off than the original animated mold. The ones on the shins especially omfg they will tear off some day i swear. The whole place faith in takara thing because they are millions of times better than hasbro thing is idiotic. Both companies make mistakes but takara is always more expensive and sometimes that extra expense is just not worth it.

deathdrive wrote:The gap isnt the real problem with this figure though.. the damn plastic choices are. The soft plastic is even worst off than the original animated mold. The ones on the shins especially omfg they will tear off some day i swear. The whole place faith in takara thing because they are millions of times better than hasbro thing is idiotic. Both companies make mistakes but takara is always more expensive and sometimes that extra expense is just not worth it.

No, thats a myth, Takara is the same price as Hasbro in Japan, it just costs more for some peole because they need to import it and shipping costs depend on where you live. That has NOTHING to do with how much Takara is charging, they are charging the same or less.

Hasbro Devastator Toysrus: $ 169.99

Takara Devastator Amiami: $ 152.10

Oh wait, Hasbro's is more expensive here my bad.

So think about it, if Takara is charging the same amount but always giving you more paint apps or extras, then Hasbro is the company that is actually more expensive since you are paying the same price for a product which has less. You just take the abuse blindly because your other choise is to import.

grimdragon2001 wrote:i tried this chest fix for black arachnia, it dosnt work for me. everytime i push up, the chest pushes back. infact i worry about breaking her everytime i try, those chest pieces are translucent plastic after all and for this fix, you have to apply a lot of force directly to them very close to the ball sockets.

It can be done, just just have to push the chest up while using her back as support (like your fingers are giving the figure a huf). Watch EMGO's video for help, it really works.