Moar pic pleaze!

 

the tabbing was definitely strong on the backpack and chest and the elbows aren't as floppy.

 

rodimus is actually garfield,

 

TFsource says they're getting theirs this week. Would guess the other NA retailers should be following suit.

 

I sure hope so, as I’ve stated earlier, Kim from chosen prime responded to my email saying they expect to get theirs in January. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

I never noticed it was orange in the pre-relase promo pics. Very odd. Then again, I never had the other versions so I didn't know they were red. Were both V1 and V2 the same?

A minor annoyance, but an annoyance all the same. Still, I'll take an orange arse at this price point, as opposed to a red one for three times more. Luckily I don't display my figures with their backsides to the fore.

Hmm, I wonder how easy the crotch/hips are to disassemble/reassemble? Wondering if I can pick up some junker parts and make the orange sections red again.

 

So I got mine this afternoon from Savier's Toys/TFToys, and I thought I'd try to get a few impressions of him. This is my first experience with the mold, so I'm using this list to see if there's anything that stands out.

First observation: his left ankle spring seems to be installed wrong. Right is fine, but the left will immediately spring the toes back down if I bring them up too far. Dismantling it, this appears as though it could be the result of some casting flash inside the joint (pictured, barely, in above the hole in fig 1 - I didn't have access to good lighting or an assistant for any of these). Three little screws and a quick scrape later and his right foot is now fine (fig 2), and it may well have fixed itself through use anyway; or exploded. NB My ankle joints are only firm. If they're too stiff, perhaps you risk the above?


(Fig 1. Sorry about the blur - only way I could get light in was to stand way back, and then I had to manually focus)


(Fig 2. Result - nice even feet)

Moving up the body, the left ankle joint feels a little loose but he still stands fine.

Then the shin guards seem to be a little gappy - the inner and front panels are OK (the front ones tab in just fine), but the design of the outer doesn't seem to have any way of actually holding them in place so a small gap seems inevitable here. The right front panel is a little more reluctant to tab in, but a little coercion sorts that out without any problems.

The left lower knee goes on to feel like it has a similar problem to his left ankle. It's firmer than the right, and made a noticeable "click" sound when I first straightened it. It has since stopped doing that and started to spring back like his foot did. 5 screws later (2 through the black shroud in the shin, 2 in the red part of the shin, then the offending joint itself) and I'm none the wiser. The spring is clearly catching on something, but I've no idea what. I suspect it's the actual end of the spring (fig 3) catching on the plastic, so I've filed the end slightly and it seems OK for now (flipping it may also be an option, as it appears to have closer windings on the other side). Still firmer than the right, but free. That white spot (fig 3) appears to be a pin, which has broken. I don't know what purpose it serves since the piece is held together by a screw and located by the pictured tab, but be aware that it may be hard to separate the two parts and that's why.


(Fig 3. Pre-filing, seems to have sharp bits on the end)

What remains of the robot mode is, for now, rather unremarkable. The left fore/aft thigh joint was scary-stiff to start with but has freed up with a little use, and the arms seem fine at all joints. The shoulders are a little stiff (could this be a sign of things to come?) but they work, and the elbows seem adequate to hold a pose. The backpack also seems fine, staying tabbed in so long as I don't knock it about.

*Much time passes*

He's definitely no MP10 to transform. His calf and thigh didn't want to tab in together properly on the left, but again a little coercion helped (seems a theme with the transformation). On the plus side, his chest piece didn't want to let go of the car canopy. However, there's an annoying little joint inside his ankle (seems like it could have been a solid piece of plastic, but it isn't) which makes it extremely awkward to actually push everything together. If you bend it backwards slightly (as pictured in fig 4) than it all comes together much, much cleaner. I still couldn't get his arms right, though, as you'll see in the end pictures.


(Fig 4. Didn't even think that was a joint at first - it's very, very stiff)

Going to truck mode, the first observation is that the windscreen/canopy is very, very squeaky on the outer, clear hinge. I'd like to get some lubricant into here at some point (WD40, Inox or perhaps PTFE), but for now I just need to make sure I grab it as close to that hinge as possible. The rest of the truck transformation was pretty uneventful - even sliding the spoiler in only felt snug (but I still plan on putting some dry PTFE in place).

Going back into robot mode, the slider was a little apprehensive. It has a bump (detent?) to hold it in place at the non-truck end which required a little bit of force to overcome. The rest was extremely uneventful, save perhaps a little apprehension on my part extending the elbows again.

So while I can't comment on longevity, it seems fairly OK. I didn't feel like it was going to break at any time, despite how fiddly the process is. The cockpit hinge is definitely one I'll need to watch out for unless I treat it more permanently, but I'm having none of the other issues beyond perhaps the outer shin panel just not lining up properly (it doesn't have any tabs to not-tab-in).

 

Now I've had the orange arse pointed out to me I can't see anything else. I've also noticed that they've used orange for the entire crotch assembly, so the bloody hinge on the front is orange against red. Now that is a bit shit. The problem with getting a cost cutting Chinese release I guess... Ah well.

 

Thanks for your very thorough examination! Much appreciated.

 

So what's this orange ass of his look like? Is it really that bad...or does it just kind of cheapen the appearance a bit?

 

It's actually a case of the entire crotch assembly being orange. I'm guessing an older, junker MP-09 could be used to swap parts out.

 

Thanks man. I guess it does kind of make the front look like a loin cloth...Lol. I'm still mulling this guy over.

 

Yeah, I don't think it actually looks bad per se, just incorrect, and once the brain knows something is out of place it's very hard to overlook.

 

It’s just sloppiness really.

 

At least he's better than Carry.

 

I dont own either figure, but i'd pick Carry over MP-9 every time.

 

More likely a deliberate cost-cutting endeavour, but it is irritating nonetheless. With that said, it's not really the biggest problem given how I display my figures:

 

Is it 'cause you think MP-9 is a POS?

 

That's really not saying much. carry is very caca looking.

 

Based purely on aesthetics. QC controversy aside.
In robot mode alone I dont like how lanky he looks, especially the Rodimus Prime face. The PotP RP has the perfect face sculpt.
The way the front end flares out on the sides looks ridiculous, instead of folding into his "ribcage" to give the torso a tapered look.
The shin flaps or whatever you wanna call them look silly.
The hands look boney
The transition from thigh to knee is way exaggerated.
That's pretty much it