Reason I ask if anyone else is sick of ball joints on the newer Transformers, is because I have seen the Transformers I have been buying my Nephew, and all the heads, arms and legs seems to be sloppy now. The kid plays with the toys with respect to them and wont bash them either, so I know its just a bad design. My thought was maybe they could put raised bumps or lines around the ball so it holds the pose better and inverted bumps or lines in the cup of the ball joint?
I dont like ball joints because they seem to get really loose after a while, but i like them because if something breaks. a ball joint is easier to repair then some of the joints on the older transformers.
I've noticed some looseness on alot of the ball joints on newer figures as well (09 BB, I'm looking at you). However, with some good clear nail polish or super glue they can be fixed, so it's usually not too big of a deal, more an annoyance than anything.
The concept Camaro head right, or is it all of his joints? The Bumblebee I gave my Nephew, his head leans over now.
Naa. Yeah, the wear issue is something to consider but the posability makes it well worth it in my opinion. If you have a toy that you're okay with handling enough to losen the joints on, then you probably won't mind adding the clear nail polish (as mentioned above) and the problem is solved!
Yeah, I can see how asking the consumer to apply nail polish or glue to the toys from time to time is going to fix the situation. These toys are not even a year old yet! In my opinion, fix the issue at hand before it leave the factory. I like the idea in my first post about this better, and one more reason I will keep buying G1's more often then the new stuff that comes out.
The inverted bumps\lines you mention harks to the design of a ratchet joint. Just about every joint will get loose with time, it's not an oversight of the factory\manufacturer. Usually first editions of each mould have some sort of problem [looseness on BB's waist joint, Jazz's arms and so on] but subsequent releases have all sort of fixes. I'm not saying waiting for a re-release is always the solution, but it's a way to alleviate the problem. Furthermore, ball joints are like the easiest type of joint to fix. Apply a coat of paint\glue\nail polish and you're done. The articulation trade-off for such a mundane fix is worth the "trouble", in my opinion.
Yeah, ratcheting joints would be a great replacement for ball joints in most cases (though they don't seem to have the same kind of mobility as ball joints). Still, looking at my G2 stuff that has ratcheting joints... a lot of those have eventually grown loose too. Except Laser Optimus Prime... those ratchet's keep going and going... Basically, no joint is going to last forever as ball joints eventually get loose do to ware and the teeth in ratcheting joints, while more stable, will eventually ware out too and in most cases I've seen ratcheting joints actually ware out faster. Though, the new movie figures seem to have this problem worse than any other TF I've seen with a ball joint which makes me wonder if it isn't just a rush job at the factory... I mean... I have some G2 and BW guys whose ball joints are still going strong and I handl them a lot. Than I have movie toys that I've only TFed once and they seem to have already developed issues with their ball joints.
Some figures, such as Bandai's "Lords of Byston Well" line of figures actually have textured ball joints (think an inverted golf ball) in their shoulders to create grip and ... well, you know what? They wear down and get loose just like regular ball joints. Le sigh. Just like all ball joints, however, they're quickly fixable with future floor wax. Hinge joints or ratchet joints, however, once they go are a HUGE ordeal to repair, especially if its on a figure that has been glued together or has screw covers. Granted, ratchet joints are designed so that they can take a lot of abuse, but they're limited to two dimensions and take up a fair amount of space, which means you can't put them in the shoulder or head of the average deluxe figure. If you had swivel joints on a head instead of a ball joint it would have less flexibility, and when it inevitably wore down just as the ball joint would, how would you fix it? Disassemble the head, coat the hinges with nail polish or future ... just like you would with a ball joint head but with more screwing. There are some places that I personally feel ball joints are wholly unsuitable; hips on a larger figure should never be ball jointed, nor should shoulders if they're going to be required to hold weight. They're better suited for things like heads and wrists (and ankles, IF they're tight enough/spring supported to hold the weight. Ball jointed ankles are like the ultimate blessing/curse), etc... It's all a trade off. You get more flexibility, but with that flexibility you have greater instability. You get more wear, but you get easier repair. Alas, there's no real ideal solution.
Yeah but they do pop straight back in afterwards though. A ball joint gives you poseability in just 2 pieces whereas any other type of joint requires more pieces adding to the cost. A worn ball joint can be repaired.
Actually, the head joint was alright, it was the hips and the torso joint that were loose. Fixed the hips with some clear nail polish, the torso joint is more of a paint though as you need to remove a screw first, and I can't get it out without stripping it. Interesting thing is, the battle damaged Concept BB that I have had tight hip joints, but still suffered the loose torso joint. Oh well.
