It's gotten hella better since 2008 or so. Animated and Universe were fuckin horrrrrible with the QC.
Just luck of the draw man. I own every single original mold (well, Deluxe and up. Skipped the Activators and Legends) from those lines, and the worst I got was some sloppy silver paint on Animated Snarl's face. That's 1 toy out of about 60-70.
You get what you pay for - as long as there are people complaining about price they will have to cut other areas to accomodate the whiners.
as a person who had both his animated wreck-gar and universe 2.0 inferno missassemble and then taken by hasbro who then in turn sent me two shelfwarmers (luckyily got them replaced) and then the whole prowl sticky paint thing, those lines was plagued by major QC issues paint people are just bitchy about, wait till you have an actual QC issue like two of the same foot or something, then you can whine, a small paint scrape is just being bitchy
I think I've only ever had one figure with QC problems I couldnt live with (not just some paint flaws) and that was RTS Lugnut. My first was absolutely covered in stress marks and all the finger joints were cracked right out of the box, it also had two left or right wings. Second one? Flawless. Not a single thing wrong with it. Not even a smudged or chipped paint app. Thats after buying almost exclusively Hasbro since I started collecting. That said, the Takara stuff I have bought isn't all flawless. My Live Convoy even came sealed but without his force chip. Not sure how that was missed by the seller, but I didn't really care all that much. I think my Galaxy Force Soundwave also had something in his legs misassembled. Can't for the life of my remember what though. It really is just luck of the draw. I've had figures reported to have terrible QC be fine, and seen figures that are 'always' pristine show up on shelves with bad paint or even a piece missing in the pack. Sadly, for those of us who display in robot mode, you've got to take a gamble most of the time.
Aside from some sloppy paint apps on early Animated & Universe toys, I've never had a major QC issue. I know QC can sometimes be percieved as poor, but that's because people only ever discuss the ones with poor QC. You never hear about the silent majority of fine toys.
Can't complain about hasbro after checking out this years fun pub set, tragic, makes you wish for hasbro qc.
I think you've already answered your own questions. Collectors are only a part of Hasbro's market. They do enough QC to get by. Collectors are the majority of Takara's market. The big question is, are you willing to pay Takara prices for Hasbro to do better QC?
Yea, it is just luck of the draw. Though I have never gotten a figure with two of the same hands (though one of my targetmasters with MP Rodimus has two of the same thighs), I have gotten glued joints from both factories, but no more frequently than when I started back in the hobby 5 years ago. As others have stated, both Takara and Hasbro use the same factories, so unless Takara (or Japan) requires more QC inspections on their merchandise (I am not willing to research this), the QC is generally the same "luck of the draw" with both companies.
I forgot to mention in my previous post I have also had some issues with missing parts. I got a TFU 2.0 Blurr with one of the smaller guns missing, I exchanged it for the other Blurr that Wally had and it too had a missing gun. Finally managed to get one that had both guns a little later on.
I kept runing into the same problem with Generations Thundercracker. One of the wing's platic felt floppy. I bought 3 and still don't have a perfect one..I gave up in hopes for a FOC Thundercracker.
Yeah it's hard to get a good Thundercracker because of mold degradation. Luckily I got a good one on my first try.
I remember when I had a "bad QC run" back in 2010. Lasted from July till about September. HFTD Payload: one of the sword holders was pinned in wrong. Fixed it myself soon after I noticed it wouldn't fit in right for alt mode. PCC Double Clutch: Right Powercore leg joint snapped out of the box, didn't bother with a replacement as I only wanted to the drones. Marvel Crossovers Black Suit Spiderman car: Extremely loose right arm, caused by a stripped out screw. Replaced after 3 months when I found one again at retail. Marvel Crossovers Iron Man car: Missing one of the guns on the right arm. Replaced with the IM2 repaint. WFC Soundwave: Reversed joints for the front wheels, couldn't get him into vehicle mode. Replaced about a month and a half later. HFTD Terradive: Legs would slip off the ball joints at a light breath, no friction whatsoever. Also, the arms were stressed at the pins. Replaced about 3 weeks later. Animated Ironhide: Two of the same front treads. Replaced the next day. Haven't had too many problems since then. My E-Hobby Cyclonus (even though that's Takara-Tomy) had a leg socket that was molded a bit too high, so he stands at an angle, but is otherwise fine. DOTM toys also netted me some issue, but it was mostly misassembly of legion and commander figures.
Everything seems to be fine with mine...except the horizontal stabilizer. The hinge on one side has cracked, so both he and Acid Storm will now just have to have their stabilizers left down.:\
wouldnt know to be hoenst. i haven't bought a figure directly the store from hasbro in well over a year what hasbro figures i do have in my collection i havebought second hand through fellow fans
This pretty much sums it up, seals the deal, and should be the final say - until this comes up again, lol. Nothing wrong with paying more for a better deco, or even for the exclusivity of fewer pieces being released into the wild. But Takara=better QC is the meme that won't die.
I've only had two issues with Hasbro. One, my classics Sideswipe came with two left hands. Two, my Generations Thundercracker has a floppy left wing.
I've prolly had more than my fair share of issues, but I just chalk that up to being kind of expected with toys these days.
