So I show my non-fan friend "Code of Hero" the other night and I bust out some old BW toys to show him teh coolness. I'm transforming TM Megs to bot mode and the hinge to pull his right side of his chest and right arm out just crumbles. Then the same dark brown plastic breaks again, at the hinge of one of his shoulder pads. Cursing and shots of tequila ensued. My chi was disturbed. DAMMIT! Is this a common QC issue with the brown plastic on Megs? Are other BW guys from the same time period known to have weak plastic? Damn thing's not even a decade old!
The TM toys always did feel kinda iffy to me in the quality department (mostly because of all the vac-metal).
i broke my bloody one's arms the first time i tfd him about a year ago. the brown plastic on this version is weak. with careful gluing it is possible to mend the arms without affecting the transformation. unfortunately i buggered up on one of them so only one arm is attatched. the really ironic thing is it wan't the vacumed metal that breaks
Mine has never had that problem, but I have heard of TM Megs snapping in the middle through brittle plastic. I don't handle mine much and I am pretty gentle with them so I ought to be okay, but I know he is one known for being delicate.
Happened to one of mine too. Luckily a friend had an extra one that was brken else where and I was able to repair it.
I'm glad I'm hearing about all these issues now...I have the Armada Predacon version of the mold but I've REALLY wanted to get an original TM Megs...now I'll have to make sure I ask plenty of questions if I find one for a decent price on ebay... Oh and I agree about the Transmetals overall Frognal...the Vac metal looks awesome, but my Rattrap barely has any left due to chipping
That's what happened to the first one I had. Lukily I only got it for a dollar in a lot. I got a metals version for about $20 or $30. Does it have the same problem?
My first TM Megs had his right "shoulder pad" break off a couple months ago as well. I'm not convinced it's a problem with the plastic, though. Rather, it looks like a poor design to me. There's a chunk of plastic on the body that is used to make the shoulder pads snap into place in robot mode. This puts a lot of stress on the hinges whenever you transform him, especially when moving them up into robot-mode position. It's off-center for the joint as well, so one hinge takes the brunt of the force. Brittle plastic would definitely make the problem worse, but it wouldn't be an issue if the joint had been designed better. The other joint you had break is another poor design choice, IMO. It's this flimsy little joint supporting one of the most used points of articulation on a robot figure. To make matters worse, he has a particularly stiff shoulder joint, which means you have to put a lot of stress on those hinges in order to move his arms. For a drastically worse example of the same flaw, see Lio Convoy. That toy has been nearly permanently relegated to sitting in his box because his fragility scares me. TM Megs was, IIRC, my first BW toy, and is still one of my favorite TFs. I just wish a couple design choices had been handled better. He'd be much more durable then.
Mine too. I wasn't terribly upset. I was more upset with myself, 'cuz I thought I'd won a TM2 Megs (Dragon) instead. Dummy me for not checking the infor more closely. it was still a bargain at $15, just not as much as I'd thought. -Tony!
Seems the dark brown plastic on some TM Megs' get terribly brittle with age. I bought a used one for kitbashing purposes, and had parts shatter when screws were tightened. Got one in my display case, and I'm afraid to touch it now.
I had the same problem as well... He has been in sick bay ever since... but alas I think this patient will not recover. To date the glue has not held on transformation.
The plastic used has metal flakes in it (much like the dreaded G2 gold plastic, and we all know what hell that caused) and it makes it brittle. Plastic on it's own degrades over time, then you add in the flakes issue, and you've got a perfect recipe for TF disaster. Worries me about Armada Superbase Optimus Prime...his cab is chock full of it, and he's absolutely one of my favorite figures ever.
