Hello,

I just purchased a TFC Hercules. Used but otherwise in near-mint condition. Yes, I'm very late to the party, but I was never able to afford one until now.

There's a Hercules megathread that's several pages long, and I couldn't find the answers I need. And so, here's all my questions about this fantastic figure:

I notice one of the figures came with an alternate hip for Heavy Labor. How necessary is it for me to replace Heavy Labor's hip with the alternate hip? What advantage does the new hip give over the old hips?

Structor's shoulder transformation. Those ratchets are TIGHT! I'm afraid to turn those shoulder ratchets! I know there's a second version that fixes a fragility issue. But how do I know if mine is the second version or the first version?

I'm having a hard time getting Neckbreaker to stay stable and solid in vehicle mode. I notice that transforming the treads on Exgraver involves folding the Devastator elbow joint so that it's like Devastator is doing a perfect bicep curl with his lower arm exactly parallel to the bicep. With Neckbreaker, though, the treads seem to transform the same way, but the elbow joint doesn't do the bicep curl to the same degree as Exgraver. Visually, it seems like the joint should go one more click for it to be the full 90 degree elbow bend that Exgraver has. But I'm afraid to push it. I guess, in summary, what is the correct way to transform Neckbreaker's treads?

I took some screen shots of Peaugh's Youtube review, and it looks like even Peaugh's version doesn't fold up a full 90 degrees:





Thanks for your time reading this!

 

Neckbreaker's waist hinge does fold 90 degrees, but there's a lip that catches on the torso so you kinda have to force it.

Also, here's an unofficial storage method for Neckbreaker's combiner hand piece:



There's a perfect amount of friction between the treads to hold the hand in place, and it also solves vehicle stability a bit because it holds the centre of the shovel blade in place against the sides.

 

1. The replacement hip is lubed so as to not strip the gears in a single bend. The original hips are unlubed, so they will strip and render the articulation useless after moving the legs a few times.
2. The first release versions are in mostly green boxes. The revised reissues are in mostly-gray boxes. If you don't have the box I really don't know.
3. I have no idea.

 

Ah, thanks for confirmation. Each time I get the courage to use X amount of force, it's not enough, then I need to catch my breath and gather some more courage for X+1 amount of force...

I took the figure apart at the hips just to get a better understanding of how it works. I shaved off a tiny amount of plastic from the "lip," and now it bends 90 degrees.

Oh, I see. Uh.......well, darn. Heh. *sheepish face*

I've been playing with Heavy Labor for a few days now, using the original hips. This is the first edition, because the box is mostly green. Despite a few days of play, the forward-and-back and the side-to-side movement on Heavy Labor is still strong.

Is there any reason not to just stay with the hips it came with then switch to the new hips only if the old hips break?

Asked another way...if the old hips break the way they're expected to break, would installing the new hips result in a newly restored and functional Heavy Labor?

Thank you.

 

You can lube the hips you have if you want. That is the only difference. Switching them would restore your heavy labor if it broke. I have been using my stock hips on my first edition the entire time and it is fine.

Also, neckbreaker does indeed fequire force+1 to get into vehicle properly. I click it first before doing any of the rest of the legs.

 

Same here, I was an early adopter of Hercules so I have all the first release versions (green boxes) also. I lubed Heavy labor's stock hips and he's been fine the whole time. It's been what 2-3 years? He was my first big combiner and I still love him like my first born.  

Also if you don't want to trawl through the Megathread you can check out the Hercules Fixes Megathread. It should give you most of the fixes you might need to do.  

 

I've decided to keep the original hips and to install the fixed hips when or if the original hips break.

But how do I remove the original hips? The back, where you find 2 screw holes in the fixed hips, the original hips have two filled-in circles of green plastic.

 

^^ it's a little tricky but with a flat head screwdriver roughly the same size as the plugs...held perpendicular to the plug, they can be "rocked" back and forth a bit and then lifted out. One of mine came up pretty easily, the other needed a bit more coaxing with a sharp pin. The replacement hips come with spare plugs in case you bung one up.

I never put them back in just in case I ever repair them again.

 

You needn't mess with opening up the old crotch at all. But you've got to take Heavy Labor apart to get at the black pivot piece so you can then take that apart to swap the crotch. It's a good idea to keep track of the screws and where they came from.

After that, you have to disassemble the legs and then the hips. Keep some pressure on while loosening the screws in the hips to make sure nothing goes shooting off. And of course when tightening things back up so you don't strip the screw holes or anything.

 

I recommend finding out if the original owner installed the replacement hips or not. There's also instructional videos on youtube that show how to install/fix Heavy Labor's waist, Exgraver's shovel arm, etc.

I'm a late adopter as well (just got mine about 6 weeks ago) for a really good price with the reprolabels applied. Mine was also the first run, but all of the replacement parts had been installed.

 

I took the plunge! I replaced Heavy Labor's hips. In doing so, I stripped most of the screws, so the new hips had better be durable...

New question. I know the connector ports on the arms and the connector ports on the legs are different sizes. I forget which is which, but if you try to put an arm onto Hercules' knee, or if you put a leg onto Hercules' shoulder, you end up breaking one of the male ports.

Does this apply to the left and right direction, though? Suppose I wanted to be rebellious so I make Madblender the right leg and Structor the left leg. Or suppose I wanted to switch the arms' places. Any size differences between the left ports and the right ports?

 

Believe it or not... but the replacement hips are identical to the original ones. The only difference is that they put white lithium grease in the new ones to act as a lubricant. XD

 

Yeah, I knew that. I figured, I had been playing with Heavy Labor for a few days up to this point, so the old hips were either fine or damaged just enough so that I didn't notice. Either way, I decided I was better off with a pristine new set of hips, so I did the swap.

Also, before I did the swap, I opened it up to check whether there actually was some lube. There was a pitiful amount, and not around the whole gear. I put some extra petroleum jelly on the gears.

So about the size of the ports. I know sticking an arm onto a thigh, and sticking a leg onto a shoulder, are no-nos. Can the arms and legs be switched left and right, though?

 

What you are talking about has to do with people using the shoulder extensions from the Rage of Hercules set as knee extensions. Forbwhat you want to do there is no worry whatsoever.

 

You can probably switch them around. What I think you're thinking of, is the Rage of Hercules kit. Some people used the rage parts on the knees or something to add height, and that was bad.