Buyer Beware - Animated Cybertron Mode Ratchet

Discussion in 'Transformers Toy Discussion' started by Kickback, Jan 30, 2010.

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  1. Kickback, Jan 30, 2010
    #1
    Kickback

    Kickback @GeekWithChris Administrator News Staff

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    Yo.

    Bought my Ratchet today. Got him home and noticed after I transformed him that Hasbro's stellar quality control has struck again!

    Some of the Ratchet figures have been assembled incorrectly. The front of his "Cybertron vehicle", the two little tank treads that sit inside his chest, some are coming with two RIGHT (or his left) tank treads, causing the actual plastic wheel to be completely out of place in vehicle mode.

    There is no fix to this, it would be like having a figure with two left legs. You can spot the difference in the packaging ... look right under his chest, if you see only ONE painted tread and not TWO, then you have a misassembled figure.

    So buyer beware. Hard enough to find 'em, even more of a pain if you get one that Hasbro paid a monkey to build.
     
  2. Vangelus, Jan 30, 2010
    #2
    Vangelus

    Vangelus Long Live the New Flesh Moderator Content Contributor

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    Damn. >.< At least you can easily tell in the package.
     
  3. Tyrannosaur, Jan 30, 2010
    #3
    Tyrannosaur

    Tyrannosaur Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the heads up. Those damn kids are slipping again :lol 
     
  4. GogDog, Jan 30, 2010
    #4
    GogDog

    GogDog Logic's wayward son Veteran

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    Someone needs to bea...

    Nevermind. Tasteless joke.
     
  5. Tyrannosaur, Jan 30, 2010
    #5
    Tyrannosaur

    Tyrannosaur Well-Known Member

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    Then again, I am quite a tasteless person.

    Aren't things like these checked at all? Are these all assembled by hand or machine? I find it hard to believe someone who physically built these figures would have a hard time trying to tell the difference between a left and right leg.
     
  6. Wheeljack_Prime, Jan 30, 2010
    #6
    Wheeljack_Prime

    Wheeljack_Prime Searching for the Infin-Honey Stones

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    Good thing I'm waiting for the Ironhide version.
     
  7. ToySoldier, Jan 30, 2010
    #7
    ToySoldier

    ToySoldier New Member

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    Damn, thanks for the heads up. They barely started selling this particular figure so perhaps later on they'll have this fixed. With any luck Ironhide won't have this problem.
     
  8. Matty, Jan 30, 2010
    #8
    Matty

    Matty @StayingInTheBox Veteran

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    I seriously doubt these things are put together by hand. This is not the 1940's.
     
  9. Kickback, Jan 30, 2010
    #9
    Kickback

    Kickback @GeekWithChris Administrator News Staff

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    Transformers are sorely intricate in their construction - it would be a painful and tiring process to somehow instruct a machine how to put all these pieces together.

    At the end of the day, there *IS* some hand-assembly done on every single Transformers figure. And sadly that's where most of the errors seem to happen.

    Poor plastic quality can be blamed on the factory that was commissioned to do that figure. Figures put together wrong are worker errors, and even worse, quality errors that their supervisors didn't catch.

    Don't kid yourself ... yeah this isn't the 1940's, but it's still cheaper to pay a factory of workers, or pay the factory and let them pay the workers, than to somehow instruct a machine to build a toy with 40 different pieces meant to slide and snap together/apart.
     
  10. Zherbus, Jan 30, 2010
    #10
    Zherbus

    Zherbus In Shogo Hasui, we trust.

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    "Didn't catch" or swept under the rug to get units out the door?
     
  11. samtastic, Jan 30, 2010
    #11
    samtastic

    samtastic Herald of Wheelie

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    Thanks for the heads up - any chance of getting a pic of the defective vehicle mode?
     
  12. Sage o' G-fruit, Jan 30, 2010
    #12
    Sage o' G-fruit

    Sage o' G-fruit Critics gonna critique

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    The face molding like the mouth and head are kinda poorly applied too, just a heads up.
     
  13. Draven, Jan 30, 2010
    #13
    Draven

    Draven Banned

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    As someone who's probably going to have to try and find this online, this sort of thing worries the hell out of me. Thanks for the heads up Kicky.
     
  14. megatronkicksas, Jan 30, 2010
    #14
    megatronkicksas

    megatronkicksas Well-Known Member

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    this
     
  15. butz, Jan 30, 2010
    #15
    butz

    butz slippery when wet

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    I appreciate the heads up before I try to track one down over the next couple days.
     
  16. Lock Cade, Jan 30, 2010
    #16
    Lock Cade

    Lock Cade Tarn Fangirl

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    I wasn't planning on getting this figure, thank goodness.
     
  17. brr-icy, Jan 30, 2010
    #17
    brr-icy

    brr-icy MP Collector

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    i'll keep my eyes open, and kickback's right, a machine to assemble a figure would cost as much or more than the molds, and even then we would see more defects like crushed parts etc, machines aren't perfect either
     
  18. SentinelPrime, Jan 30, 2010
    #18
    SentinelPrime

    SentinelPrime I NEEDED THAT!

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    My last defect was a Universe Inferno with 2 left hands. It's rare that I see defects.

    Could the smaller release of these two figures mean that the project was given to a smaller contractor/factory to make them?
     
  19. grimlock1972, Jan 30, 2010
    #19
    grimlock1972

    grimlock1972 Optimus, serving up the primest of ribs since 1984

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    same here ill likely have to get this and Arcee on line as the nearest TRU is an hour away
     
  20. moreprimeland, Jan 30, 2010
    #20
    moreprimeland

    moreprimeland Optimus told me to do it!

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    Thanks for the heads up Kickback, had planned on finding him this week, but if I do, at least I know what to look for, but then again, maybe its better to wait a bit...:D 
     
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