As someone who has used EMS and SAL on a regular basis, I can answer all your questions; The big picture is your box will arrive between 2 to 3 weeks. Japan Post picks up the package just like EMS but the difference is SAL waits inside a container bundle before shipping out. This bundle may take a week or two to fill up. Once filled, it's loaded on a plane and is sent to USPS. Right now your tracking most likely says "Origin Post is Preparing Shipment ", that means it's been dropped off into the bundle, it's out of Japan Post's hands and is in USPS' system. There is no update because you are in the "blackout" period. In my experience, it'll just be one more week, unless it lands on a weekend (then customs) which pushes it to the third week. People who paid EMS are getting theirs now, so you have a bit to wait. If you don't need it right away, SAL is totally worth it.

 

My MP Ratchet just arrived this morning via EMS.

My MP Shockwave was posted nearly a month ago SAL and still hasn't arrived... Though usually SAL takes 2 weeks for me so this is unusual.

MP Ratchet is fantastic in-hand. The white just POPS and to be honest even the baby-blue windows (with a hint of green) don't actually bother me so much in person. If a black window version is ever released I'll swap him but for now I'm perfectly happy with how he looks.

 

The Red Cross viciously defend their trademark. That symbol means what it does, and they do not care for toys nor nostalgia

If they knew what third parties were doing, then they would sue iGear, Voodoo or TFC into obliteration

 

As explained several pages ago, it isn't a trademark because of commercial reasons.

It has to do with safety of medical personel.

If you see a Red Cross symbol somewhere, there should be no doubt that it's a medical post. Maybe not so important in a safe country, but in a war zone it's essential. It's a shield against military attacks and bombings. Everybody knows that something with a Red Cross is medical and neutral. It guarantees the safety of doctors and nurses who risk their lives saving others.

If anyone could use the Red Cross symbol or if they would license it to anyone who would pay them, that guarantee would be lost. The strength and safety of the symbol would be lost. And Doctors and nurses in combat zones would be in mortal danger.

 

I just swapped my Ironhide back and fixed Ratchet instead.

The shoulders looking better are definitely a red herring! Basically, the piece that people have been swapping has a screw tube coming out of it, 90º to a hollow slot beneath it. If you look directly at the hollow slot on both pieces, you can see the screw tube isn't dead centre, it's offset by... exactly the size of the gap that appears when you have nice shoulders.

You can see the difference again when you place his arm back onto his shoulder. Have it almost in car mode and look at Ratchet's right arm, with the front window swung up. With Ratchet's cross facing out towards the side of the car, look at the right side of the shoulder block. That piece has a wedged angle, that will either line up with the end of the shoulder joint above it (gap, pretty shoulders), or sit the offset amount to the left (no gap, ugly shoulders)

The reason some people have gaps on one side and not the other after making the shoulders pretty is simple... You can't slide his arm since it's offset, so you have to twist the arm to get one side looking good. Doing so pushes the other side out more, since the shoulder blocks are supposed to be right up against each other, but instead one is angled.

 

In my opinion, the windshield thing is fixed by putting the EKG paper in backwards so the white is facing out.

 

Bingo, we have a winner! I've seen a lot of these as either dry rub or water slide, but had no idea of scaling (i.e. what size would work with Ratchet). Since there is a wide variety of sizes on this sheet, one of them is perfect. Now, to see if I can find them from a local (US) source...

 

Totally agree. I tried to write some stuff a bit back about that extra bit being an offset on that shoulder joint which will cause that same offset amount in vehicle mode creating the gap in that section right where that shoulder piece sits. Don't know if it made sense but ultimately I agree, Ironhide's are correct and the 'L' and 'R' on those pieces is also correct.

 

Heh heh well I just fixed Ironhide and will be leaving him that way. Haven't got my Ratchet yet.   It definately naturally wants to open up a slight gap between the van b-pillar and side door due to the arm assembly being pushed backwards, but at the same time it closes up a gap in the split in the front door. I find that when squeezing him together to tighten up/align alt mode I can pretty much make the new gap dissappear anyway. Either way his gaps are not offensive - better than the Lambo mould for sure.

I dont see how there can be any question that the original intention of the design is clearly the 'fixed', or Ratchet way. It's drawn like that in the design sketch in the Generations 2015 book, all the protos at shows and in official pics were assembled that way, and the virtual model used to make the instruction book images is assembled that way. It's no red herring that it looks better - the only reason that extra protrusion on the shoulder joint exists at all is to cover up the ratchet teeth and give the shoulders a clean look. Designed just for that purpose. If that wasn't the intention that protrusion didn't need to be added and the part could have been simpler and symmetrical, not needing L and R versions and saving them some small mould cost and plastic, and avoiding a potential cause of missasembly - how ironic lol  .

The real mystery is why are the parts mislabeled and why do some people find he fits together better in alt mode with the original misassembly?? We can only speculate and there could be numerous reasons, but must have been some mistake somewhere along the line. Could have been an early prototype incorrectly assembled and then used to tweak dimensions/tolerances so the result is he fits better misassembled. Or maybe before that as a computer model he was virtually misassembled before labeling was added to the mould design. I guess we'll never know!

 

I really don't think it's as simple as that. And yes, that shoulder piece is offset, I thought was established already. That is what is causing the gap, however that offset has other consequences as well.

So, I took Ratchet's shoulders apart again, this time to scrape off all the paint gumming up his bicep swivels (why that joint was even painted, I dunno...same on Ironhide though...but anyway). While I had them apart, I did some more experimenting on my own. I'm still in the belief that Ratchets are correct. After all, it's quite clear those little wing pieces on Ramjet were mislabeled, is it so hard to believe these could be too.

Anyway, here's my findings, I'll let you all decide. All the below photos are with Ratchet's shoulders assembled per the stampings, ie, the "Ironhide" way with ratchets exposed in robot mode.

So, fully assembled in vehicle mode, these are the gaps I get. See the one in front of the drivers side window, that's pretty wide. And it also looks as though it's being pulled downward slightly. I also get he gap in front of the door handle, which ironically, helps to align that door panel. Finally, I get an angled gap under the sliding door handle.



Now, see that little gap that the red line runs through? I get that, regardless on both Ironhide and Ratchet, on both sides. Less so on the passenger, but it's there. It's there without any arm influence at all.

Also notice how the side windows match up to the contours of the windshield much better without the arm in there.




Now the reason the larger gap, that most people are seeing is gone, and what is causing the side window gap, and the angled gap, is undue stress on the whole arm assembly. Because the shoulder joint is offset, it moves the entire arm assembly slightly forward...which seems ok at first:



Which means, things are tighter than they should be, and these panels don't align correctly, and in fact, they are slightly overlapped:



And when fully in vehicle more, are actually stressed a but, causing the arm so bend in slightly:




Now compare to Ironhide's which I've already "corrected" (no visible ratchets, L and R stamping reversed). The top of the shoulder is perfectly aligned with the swinging joint, and the arm sits totally straight:



Ok, so how does that affect the vehicle mode? Well, that shoulder block SHOULD be aligned with the swinging joint. It already sits right up against the figures back, so with the shoulder offset forward slightly, it forces the swinging joint back slightly. This eliminates the one gap, but causes the window gap, the sliding door gap, and the gap in front of the front door handle.



Ok, so reassembling Ratchet the way he came out of the box. Here's the gaps I have with no arms at all. Side windows align properly, and still that stupid little gap at the bottom.




And the arms by themselves. Look how straight it is, and no overlap:




And lastly, fully assembled. You can see the gaps that were there without the arms, are exactly the same. The longer gap, that most people are seeing is there. However, to my eyes, it still looks better aligned altogether. And like Ironhide, left side is still aligned better, again, exactly as it was before with the arms off.




And lastly, compared to the "fixed" Ironhide.



So there you go. I think both my Ironhide and Ratchet line up better with the ratchet's not visible in robot mode. Your experience may vary, but it worked for me. And no, the reason I have gaps on one side and not the other is not due to any kind of pushing or twisting. It's ALWAYS the passenger side that lines up better, no matter what I do, arms or no arms, and no matter which way the ratchets are facing.

 

Wow nice work Jarrod!

 

Nice! Thanks for the info!!!!

 

SAL will take as long as it needs to in order to make you completely regret your decision and curse the shipping gods.  

I shipped one figure via SAL and it took about 3 weeks, and I had to stare at beautiful images for ages while wondering when it would ever arrive. Never again. Even if I'm not really in a hurry for it, it's still worth 5 bucks extra to get it and not worry, or be envious of everyone else!

 

So true!

 

 

On occasions, these forums drive me up the wall with the in-fighting and intolerance of other people's opinions. Then there are posts like this, which remind me why I'm here - to know that I'm not alone in my obsession for the minutiae of toys based on an 80s cartoon, and that there are other people out there who will spend an hour creating marked-up images explaining the shoulder assembly on one such toy.  

Seriously, thanks for that! That's good to know that there's stress being put on the arm in the other configuration - I'll probably leave my Ironhide in the fixed configuration after all, along with Ratchet when my replacement arrives. And in fact, after a bit of manipulation, I don't think the gaps are any worse either way, although it did seem that way at first.

So, pop quiz: I have two Ironhides. I have "fixed" the shoulders on one, but not on the other:





I wonder if anyone can tell which one has the "fixed" shoulders and which doesn't (left or right)? I had to open them up and check again after taking the photos so that I knew the answer.

P.S. Primekiller - thanks for the link to those decals. I might buy a set myself, although I like the plain shoulders too.

 

This is true, I guess we never will know. I do personally like the look of the 'fixed' way with the hidden ratchets, it also sets the shoulders a touch higher and makes them look a bit tougher. But it's murder on my alt modes and I transform them way too much to settle there.

Bravo on the layout, well done. Oddly when set up like that on my Ratchet and Ironhide the B pillar lines up better with the window section with the offset facing backwards (ratchets exposed). And I never even noticed the front window gap until you pointed it out, thanks.  

My Ironhide alt is super tight with the exception of the front door gap from the hip piece. Ratchet was really gapped out of the box in that B pillar area. So much so that I think it may have messed up his alt a touch, even when I put the shoulder's to the exposed ratchet way its still a bit gappy in that pillar area just way less.

It's an interesting study and I guess you luck out when the covered ratchet way works for the vehicle gaps.

 

I was trying to read Jarreds post while at work an my concentration just wasn't there . In short , what's the proper configuration of these shoulders supposed to be so I can get this mess all fixed up ?

 

Proper intended configuration is Ironhide 'fixed' or the way Ratchet comes. Clean shoulder in bot mode. As per all the protos, the instructions, the design sketch and official pics. No question.

However your mileage may vary on which configuration actually goes together best in alt mode. Some find the correct configuration gives an overly gappy alt mode, but many, like myself, Jarrod, Ambi, etc find with a bit of massaging there is hardly any difference, and no offensive gaps either way.

If you dont mind 10 minutes with a screwdriver, just see what way works best for you.

 

Very true. I made the mistake of ordering SAL before. Never again.

Any idea when KFC will be releasing fully articulated hands for Ratchet?

 

Awesome,

Thanks for the info, this is exactly what I needed to know!

P.S. I won't be doing that again