Nice!
Next test should be on the top of your roof to the pavement on the street.

 

Good to know he is alright!

 

Opened mine up tonight. Just some early observations/opinions:

• QA/QC is very good. For the sheer amount of paint apps, parts, joints, etc., I'm pretty blown anyway that there wasn't a single substantial flaw.
• Transformation is similarly impressive and complex. But also not fun. Shifting the various torso panels around, shoving the matrix/ab grill in, and getting the backpack assembly clipped it -- nothing felt quite 'right' until it was all together. Also the way the legs basically turn themselves inside out, felt overly complicated, considering the legs in truck mode don't look significantly more convincing than if it had been the legs collapsed like nearly every other Optimus Prime figure.
• Nailed the cartoon aesthetic.
• Incredible range of motion.
• Great array of accessories.
• English voice clips are a huge bonus.
• Overall, clearly no expense was spared, and that is reflected in the retail price. That said, I think TE-01 is a much more reasonable investment for a G1 styled masterpiece figure. It's a little cleaner, a trade-off to being less complex, checks off all of the essential G1 Prime boxes, and is 1/4 to 1/3 the price.
• Lastly, I hope a 3rd party company produces one or more heads with LED eyes.

 

My copy seems to be as good as they come...two knees that work properly, nothing missing, broken, reversed, or blemished in the box. No paint imperfections worth mentioning. Didn’t see anything chipping as I transformed him. Closest thing to an issue are the legs falling off the crappy human minifigs. And truth be told, I was happy to see even that. Much better than having the tiny little ball pegs breaking like far too many people had.

Transformation was a bit of a bear, just because a couple parts were so tight moving for the first time that it was scary....in particular, getting the panels with the front tires untabbed from the matrix chamber and folded up was scary as hell. And while I can compress the ab crunch all the way down, I know I’m doing something wrong when I unlock it....not able to get any of that side to side action I’ve seen on here and in videos. I’ll have to reread the past few days worth of posts.

Kind of sad I’m leaving town for three days and won’t have time to really get acquainted with him till next weekend. Bit very pleased with my purchase so far!! Even at the ridiculous price I paid for it.

 

This is basically how mine look.

 

Have I mentioned mine has working knees, out of the box?

 

That kneeling pose is killer!

 

War stories

 

I fully agree. The idea that the MP-44 knee is strictly a QC/QA issue implies that the design facilitates perfect execution every single time and that either the molding went wrong (wrong shape) for that specific copy or the assembly, which is not the case. The molds and assembly are correct. The design facilitates incorrect execution. Testing only verifies the specification. I think the general consensus is that QA implies "monkey testing", which is not reasonable to expect from a premium complex collectible toy, because this product wasn't designed to withstand those conditions. The end user isn't a toddler, but an adult who needs to strictly follow the instructions. The reason why a toddler toy doesn't have any mechanics is because it barely has situations to deal with while a product like MP-44 has practically an endless amount of usage scenarios. QA is the last check of the production chain. The problem should be addressed during design and system testing. If the flaw was detected during QA, then the design wasn't verified at all or the factory made a mistake, which is hardly the case because this problem seems to occur with correct molds. If they designed 2 independent ratchets, there wouldn't be this knee issue.

 

Ah I see, so they purposefully designed a product to break..... wait what....

 

This is very true. I stupidly did this pose this morning resulting in no left knee ratchet.

To be honest though, it really is no big problem. He's still 100% stable.

Still irritating me though that I know it's there.

Ah well time to get the screwdrivers out.

 

Anyone find, he can't hold his weapon in his right hand?

Also, I know it's been mentioned on here before somewhere, but do you have to unlock the waist in order to get even the slightest movement?

 

Try a couple of pages back..there was a member who posted this waist mechanism question...

 

For me, the reason is the presence of very delicate pieces on tight joints or weak pieces that hold massive parts together, such add the tiny thin piece of plastic that connects the lower leg to the upper leg. Sooner or later, it will snap. If a third party company will make die cast replacement parts for those weak points, I'd purchase them and transform him all the time.

 

One of my knees is busted ...Are people that are getting there MP-44's now have any problems?

 

I agree it's largely not QC at all. Definitely originated in design and, as you say, you're limited in what you can simulate and test on paper/screen. However there are plenty of steps between design and final production QC that all fall under the quality umbrella, or QA. This fault really should have been picked up in the prototyping and test shot stages. Given how prevalent this seems to be it's a real head scratcher someone reviewing a test shot didn't discover the issue, assuming a decent number were circulated and reviewed by competent people familiar with the design and looking for weaknesses while simulating realistic use. Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that the fault doesn't affect the look or function of the figure - the knee still moves and holds just fine, only without the click. So you really need to be familiar with the design to even know there is a problem, and as we've seen plenty of seasoned toy reviewers were blissfully unaware, so perhaps test shot reviewers were too?

Aw I really thought that was gonna end differently!! Especially when you captured Carly's reflection in the grill so well!   Oh go on please shoot the alternative ending with Carly and Spike flying through the air!  

Surprised nobody has made a shot like that with a genuine Thrust reflection. Would have done so myself if I had any photography time.  

 

And if the knees aren't broken, is it just a matter of time before they do break?

 

It reminds me of the scene from the 2007 movie where Sam and Mikaela meet OP.

 

Picked up mine from the post office earlier today, and just got done with the first transformation (while rather daunting, still managed my classic instruction-less run).

Sweet Jesus, how does one even begin to engineer something like this? This is just next-level shit. The in-between steps are crazy out there with the truck exploding outwards into a billion little shards, but then it all magically coalesces into a near-perfect, super-clean 'toon rendition of Prime. Such a solid and stable robot mode, with excellent weight distribution, and articulation out the wazoo to fine tune that balance even more. He's so fluid and natural to pose, such great hand-feel overall. If I had one complaint about him, it's that the detents in the primary shoulder joints seem a bit off, how they seem to snap in place at 90 degree angles, and trying to do finer movements is more likely to engage all the inner pull-out joints rather than the standard shoulders themselves.

For the record, as best I can tell, mine is virtually flawless. The ratchet systems in the knees worked buttery smooth without me having to futz with anything, and I'm not seeing any signs of paint scuffing.

 

Nice to hear from another badass no-instruction user!   Not too hard is it, and back to truck much quicker. Wonder if it might just be the two of us? Anyone else? I guess the price and experience with MP-36 might be putting many off from just jumping in.