Fair point.

I don’t know if any statue that looks as good as MP-44.

But I just don’t understand why everyone is talking so much about the knees when there is a perfectly working fix that doesn’t jeopardize the integrity or quality of the figure and that makes this knee issue nothing but a bad souvenir. I of course understand we should not have to do anything to fix a brand new figure, but I wanted to enjoy it 100%, and that fix made that happen.

What I am saying is that I don’t want to lose my time and energy with this knee issue when it can be fixed especially as I have struggled so much to pay for this figure.

I hope you get my point, I just want to enjoy my MP-44 100% and I want to keep reading about people enjoying it as much as I do. I want everyone to be happy about it!

 

Haven been here for a couple of days and nothin changed. New and more postings of mp44 issues are still rolling in....  

 

I don't 'play' with my figures much anymore so it won't have a major impact on me to just avoid extreme poses. I could do the fix, but as much use as I get out of it, it's not really worth my time and effort for something that's not currently broken and likely won't ever break with my normal usage. I still think it's lame that it's so shoddy...I'd probably enjoy the ability to do crazy poses for all the 15 minutes I might actually take advantage. But knowing there's a real possibility of malfunction, I'll just avoid it.

Personally, the paint chipping might be more annoying. I actually transformed this guy more than I usually do. I went from alt mode to bot mode when I first opened it...then I went nuts and transformed it to alt mode and back one more time! That's more action than most of my figures get these days. And I got an ever so tiny chip in his gray waist area. Probably not noticeable enough to bother trying to fix it, but enough that I'll probably never give it another go because THAT is a time bomb waiting to happen even if you're careful.

 

I think it's just a matter of time - I hope!

 

No issues here! I'm still thrilled with mine!

 

I'll be the first to say it 1400 pages. Wow!  

 

On the contrary I feel more & more praise. Added to that loads of positive reviews about it on YT.

 

How do you center the blue (square) kneecaps in bot mode? Mine is off centered for both kneecaps.

 

Anyone find a color to match the blue? Mine has a chip I need to fill.

 

Honestly I've lost a lot of confidence in Amazon in their shipping anyhow. I ordered one of these from Amazon for our library:

...it came in it's own box of course but then Amazon threw it into a box 3 times the size of the box that contained the HIGHLY fragile item...with 2 tiny sheets of brown paper for cushion. That thing was sliding all over the place inside this monster box and I went through 3 before the company themselves just said "We'll send you one from the factory direct" that came in perfect shape.

 

Check the repair thread. Nobody has it perfect but @BrutiKing and @Jarrod have put their views in there

 

Great news on the knees. Im glad you're having so much joy out of MP44.

 

There are almost full die-cast 2nd party licensed Convoy poseables that cost almost at par to MP44.

 

Try pushing the whole lower leg up while holding the upper leg. That worked for me.

 

Finally XFormed mine.  No paint issues fortunately.  As far as the KNEES go, they worked, just had to hold the 2nd joint in place to allow it to slide into the slot.  If i didnt hold it, it started to show the knee issues...

...went on ahead and did the \"fix\".  No stripped plastic fortunately...

...since then, the knees work PERFECTLY; no different than bending his elbow.  Crazy what 4-5 drops of glue will do.

Now that its working, I can see that the tab causing the issue seems to hold the 2nd joint in place until the 1st joint has hit its limit, allowing the lower leg to remain intact for most of the bend.  The alternative would operate something like Hot Rods double knee, where the 1st or 2nd joint move freely (or like this fig before the fix).  Honestly, I LIKE the feature; Hot Rods knees have to be micro managed during posing, f**ckin annoying.  Just wish they used sturdier material for better execution.

Overall, though, was not a big deal.  Like, not at all whatsoever; not sure what the fuss was about.  The exception of course  being those who had damaged goods.  30mins and a few drops of glue saved alot of headaches.

 

Excellent! I’ll have to be reading through that thread over the next couple days.

 

@BrutiKing has developed a color mayching guide to get the colors as close as possible to the original colors. I believe he said that he’d put it in the repair thread.

 

The fuss was that there were members here with weakened knee housings out of the box or soon after(like lord ginrai for example), coupled with the high price tag and the fact that a simple qc check before production could've easily caught the issue. It wasn't outright apparent how the knees were supposed to bend and once Brutiking, Jarrod and others posted their fixes, that's when it was discovered that if the knees are working as intended, the lower knee joint will not bend at all until the upper knee joint is bent, regardless of where you hold the leg or which part you bend 1st.

I've noticed that with Takara and other Japanese companies(even ones that don't make toys), since 2017 they seem to increasingly try to forego a final qc check from the prototype stage to final production and just skip to final production. Maybe to them, the profit from the initial sales outweighs the initial loss by making the product hit to market on time. Maybe it saves them money. In any case, this has happened more than once and even with Japanese products outside of toys.

To be on the safe side, given the higher MSRP these toys are carrying, I would not advise buying them unless you are willing to fix them yourself. YMMV. However, I don't see anything changing in the near future and maybe these toys would cost more IF Takara implemented the final qc check I mentioned before production.

It's almost as if companies are using the 1st run buyers as guinea pigs and as the qc check itself rather than checking before production. Maybe the 2nd run will be largely fixed just like with MP Dinobot's shoulders(for the most part). Note that I'm not complaining. I've just changed my buying habits. I want to get MP-44 eventually but I'm willing to wait now.

Then this is the thread for you:
MP-44 Optimus Prime Discussion/Appreciation Thread

 

As was already said, it’s near impossible to replicate that pose. But here’s my go at it, but from a different angle:

 

Man, I gotta get going with that lil pdf. Dunno how long it's gonna take, since I'm even busier now than a few days ago, and I'm exhausted when I get back home. Sorry about that. I hope someone can manage to sift through my posts for now...  . If someone can't find it, quote me and I'll see if I can find some time in my day where I don't feel like falling asleep to answer it.