So I might brave transforming this guy in the next day or so. I recall seeing a few people (maybe Tman?) coming up with a "fool proof" transformation but is there any consensus on the safest transformation method? And possibly a video to demonstrate it?

 

Whatever you do, be careful untabbing the arms from the body of the vehicle when going from alt to bot mode. That's how I ended up with my right arm snapping off at the elbow.

 

Jesus.... has there been any word from Fanstoys about all the QC issues with this guy yet? This has got to be the figure plagued with with the most QC that they've ever put out. They've had issues with some of their figures before but not to this degree. Even if I had the money to buy this figure, I wouldn't with all the problems it has.

 

Hoodlum has to be still up there if not #1.

I still have my Blurr sitting in the box. Dare I transform him??? The suspense is killing me. LOL!!    

 

I picked up Blurr over the weekend at a toy show. I'm having a hard time tabbing his head/neck into his chest, so it feels a bit floppy. I don't want to force it and break something. Not sure if anyone else's version is like that.

 

The only QC issues I'm aware of with Hoodlum though is paint scratching (unless I've missed something). I haven't heard of anything breaking or parts stressing on him at all. I haven't transformed him, but it looks like even the paint issues can be avoided if you transform him properly. There have been too many breakages on Jabber for him to not be the worst of their releases.

 

There's a lot more than the paint chipping on the tip/nose of the car hood:

1. Collar tabs on each side of the neck not staying in place.
2. Neck tab popping out.
3. Wobbly torso even after securing it with padding/tape to protect the hood from chipping: which helps, but not 100%
4. Sides/fenders of the car not tabbing in securely in car mode. See BSF YT review.

But I agree... Jabber might be #1 now. A dubious honor to claim.

 

Everyone's version is like that sadly.

I just shaved the tab down slightly on mine.

 

Not everyone's. Mine went in just fine. I did get the cracking on those leg panels though.

 

I used my spudger to slowly separate the arms from the body when going back to bot mode. If seen the videos of by hand the when it lets go. it lets go.

 

Yessiree! My mama told me so. She said I was so special that even the short bus was too long for me.

 

I used this one shared earlier by dalianjj. After the 28 min mark, he goes over how to put the panels together without overly stressing them. The steps also do need some fiddling and getting used to. Furthermore, I still needed to shave not the tabs on the nosecone, but rather enlarge the slots in the forearms. I'll take some pics when I get home.

The video uploader also has another one on transforming from alt to bot, and I'll probably use that as a guide too.

 

You can win if you dare.

 

dare dare dare dare

 

I am curious why you do it this way.
I shaved down on the tabs and it worked out pretty well for me.

 

Thanks, I really appreciate your help!

 

I enlarged the slots in the forearms at the corners as pointed by the spudger in both photos. This corner on each slot has obvious extra material, and the slots looked irregular, clearly not matching the shape of the tabs. I didn't want to shave the tabs on the nosecone because I didn't want to weaken those tabs, since the detaching motion from alt to bot mode would cause the most stress on the tabs. Also, the tabs were designed with a "step" so the forearms can be attached with a "click" or biting point.

 

Finally cracked open my Jabber and then spent a couple hours catching up on this forum.

A defense and a suggestion:
1) I do agree that going with a contrast color that "pops" a bit more wasn't a bad idea. The original color scheme of pastel blue and a mid blue does look somewhat washed out to me. Would say big part of this is inherent to Blurr's actual color scheme, whereas the other 1986 Autobots have very nice color contrasts.

2) I assume that the design studio uses a lot of very white florescent lighting with spots for doing detail work. In that environment the notably purplish cast of the dark blue would be less... notable. It's not like FT thinks that annoying consumers is an intentional strategy they should go with. Perhaps @dalianjj and team can please look at colors in multiple lighting setups to make sure that the colors still look as intended in softer/medium lit environments.

 

Only one left at BBTS