Amazon Japan has super legit shipping jeez,left Friday arrived today midwest US this afternoon. As for Hound I got two,first one flawless,transformation was not too bad with P4L video help. Gonna check out my second copy shortly. But this figure is amazing,finally have a MP of my fav character!

 

Oh , I see. Obviously it's all the users at fault. They should definitely watch multiple hours of videos to be able to safely play with their $120 plus, supposedly "high quality" toy.

Did you just contradict yourself straight away?

And it kind of cracks me up to read all the "After painstakingly, super carefully, super nervously and very very gently transforming this figure ONCE over the course of several hours, while reviewing all the videos, I found zero errors and my figure is PERFECT. Oh my god why are you complaining?" posts.

While I know you shouldn't ham hand your toys, it's ridiculous to expect that your $120+ ($200+ in AUD) figure, called a "Masterpiece", needs to be treated like some delicate antiquity, handled with dainty white gloves and every hinge and panel gently, softly, ever-so-sweetly moved slowly so it doesn't frigging explode.

It's unacceptable, especially as prices increase and engineering techniques apparently improve, that the QC on this line is taking a total nosedive. I have the old Hasbro MP Prowl next to me. He has been played with, posed and transformed so often that he has started getting that kind of ugly grime you get on white figures in the detail areas. Never a single break in that time. Ditto for my first edition MP Grimlock. Yet these newer figures are broken out of the box, broke on first play or break after a few days. Unacceptable.

 

Having it in hand, the whole figure is proportioned right. I love how nice and tidy the hips and thighs and legs look. The arms are a bit short though, but has it's charm I suppose.

 

Sucks about the breakage. Hopefully you can return/exchange it.
The instructions do specify to only open the part slightly, in the accompanying text.

 

Gotta say, not a fan of amazon Japan's return process and this may now cause me to just skip all future takara releases till all defects are figured out. Def not worth all this hassle and the figure isn't worth the extra $40 it would have cost to use a US retailer. Sucks all around. Takara has some awesome designs, but these QC issues on top of the higher prices just plain suck.

 

From what I’ve seen so far with scratches, cracks, and breaks, it looks as if the engineering required him to be larger than he is, which becoming a re-occurring theme with these new MP bots.

Looks great, but personally saw him as a larger character so it’s just not for me.

 

First I’ll say I’m really sorry to anyone that’s had breakage on this figure, especially right out of the box. That’s not acceptable at all and I hope you are able to get a replacement figure.

I received Hound yesterday but I have not messed with it yet. I just checked the accessories and the Jeep mode and I can’t see any cracks or paint flaws at all.

I honestly don’t know if it helps or not, but I like to unbox my figures and then let them sit in my house for a few days before transforming them. One reason is to read anything I can in the forum and watch Wotafa’s review on YouTube before I mess with a figure so I know about any trouble areas. But I also do it to let the figure warm up and acclimatize to my house. The cargo hold of a plane is not heated and can be very cold from the altitude. I also live in Canada and at this time of year it’s cold outside. So when my MPs arrive they are typically cold. Plastic becomes very brittle when it’s cold and will break much more easily.

Leaving the figure for a few days out of the box may also help the paint cure a little more.

Like I said I have no idea if this actually helps or not but I’ve had very good luck avoiding paint damage and breakage for a while now and I’m wondering if this is why. I know it’s hard not to mess with a figure when you get it in the mail but it may be worth letting it sit for a few days.

 

i was actually thinking that too! i love the direction of more clever engineering to achieve accurate modes, but the current scale just isn’t suited for the complexity. imagine if the scaled was increased to 12” or so, and with better paint - it’d definitely cost more, but it’d be what the “masterpiece” line should represent. they could potentially keep the current scale for a more budgeted masterpiece line... imagine how bee v2 would’ve been if the designers had more real estate to work with...

 

Ａ Ｘ Ｅ Ｌ on Twitter
"Mine is fine but...
maybe
The pin is too thick, making it easy to strain the joint.

When moving the part, I noticed there was some tension.

Before fully bending the part, it might be a good idea to move it back and forth a bit to prep/warm up the joint."

Ａ Ｘ Ｅ Ｌ on Twitter
"I posted this on TL already,
but here is how to prevent breakage of the joint.

The corner of the highlighted part
creates friction and can cause cracking
by the "leverage principle".

If you can trim the corner of the part (it's a bit vague but I am fairly certain that this is what he's trying to convey),
it will open and cloose smoothly.
If you are thinking of exchanging the figure, please give this a try as it can prevent damage.

Also, the corner of his ankle cover causes some friction as well."


Ａ Ｘ Ｅ Ｌ on Twitter
"I just finished doing the fix.
It now opens and closes smoothly like it should.

If you don't do the fix, the part doesn't fully open.
The tension on the joint is now completely different too, so the effect is huge.

Please give it a try.
Not only does it prevent damage,
It also makes the transformation more smooth."

Hopefully he will post a more detailed how-to later!

 

Not sure about others but I never once questioned why others are complaining when my own figure has so far turned out OK after a few transformations. Quite the opposite, I acknowledged that it's poor form from Takara that significant numbers of people have received figures with either issues out of the box, or issues shortly after handling. Now whilst there are clearly some manufacturing issues at play here behind the hinge cracks, there still has to be SOME responsibility on the user end to tread carefully knowing the situation as it is.

I'm not saying the situation should even exist in the first place, I absolutely agree that the issues people have encountered with the past few MP releases in particular are unacceptable (though I can't think of ANY MP release that's been universally perfect) , and have said a few times Takara needs to sort their shit out. It's the increased prices that make the QC issues harder to swallow which again I agree with. But unfortunately this is the current scenario, so for people who are receiving their figures now, it is important to know that (as I mentioned in my write up a few pages back) you CAN get enjoyment out of this figure (if it hasn't arrived broken out of the box), so long as you follow the instructions carefully (as one should) and treat it like the £120 collectors piece that it is (because let's face it we've all known instances of people handling these figures like absolute cowboys). I'm not saying I handled my figure with dainty hands, just that I applied logic and research from other reviews when manipulating areas that had been raised as potential breaking points. I'm also not for one minute saying that anyone whose figure broke on them is at fault. I'm merely contributing balance to the conversation that it's not necessarily all doom and gloom.

Tigerblade mentioned this a few pages back that the negative voices tend to be more vocal, so we often don't get a true reflection of how many people have good/bad experiences with a figure. My experience has been good so far. That shouldn't be a seen as a denial of the problems others have. It just means that some people have received good copies of the figure, which is surely a good thing?

 

3rd party madness lol.

 

Nice pics but I’ve noticed a lot of people are not rotating the shins for bot mode. Look at the pics of Hound on the box to see what I mean. You have the sides of the shins facing forward.

 

As laughable as u replying to my comment and u ain't got to believe me but it's honestly sad that ur defending those that dont know how to properly transform the figure and u like others wanna blame poor plastic. Then stop buying these figures all together but u know yall cant. Fyi he opened the box in front of me and transformed it cuz he had just received it in the mail

 

Oh man thanks!! I'm with ya on having eyes only for the toon, but I do find there to be something so weird about the + toy edition(s) that I can't resist visualizing them!

Oh wow thank you for this! This is awesome, makes total sense now! I'll be sure to share it here if he posts anything else.

 

More like Gunchonk, amirite?

 

Anybody have this "issue"? 
Went to put the accessories away, and realized they were already in the roof.

 

Just received mine! Vehicle mode looks good, with no obvious cracks or paint blemishes. Haven't transformed him yet.

He looks so cool with the tarp on! It's the accessory I didn't know I needed.


Also really nice to finally have a Spike figure that's a bit closer in scale with the MP bots. However at this size, I wish they would've painted the eyes. The molding is there..

Oh dear XD
I wonder if this means someone out there received an accessory-less Hound.

 

3p didn't f*ck up the head/neck attachment.

 

Nah, just everything else  

 

But they allowed those of us trying to complete a cast the ability to instead of HOPING that we might.