Perhaps the culprit for these cracked hinges are the pins being out of spec. The pins were probably made a bit too big (in diameter).

 

You made the right call- my leg panel hinge went from looking like your pic, to fully busted open, in one rotation.

 

Better bet for a ghetto, DIY fix without special modding skills would be to apply a little super glue to the crack. It should strengthen it. But I would just send the shit back. I'm sure TT hears about and/or has to compensate the retailers for returns...and they should hear about and pony up for every single problem unit they send out. How else do they know how shoddy the shit they're peddling is and what the volume is for defective units otherwise?

 

Did AE make you send back the defective one before they'll send out the replacement? If so, that's a bummer. I much prefer AJ where they send the replacement, then you send back the shit one...that way you can mix and match as would best suit you.

That said, getting AE to do jack is in the first place is a win on its own. I've heard some not so wonderful things about their customer service in the past.

 

I've had my Hound still sealed in its box for over a week now, waiting to see how things turned out as more people got him. I was hoping for greatness with this figure, but as people have now received replacements which have had issues, I'm bowing out until a reissue hopefully resolves the current problems. The engineering is great, and I love the bot and alt modes, but the materials don't appear to be up to the task, unfortunately. I've just posted mine onto eBay for braver souls than I to enjoy. But I did include suggestions to buyers to watch transformation videos, handle the figure carefully, don't apply unnecessary force to panels and hinges, and to perhaps get some plastic-safe shock oil or water-based lubricant to assist with any tight areas. I truly hope that Takara can bounce back from this recent round of QC problems, but I will no longer be rushing to preorder some of these molds as soon as they're available. I own about 30 Masterpieces, both Takara and Hasbro, going back to MP-1, and the last thing I want to do is worry about panels snapping and splitting even when they're being properly handled. (Well, I suppose it's nice that he doesn't have knee ratchet and exploding issues like other Primes). We definitely deserve better as consumers. And if a V2 doesn't fix the issues, then I'll just make do with not having a Masterpiece Hound in my collection, unfortunately.

That being said, I am very happy for those who have zero or negligible issues with their copies. And, as has been said before, we'll oft tend to hear more from those who've had issues than those who haven't. I'm still impressed I've not seen any YouTube reviewers encounter problems, and I hope that trend continues. Hopefully an eventual MP Jazz won't suffer from such fragility.

 

Well fudge. A hairline fracture is starting to show up on the neck/shoulder launcher assembly. This wasn’t there before and I did take this piece apart and lightly sanded the post to relieve any potential pressure:


I’ll keep an eye on it but at this point I’ll more than likely ask for a replacement or refund from Amazon. I just feel like the risk that this release will crumble past the return window is too high.

 

loosen the screw help a lot on mine

 

Sorry to hear that. Looks like you caught it early. When I took my Hound’s armature apart to shave down the diameter and relieve pressure, I found cracks forming on the inner post too. It’s like F*ing Cosmic Rust over here.

 

My second one has a crack too. Both of my hounds have broken plastic around pins. I'm pretty upset about this, because I want Hound on my damn shelf. And this toy is one of the best designed figures I've ever handled. Fucking shite factories...

 

amazon shipped me two new Hounds. Let's see if they're broken. I can mix and match parts before sending 2 back. This sucks. But at least I'll always have a hound on my shelf haha

 

I had ordered two copies, one of which I had planned to give to my brother as a gift. Last night I opened it for an inspection and it has cracks all around the pins for the door hinges (near the wheel wells, not the middle of the doors).

I’m debating whether to roll the dice on a replacement or just go for a refund. I think I’m leaning towards a refund.

Meantime, the only crack in my first copy, in the large armature joint, has lengthened.

I may see if I can get one crack-free copy out of this with some parts swapping.

Hound has quickly risen to being one of my top favorite MPs and I’m bummed that such an awesome release has been dealt this crappy workmanship. I sincerely hope that TakaraTomy is aware of this and taking action despite there being seemingly good copies out there.

 

I agree completely. This toy is quite the special release IMO, and the new releases becoming stressful like this is really bothering me. I'm not the typical complainer or doom and gloom type, but I don't like what this looks like for future releases. I hope Takara can secure a factory that isn't run by villains.

 

Just curious, have any of you had breakages with parts that aren't green?

There are some copies that have yet to break and it's too early to say all the Hounds released so far, will eventually break. Time will tell and it's only been a few weeks.

With that said, it's not guaranteed that the flawless copies now, will remain that way in the future. There's folks in this thread who had no cracks out of box but came back today to report their cracks.

 

Just a fair bit of warning. This plastic is very crispy. Knocking out a pin could cause enough stress/force to crack the other part of the hinge. Unless you’re some pin removal surgeon, I highly advise against it.

 

Wow...they normally aren't as detailed as that in responses... for them to go as far as to suggest a fix, says a lot

 

I'm in 100% agreement. I just figure that I've already waited this long for a Hound, I don't mind waiting longer to see if the problems get resolved in later batches of this run or during a reissue. It's just not worth the worry and aggravation of walking on eggshells handling Hound and wondering how many transformations it can survive or how gingerly I need to handle it. "Will this be the panel movement that breaks it?" "Did I stress that hinge by accident?" These aren't the thoughts I want to be bothered with when trying to enjoy something in a hobby I love. This is supposed to be fun, after all. I just hope that whoever ends up buying my copy has zero issues. I'll take peace of mind on my end in the interim.

 

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