REALLY been waiting for this one!

 

I use the shaft of an old Dremel bit (one of the smaller diameter ones) that has been tapered on the end. It’s basically just a nail! Make sure the tapered end is smaller than the pin hole so it can go several millimeters into the pin hole without touching the plastic.

1). Place the pinned joint over a hole in a hard surface (to provide support to the part and to provide a hole for the pin to go into as it comes out of the joint).

2). Use a small hammer to lightly strike the pin with the nail. You only need to drive it out a few millimeters...you can pull it out the rest of the way using pliers. ****Make sure you drive the pin out knurled end first. Look at each end of the pinned joint and note which end looks rougher/kinda serrated and which end looks smoother. You want to drive the pin out by striking it on the smooth end.

3). Use an appropriately sized drill bit to enlarge the hole in the pin joint. This may take some trial and error. You don’t need to remove much plastic at all. Start by trying a drill bit that fits snugly into the pin hole already and run it through the hole a few times. Test the hole using the pin to see how easily it slides into the hole. If it is still too tight to push in by hand, try a slightly larger drill bit. You don’t want the pin to be loose and floppy...just a little snug.

4). Reassemble the part by driving the pin back into it KNURLED END LAST. You have to strike the pin on the knurled end.

I hope that helps!

 

What does he say, does he break it within 30 seconds of taking it out of the box?

 

i think you should watch it. His remark is very good. Pretty much everyone agree about material quality, then he express his opinion about the appearance
overall , MP-47 > Willis , but not material

 

I havent had a chance to transform mine yet, but it can been added to cracked before transformation. I have a crack in the hinge on the drivers side door. My box was not double taped, and the number on the box is J1719. Hope to have a chance later this week to transform, and see if any other issues come up

 

I got mine as a gift and don’t know what store it came from. Tailgate broke immediately. Any way to get a replacement tailgate or is anyone printing replacements?

 

A question for you or anyone whose Hound has a crack like that on a hinge but not yet returned it, can the hinge still function as is or will it come apart if you try and move it? Just curious for what my options are if down the line any cracks appear on mine after the return window closes.

 

As long as there is only one crack on that hinge joint , the rotation still work but a bit looser. From that point try to not pull that point out or the crack woll get worse. Otherwise maneuver that articulation point into correct direction will do no harm.

 

It's a real bummer seeing so many of my fellow fans and collectors having to deal with bum Hounds. Such a shame in so many ways, especially since I firmly believe he's the best carbot design yet. Hopefully everyone can return their shoddy copies and either exchange or wait for a reissue. I almost feel guilty that I lucked out and seem to have dodged that bullet, though one of my Bumblebee copies does have shoddy paint. Other than that, though, I'm pretty sure 2019 is my favorite MP year yet!

 

IMHO without any issue, hound is the best MP alongside with Inferno/Grapple and Sunstreaker .

 

Oh, interesting. So, to me, this says if you have a good one, you probably have a good one. If knocking a pin out doesn't crack the joint, most normal use isn't going to either.

 

Yeah I fully agree, as much as I sympathise with anyone who's received bad copies of any of these figures, and I do feel Takara needs to tighten up their QC levels, if I'm speaking from my own experience, then 2019 has to go down as my favourite G1 MP year so far. I sold my original Wheeljack, Bumblebee and Bluestreak off a couple of years ago anticipating we'd eventually get + versions (or as it turned out a v2 for Bumblebee) so it was great to add them back to my collection. Prime v3 and Hound (again, because my copies have been issue-free) have blown me away. Now I just need to stop procrastinating and make a worthy display set up for my collection.

 

That was my thinking as well. I’ve flexed the hell out of numerous parts on my copy and am pretty confident that mine doesn’t suffer from any “brittle plastic” issues.

I will also add that I loosened the two panel hinge screws in each of his lower legs by about 1/16 of a turn. Those screws were super tight...now the panels swing on those joints much more easily. And, as an overall comment, EVERY screw I have turned on this figure has been waaaaay tighter than necessary from the factory. I am sure that has been responsible for at least some of the breakage we have seen.

 

My two still seem to be holding up fine after several transformations with no cracks (touch wood). Even so, he's never going to be my favourite car-bot. The transformation is easy enough now that I've done it a few times, but there's something about it that I don't find particularly satisfying or fun - which is of course an entirely subjective consideration. Everything below the waist just seems to be made up of a bunch of folding panels, which, along with the poor-quality plastic, makes it feel more like a 3P transformation scheme to me (with the exception of the "Masterpiece moment" of the wheels folding into the legs - that is pretty cool). Everything above the waist is much better and more the sort of thing I expect from Takara, except for the way the whole front end hangs on by a single hinge, and the way you sort of have to wriggle out the fender pieces. To me it feels like an XTB figure if XTB had nailed the aesthetics. By contrast, I love transforming Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bumblebee (both versions) and most other MPs, excepting Megatron and MP-44. (MP-44 just takes too bloomin' long and I'm getting too old.   )

I agree with BSF's review on many points, especially about the feel of the figure. However, I find it bizarre that BSF thinks Takara is taking a leaf out of FansToys' book with the aesthetics: Takara has always ruled supreme in that domain, and still does - Hound *looks* incredible, especially with the smiling face. Most FT figures (and I own a good number of them) look clunky by comparison to Takara's designs. (Come on Takara, give me Swoop and more Dinobots!) Also, BSF seemed to find it very difficult to flip out Hound's visor - I find it's very easy if you remove the face first, flip out the visor, and then put the face back on.

Was Wheeljack+ really 2019? Blimey. It was a good year! I may disagree about Hound ruling supreme, but these shots are stunning and these five bots look fantastic together.

(And of course my opinion on Hound can instantly be disregarded by most people since of these five figures Bumblebee is easily my favourite, which is a somewhat contrary opinion.   )

 

Thanks, Ambi, and glad your copies are holding up! Don't get me wrong - while I think Hound is the *best* carbot, 45 Bumblebee is still my favorite.   But I feel Hound's transform strikes a balance between being intuitive yet inventive, and easy enough yet still involved. Also, he's arguably the cleanest carbot and certainly has the most articulation. In fact, I think he's more articulated than 44 Optimus! 44 may have waist tilts, but Hound has ankle rotation, forearm rotation, and deep wrist flex. I know some fans complained that 44 Optimus and 45 Bumblebee were wobbly, but manufacturing mishaps aside, Hound is one of the most stable MPs I've experienced.

 

Well, I reported the other day that I had a good copy. I've had about 5-6 transformations on him! Last night I went to transform him and the tailgate on the drivers side broke. Its the side that tabs to hold the back of the Jeep together in vehicle mode. This piece is held on by a very small plastic hinge so be careful when folding this piece. I contacted TFSource to see how they will help? I still love this figure and will stick it out till I get a great copy!

 

As a primarily 3P MP collector, Takara's inability to deliver a good product at a reasonable price doesn't make me happy, it leaves me disappointed and rather disgusted with them.

I'd like to replace 3P figures with Takara officials, but they have continued to evolve their "Masterpiece" line into over-priced junk. The arbitrary price jumps that started around the time of MP Sunstreaker were frustrating but it is less hateful when the product is excellent. Since then, the quality has noticeably declined, with MP-44's knee problems and now Hound's trash materials all around.

Let's be honest, nobody wants to pay more to have something that breaks or falls apart vs their older, cheaper Masterpiece figures where the worst issue was some wonky paint or chrome application here or there.

Leaving aside the aesthetic choices, which I personally feel have also declined, just on sheer physical product quality alone, the Masterpiece line has been in decline since at least MP-44 if not earlier. And considering how few G1 Masterpiece Takara puts out, that's just incredibly disappointing and rather pathetic, especially when you see the type of masterpiece-grade figures 3Ps have been capable of for years now.

I resold my MP-44 without opening it, and MP-47 was the next one that interested me but I've since cancelled my pre-order and will await reissues of them both, in hopes that the re-issues occur after any necessary fixes have been made to the widespread issues with each.

 

Class of 2019!

 

I transformed my copy without issues; gonna give it another run through before feeling any relief.

 

Even as my copy continues to crumble in front of me, I enjoy the design. I agree that this would be the release of 2019. I'm sad that I finally had to print out the Amazon Japan return forms. Then I saw the common hinge crack behind his leg has appeared on mine... "Yep. It's time for him to go back."

I took a few pics that'll be shared later, well after he's gone.

"Do not worry Hound..."


"Spike is going with you."