Mini-Review:

I'm aware of various QC reports. However, our copy doesn't have any of them except for some stray red paint on Ramjet's right thigh. Therefore, I personally can't discuss them.

As these are retools of the Starscream ER mold, these figures will carry over the various pros and cons of them.

The main differences in the figures are obviously the head assembly and the leg changes for the new wings. The cockpit / nosecone area is redone to account for the new head design and actually hides the heads better than the Starscream molds.

The legs now feature high knee guards for the G1 look. For alt mode, the knee guards go over the crotch panel, so there's no need to move the crotch panel during transformation. However, the knee guards will then block access to the flight stand port. One can partially open the knee guards to get to the flight stand port, but then it would look very awkward.

The wings primarily stay attached to the lower legs now. There are smaller wing kibble pieces still attached to the main body.

As a result of the wing changes, the feet assembly no longer have wing kibble.

There is an abundance of paint apps on these figures, which is a nice welcome change. However, this may also mean more paint chipping, so there needs to be some caution with play.

The only [very] tight joints on ours is the ball joints in the heads.

Pros: These are great updates to the Coneheads in the modern WFC style. Plenty of paint. Unique wings for each Conehead. Bot mode is great like the other ER Starscream molds, and alt mode is outstanding.

Cons: Our copy fortunately does not have any of the QC issues others have reported (mainly the shoulder pinning). The only minor flaw is errant red paint on Ramjet's right thigh (looks like a lipstick kiss if anything). Head ball joint is [very] tight. Same relative limitations in range of motion compared to Siege Seeker mold as the other ER Seekers. Although each Conehead will have their unique wings, the unique missiles are not present. Unable to access flight stand port in alt mode without undoing knee panels. I anticipate paint chipping to be a problem.

Meh: Waiting for ER Thrust.

Overall, this is a must have for Seeker fans. However, be aware there are issues with QC in some of the copies. Also doesn't help that Amazon is not shipping all of these in the Hasbro SIOC boxes. Again, main caution would be potential for paint chipping with all the extra paint.

Bot mode:

[custom blast effects used]

Alt mode:


Only flaw on our figures: stray paint on Ramjet's thigh.


Edit:
Copied and reworded from EAT thread:

Flightstand: Avoid using crotch holder adapters on the upper chest piece as that will strip paint off.

If you have dual flightstand arms with 5mm and right angle adapters, then you can use the side 5mm ports. I tried with one arm, but the weight of the plane caused the 3mm peg to rate...and then the plane took a nosedive. With two stand arms, the plane is able to stay up if one arm uses the front side port and the other arm uses the back side port.

Used parts from two Bandai Action Base 4 kits for this example on Ramjet. The included 5mm adapters may be a bit tight for some ports (some measure up to 5.1mm), so I would recommend to sand/file them down until they fit snug (and/or have a rigid 3mm metal rod ready for removal).

[custom blast effects used]

Again, to prevent the plane from taking a nosedive, use the front side port on one side and the back side port on the other side. This setup uses the right angle and 5mm adapters.


Dirge with the same setup:


Prevent paint scuffing / chipping on wings transformation to alt mode:
Before collapsing the legs, move both the front and back wings parts into alt mode position first. Collapse the legs last for a clean wings transformation.

 

I agree with all of the above. Really impressed with how tight all of the joints are and loads of paint. Only issues are paint marks/scuffs here and there.

 

Mine is relatively QC free - though the already tight bicep swivel is s even tighter here and Ramjets chest plate is just slightly warped meaning is has to be pushed to lock it and the shoulder in unlike the other versions of this that I have.

Lastly, it seemed doable to get the knee pads under the hip plate which I think would have made the jets that much better at only a small cost to the bit aesthetic.

 

Mine has a nasty shoulder issue, stops him from locking into place, but otherwise he's really nice

 

I have to edit my praise. Ramjet came with two left shins. Its fine in robot mode if you don't mind the asymmetry but in alt mode the right shin can't close down all the way. Probably will be okay if I just shave away some of the back of the shin but the QC issues lately are getting tiresome (Alt Unv OP had many).

 

Misfired pin? My Ramjet has a similar problem. It holds in place fine and doesn't affect bot mode too much, but prevents a perfectly clean vehicle transformation.

It's not the end of the world but a little bit annoying, especially with the price on these things.

 

That should be easy to remove. All you need is a toothbrush and toothpaste. Just maybe bend that leg on the knee to make it easier to brush away.

 

I hate the painted wings. It's one of those things that LOOKS premium but is often used to hide the cost-saving measure of less variety of plastic; as it is here. If Thrust's are also painted rather than molded in the correct color, I won't be getting him after all. That REALLY bugs me.

 

Got my two sets today, luckily they came in a box. One set has a slight crease right around the square "Generations" logo so that is the set I opened. The other box seems pretty good (no brown Hasbro sleeves on either set). I don't seem to have any QC issues after converting them to jet mode, other than one wing port on Dirge seems a little loose, and the front wings on Ramjet are very tight trying to rotate into place for jet mode (too much paint?). I do worry about the paint on Dirge's knees wearing down if he is left in jet mode on his belly, so the feet are staying in robot mode and he will be standing on them in jet mode like a rocket when on display.

+-MWG-+

 

Is Amazon supposed to be getting more of these sets in, eventually, or did the ship sail after the pre-orders were done?

 

I dont think anyone knows for sure yet.

 

Updated the main post with flight stand setup and wings transformation recommendations.

 

That's the one. By "nasty" i really meant unfixable. =[

 

After reading all of the horror stories of Amazon slapping labels on boxes and misfiring shoulder pins, I was completely anxious about receiving my ER coneheads. I was fortunate on both and have good regular versions of Ramjet and Dirge.

For my copy, this only QC issue I have is a mispainted Ramjet head? See below where the black cone is not aligned from the front and back of his head. It looks like he got a really bad haircut. Doesn't bother me too much as it is minor. Is anybody else's like this?

 

I was looking at it to see if there was any way at all to fix it, but I can't even think of a way to extract the pin to start with.

My example's not too bad, it can transform into both modes - I'll just trim some plastic off the chest-plate clip so it doesn't flex the plastic over time. It's a matter of less than a millimeter.

 

They are on a ball joint and you can just pop them off. The thing is, Dirge's head is blue and Ramjet's head is white so even if you swap heads, they won't color match with the body unless you repaint them

 

The heads appear to be 2 halves...glued together. The face is not a separate piece but molded together with the front half. No simple swapping is possible.

The heads, at least on ours, are also on very, very tight ball joints. I wouldn't even risk pulling the heads off.

 

Just got my set and Ramjet is missing one of his guns. Called Hasbro and they said that they don't handle replacement parts or any issues with Amazon exclusives. The person I spoke with made it sound as if Hasbro doesn't handle the production of Amazon Exclusives at all. Guess I'm screwed. Haven't even looked to see if there are any other QC issues.