OK.

Mine came with zero QC issue.

 

Damn nice pics, but they seem to be muscling their way out of your photo space there.

 

Man, you really make me want to get Wrath as well

 

So I had a fiddle to see if there was a better way to do the legs, and I think I've found something that's marginally better than how I was doing it before. Pictured with one leg already done to show that clearance isn't too much of a problem.

Step 1: Do the usual transformation steps of pulling out the tail and folding in the usual pieces, then turn the thigh swivel 90 degrees to the outside.



Step 2: Open up the panel that allows everything to swing outwards, close up the knee joints and rotate the lower leg around until the flat panel is on the inside of the body.



Step 3: As you rotate the thigh swivel, the rest of the leg should fairly naturally follow and fold in without any real stressing. Line up and close up the legs.



Step 4: Turn your Grimlock into a glorious mermaid. There are no other steps.

 

Any tips on the light up eyes? My figure seems to be undamaged, but having put in a battery in different orientations and flipping the holder around in his head in the available orientations I can't get it to light up. Is there some additional trick to try or do I need to write to ShowZ. (Totally unconvinced that I could swap out parts safely even if they were sent...)

 

I find that it's more responsive when you use the sword magnet on the battery side than the circuit side, so I'd put it in battery side up. Have you tried activating it outside of the dino head, so you don't have a layer of plastic in the way? The two LEDs are on the side of that piece, there are no other electronics that it connects to inside the head. Also, when inserted, you need to tap the plastic at the front of the removable piece, rather than the top of the head.

 

I couldn't get it to fit circuit side up. Are you saying the LEDs are on that tiny circuit board somewhere, because I don't seen them, but maybe I don't know what to look for. I've certainly played with it and the magnet outside the dino's head without noticing any lighting up. I'll try changing batteries again, just in case...

 

What kind of battery are you using? Mine is a CR927, it goes in the direction shown in the first picture. It is possible to fit it in circuit side up, but it's a snugger fit, and you don't want that anyway because the LEDS are on the circuit side and want to be pointing downward to reach the eyes.

 

im just not sure what to do with this guy. i think im going to see this through but cancel my po. Leave myself some flexibility

There is going to be extra stock in some of these stores getting him late and he’s going to get clearanced in some way eventually

 

These images are *so* helpful. Thank you!

I'm using 395/399/SR927SW batteries of the exact same brand that I used for my Lewin Prime. I've now tried a couple of different batteries without luck. I'd pull one the ones from the Lewin Prime since I know those work, but it was a traumatizing experience getting those batteries in in the first place and I'd really rather not pull them out.

These are LiCB brand and cheap so maybe they're underpowered and only work in the Lewin Prime because they're in stacks of 2 or 3, but I'm suspicious that I just got a bad board. Still, as possible defects go this is much preferable to a shoulder that shears off -- especially given my level of mechanical acumen.

I'll order another brand of battery (a name brand) just to be sure, then I'll contact ShowZ.

Thank you for your help!

 

So I got my Cacus today, and thankfully no major breakages or issues. Ab crunch is a tad weak but that's easily fixable. It's a damn good thing though that I intended to keep it in robot mode, cause good God this transformation is hellish. It just doesn't feel intuitive at all and I feel like too much stuff is relying on durable plastic flex to make the conversion work which doesn't feel good.

 

showz has one copy for $187 last time i checked, if anyone's on the fence

the qc crapshoot is sad. this is the first time i've won the lottery in that regard but this is such an amazing toy plagued with release issues that a lot will miss out on because of poor business foresight.

thank you SO much. this is insanely helpful, i'd suggest getting this added to the first post or something.

 

First, super jelly of your Nemesis Gorrira. I waffled on him at his release since I had the Gorria Prime version (the first repaint it had) already, as well as GT's Gorilla that kind of "filled in" the color scheme aspect. And right now all I can easily find is one eBay listed of a used one that's just a smidge over SRP, which isn't so bad in itself, but then there's another $25 in shipping to account for that makes me stay my hand.

My own Cacus' issues are the typical minor ones -- left dino arm fell off because not screwed in enough, right arm's halves need to be glued together (rather, still, since I haven't gotten around to actually picking up some super glue to do it with), and the left side back flap's mushroom peg having a very "off again, on again" relationship with the armature. And of course the ab crunch's lack of strength for supporting his upper half properly. What are your plans in addressing that?

 

I'm not entirely convinced the QC is as much of a crapshoot as people think it is. Any and everything you buy is always going to have a few samples get through which probably shouldn't have (or samples which are damaged in transition), but I get the impression this has been an extremely popular figure. So with more out there it stands to reason that there's going to be more which aren't quite up to scratch.

So what we're seeing is a little bit of a inverse survivorship bias. People who have problems are going to share them (rightfully so), but those who didn't for the most part won't say anything at all because... well... there's not much to say. On these boards alone there's probably been less than a dozen reports of issues, but I'd wager we've got a sample size well into the hundreds, if not thousands.

 

The old WWII fighter plane conundrum. That when determining where to reinforce the planes they looked at the ones that made it back from a fight and examined where they got hit. They were going to add extra protection to where they got shot the most. That is, until someone said they should reinforce the spots where they didn’t get shot since these are the planes that did make it back. I think that is what is happening here because I have not seen a single video review or statement from a toy reviewer that has any of the QC issues mentioned here.

 

I'm gonna try multiple applications of Kiki's joint tightener and see if that does the trick.

 

This is the sensible, logical response to the sort of thing, and it’s definitely the mindset I used to hold onto. However, in the last few years I have noticed that QC issues now are often just as rampant as they superficially appear. Not just OSKOs like BMB’s Shockwave, but unique figures that have received multiple batches of unilaterally-defective copies, like Transcraft’s Bumblebee.

The problem is that this community looks for any excuse to indulge in magical thinking, and there have been so many instances over the years of “it certainly cannot not as bad as it appears; I’m sure that if I buy a copy, MINE will be special and arrive perfect” that companies have learned it doesn’t matter anymore. Devil Saviour is releasing an entire Devastator where every single figure is disintegrating, the replacement parts are disintegrating, everything is disintegrating… peoples’ wallets are disintegrating… and greed, magical thinking, and the sunk cost fallacy is causing most people to just keep plowing ahead (the number of people who are paying hundreds of dollars for each robot, then just shrugging and saying they will basically superglue themselves a Devastator once they have them all is just… wow).

It’s hard for collectors to say no, especially when the pictures are so pretty. There are a few companies where the most effort they put into fixing these problems not is just… lying about how the next shipment “should be fixed”. We literally taught them that this was okay. Now, don’t get me wrong, a lot of companies still have standards or a rep for making things right; unfortunately, Planet X was never one of them. It’s really important, I think, that people stick with larger vendors on their stuff— ones that have a history of reliable customer service.

 

As someone who got a good copy with very minor issues and love this figure to death. I still recommend people to wait and see. It's a lot of money to pluck down for something with potential issues.

 

TCP has had this guy "arriving soon" for like 2 weeks.