Cyber Era Generation CE-01 - DLX scale BBM Bumblebee (OS Transcraft BBM Bumblebee)

Mogbot · Jan 12, 2022

silverej said: ↑

figured out the whole thing with the batteries.
Click to expand...

Can you please show a picture of how you installed the batteries? No matter how I put them in, I can’t get them to turn on. Can’t tell if the lights are broken, the batteries are dead, or if I just have no idea where/how to swipe the magnet.

silverej · Jan 12, 2022

Mogbot said: ↑

Can you please show a picture of how you installed the batteries? No matter how I put them in, I can’t get them to turn on. Can’t tell if the lights are broken, the batteries are dead, or if I just have no idea where/how to swipe the magnet.
Click to expand...

I installed the batteries with the positive side (flat sides) facing the back of the head. Here's a picture of the head facing left.

You turn the lights on by tapping the magnet on the back of the head.

idkwdya · Jan 12, 2022

Xcandescent said: ↑

So I now have an answer for whether or not CE-01 is more durable than TC-02, and it's a resounding no.

While overall there are fewer super tight joints on this figure than TC-02, there are still a handful. The two breaks I've experienced happened due to ball joints seizing up and overwhelming the plastic, however there are other joints (forearm rotator, window wing pin joint) which seem to be tight for no particular reason, which would probably also fail over time.

Let's start with a minor break. I noticed one of the fender pieces coming out of the ball joint, and it eventually just fully fell out.

View attachment 29360840

What you're seeing there is a two piece ball joint. The ball and the fender are meant to be attached together by a very short pin. Unfortunately, this ball joint doesn't move as it's supposed to, which caused the plastic to stress and eventually give out. There's no good way to remove the ball inside the joint either.

This isn't that big of a deal, as the part in question isn't structural, and in fact isn't even visible in bot mode. I debated gluing it in, but decided that if the joint is binding up, that would probably just wreck the plastic further.

That leads to this break, which is the post of one of the window wings breaking off after the ball joint seized up:

View attachment 29360836 View attachment 29360838 View attachment 29360837 View attachment 29360839

I had noticed previously that the ball joint on that wing seemed to be a little tight, but not excessively so ... until it broke without warning. I'd transformed the figure a number of times without issue before this happened.

Because it's a post break caused by a seized joint, it's not really fixable. I think I need an entire new back assembly with new window wings as a replacement.

For the record: I had 0 issues with ball joints on my 2 copies of TC-02, which means this is a new issue to me. It's not consistent either; some of the other ball joints work just fine.

I've filed to get replacement parts, but at this point, I think the only thing to do is to write off the entire design. I have 3 copies of this figure now, and they're all unreasonably fragile. Even in a best case scenario, the transformation was always trying to do too much with too little, and the ongoing tolerance issues are just the final nail in the coffin. If you already have this figure on the way, you should check all the parts with ball joints, and sand and silicone lube them as needed to keep them from seizing. You should also lube any joint that feels too tight in general.

There's a couple of other minor issues I ran into, which you'll want to watch out for. The first is that you may have noticed that the hole in the front of the right foot is no longer present. On the original TC-02, that was because it was used to insert a pin that the foot slides on for transformation. On CE-01, there's a mold change where the pin doesn't go all the way through -- but it also tends to come out during transformation, so you'll need to periodically push it back.

The second is that the skullcap of the head tends to pop off easily, resulting in the antenna pieces falling out:

View attachment 29360841

This is a consequence of the head now needing to disassemble for the LED batteries. You could theoretically glue the cap in place permanently, but I wouldn't do that unless you'd already sorted out a solution for the dead eye look.

-XCN-
Click to expand...

Really appreciate the full write up for this and that’s awful to hear about the breakages!

My copy is probably arriving sometime this week so I’ll definitely keep an eye out. I “was” really excited for this but now I’m just as worried as I was with the TC version.

doughyresplendent · Jan 12, 2022

Xcandescent said: ↑

So I now have an answer for whether or not CE-01 is more durable than TC-02, and it's a resounding no.

While overall there are fewer super tight joints on this figure than TC-02, there are still a handful. The two breaks I've experienced happened due to ball joints seizing up and overwhelming the plastic, however there are other joints (forearm rotator, window wing pin joint) which seem to be tight for no particular reason, which would probably also fail over time.

Let's start with a minor break. I noticed one of the fender pieces coming out of the ball joint, and it eventually just fully fell out.

View attachment 29360840

What you're seeing there is a two piece ball joint. The ball and the fender are meant to be attached together by a very short pin. Unfortunately, this ball joint doesn't move as it's supposed to, which caused the plastic to stress and eventually give out. There's no good way to remove the ball inside the joint either.

This isn't that big of a deal, as the part in question isn't structural, and in fact isn't even visible in bot mode. I debated gluing it in, but decided that if the joint is binding up, that would probably just wreck the plastic further.

That leads to this break, which is the post of one of the window wings breaking off after the ball joint seized up:

View attachment 29360836 View attachment 29360838 View attachment 29360837 View attachment 29360839

I had noticed previously that the ball joint on that wing seemed to be a little tight, but not excessively so ... until it broke without warning. I'd transformed the figure a number of times without issue before this happened.

Because it's a post break caused by a seized joint, it's not really fixable. I think I need an entire new back assembly with new window wings as a replacement.

For the record: I had 0 issues with ball joints on my 2 copies of TC-02, which means this is a new issue to me. It's not consistent either; some of the other ball joints work just fine.

I've filed to get replacement parts, but at this point, I think the only thing to do is to write off the entire design. I have 3 copies of this figure now, and they're all unreasonably fragile. Even in a best case scenario, the transformation was always trying to do too much with too little, and the ongoing tolerance issues are just the final nail in the coffin. If you already have this figure on the way, you should check all the parts with ball joints, and sand and silicone lube them as needed to keep them from seizing. You should also lube any joint that feels too tight in general.

There's a couple of other minor issues I ran into, which you'll want to watch out for. The first is that you may have noticed that the hole in the front of the right foot is no longer present. On the original TC-02, that was because it was used to insert a pin that the foot slides on for transformation. On CE-01, there's a mold change where the pin doesn't go all the way through -- but it also tends to come out during transformation, so you'll need to periodically push it back.

The second is that the skullcap of the head tends to pop off easily, resulting in the antenna pieces falling out:

View attachment 29360841

This is a consequence of the head now needing to disassemble for the LED batteries. You could theoretically glue the cap in place permanently, but I wouldn't do that unless you'd already sorted out a solution for the dead eye look.

-XCN-
Click to expand...

I've already placed my order for this one, and as this is at the top of my list since forever, I sure hope it's preventable. Sorry you had to experience this though. I'll be sanding and lubing my CE01 when it arrives.

On the other hand, if mine breaks, then it'll be cheaper DLX Bumblebee KO. Design still rocks despite the apparent mold problems.

Mogbot · Jan 12, 2022

silverej said: ↑

I installed the batteries with the positive side (flat sides) facing the back of the head. Here's a picture of the head facing left.
View attachment 29360988

You turn the lights on by tapping the magnet on the back of the head.
View attachment 29360989
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! Seems one of the LED units was defective, but the other one works!

silverej · Jan 12, 2022

Mogbot said: ↑

Thank you so much! Seems one of the LED units was defective, but the other one works!
Click to expand...

That's unfortunate for the defective LED unit. Have you tried repositioning the batteries? I had to really center them on mine.

Dunkle · Jan 12, 2022

D

Xcandescent said: ↑

So I now have an answer for whether or not CE-01 is more durable than TC-02, and it's a resounding no.

While overall there are fewer super tight joints on this figure than TC-02, there are still a handful. The two breaks I've experienced happened due to ball joints seizing up and overwhelming the plastic, however there are other joints (forearm rotator, window wing pin joint) which seem to be tight for no particular reason, which would probably also fail over time.

Let's start with a minor break. I noticed one of the fender pieces coming out of the ball joint, and it eventually just fully fell out.

View attachment 29360840

What you're seeing there is a two piece ball joint. The ball and the fender are meant to be attached together by a very short pin. Unfortunately, this ball joint doesn't move as it's supposed to, which caused the plastic to stress and eventually give out. There's no good way to remove the ball inside the joint either.

This isn't that big of a deal, as the part in question isn't structural, and in fact isn't even visible in bot mode. I debated gluing it in, but decided that if the joint is binding up, that would probably just wreck the plastic further.

That leads to this break, which is the post of one of the window wings breaking off after the ball joint seized up:

View attachment 29360836 View attachment 29360838 View attachment 29360837 View attachment 29360839

I had noticed previously that the ball joint on that wing seemed to be a little tight, but not excessively so ... until it broke without warning. I'd transformed the figure a number of times without issue before this happened.

Because it's a post break caused by a seized joint, it's not really fixable. I think I need an entire new back assembly with new window wings as a replacement.

For the record: I had 0 issues with ball joints on my 2 copies of TC-02, which means this is a new issue to me. It's not consistent either; some of the other ball joints work just fine.

I've filed to get replacement parts, but at this point, I think the only thing to do is to write off the entire design. I have 3 copies of this figure now, and they're all unreasonably fragile. Even in a best case scenario, the transformation was always trying to do too much with too little, and the ongoing tolerance issues are just the final nail in the coffin. If you already have this figure on the way, you should check all the parts with ball joints, and sand and silicone lube them as needed to keep them from seizing. You should also lube any joint that feels too tight in general.

There's a couple of other minor issues I ran into, which you'll want to watch out for. The first is that you may have noticed that the hole in the front of the right foot is no longer present. On the original TC-02, that was because it was used to insert a pin that the foot slides on for transformation. On CE-01, there's a mold change where the pin doesn't go all the way through -- but it also tends to come out during transformation, so you'll need to periodically push it back.

The second is that the skullcap of the head tends to pop off easily, resulting in the antenna pieces falling out:

View attachment 29360841

This is a consequence of the head now needing to disassemble for the LED batteries. You could theoretically glue the cap in place permanently, but I wouldn't do that unless you'd already sorted out a solution for the dead eye look.

-XCN-
Click to expand...

Damn, that sucks to hear dude, might just get a refund on my copy

Xcandescent · Jan 12, 2022

I was preparing to write off my broken copy, when I realized that I hadn't actually answered the question of whether the joints that had been replaced with die cast, are any sturdier than the old version. So I've decided to keep messing with it to see what else breaks.

Other than the 2 ball joint-related breaks, everything else seems fine so far; I don't see any obvious stress marks, even on the silver shins around the yellow tab (though that might change over time). I've been pretty careful in handling it, which is why the breakages were a surprise.

Since almost all the ball joints are on plastic rods, and don't actually need to be tight (as they don't support weight), I think it's safe to just say you should lube all of them with low wt silicone oil. I tested 100 cSt silicone oil on the not-broken window wing, and it worked quite well -- though adding lube to the broken fender joint was kind of a lost cause. The locations of the ball joints I know of are:

Window wings

Rear fenders

Roof panels

Front bumper center bits

The front bumper is a weird case where the pieces appear to be die cast, but the actual ball cup joint isn't. I'd say lube it anyway to avoid stressing the joint.

EDIT: Forgot about the ball joints in the knee caps, and the head joint. The knee caps move pretty freely on my copies of the old and new figures, but I guess you could lube them if they're stiff. The head joint is tricky, because it needs enough friction to hold a pose without being too tight. Mine squeaks a bit, but not enough that I think it's worth touching up.

While a number of critical joints have been replaced with die cast, the large heel joints have not, which is kind of a weird omission. Since the die cast and upscale added a bunch of weight to the figure, it's not yet clear to me if those heel joints will hold up over time.

Vale · Jan 12, 2022

please don't tell this has the same amount of qc as the original

ManelFigures · Jan 12, 2022

Xcandescent said: ↑

So I now have an answer for whether or not CE-01 is more durable than TC-02, and it's a resounding no.

While overall there are fewer super tight joints on this figure than TC-02, there are still a handful. The two breaks I've experienced happened due to ball joints seizing up and overwhelming the plastic, however there are other joints (forearm rotator, window wing pin joint) which seem to be tight for no particular reason, which would probably also fail over time.

Let's start with a minor break. I noticed one of the fender pieces coming out of the ball joint, and it eventually just fully fell out.

View attachment 29360840

What you're seeing there is a two piece ball joint. The ball and the fender are meant to be attached together by a very short pin. Unfortunately, this ball joint doesn't move as it's supposed to, which caused the plastic to stress and eventually give out. There's no good way to remove the ball inside the joint either.

This isn't that big of a deal, as the part in question isn't structural, and in fact isn't even visible in bot mode. I debated gluing it in, but decided that if the joint is binding up, that would probably just wreck the plastic further.

That leads to this break, which is the post of one of the window wings breaking off after the ball joint seized up:

View attachment 29360836 View attachment 29360838 View attachment 29360837 View attachment 29360839

I had noticed previously that the ball joint on that wing seemed to be a little tight, but not excessively so ... until it broke without warning. I'd transformed the figure a number of times without issue before this happened.

Because it's a post break caused by a seized joint, it's not really fixable. I think I need an entire new back assembly with new window wings as a replacement.

For the record: I had 0 issues with ball joints on my 2 copies of TC-02, which means this is a new issue to me. It's not consistent either; some of the other ball joints work just fine.

I've filed to get replacement parts, but at this point, I think the only thing to do is to write off the entire design. I have 3 copies of this figure now, and they're all unreasonably fragile. Even in a best case scenario, the transformation was always trying to do too much with too little, and the ongoing tolerance issues are just the final nail in the coffin. If you already have this figure on the way, you should check all the parts with ball joints, and sand and silicone lube them as needed to keep them from seizing. You should also lube any joint that feels too tight in general.

There's a couple of other minor issues I ran into, which you'll want to watch out for. The first is that you may have noticed that the hole in the front of the right foot is no longer present. On the original TC-02, that was because it was used to insert a pin that the foot slides on for transformation. On CE-01, there's a mold change where the pin doesn't go all the way through -- but it also tends to come out during transformation, so you'll need to periodically push it back.

The second is that the skullcap of the head tends to pop off easily, resulting in the antenna pieces falling out:

View attachment 29360841

This is a consequence of the head now needing to disassemble for the LED batteries. You could theoretically glue the cap in place permanently, but I wouldn't do that unless you'd already sorted out a solution for the dead eye look.

-XCN-
Click to expand...

That's so pity... So sorry for your copy... Cheers up!!. That balljoint is barely visible, thanks for the advice.

I'm not gonna talk about your case in particular but I never understood the people who forces a tight joint.

I mean, if you can't move the joint, just oil it, remove screws, disassemble it, sand it, etc... Do whatever you must need to be fixed, but never force a joint, it won't be "unstuck" for a miracle if you force it.

I saw thousands of same breakages from people... And always the same surprise: "it was tight but I forced, why is broken?".

If something is tight... The answer is clear.

Mogbot · Jan 12, 2022

silverej said: ↑

That's unfortunate for the defective LED unit. Have you tried repositioning the batteries? I had to really center them on mine.
Click to expand...

i will try again later today, but pretty sure the second unit is just defective.

idkwdya · Jan 12, 2022

HappyCryCat · Jan 12, 2022

Dang. I instantly bought a copy off AliExpress after seeing that amazing review a few weeks ago. It's out for delivery as of this morning. Will try to update tonight or tomorrow on the QC. I don't have any other copy to compare it with btw.

Zeng · Jan 12, 2022

Xcandescent said: ↑

So I now have an answer for whether or not CE-01 is more durable than TC-02, and it's a resounding no.

While overall there are fewer super tight joints on this figure than TC-02, there are still a handful. The two breaks I've experienced happened due to ball joints seizing up and overwhelming the plastic, however there are other joints (forearm rotator, window wing pin joint) which seem to be tight for no particular reason, which would probably also fail over time.

Let's start with a minor break. I noticed one of the fender pieces coming out of the ball joint, and it eventually just fully fell out.

View attachment 29360840

What you're seeing there is a two piece ball joint. The ball and the fender are meant to be attached together by a very short pin. Unfortunately, this ball joint doesn't move as it's supposed to, which caused the plastic to stress and eventually give out. There's no good way to remove the ball inside the joint either.

This isn't that big of a deal, as the part in question isn't structural, and in fact isn't even visible in bot mode. I debated gluing it in, but decided that if the joint is binding up, that would probably just wreck the plastic further.

That leads to this break, which is the post of one of the window wings breaking off after the ball joint seized up:

View attachment 29360836 View attachment 29360838 View attachment 29360837 View attachment 29360839

I had noticed previously that the ball joint on that wing seemed to be a little tight, but not excessively so ... until it broke without warning. I'd transformed the figure a number of times without issue before this happened.

Because it's a post break caused by a seized joint, it's not really fixable. I think I need an entire new back assembly with new window wings as a replacement.

For the record: I had 0 issues with ball joints on my 2 copies of TC-02, which means this is a new issue to me. It's not consistent either; some of the other ball joints work just fine.

I've filed to get replacement parts, but at this point, I think the only thing to do is to write off the entire design. I have 3 copies of this figure now, and they're all unreasonably fragile. Even in a best case scenario, the transformation was always trying to do too much with too little, and the ongoing tolerance issues are just the final nail in the coffin. If you already have this figure on the way, you should check all the parts with ball joints, and sand and silicone lube them as needed to keep them from seizing. You should also lube any joint that feels too tight in general.

There's a couple of other minor issues I ran into, which you'll want to watch out for. The first is that you may have noticed that the hole in the front of the right foot is no longer present. On the original TC-02, that was because it was used to insert a pin that the foot slides on for transformation. On CE-01, there's a mold change where the pin doesn't go all the way through -- but it also tends to come out during transformation, so you'll need to periodically push it back.

The second is that the skullcap of the head tends to pop off easily, resulting in the antenna pieces falling out:

View attachment 29360841

This is a consequence of the head now needing to disassemble for the LED batteries. You could theoretically glue the cap in place permanently, but I wouldn't do that unless you'd already sorted out a solution for the dead eye look.

-XCN-
Click to expand...

From excitement to dread in just a single post.
Thanks for the heads up tho.

Megalotron · Jan 12, 2022

Well I'll be sure to check all joints carefully when I get mine. I still really like this guy and have been lucky with my tc02, unless ofcourse TMT ever comes to fruition.

spark crusher · Jan 12, 2022

Xcandescent said: ↑

So I now have an answer for whether or not CE-01 is more durable than TC-02, and it's a resounding no.

While overall there are fewer super tight joints on this figure than TC-02, there are still a handful. The two breaks I've experienced happened due to ball joints seizing up and overwhelming the plastic, however there are other joints (forearm rotator, window wing pin joint) which seem to be tight for no particular reason, which would probably also fail over time.

Let's start with a minor break. I noticed one of the fender pieces coming out of the ball joint, and it eventually just fully fell out.

View attachment 29360840

What you're seeing there is a two piece ball joint. The ball and the fender are meant to be attached together by a very short pin. Unfortunately, this ball joint doesn't move as it's supposed to, which caused the plastic to stress and eventually give out. There's no good way to remove the ball inside the joint either.

This isn't that big of a deal, as the part in question isn't structural, and in fact isn't even visible in bot mode. I debated gluing it in, but decided that if the joint is binding up, that would probably just wreck the plastic further.

That leads to this break, which is the post of one of the window wings breaking off after the ball joint seized up:

View attachment 29360836 View attachment 29360838 View attachment 29360837 View attachment 29360839

I had noticed previously that the ball joint on that wing seemed to be a little tight, but not excessively so ... until it broke without warning. I'd transformed the figure a number of times without issue before this happened.

Because it's a post break caused by a seized joint, it's not really fixable. I think I need an entire new back assembly with new window wings as a replacement.

For the record: I had 0 issues with ball joints on my 2 copies of TC-02, which means this is a new issue to me. It's not consistent either; some of the other ball joints work just fine.

I've filed to get replacement parts, but at this point, I think the only thing to do is to write off the entire design. I have 3 copies of this figure now, and they're all unreasonably fragile. Even in a best case scenario, the transformation was always trying to do too much with too little, and the ongoing tolerance issues are just the final nail in the coffin. If you already have this figure on the way, you should check all the parts with ball joints, and sand and silicone lube them as needed to keep them from seizing. You should also lube any joint that feels too tight in general.

There's a couple of other minor issues I ran into, which you'll want to watch out for. The first is that you may have noticed that the hole in the front of the right foot is no longer present. On the original TC-02, that was because it was used to insert a pin that the foot slides on for transformation. On CE-01, there's a mold change where the pin doesn't go all the way through -- but it also tends to come out during transformation, so you'll need to periodically push it back.

The second is that the skullcap of the head tends to pop off easily, resulting in the antenna pieces falling out:

View attachment 29360841

This is a consequence of the head now needing to disassemble for the LED batteries. You could theoretically glue the cap in place permanently, but I wouldn't do that unless you'd already sorted out a solution for the dead eye look.

-XCN-
Click to expand...

thanks for the heads up, will add some grease to mine before i move stuff (when it gets here...). your sacrifice will not be in vain XD

HappyCryCat · Jan 12, 2022

HappyCryCat said: ↑

Dang. I instantly bought a copy off AliExpress after seeing that amazing review a few weeks ago. It's out for delivery as of this morning. Will try to update tonight or tomorrow on the QC. I don't have any other copy to compare it with btw.
Click to expand...

Just got my figure and played with it and transformed it once. So far only QC I have is some minor paint chipping in the yellow and the very loose head cap on the normal head previously mentioned. Can super glue it back easily once the LED situation is fixed.

However, I have decided to part with this figure, as the articulation is lacking and the heft of the figure makes it tiring to play with. Way too much die-cast...

idkwdya · Jan 12, 2022

HappyCryCat said: ↑

Just got my figure and played with it and transformed it once. So far only QC I have is some minor paint chipping in the yellow and the very loose head cap on the normal head previously mentioned. Can super glue it back easily once the LED situation is fixed.

However, I have decided to part with this figure, as the articulation is lacking and the heft of the figure makes it tiring to play with. Way too much die-cast...
Click to expand...

Dang I’m really trying to stay optimistic about this thing. Do you have any pics of the paint chipping?

NothingHead · Jan 12, 2022

pezley said: ↑

Eye replacement attempt v2 View attachment 29356334 View attachment 29356335

No I haven't but that's a great idea ! Will take a look
Click to expand...

This looks really great! Any chance you would be willing to share the file? I would love to try this out when my copy arrives, with some super-bright, UV-reactive paint I have.

Whatifsin · Jan 12, 2022

pezley said: ↑

Eye replacement attempt v2 View attachment 29356334 View attachment 29356335

No I haven't but that's a great idea ! Will take a look
Click to expand...

NothingHead said: ↑

This looks really great! Any chance you would be willing to share the file? I would love to try this out when my copy arrives, with some super-bright, UV-reactive paint I have.
Click to expand...

No 3d printer. Selling unpainted pieces maybe? I'll get one if you are

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Cyber Era Generation CE-01 - DLX scale BBM Bumblebee (OS Transcraft BBM Bumblebee)

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