Yes. That is very weird lol. I had to go with the Japanese version recently.

 

I assume you bought them second hand. Did you wash them when you received them. What cleaner did you use? Are the pins rusty?

 

Here are a few shots of WFC prime universe screamer and generations thundercracker.






I will try and take some better ones. I have made a quick repair to the seekers but you can still see the fractures. I panicked and disassembled and modded them the joints were so tight on them I believe they were over stressed.

By the way I'm new posting here and don't know if this is a friendly forum or not yet but just so you know I'm not a ham fisted idiot I'm a model maker and carefull when handling things here is one of my models I've made I really want to get into custom transformers.
The weather had been ranging from at worst -21 to very hot humid weather this month.

 

Maybe I need new glasses, but I'm not really seeing any damage on those figures...

 

I don't see it either. Maybe a little dirt here and there.

 

I'm not seeing anything really, either.

 

Okay, I see the crack on Optimus, but not on the Seekers. As for what caused it... no clue. Could just be bad QC resulting in a week connection.

 

Yea, I just pulled out my figures to compare with your "damaged" ones. I have to say, I really think you're just being anal here. At the end of the day, these are still children's toys and you seem to be looking for flawless perfection here. I'm pretty sure if you took ANY figure, you could find some minor flaw or something.

 

Starscream...really doesn't help much to show the nose cracks, but I can see where it's cracked a bit on Thundercracker. Again, the best solution for the stabilizers is to leave them unfolded like in jet mode and just not touch them. Optimus I suspect the pin might have been off by a fraction of a millimeter when they drove it in. It happens sometimes.

 

Wow I could see the crack on Prime. That could be a result of a weakness from the pin going in and thermal expansion and contraction causing the crack. Love the pictures of the plane model to.

 

Ouch! Actually had to check my Prime and Thundercracker after seeing those pics (thankfully, mine were fine). But that sucks.
I've experienced the same on a few figures. Almost always around pin joints. Sometimes it happens when I move them, which I almost always figure is because the threaded end of the pin hasn't been driven in all the way and slips, stressing the plastic. Others seem to have happened at random though, which is probably just poor QC or imperfections in the plastic.

The worst ones I've encountered by far are the TFA jet twins, whose knee joints seem to have just disintegrated to the point where all four have split. No clue how it happened as I never really fiddled with them a lot. For now I'll just blame it on our Scandinavian winters. Every other year or so there's a blackout and when those occur, my collection gets more or less directly exposed to the cold, which could cause the plastic to shrink and break I guess.

And nice work on that jet! Couldn't even tell it was a model at first.  

 

Maaaaaybe I'm blind here, but I'm not seeing anything beyond the stress mark on Optimus? Nothing looks amiss on the Seekers, and as the proud papa of nine of them, I know it's not due to lack of familiarity.

Could someone highlight the trouble spots to make it easier to see?

 

It's all the gases.

No seriously, it is entirely possible that the acidity of the outside moisture can cause the plastic to degrade, even indoors. Air is everywhere.

When it rains, does it seem particularly heavy or tinny in smell?

 

Thanks guys you can see the damage as mentioned I've glued the seekers but you can see we're the crack was. I had cropped the photos for you but there just normal again for some reason. I'm not being anal and yes they are toys but that does not mean that it is ok they crack because they are toys.
If you look at the pins in the head and nose to head connector you can see the hairline of we're the crack was. Before repair they were 3rd of a mm wide and cracked deep like a mini Grand Canyon. I have slackened the joints then glued the cracks on the tail stabiliser connector and they now have closed up and work fine. I agree it probably down to the pin being sent In at an angle and over tight joints. I was really hoping to find our the best glues to use on the plastic. Sorry if my posting offends those who think I'm just anal and it just toys but this is a forum dedicated to a toy brand do don't be surprised if the subject of toys come up. What bothersome most is the MP line going wrong luckily the rest seems ok so far I just was concerned I was to blame or doing something wrong.
Many thanks Rob oh and the plane I made is an avro vulcan b2 for those interested it would make a great alt mode,,,, if only cheers rob

 

I'm not offended at all by your posts and I think you have legitimate concerns. However, I do think that you're just LOOKING for problems with some of these figures. You seem like you want the figures to be absolutely pristine and perfect. There's nothing wrong with that...but you're going to have a very tough time finding a 10-15 dollar children's toy that absolutely immaculate. If you want that type of quality, you should really buy 3rd party figures or MP's. Hell, even exclusive figures have slight imperfections (mold flashing, tight pins, slight paint mishaps).

I've looked at your pictures and I honestly can't find anything that would be a deal-breaker on those figures.

 

No worries about your posting g1er. I can see what you mean. There was damage you saw and while it is minor you are just being proactive and keeping it from getting worse. honestly nothing wrong with being anal about your collection. When spending so much money on the hobby we want to protect them. My paranoia is sunlight. When I started collecting again I had some movie one and generations figures on a window sill. They looked great but I was not aware of yellowing and those figures yellowed badly. my current collection room has dark curtains that block sunlight. Just sharing the what I am anal about.

 

It happens. Perhaps if you have the tools, you can do some preventative measures for toys that you get that feel like something may be too tight or whatnot. Whatever glue you've been using so far seems to be doing the trick.

 

I'm anal about that exact same thing. I bought some expensive UV blocking curtains that are usually drawn during the day.

 

Glad I've not bothered anyone. I guess after a few years getting seriously into collecting I want to make sure there in good working order. I too fear the sunlight thing. Whilst I do like to transform them from time to time or pose them. I am willing to accept not perfect no problems there. As a model maker I work at a constant compromise. But I would find longevity of 2 and half years hard to swallow. After being used to indestructible it seems g1s.
I guess I'm learning,
I will now mod every seeker I buy in the same way I think I will do a vid on it soon for my YouTube channel robpeter1 (crap username I know it needs to change)
The glue I used was humbrol polystyrene cement which it says works for abs.
I assumed they were abs.
I was most concearned cause I love the seeker mould for the classics line. Thankfully my cone heads are fine.
It seemed to be every figure I picked up yesterday after being initially curious. I've now been through most and feel more reassured now. I guess if they break that's that. I can always hunt a new one.
Cheers guys ill post more photos when I get chance that show clearly what I'm on about.
Cheers rob

 

They are ABS. The Coneheads should be fine as the heads are the nose cones and none of them use Starscream's rudder/stabilizer assembly. You can also simply leave the stabilizer alone, it certainly doesn't hurt anything by doing so.