TL;DR: I think that in recent years the quality of MP/3P figures has dropped in terms of paint, and I think we should be more vocal about it in the hope that the companies will pay more attention to this issue.

So, in my case, it started with MP Ratchet, whose paint flaked even when he was handled fairly delicately. I bought him along with Ironhide, thinking that I would prefer him to his red mold-mate. However, as Ironhide's paint was much better I like him more.

As the issue became more prominent (including with 3P - think FT's Quietus) and the new phase of the masterpiece line (Prime, Bumblebee, Prime, looks like Hound to some extent). It's killing my enjoyment of this hobby.

I'm kinda bummed out by this, because: (1) I think that with the prices of these figures this is unacceptable; (2) this is a visible drop in quality. The second point is particularly irritating. MP Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Inferno, had a lot of paint done really well without these issues. I recently took out my FT Sovereign (first issue) and looked at the bottom of his feet, a place that is particularly prone to losing paint for obvious reasons. It was intact. The same with FT's Willis - figures that are painted to the nines. No major problems. Yes, both do have some minor paint blemishes or places where its worn, but these are small, almost unnoticeable, in places where there is a lot of friction (Willis' hood by those side fenders above the wheels where you slide them downwards, which you can't see at all in bot mode, and its minor in alt mode). Its as if the companies (both official and 3P) either stopped using primer or protective coating. Some try to fix it, like FT, where Quietus' later editions had additional coating. However, the recent TTs have all had this problem - I love my MP-44, but I'm weary of damaging a almost $400 toy. I could coat it, but there's risk involved in that as well.

I really think the companies should step up their game, particularly Takara. It's products have cool engineering, they're fun, look good, but the cost-to-quality ratio has taken a dive recently IMO.

 

FT Quietus is the most frustrating example that I personally own. For such an expensive figure that kind of thing is unacceptable.

 

This is one of the reasons I got out of MP collecting. It is indeed unacceptable. Get into design flaws and potentially shoddier plastic choices, plus the exorbitant pricing, and yeah... No MP for me.

 

Paint quality with the Masterpiece figures (and quality in general) has fluctuated for years. Cast your minds back to the shocking paint on Lambor, the splitting wing joints on 'Greenscream', and exploding knee joints on Black Rodimus Convoy, to name a few; it's not anything new.

I've had both gems and turds in terms of quality from the Masterpiece line, but since TakTom's prices are on the rise, but the quality isn't, I'm no longer bothering with the quality lottery now.

 

Why not just write to the companies in question? Talking about it here won't change anything. No offense but it sounds like a support group. Hi, I'm Mike (Hi Mike!)

 

What is this, 1940?

 

The only thing certain is that when it comes to TT's Vietnamese factory:
1. Paint is shitty.
2. There's thieve(s) abound and they are widely admired here.

 

I assume you know I mean email

 

Quietus and MP-44. Mine actually came in great shape, but I already nicked a small bit on his gray bits, and a small bit below them and the windows. All I had to do is pose him aiming from his gun, with the gun touching those parts (I have something against roughing expensive toys).

I think you may be right. Lucky for me, I'm slowly getting out of collecting - mostly because I have most of what I wanted, but TBH the quality lottery is a contributing reason.

Well, that's not always possible, because not all companies publish their email or contact info, or ignore it (DX9, ToyWorld, etc.) FT know about the quietus issue and even corrected it (my replacement chest had additional coating on it). Others have their representatives. In terms of Takara, I doubt that they would be interested in an email from some random dude whose questioning their business model. Here the idea of 'voting with wallets' is a good one, and this is why I'm frustrated somewhat by this: I'd like to get their Hound. I'd like to get their Bee 2.0. But that quality is not worth the price for me.

MP-44 was produced in China.

 

Price and quality aren't directly related. I've seen Neca that look as good or better than Hot Toys. I know premium Hot Toys figures that fall apart. In the collectibles world, it's far more "perceived value" rather than actual costs plus fair markup. With Masterpiece, you aren't paying for premium paint. You are paying for Character X. If costs drop, Takara makes him with premium paint. If costs rise, Takara makes him with cheaper paint and raises price to maintain it's margins and the margins of it's retailers. All toy companies KNOW that there is a certain amount of "gotta have it" collectors that will pay full MSRP or more. So they put out the preorders and sell a few dozen at full price. Then there are the rest of the collectors that are willing to wait a few months for a deal for X% off MSRP. Those are the ones that nab the weekend sales. Then there are the buyers who won't buy something until clearance, and are willing to never get it if they can't get a substantial deal. These are the people who finally jump on a figure because the deal is too good to pass on. The figure is the same at $120 as it is at clearance. Only difference is the perceived value of the customer. Premium or cheap paint, they will sell the same amount of figures at MSRP. Cheaper paint, they can maintain profits on sales for a longer time as prices drop.

 

Understood, but the Chinese factory is far more consistent.

 

I think it was originally meant to get produced in both. @Phamduc probably knows better than anybody, but I'm pretty sure they were having security issues at one of the factories.

 

Yes, Phamduc talked about the seciruty issues one point. I think that MP-44 was eventually produced entirely in China, though I may be wrong.

 

I’m not sure it’s about quality... you can’t cover a transforming figure in paint and expect no flaws...

Look at MP-10 there was a reason certain parts on the red plastic wasn’t painted... it was so it would not chip when transformed...that’s just good design sense.

 

I feel the problem here is that TT is a monopoly. As the sole provider of the Tampoed Faction Symbol tech, it can pretty much do anything. 3P is better because there's some competition, but if you keep buying FT products without exercising some judgement, eventually we'll arrive at the same outcome. This is why I don't practice brand loyalty. It's true that I prefer FT products now, but if they start practicing the same shit that TT is doing, I will abandon them faster than you can say FansToys.

I mean, let's take another example: Boeing. Used to be an awesome, great company. Nowadays? Not so much. Again that's the problem when you have a quasi monopolistic company.

 

Fully painted transforming figures are not a good idea in the long run...

 

I think TT’s added paint and articulation is response to 3P. It is an attempt to 1up what they are doing. If TT pulled back on all the panels the figures would look a lot like something Fanstoys would produce.

 

I agree, or it's a risk. What I'm thinking about is more in regards to bits that don't transform.
Then again, my favorite 3P company is MMC (reformatted line), so yeah, the one without too much paint. Then again, those figures that are painted are painted very well imo (Tyrantron)

 

I disagree, the articulation is a response to reduced use of paint and lower amount of details (cartoon accuracy). FansToys on the other would sometimes rise to Takara's level of articulation, but not always. FT's paint though would always beat TT's. Let's take Sovereign, a figure from 2/3 years ago. I've never had a TT figure with that level of paint.

 

Pretty much. Understanding they've done decent before, it's just a matter of time before it wears or chips. Painting the entire figure has not really been something I'm a fan of. My MP Grapple already had chips in its paint after a couple of transformations. I almost wanted to get the bare KO when I heard they didn't paint it up, but I already had this one.

But yeah, you also go back to MP Bluestreak, and his whole (mostly) painted self still holds up. So you know they can do it. But with the figures getting more and more complex, I'd almost be willing to skip it and go with bare plastic. That's never really bothered me unless the plastic was an ugly color.