I'm creating this post so to have my posts together (rewritten in parts) where people can find it easier. It started with the posts from almost everyone that get Tracks. His legs just don't hold. Bad design, and bad quality insurance. Some glue plastic to extent the tabs, others cut parts... but last week, someone posted a video (on Facebook in one of the TFs groups I'm in) that shows what the actual issue appears to be. That pin on the side that holds that part should pushed in enough that it be flush with the side. As the figures are manufactured, it looks like the pins just aren't pushed in hard enough by possibly less that 1mm. Due to that gap, the peg doesn't go in right, as it's an angle and gets "pulled" out because of it. If you push it in and that side part is made flush with the grey part, it will then clip in right and no need for any modification. (the person used pliers with an oven pad to protect the plastic) The video did show it working very well and that the blue and gray piece end up straight against each other once done, something that every modified "fix" using glue and cutting, etc. it still easy to see the gap between the parts.. So....I JUST got my Tracks today: Like all copies reported, I have the same looseness of the side leg panels. So I went ahead and did the fix, using a driver and small hammer to tap the pin further in (instead of pliers). The result is: acceptable... that small tab is freaking insanely small for what it supports, but it now actually holds as well as it must be meant to do. Before I tapped it in, I had noted that there seems to already be a small crack in the plastic, thankfully, I didn't see any difference afterwards. The pin is almost flush now. The left side is holding, but gave me a LOT more trouble. The stress/crack was more evident, and I believe that the stress mark are my sacrifice to getting the figure to hold. Note that I started with this side and didn't think of checking for any damage first, and why I did check before I did the other side. Again, the pin is now flush. BUT, the grey front panel was a problem, it refused to close as there was something blocking it... Somehow, the bottom hinge area was preventing it to close flush, so with a trusty blade I gently worked it paper-thin layer by layer until it closed properly. Odd that as I look at the other side, they look so identical but for a fraction of a measure, I have this issue. Note (later after this picture): as part of trying to make it hold even more, I did that "add-on a layer of plastic extension" to the tab to give it a bit more to grab, and I also cut the small "lip" that's above the tab to allow a bit more space for the leg to connect as best as possible. Also, there is an indent on that panel's edge meant for that round part felt like it pushed against it, so I filed it down a bit (on both sides). So verdict... on my copy, the fixes did work as best as they could... basically, the design of the whole darn figure is a mess and just very far from being the greatest. Now to transform him.... First.. the front was snapping together and no gaps until I finished the whole transformation... The back wings.. first one I tried and it popped off. I did remember someone mentioning that they might be reversed, so tried flipping them and much better... they appear to be holding better now. Going back to the front not holding... taking the arms out for flight mode and there it is, the front aligns again (one is perfect, the other still have a small gap)... *sigh*. For the weapons, they are the usual waffles now, but at least there's two of them, which will be painted very soon. So... compared to the RTS version? It's a smaller car, the weapons are simply pegged in on the back, but overall, they both look decent, at least the wheels aren't mushroom pegs. Robot wise, The transformation is a bit more difficult than the RTS I find, as popping the top section was a horrible experience that I felt like something could break... I'll have to practice more. (note that I only recently acquired the RTS version and I'm going with first impressions of when I got it) Overall Kingdom has a fantastic head mold, a much better accurate look for the front of the robot, car mode are close to the same, but RTS wins for integration of the weapons, and both have terrible backpacks but Kingdom fells more like a shellformer as most of the car is the backpack. I can see why those with the RTS version may be fine with it, it does feel a lot more solid even if it is also a fiddly figure . In the end, I think that if I was given both figures at the same time, I'd be ranking them very equally for many factors, and I would have a lot of trouble saying which I would consider truly better, except for one detail... the head. Kingdom nails it and it looks amazing. And now part 2 ok, I decided to go a bit nuts with him, and after I did the other "fixes" as I just wasn't 100% happy with how firm the panels locked, I decided that today was "going to fix the hell out of Tracks" day. So ONCE AGAIN... Hasbro was cheap with the paint, so I wanted to fix that. So I took my brushes and paint out, and no, I do not do the swear jar thing as otherwise I would have had to sell my car. This wasn't easy.. with the parts all pinned in, hiding being other parts, the details being outfacing, and so on, it just took a few tries to finally paint some fairly straight lines, and get into the small parts for some well needed details. So, for the list... the red lines on the wings (of course), the side "vents" details of the torso the "belt", and the legs. And also, the missile launcher that being all white just looks bland as hell. So center section in black, with silver on the front "vents", and the missiles/cannons with a touch of silver, better seem in the top of the car picture following below. And the wings are double-sided, so having to do it twice did make make me swear twice too. Due to this figure's size and my lack of expertise and other things, it's not perfect, but it's still came out well enough that I'm thinking that it does look much better than just the flat white. Keeping the hole free of paint and that would just rub off anyways, the silver in the missile/cannons breaks the white a bit. I considered doing more, but knowing that the G1 was all white, I didn't want to do too much that would take away from it. So that's my Tracks after a few hours of getting it, and I will probably have another one more "fixes" session, but that'll involve pledging the hell out of the hips articulation as it's crazy how a brand new figure comes so freaking loose right out of a box. And I'm considering doing a bit more paint for the small pop-out wings.
