PSA: New toy plastic condition discovered (melted soft rubbery parts)

Discussion in 'Transformers Toy Discussion' started by Nevermore, May 2, 2017.

  1. Eurobeatking

    Eurobeatking Well-Known Member

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    Didnt DOTM Shockwave get that weird film on his rubber parts much like the TF Prime Smokescreen did on his beast hunters gear?
     
  2. OmarJT82

    OmarJT82 Well-Known Member

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    So far, the following figures in my collection have been affected:
    • ROTF Voyager Demolishor
    • ROTF Voyager Bludgeon
    • HFTD Voyager Banzaitron
    But I ain't straight trippin' balls over this or abandoning any hope I have! There has to be a viable solution out there that can and will work!

    POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:

    For ROTF Voyager Demolishor

    - Find and buy a loose and unaffected one here on TFW2005 or eBay and coat the rubber treads in black Flex Seal Liquid Rubber or some other viable protective coating.

    - Ask a designer on Shapeways to design and produce segmented replacement treads for this figure.

    - Find and buy a loose and unaffected one here on TFW2005 or eBay and replace it's rubber treads with those from a junk or loose TakaraTomy RD-19 Demolishor (Shanghai Attack)
    NOTE: My TakaraTomy RD-19 Demolishor (Shanghai Attack) doesn't appear to be affected.

    - Wait for the release of Hasbro's 2019 Studio Series ROTF Devastator.

    For ROTF Voyager Bludgeon

    - Use Dremel Rotary Tool to smooth out the "melted" areas and space them out from the rubber.

    - Find and buy a loose and unaffected one here on TFW2005 or eBay and coat the rubber treads in black Flex Seal Liquid Rubber or some other viable protective coating.

    - Ask a designer on Shapeways to design and produce segmented replacement treads for this figure.

    - Replace it with DNA Design DS-01 Susanoo (3rd Party ROTF Bludgeon) or the Japanese TakaraTomy ROTF Bludgeon (RD-20).

    For HFTD Voyager Banzaitron

    - Use Dremel Rotary Tool to smooth out the "melted" areas and space them out from the rubber.

    - Find and buy an unaffected one here on TFW2005 or eBay and coat the rubber treads in gray Flex Seal Liquid Rubber or some other viable protective coating.

    - Ask a designer on Shapeways to design and produce segmented replacement treads for this figure.

    - Replace it with DNA Design DS-02 Arashi (3rd Party HFTD Banzaitron).
     
  3. dragologer

    dragologer "Such heroic nonsense"

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    Does anyone know about gigatron? there was a version of him released a while back that uses the same mold as bludgeon. treads and all.
     
  4. Mr. Chaos

    Mr. Chaos New Holder of the Matrix of Leakership

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    Checked my Bludgeon and he is perfectly fine. Of course, I keep him in a curio cabinet with no direct light so that might be the reason.
     
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  5. Hexatron

    Hexatron Plastic crack junky

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    Checked out my banzitron, was about to report we was perfectly fine until the entire joint holding his leg to is pelvis completely crumbled, full on GPS style...... Although there is no melting lol. Oh well (throws a fade away into the trash)
     
  6. Rockdown

    Rockdown Dream Commander

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    Same thing happened to mine:-(
     
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  7. lordcryotek

    lordcryotek M'Hael

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    Is Takara ROTF Bludgeon different somehow?
     
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  8. MegatroniaOfNumbers

    MegatroniaOfNumbers Victorion is cool too, I guess.

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    I second lordcryotek. How is the JP version any better?

    Was just about to order one. Do you think I'll be safe if the Banzaitron I bought was brand new?
     
  9. Razzy

    Razzy Well-Known Member

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    Pulled out my Demolishor and sure enough one thread was stuck to the side panel. Luckily, I only got him as part of a lot and he was missing one of the skirts anyway.

    Gotta remember where I packed away my two gdo Megatrons... Will also check the KBB black CW Megs ko.

    Cya
    Raziel-chan
     
  10. Autobot Burnout

    Autobot Burnout ...and I'll whisper "No."

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    Weird, just checked my ROTF Bludgeon and he's absolutely fine. No melting or crumbling anywhere.
     
  11. Iruini

    Iruini Some shitposter

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    You know I was expecting most of the aoe dinobots to make this list of victims. Or is it too early for someone like aoe slash, slug or straife to show any symptoms
     
  12. Fenrys

    Fenrys Formerly Tigatron2002

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    my rotf bludgeon is still good as is my gdo megatron
     
  13. Hexatron

    Hexatron Plastic crack junky

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    At this point it seems to be a gamble, some people are having problems and others are not. I don't think being MISB matters because it is a chemical reaction happening with the plastic itself. I doubt environmental factors make a big difference to it.

    I'd say if you're looking for a Banzitron you can get DNA Designs Arashi on Robotoybase.com for 60 + shipping right now.
     
  14. Roger Semerad

    Roger Semerad Well-Known Member

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    I sincerely hope that there are copies of this mold that will remain pristine for decades to come, but I have a strong suspicion that most people that say theirs are fine haven't opened up the shoulders and confirmed the worst of it. If anyone that says their copy is fine would be willing to do this I would be grateful for the information. It's a pretty simple thing to do. Just get the toy into robot mode, then flip up the orange pieces ( for Bludgeon ) on the shoulders to expose the screws. There are three total, one through the arm, two through the shoulder guard. With the screws removed the shoulder guard comes apart in a two piece clamshell. There aren't any small pieces in that assembly, so you don't have anything to keep track of other than the screws. You'll see that the treads there are simply slipped onto one of the hollow posts that a screw goes through, an o ring that should you should be able to simply slide off. However, since this piece has been in direct contact with the treads on all sides constantly, it's likely that the plasticizer migration on that piece is rather extreme. On mine the post came off with barely any force, and once I poked it out of the tread I found it had the consistency of slightly dry putty. There is no possibility to damage the toy doing this, other than losing that post. The good news is that even without that post and screw mine still holds together fine with just the two remaining screws. Anyone that is looking at purchasing one of this mold should ask the seller to do this and provide a picture of the tread removed and that post intact. If that piece is fine, I'd be reasonably confident it will last.

    Like I said, I'd be very grateful for anyone with a seemingly good copy to confirm this one way or the other. I think it's the only way to be sure, and if someone does have a good copy that gives hope that at least some of these molds will survive intact.
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2019
  15. Fenrys

    Fenrys Formerly Tigatron2002

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    i can try to check my bludgeon and megatron later. if it breaks ive been considering getting dna susanoo anyway :lol 
     
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  16. jametron

    jametron Halfway to Heaven, under horsepower of my own…

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    Huh, my Bludgeon, Banzaitron and GDO Megatron are all just fine.
     
  17. Roger Semerad

    Roger Semerad Well-Known Member

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    Thanks, I look forward to a report on that.

    I've got Susano myself, it's a pretty good replacement. I only have two complaints I've got against it. First, while the overall transformation is 90% the same as Bludgeon, Susano's parts have tighter clearance on it's parts pretty much everywhere. Combined with being slightly more complex, that makes the transformation less enjoyable overall. Second, most people ( me included ) have paint chips on the metal feet right out of package. Those two things really aren't that big of a deal though, and you get a larger size, better articulation, and treads that are multiple solid pieces chained together like real treads.

    I strongly doubt it. While Takara releases used to have better paint apps, they were made in the same factories from the same molds. Takara releases having better quality control is mostly a myth. There were a few releases like titan Devastator that had actual changes to the mold for the better, but overall q.c. is comparable to Hasbro. The fact that Banzitron has the same problems as Bludgeon despite being released a year latter suggests that this wasn't a problem isolated to a single run either.
     
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  18. lordcryotek

    lordcryotek M'Hael

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    Yeah, I'm aware that Takara isn't necessarily better than Hasbro, but was curious if the person I quoted had info I wasn't aware of. Mostly just hoping, I love ROTF Bludgeon.
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2019
  19. Rockdown

    Rockdown Dream Commander

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    Checked my two copies of Bludgeon.

    My playing copy's rubber had started to ooze but the plastic had not been damaged. It had been stored in tank mode.

    My newer back up copy was in tank mode. The rubber had melted the plastic on both legs.

    I spent my Friday night removing the treads from both of my copies. That's the rock star life that I lead.

    15587340704538491276703429517474.jpg
     

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    Last edited: May 25, 2019
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  20. Autobot Burnout

    Autobot Burnout ...and I'll whisper "No."

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    I didn't disassemble the shoulders on mine but I was able to transform my ROTF Bludgeon, who has been out of box for nearly a decade at this point (has it really been that long?) and he is rock solid across the board (aside from the other documented problems like the rubber sword and a snapped right hand glued back together). I keep him in robot mode on display and rarely touch him, with the only contacts the treads have on him being the mount points on the shoulder armor and inside the hips, but the treads otherwise hang away from any of the plastic. There is no melting around the places the rubber meets the hard plastic, either.