I went to my local Target today and managed to find a lone Spinister on the shelf, but I've noticed a couple things about him. One I fixed (his torso was slightly tilted towards one side), and the other I'm curious about.

Namely his propeller doesn't sit where it's supposed to in his 'bot mode, it keeps flopping down to the sides. It appears the pin holding the blades is a little high which causes them to wobble slightly vertically along said pin. Looking at videos that showcase him, their blades don't seem to wobble at all.

Is this a case where Pledge comes to the rescue, or am I going to have to figure a way to hammer the pin (delicately) further in without damaging him?

 

The propeller is actually ingeniously designed. So on spinisters tail section you will notice a small fin that sticks up slightly just before the rear propeller section. Well when you transform him that little fin should poke through a hole positioned just above the propeller on his back panel. Well on the proppeller there are these little indentations along the base and the fin will actually lock into those indentations and lock the propeller in position.

Your's probably is not locking correctly because of the torso issue you fixed. But you should be able to just kind push the torso together some more and it lock the propeller in place.

 

The torso ‘fix’ was just gently flexing a thin piece of metal between his left hip and midriff immediately above his left leg and letting it stay there in a level position. Didn’t require anything invasive in the slightest nor did it touch his propeller. As stated, his propeller is fairly loose like the pin wasn’t driven in fully or something. It can literally wobble freely in his helicopter mode. When in his bot mode, if he’s pitched forward the fin will catch the notch and stay. But the second he’s standing straight up the propeller will flop away from the fin and fall to the side.

 

It should look like this..

 

It does. The backpack part can’t be sat any further down against the tail and the notch will sit over the fin, but the second he’s moved the top of the propeller slips off the fin and it falls to the side. I’m really beginning to think I’m going to have to hammer the pin further in so the propeller can’t wobble so much.

 

When you're spinning the prop, is it smooth, spin very well but doesn't have any play? (or should I say snug?).

As per this picture (the arrows to show what I mean), mine barely has any give at all.





It does sound that what you're saying is that it is loose, does have play and wobbles when spinning.. right?

This is how mine looks... trying to make sure that you have a good view... but from what you're saying, that's either what you're doing and that "pin" that comes through to push on the rotor part doesn't get in far enough, or the rotor part is simply too loose and as you stated, might need some hammering.



Note how close the blades are to the backpack piece, barely not touching, and they are snug like that and can't be moved away for more than maybe 1mm of "play".

Hope this helps assess yours.

 

It spins pretty cleanly, and if I force the backpack down as far as it can go it stops it. But just temporarily as it keeps slipping off after I release it.

It does have a pretty good amount of play in the blades. I can get them unparalleled to the rest of the body easily.

 

Well, all I can say is that if you lived closed to me, I'd say come on over and let me have a look and see what we can do if there's anything that's fixable.

But maybe it's the backpack that's badly aligned and "popping off"?

If you compare to my picture here, does it align properly? (as mine is so flush when it's snapped in that it's hard to see that it's a separate piece).



I just tried to "de-align" the backpack, and can't do it, the waist spin, the arms, etc. there's nothing that can prevent it from snapping in correctly, except if the rotor part is off on the pin itself.

 

Looking closely at it, the backpack doesn’t appear to sit as flush with the tail piece as yours. It’s pretty small, but there is a gap between the two if not pushed down constantly. I can get them to sit flush if I untransform him slightly, but when snapping the tail piece into the back they separate slightly.

 

ok, how about from the top/side angle?



Might be something just a bit off in the transformation of the tail section maybe?

 

iCloud

 

I see that gap you're saying between the backpack and the tail section...

You'll have to see why that's happening, as that 1mm or so gap is probably the problem.

 

I'm glad this came up.

Made my examine mine and see that the flatheaded pin wasn't pressed in properly. I heated it up with a wood burner and pushed it in all the way. The propeller still spins, the back still forms and everything fits better.

One thing I noticed since fixing this... When you push the back together, you can actually push on the central hub of the rotor and you'll feel a slight "snap" like a nub resting into a notch and it locked the rotors up tight.

You can even replicate the snap/click by pulling them back up when opening the back for transformation and they swing freely.

Didn't have that before resetting the pin.

 

Mine's had the same issue. I'll have to see if I can push that pin in a little further. Thanks everyone for the help.

 

Mine is still sitting at a very pronounced angle (leans forward heavily in copter mode, you can even see it lift up in the rear) but it's fully functional and locks together so much better than before.

The wobble's gone, too. It used to wobble like crazy.

EDIT: Huh. The forward lean is intentional. The rotor sits at an angle. Hmm.

 

hope this helps. Should give you an idea of how it portions out

 

Seems to be a common problem from what I read. Mine is also like this and is very loose. I put a rubber band around it, so it stays in the correct position in bot mode. Of course alt mode now is hindered... I already tried hammering the pin in, so it sits snug, but it didn't work and I did not want to put more force into it, fearing I might break the figure.

That's what I tried first, because I read these comments before getting the figure and thought people might not be transforming the figure correctly as per usual. But that does not work. I hoped it would be just this, but it isn't. Everything sits perfectly on this figure, except the pin is not deep in enough. It should be 1mm further in for this to work.

 

Yeah, it’s definitely pin related looking at that. Yours has the pin head sitting below the top of the blades whereas mine sits slightly above them when resting on his stomach.

 

Before you yank it out or try to press it in more, I did this on an Alternator once to see how the foot was constructed... You can't put it back because it's not really a pin... so I broke the "pin."

It's more of a rivet, which means it's most likely pressed. In your case, I think it was pressed incorrectly.

What I would do is scramble to find the receipt, put in a Hasbro claim form, and cross your fingers if they will replace it. Explain to them and take pictures of your receipt/screenshot it, take pictures of your figure, and make sure you have that box since they will ask about it. There's hidden little stamp codes. Be direct and kindly ask them to please replace the figure due to this defect. It's rather difficult to find him at retail. Let them know it's kind of a let down that such a great figure has this flaw, and that it's not cheap either!

 

Got a reply (well, two) from Hasbro this morning stating that Spinister isn’t available from their warehouse currently and a figure of “equal value” has been ordered and should be here in roughly a week.

Hopefully they let me keep ol’ Spinister since it’s not a true replacement.