Dude, this is a great idea. May I suggest clear plastic pen caps. You might be able to find a clear cone shape that’s close enough, and just file the sides. Then take a head from some cheap dollar store toy to put inside. I don’t expect you to easily source this material, but you might come across the right stuff accidentally if you keep the project in the “back pocket”.
Got a Japanese Slag last week in Japan when he released here, and I'm pleased to say that the issues I had with the US version I got a few months back from Amazon have all been fixed: tight knee rachets, tighter fist hinges, even more securely tabbing backpack/tail assembly. So while it sucks that Japan releases everything severl months after the US, at least they're tweaking things and making them a bit better for the more discerning Japanese fans. I also think it's an issue with Hasbro being "do or die" with their stupid release timing (probably for bully retailers like Target and Wal-Mart's benefit...) and are probably starting production before the molds have been fully adjusted.
It could just be you got one from a ‘good batch’ instead of actual changes for Japan. I bought mine from Amazon in the US two months ago and it has tight knees, tight wrists and no issues securing the backpack assembly.
I think the QC is largely random. I got more than one Slug toy. The first was all good joints, while the second, obtained about 1 or 2 months later had one loose hip (in/out swinging joint) and a wobbly knee ratchet.
Got him as a Christmas gift. Like SS 86 Grimlock he feels like a MP 10 era figure placed in a proper CHUG scale. Also like SS86 Grimlock I think this is the definitive CHUG scale Slag for the next decade.
So i just got the set. I swear they just asking for daniel to be put in that position. In other news, slag is great.
Classy. Anyway, the local Walmart has about 15 of these guys on the shelf. I'm thinking of picking up a spare when they hit thr inevitable clearance racks in case the knees go bad over time.
Has anyone had trouble with the same kind of "floating" ratchet joint pieces in the hips of this figure? Mine seem oddly loose since the last time I handled him.
Mine does. I've been thinking of opening his hips and knees to see if they could be improved. This is the only issue I have with the figure, and would like to get him up to Grimlock's standard.
Same here. I did open up mine to see what the difficulty is. One side of the floating pieces appears a little bent inward and out of place. causing the tooth to not quite make connection with the gear molded on the leg. I attempted to bend it back in place but the plastic is actually fairly strong for such a tiny component and it wouldn't really budge. So nothing was objectively broken but I'm still stumped as to a solution.
I opened them up and that little part looks like a defect to me, just molded wrong. Because of this there is too much gap between the tooth and the space it should sit. You can see one open knee with the gap: I just took some card stock and cut some thin strips and folded them up until I could cram them in the space: The upper knee joint was a little loose too (not as much as the lower). I opened them up and did something similar. Those ones the tooth part did not look defective, and fit pretty well already. But I figured with it open I could tighten it up a little more. Then I moved to the hips. These teeth looked like the first, defective ones. This was trickier because the parts are set down in the hip holding them. So I finagled for a while but got some cards stock to hold them better. There is probably a better way to do these ones, but I didn't feel like messing around anymore more. After all this all the ratchet joints are much tighter. Looks like a combination of defective parts, and just the tolerances of the design. If the tooth parts were made better it would probably not need what I did to them. Much happier with the figure now.
I was examining him again this afternoon and everything you just did had occurred to me to try. just hadn't implemented it yet. All this will be a BIG help in addressing this issue. What's odd to me is that these same pieces inside Grimlock are one fully molded unit. as in they aren't shaped like a clip. the ones in Grimlock are molded as one full continuous circle with the tooth on the top. Just seems odd to me that they didn't design them with the same philosophy as Grimlock's seem the sturdier of the two. Do you think small pieces of styrene would have a similar effect as the card stock? And did you happen to keep yours primarily in Dino mode? I'm asking because that's how mine has been. I just wonder about the position of the legs being help in the same place that whole time, caused those two pieces in the hips to bend slightly the way they have.
Styrene might not work as the foam would probably break down as it is loaded from actuating the joint. You want something stiff, but won't get crushed. As for the mode, I've only had mine for a month. I don't think it maters what mode it is kept in. This problem really just affects the movement of the joint. I wouldn't think it maters what mode it sits in. I never opened up Grimlock, as those joints work great. It's kind of annoying how the design of transformers always seems like two steps forward, one step back. When they find something that works well, just keep using it. Seems like they makes changes for changes sake.
I agree. Inovation is always good where this brand is concerned but changes like this baffle me. and we see them ALL the time. What about this product in place of the cardstock? I only ask as I have a TON of this lying around and no cardstock. It's very easy to use and has a very similar feel to the plastic used for the ratchet joints. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MR5EIN6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I was picturing something more foam like when you said styrene. As long as it didn't feel like it will crush once it is in place it will be fine. Is that stuff flexible? If it is flexible it probably won't crush and would work.
It's a little stiffer than the material used for the floating ratchets but it does have a fair amount of give to it. It's what I used to make small inserts for the mushroom pegs on the Earthrise seeker wings. so they wouldn't pop off. I cant imagine this material wouldn't have the same effect.