Takara Tomy MP-45 Bumblebee 2.0

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by TTemploy, Feb 4, 2019.

  1. jackisking

    jackisking Well-Known Member

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    The waist is on a mushroom peg too much pressure can get it too pop off. One of the biggest complaints is a looseness in his waist, some people worse than others.
     
  2. 4249david

    4249david Click my avatar, you won't regret it...

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    Glad it helped, anything that gets you posting more pictures :D 
     
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  3. Dean ML

    Dean ML Well-Known Member

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    Well, the car shots are of my more shoddily painted copy, the bot shots are of my better copy. Any blemishes you're seeing, though, are barely noticeable in hand. He's so small in reality, photos and strong lighting magnify and accentuate every little gap, blemish, and inconsistency.

    Haha thanks! Man, it's amazing how much having the backpack transformed correctly improves the figure to me! Not only is he more secure now, but the backpack just looks like a tighter, more coherent shape. Wonder if anyone else is making the same mistake I was? Really makes 21's backpack seem that much more archaic to me, being that it's the back half of the car hanging loosely down to his butt with a simple bumper fold and partsformed wheel. $90 is a wild price for this little guy and TT is likely gouging a bit with the second or third most popular character in the franchise, but like I said, 44 is twice the figure 21 is!
     
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  4. Digger

    Digger Banned

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  5. Agent 539

    Agent 539 Blackrock Gas Attendant TFW2005 Supporter

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    I'm not sure about anyone else, but my Bee was super tight out of the box. Hips, waist, shoulders, every joint. I haven't transformed my second copy yet
    So I'm 1/2 on tightness.

    It's amazing to hear how many Bees are experiencing loose joints.
     
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  6. Dean ML

    Dean ML Well-Known Member

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    Ok, I updated that photo set with a properly transformed backpack shot. All locked together now and the shape is much tighter and more unified looking, especially in hand.

    [​IMG]

    Hope it's ok, but I'll detail real quick what I did in case anyone was having the same problem I was, especially as I suspected and hoped I was doing something wrong as it just seemed like a loose mess but I couldn't figure it out for a few days until I got some help from my friends on the board here (thanks again, guys!). The instructions weren't clear to me here (maybe it was in the Japanese text). Hopefully someone else will find this helpful!

    Turns out I wasn't pulling out the extending bar or, more importantly, bending the joint completely so that the bar is nearly parallel with the windscreen. The last 20 or so degrees of that joint are pretty tight, I didn't want to risk cracking, so I thought it just wasn't designed to collapse any further. Glad I was wrong! If yours is tight there like mine, just gently push through.

    Wrong - The bar is not extended and the joint is not completely bent
    [​IMG]

    Correct - The bar is extended and the joint is fully bent so that the bar is nearly parallel with the windshield
    [​IMG]

    Everything collapses tighter and locks together better than I initially had it.
    [​IMG]
     
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  7. ambitron

    ambitron Well-Known Member

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    You should be able to collapse it even a little more. You just need to make sure the part attached to the waist is pushed farther in, so it tucks a little further under the roof piece, and then the hood/bonnet piece sits flush against it rather than hanging down and the parts in the middle are a little tighter:

    backpack1.jpg
     
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  8. Dean ML

    Dean ML Well-Known Member

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    Good call!
     
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  9. Jarrod

    Jarrod Semi-retired Builder

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    Got my replacement copy. This one had a much nicer car paint job, but a pre-chipped waist, right arm, and pretty shoddily painted default face. Luckily, the entire roof and hood section was much better, plus the left arm did not have the giant gash in of my first copy. So, I swapped out the parts I needed, and now have a great BB. Oh, and the new one had a near perfect centered Autobot symbol on the chest...even if the chest is ever so slightly darker yellow, so definitely swapped that out too.

    As @anubis20 mentioned, I also took a look at the hips. My first one was pretty good, second one was very floppy. And yep, it seems to be that the rivet is not in deep enough on some copies. Also, a bit worrisome...both mine had excess glue on the bottom of the pelvis which was actually gumming up the hip joints, and not allowing the pelvis halves to fully sit together.

    You can see the glue on the mushrooms in the pictures below.
    20191202_211654.jpg 20191202_211747.jpg

    So...here's my theory. I couldn't capture it with my camera, but the hip joint "stalk" has a square end. The mushroom part, that is riveted in, has a square cut out. If the rivet is not pushed in all the way, those don't "lock" together. I believe those who have super loose joints...you might just be rotating the stalk on the rivet. The mushroom part should be providing resistance inside the pelvis, but if the lock is not seated properly, that mushroom might not be moving with the leg, and instead remaining fixed inside the pelvis, leaving the leg just rotating on the resistance-less rivet. Adding to this, if that mushroom is glued to the pelvis, that's more chance of it not moving.

    Anyway, here's how one of the my super loose ones looked. See the huge gap between the yellow skirt piece and the mushroom. You can also see the skirt has plenty of room to flop around freely.
    20191202_212352.jpg

    I used a soldering iron to push the rivet's in further. Here you can see how I'm pretty sure it's supposed to look:

    20191202_213543.jpg

    I also cleaned up all the glue on the mushroom, and got it all nice and smooth again. Likewise, there was also some extra glue on the front half of the pelvis, surrounding the peg below. I trimmed all this away, so the pelvis halves could sit flush together.
    20191202_211805.jpg

    Assembling everything back together gives me a smooth, but firm rotation of the hips. Better than my first one had, and great on the second (which is pretty much a guinea pig before I send it back.


    Lastly, some help for those who might still have trouble getting the whole back end lined up. Here's what works for me:

    First, make sure you have the head pushed all the way back against the chest, using both neck joints. Watch those horns, and carefully pass them all the way though the gray joints.
    20191203_155349.jpg

    Next, make sure the shoulders are positioned as shown. You need those little "notches" in that position, to give the pelvis clearance.
    20191203_155252.jpg

    When you swing that assembly back up, pay close attention to the head. You need the head crest in front of the small, clear protruding part. The head should still be fully against the inside of the chest panel.
    20191203_155443.jpg

    Then, swing the small square part up first, to cover the Autobot symbol. If this joint is very tight, loosen the screw just a bit.
    20191203_155618.jpg

    Lastly, fold the bumper up, and push in on the locking tabs behind the rear wheel wells. There's some pretty thick paint on that bumper, so some slight sanding of the tabs could possibly be needed. (I did not).
    20191203_155703.jpg

    I've got a near perfect rear half of the car each time using this method. Neither were even close right out to the box. I'm pretty sure the head position is the key, but the shoulders are also very important.
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2019
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  10. Robotmonkeys

    Robotmonkeys Sons of Cybertron

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    Yeah! Glad I was able to help. It’s usually the other way round :) 
    You’re always helpful to members when small transformation steps are missed. I remember you helping me with Sideswipes legs.
    now...MOAR PICS PLEASE!
     
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  11. 4249david

    4249david Click my avatar, you won't regret it...

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    He stands fine like that, no issues with him wobbling. Obviously the pieces aren't tight as they're in the wrong place, but once you decide your stance/pose, get the legs right etc. you just fiddle with them if they've moved

    Hell yeah. Gonna have to look at mine again now!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 3, 2019
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  12. chockey88

    chockey88 koolkollectibleskhai

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    I always use EMS from Japan.
     
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  13. Digger

    Digger Banned

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    That’s pretty cool! Thanks for sharing.
     
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  14. Mantis

    Mantis Well-Known Member

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    MP-21 is so damn awesome. Damn shame this is such a mess. If the prices tumbles to sub $60 I'm going to still jump on it though.
     
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  15. Dean ML

    Dean ML Well-Known Member

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    Haha nice troll job! 21 was awesome for its time yet he was a mess, too, and archaic in comparison to 45. 21 had widespread paint problems, in particular getting an even yellow (orange!) throughout the figure and on the face/eyes. Exo-suit Spike was widely dismissed (I think it's underrated and I'm keeping mine), 21 was criticized for its stick legs, gigantic feet (clown shoes), thong hips, bulbous torso, empty forearms, CHUG hands, big loose turtle shell back pack, partsforming wheel, IDW head with the edges of the planes of the face being too soft and the notorious stoner smile. I loved the figure for what it was but it was very far from perfect and 45 blows it out of the water on every level except for speed/ease of transformation, but hey, if that was a top priority for me I'd collect CHUGs. I passed down my 21 to my 6yo son tho and he agrees with you that its awesome!
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2019
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  16. Optimus Prime23

    Optimus Prime23 Lighting our Darkest Hour

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    Agreed.
     
  17. timcourtois

    timcourtois Well-Known Member

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    @deanml, when you referred to the bar being extended, what are you referring to? I’m not clear on what part you’re talking about.
     
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  18. anubis20

    anubis20 Well-Known Member

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    master mechanic at work!
    :bowdown: 
     
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  19. Destructimis Prime

    Destructimis Prime We have Landed

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    So after seeing the post above by @Jarrod I opened up my hips to have a look. I ended up removing some paint from the lower tab and enlarging the hole to accept it in the pelvis below the screw. It made a world of difference. It fixed the loose hips and waist rotation. He’s really solid now. It’s unbelievable that those issues were caused by some paint and a small clearance issue. I’m still upset that my panel broke but I’m ok with that. I may try to see if I can do something to fix it. But after tightening this guy up he has redeemed himself a bit.

    After looking at how they could have omitted the window glass from his feet I see the easiest way which could probably be modded would be to have the glass mounted to the center hood pin at the bottom of the windshield. It could have slid out slightly and rested on the side of the backpack. It could even have a additional hinge to make it work in unison with the door probably a small tab to keep them together.
     
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  20. timcourtois

    timcourtois Well-Known Member

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    Thanks jarrod! so I got mine apart and I’m noticing that the mushroom peg is right enough that it seems to be seated on the square shaped “stalk”, but it still is able to rotate slightly - like an eighth of a turn. Is it supposed to do that? What if I just put some glue in the river so it couldn’t rotate at all?
     
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