Main things that stick out to me:

• Left arm connection to the body
• Upper Dino hips that swivel and pivot to the back in robot mode

Those are the main breakages I’ve seen. There have been some reported here in prior pages, both tricky to fix with the left arm being the harder of the 2 to fix if it breaks off from the body. If you haven’t opened yours yet, just know that the right shoulder can somewhat act as a subtle butterfly hinge where it connects to the torso, the left shoulder cannot.

For the upper Dino hips that pivot and swivel to the back in robot mode, they slide on a C/U shaped rail. When I slide them I press the parts together(peg/Dino hip) to slide as one rather than try to use the Dino hip alone or peg alone to swivel into place. You’ll see what I mean when you open it. I do this so tension is applied evenly on both sides rather than just on 1 side. Basically if that peg comes off, that hip comes off. They’re assembled by sandwiching the rail via a flathead pin or rivet. There’s some fixes suggested in prior pages. Mine are still together but 1 side has more play/give than the other, which is why I was worried a breakage may occur on my copy.

 

Oh, that's a good idea. I'll have to remember that.

 

Thanks Shin...you have rightly guess! I haven’t even open my BW Megatron yet! As I’m giving it to my younger kid.

I have only opened Primal and the G1 characters...

The breakage of the left arm...does it occur from transforming it from dinosaur mode to robot? Its quite worrying...

My kid will be crushed if the figure breaks. Thanks for the heads-up man! Really appreciate it!

 

From prior reports, 1 breakage occurred after a drop, 1 or 2 broke off out of nowhere.

I’ve seen more reports of the Dino hips breaking off here and on social media. Thing is those parts have to swivel/slide on a rail for transformation and the rubber can make for a tight tolerance along that rail. That rail is sandwiched between the Dino hips and a peg/cap attached by a flathead pin/rivet.

I know times have changed through the 25 years(WOW) since but I wish this had a worry-free transformation like the original ultra class T. rex Megatron did.

 

Thanks once again Shin. So just to confirm the hip breakage occurs when transforming the figure from dino to bot mode?

Darn it...learning about the QC issues is really a downer because I brought back my original BW Megatron and Primal for my kids and they love the figures. And the beauty of the figures is that they are so sturdy in terms of construction!

 

So it sounds like they used the same horrible plastic on his purple parts as they used on Cheetor. My copy of Cheetor had, like you said, several parts "flake" apart as soon as I touched him. Airazor feels like she uses the same mix as well, and it scares me to transform her.

Whatever the plastic formulation is that they're using, I hope they move away from it soon. It's dreadful stuff.

 

No prob and the breakage for the Dino hips would occur when sliding on the rail, so it could occur when transforming to either mode. They pivot on a hinge upwards 1st but that is separate from where the Dino hips actually attach. The connection to the sliding rail is actually where the breakage would occur.

 

I would hope so but I guess it remains to be seen when. This probably factors into the cost cutting Brian Goldner said they would start to implement at the end of 2019. We never knew exactly where the cuts would be and when, but I guess Kingdom Megatron answers the question unfortunately.

 

Ok, I will take note of the issue...dammit...looks like there’s no 100% method to avoid the breakage. No way, I’m going to let my kid handle this figure.

First the PVC-rubbery skin, the left arm and now this...I must admit that I’m kinda disappointed with this release. I can’t recall a TF figure having so much QC issues...other than MP44 Optimus?!

The skin issue thingy...I think I will skip all the BW characters then.

I’m sorry Beast Wars...I want to share my love for you with my kids but it will be more painful for me too see the toys breaking doen.

 

Goldner can....well, something I shouldn't say on a family forum.

 

You might be able to add a drop of rc car shock oil to the rails so that the dino hips slide easier. I think this can help prevent breakage. I think the breakage is due to the connecting cap/peg possibly having a weak connection made worse if the rail causes resistance when sliding. I would definitely test it before handing it to your kids. FWIW there seem to be more copies out there that haven’t broken than the ones that have. However time will tell if this is the case down the line. That’s why I like this threads as we get a heads up of what to look out for.

Left shoulder connection to torso to me is caused by design.

As for the skin, so far only the Kingdom figures using this mold have the Dino skin. Did Hasbro Or Kenner’s old Jurassic Park toys use soft plastic for the skin? If so, have they deteriorated or leeched plasticizer over time?

 

It is sad to read all the qc and materials issues with these figures. I wanted this megatron so bad, but the rubbery plastic and potential breakage worries me. I dont thin the other bw figures have problems with long term endurance though.

 

Thanks once again Shin! Its feedback and detailed explanations like these from fellow members that I helpful! I really can’t express how grateful I am.

You and the others saved me alot of potential disappointment. The thing I dread most is seeing my figures degrading over time - like my Hot Toys did.

With regards to the Kenner dinosaurs - yes, I have quite a few left. They are the original red t-rex, Bull T-rex and the large Spinosaur.

From what I recall, they still look “fine” (2 months back) to me - I don’t recall seeing any breakage or tearing? The only issues were paint wear and the toys had difficulty standing.

Out of the 3, personally I found the red rex to have the most rubbery-like skin and to be in the best condition...but I must stress that I just gave the figure a general check for tears etc. They don’t have the tacky, sticky feeling either.

To read about the deterioration of the current BW figures is galling and disappointing. I’ll just stick with the G1 updates and 86 studio series.

*I would like to add that the rubbery skin of my SDCC Swamp Thing is still holding out fine too. Surprising given its from Mattel.

 

You’re welcome. Since Kenner and Hasbro merged, hopefully the experience from using rubbery Dino skin on Jurassic park was used in making this Megatron...and hopefully the skin is similar to that of the red T. rex you have.

Since you have Kingdom T. rex Megatron, I would transform and pose it to see if you like it. I like it for the most part aside from the build quality. The sculpt is good and the transformation is mostly intuitive. Connections and build quality are where this toy took a hit.

 

Gonna do this when my Megs arrives today! (3/25/21 at 12:48 am)

 

Harness the Power!

 

Forgot I even had a preorder in at Amazon...anyways..so, I got another one of these lol

unfortunately this one is somehow even worse than my first. It’s straight up missing the tan fade paint on half of its tail section and I cannot get the tail to tab together without itwanting to explode the tabs out of the slots.

woof....

I really want to like this figure

 

Still having no luck finding this guy in stores. Amazon prices are ridiculous too. Ugh this is annoying

 

Should become easier to find soon hopefully, case packed with Prime in wave 1, Magnus in wave 2

 

Thank you for this. Wow, what a difference!

I'll have to take a closer look when I transform back to robot mode. Admittedly, I'm not quite getting what you're saying without pics, but I'm sure I'll get it as I go along.

I'm guessing it's the food/organic-based plastics that companies have been talking about using. I can't imagine it's as strong as the old petroleum-based plastics. (I'm not an engineer, however, and I could be entirely wrong on that.) I know Nylon-based plastics seem to be solid and provide a nice amount of flex so things don't break. I wonder if it would be worth it to make 'em using that?

I figured the cost-cutting meant simplifying molds and making them more holey, rather than the actual quality going down. Goldner's a CEO and doesn't have to think about these things like we do, but my gosh, he can't be that stupid. After a while of figures breaking, people will stop buying and the gravy train will stop coming down the track. I hope he's not cost-cutting that way, because if he is, this may all be over sooner than we think. Yes, we can buy multiples, which helps Hasbro's bottom line in the near future, but it won't keep them going. People will complain and complain and complain and sooner or later someone at Has/Tak is going to have to say something and change things.

Instead of cost-cutting, he might have to raise prices to match better materials. I'd pay $60.00 for a Leader Class figure if it was actually worth the $60.00. At $50.00, which is nothing to sneer at, having Megatron break is a big no-no in my book. We're getting into first-year 3rd party level stuff and we left that period a decade ago. It's starting to feel as though Keith and XTransbots produced these figures for Hasbro...

My  ...

I like the figure, but he's not a must-have, which is sad. I won't be manipulating the left arm at the shoulder anymore, I'll leave it stationary and just use the bicep swivel and elbow to do any emoting. (The right arm is the business end of things, anyway.) I'm so glad I have my spudger handy... It's really good at prying apart panels instead of using brute force (which is necessary on this figure) and I think some of the breakages come from how we have to grip the figure's parts to pull them apart/push them together. (Not our fault, a lot of force has to be applied to transform him, and grabbing him the way we have to is leading to some of the breakages.) I'm not quite sure why they designed him the way they did in certain areas, but others make sense...but just aren't up to snuff for an abusive transformation.