Quality Issues on Takara Tomy Transformers Encore God Fire Convoy, Possible Recall in Japan

probably a recall to avoid people realizing its not worth the money.

Yikes, for an expensive collectors' oriented reissue to have quality issues, I wouldn't think that would be worth my money at all...

Oh dear. I sincerely hope they're gonna fix the problems and release it again (hopefully for a lower price). That sounds really, really bad.

Where the hell were these watch dogs when Trypticon was release huh?

Nemesis Destron wrote:Where the hell were these watch dogs when Trypticon was release huh?

to my knowledge there were no QC issues with release of Dinosaurer. Though some suspect that because they released it after Hasbro, it allowed time to make the fixes. Unfortunately I don't think Hasbro has the resources or seems to care about QC as much.

This is interesting though...as we see the product variance between and diminish and become more unified, it's nice to see that still will not let something pass that likely would not even give a second thought too. Unfortunately however, with operations moving to India, I expect things only to get worse, not better. It's sad that greed and the desire solely to make money may drive this line to at some point be indistinguishable from KO toys made and sold for a fraction of the price.

This was probably my most anticipated figure(s) of the year. I've got three of the original RID Primes and a Magnus, the Sam's Club Prime and Magnus, the Both pairs of Spy Changers Prime and Magnus, and Titanium Prime (and "Hot Zone"). So I've been looking forward to adding this guy to my collection. He's in the mail, already running late despite EMS shipping, and I'm looking forward to having him in hand, but this is a little discouraging.

I did just read on TFWiki that the issue is with the ankles not allowing his truck mode to tab properly, if that's all it is I can probably live with it.

Emerje

Just to clarify, the original molds have intrinsic issues that may not have been fixed in the reissue. Issues that come from the way the combination works, and how Prime handles the added weight.

i.e Prime's waist ratchet is simply too weak to hold up the waist for the combined mode, and it tends to collapse backwards if not correctly setup.

Also the ratchets in Prime's hips were not the strongest and had a tendency to buckle under the wait of the combined mode causing the combined mode to do the splits.

Basically, the combined mode was quite unstable always.

Unless there's some really bad degradation of the molds, I'm willing to bet this is just the standard issues the combined mode had and went unchecked.

Overcracker wrote:Unless there's some really bad degradation of the molds, I'm willing to bet this is just the standard issues the combined mode had and went unchecked.

Last I checked the issues were mainly on Fire Convoy having parts warped and his hips so restrictive that the cab transformation is virtually impossible.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Overcracker wrote:Unless there's some really bad degradation of the molds, I'm willing to bet this is just the standard issues the combined mode had and went unchecked.

Last I checked the issues were mainly on Fire Convoy having parts warped and his hips so restrictive that the cab transformation is virtually impossible.

I see.

Just watched the video from the facebook post. (Youtube's auto translation of CC, is hilarious).

The video in the Facebook post points out some flashing in the foot / roof hinge on Fire Convoy, and an issue with the thigh ratchets, where the right thigh has the click further apart than the left thigh.

Also mentions sounds swapped for the different gun modes on Magnus.

Other issues mentioned there come from the original figure, like the roof panel not sitting flush with the rest of the roof on Magnus. That was due to how the combined mode head is stored there. Mine still has that issue unless the antennae are stored correctly in there, but that causes the chrome to chip for some reason.

Yeah, I can see where the issue is caused by the feet.



The roof of the truck cab is a bit uneven and the seam between the windows don't come together completely causing a gap at the top. It isn't great, but it doesn't ruin the figure completely for me.

Emerje

I've just read the news and I have the feeling to have missed two weeks of news.

More issues than the ones previously reported ? reported where and when ? on another news on seibertron ?

Confirmed by a number of report ? Where ? Here on seibertron ?

confirmed by a post in twaiwanese ?

I feel like reading about who is KeyserSoze without having seen the movie.

Can we have a recap, a list of the issues etc, for people like me who are not following japanese twitter accounts ?

I think another issue with the set was the toy was designed during a time where a higher quality plastic was used. Has/Tak has been using a lower grade plastic for years that something like God Fire Convoy just can't handle.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I think another issue with the set was the toy was designed during a time where a higher quality plastic was used. Has/Tak has been using a lower grade plastic for years that something like God Fire Convoy just can't handle.

Mold degradation may have a part in that as well. It's now 18 years old, and used quite a bit in the first 5 years. Most notably is the Cybertron gift set from 2005, which IIRC had this off feeling already.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I think another issue with the set was the toy was designed during a time where a higher quality plastic was used. Has/Tak has been using a lower grade plastic for years that something like God Fire Convoy just can't handle.

Mold degradation may have a part in that as well. It's now 18 years old, and used quite a bit in the first 5 years. Most notably is the Cybertron gift set from 2005, which IIRC had this off feeling already.

Yes, it does, I have that set. It also didn't help the instructions weren't clear on how extended Optimus' legs have to be for combined mode.

You mean his waist? Legs don't actually extend. They just plug into the Magnus boots.

The waist should be at the middle notch, so Prime's head is hidden, but the crotch piece (from Magnus's chest) matches up with Prime's crotch. In other words not fully extended. Just enough so Prime's head does not block the Magnus torso piece from sitting flush with the shoulders.

i got mine a few days ago. here's some problems i've encountered:
1: prime's cab doesn't fit together perfectly. the arm panels are actually to blame for this, they're slightly warped and don't sit flush with the top of the truck.
2: one missile really, REALLY likes to fire off even if you don't touch it.
3: the panel that covers the hole the combined mode head leaves behind doesn't sit flush, in either combined or vehicle mode.
4: UM's hands don't peg into prime's without sanding them down first.
5: plastic quality in prime's vehicle back end feels... off. if you try to move the ladder ,it bends the connection points between pieces. not in a way that permanently damages it, but enough to cause worry
6: prime's legs leave a small gap in the cab when in vehicle mode.
7: the pieces that are screwed together to make prime's base shoulders don't line up with each other.
8: some of the plastic parts on UM split along the seams, where they'd normally be glued to held together. he still holds together and transforms fine, but it's worth mentioning.

i haven't tested the electronics because i didn't care about putting in batteries.
now, a few things to note:
1: the plastic quality overall feels good. a few parts seem worrying, but they'll likely disconnect before breaking.
2: paint is good
3: the joints are all solid, and i found not a single one that needed tightening.
4: everything still transforms and combines perfectly fine.

I initially owned the Hb version of Prime and UM way back in 2002. The Omega Prime mode was a floppy fall down go boom mess. So unstable that he can't carry his weight.

Then back in 2009, I purchased a 2nd hand Fire Convoy off ebay. My first ebay purchase. The chrome was a bit discolored but joints wise, very stiff. When combined with the JP God Magnus ( I later ditched my Hb versions), the JP God FireConvoy was very stable with no tilting( I repeat, my Fire Convoy was pre owned already.

So in a period of 2 years from car Robots and RID, the Fire Convoy mold already degraded.

What more after 18 years.So issue like this are no surprise (Heck, even the Bruticus mold (Onslaught especially had those flash marks)

We recently wrote of the possibility of Takara recalling some Transformers Encore God Fire Convoy (RID Omega Prime) sets in Japan. Due to the high price tag for a toy may fans already have in one way or another, not many had experienced this rerelease to know exactly what was wrong with it. And fans who were saving for this set or wondering if they should get it were left confused as to what might be wrong and if it was still worth getting it.

Well, fellow Seibertronian megamanfan wrote down all the issues this rerelease has, from experience with the toy. So, if anyone is still wondering if this is worth getting and what the fuss is all about, here are the words from megamanfan:

megamanfan wrote:i got mine a few days ago. here's some problems I've encountered:

1: prime's cab doesn't fit together perfectly. the arm panels are actually to blame for this, they're slightly warped and don't sit flush with the top of the truck.
2: one missile really, REALLY likes to fire off even if you don't touch it.
3: the panel that covers the hole the combined mode head leaves behind doesn't sit flush, in either combined or vehicle mode.
4: UM's hands don't peg into prime's without sanding them down first.
5: plastic quality in prime's vehicle back end feels... off. if you try to move the ladder ,it bends the connection points between pieces. not in a way that permanently damages it, but enough to cause worry
6: prime's legs leave a small gap in the cab when in vehicle mode.
7: the pieces that are screwed together to make prime's base shoulders don't line up with each other.
8: some of the plastic parts on UM split along the seams, where they'd normally be glued to held together. he still holds together and transforms fine, but it's worth mentioning.

I haven't tested the electronics because I didn't care about putting in batteries.
now, a few things to note:

1: the plastic quality overall feels good. a few parts seem worrying, but they'll likely disconnect before breaking.
2: paint is good
3: the joints are all solid, and i found not a single one that needed tightening.
4: everything still transforms and combines perfectly fine.

Holy Shit, someone just posted this on our facebook page:

Just FYI: Yeap, there was product recall email sent out last Friday by Hasbro Singapore to all Singapore retailers. The recall was due to IC Chip Issue, but there was more than that. You can go to Amazon Japan and see their product feedback on this item. 69% of the feedback is 1 star. Amazon Japan has stopped selling this item.

More detail about product recall. Takara Tomy will issue official statement on April 11. Customer can return this product on voluntary basis, by no later than April 20. No replacement will be offered.

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So being recalled.... would that up the value if you held on to it? Or would it be known as a lemon.... and worth less in the long run? I have the original RiD release; but the non-chrome and sword are tempting.

SpikeyTigertron wrote:So being recalled.... would that up the value if you held on to it? Or would it be known as a lemon.... and worth less in the long run? I have the original RiD release; but the non-chrome and sword are tempting.

No, yes, wait for the fixed release.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

SpikeyTigertron wrote:So being recalled.... would that up the value if you held on to it? Or would it be known as a lemon.... and worth less in the long run? I have the original RiD release; but the non-chrome and sword are tempting.

No, yes, wait for the fixed release.

If they aren't offering a replacement they may not be planing a fix. I'm going to keep mine, mainly because it would cost a lot to ship it back to Japan and I doubt AmiAmi would refund the shipping costs here or back. In the end I'll have spent nearly as much on all the shipping as the set itself cost.

If they do offer it again with everything fixed I'll probably just buy it a second time... We'll see what they have to say today.

Emerje

Egads, what a colossal cock-up. A shame, I kinda wanted this set to replace my knackered old childhood figures. Guess that puts the kibosh on that idea.

Interesting, the recall might actually not be aout the QC problems but instead about licensing problems with sound clips. That would mean that there will be a lot less on the market, especially with these sounds, so this toy might become a rare collectable if Takararecalls and destroys al the copies they get a hold of.

I just got mine. Have not opened. Not sure what to do now

I foresee TT releasing it down the road with fewer sound effects because this edition has more than the original.

Don’t see much improvements to QC because I have dozens of TFs modified over the years due to QC issues. Even my 1988 Made in Japan Takara God Jinrai had QC issues back then.

Yeah I don't see Takara putting out a fixed version. First, from the statement it seems like their main concern is a sound issue. Second, it would cost way too much to make the adjustments at the factory to fix the issues with the mold and/or the quality of the plastics used.

I'm glad I didn't care about this one, but it's a real bummer regardless. If they did something like this set with Armada Prime + Jetfire + Overload or Cybertron Prime + Wing Saber + Leobreaker and it turned out to be a mess of stressed joints and mold flash I'd be crushed!

william-james88 wrote:Interesting, the recall might actually not be aout the QC problems but instead about licensing problems with sound clips. That would mean that there will be a lot less on the market, especially with these sounds, so this toy might become a rare collectable if Takararecalls and destroys al the copies they get a hold of.

I thought they re-recorded all of the audio? They even showed those pictures of Satoshi Hashimoto's recording session. I wonder what the specific audio issue could be?

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Interesting, the recall might actually not be aout the QC problems but instead about licensing problems with sound clips. That would mean that there will be a lot less on the market, especially with these sounds, so this toy might become a rare collectable if Takararecalls and destroys al the copies they get a hold of.

I thought they re-recorded all of the audio? They even showed those pictures of Satoshi Hashimoto's recording session. I wonder what the specific audio issue could be?

Emerje

Could be just sound effects from the original show.

william-james88 wrote:

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Interesting, the recall might actually not be aout the QC problems but instead about licensing problems with sound clips. That would mean that there will be a lot less on the market, especially with these sounds, so this toy might become a rare collectable if Takararecalls and destroys al the copies they get a hold of.

I thought they re-recorded all of the audio? They even showed those pictures of Satoshi Hashimoto's recording session. I wonder what the specific audio issue could be?

Emerje

Could be just sound effects from the original show.

In the US, the only true "recalls" are for safety concerns. Through that lens, could be a wiring issue or some other fire hazard with the chip. If it isn't that, idk ask Tyler Durden or something.

ScottyP wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Interesting, the recall might actually not be aout the QC problems but instead about licensing problems with sound clips. That would mean that there will be a lot less on the market, especially with these sounds, so this toy might become a rare collectable if Takararecalls and destroys al the copies they get a hold of.

I thought they re-recorded all of the audio? They even showed those pictures of Satoshi Hashimoto's recording session. I wonder what the specific audio issue could be?

Emerje

Could be just sound effects from the original show.

In the US, the only true "recalls" are for safety concerns. Through that lens, could be a wiring issue or some other fire hazard with the chip. If it isn't that, idk ask Tyler Durden or something.

If licensing problems are the real issue, which I somehow doubt, it seems like it'd be cheaper to just pay the licensing fees or whatever the damages are then recalling the entire product. Though I could be absolutely wrong about that!

Seibertron wrote:

ScottyP wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Interesting, the recall might actually not be aout the QC problems but instead about licensing problems with sound clips. That would mean that there will be a lot less on the market, especially with these sounds, so this toy might become a rare collectable if Takararecalls and destroys al the copies they get a hold of.

I thought they re-recorded all of the audio? They even showed those pictures of Satoshi Hashimoto's recording session. I wonder what the specific audio issue could be?

Emerje

Could be just sound effects from the original show.

In the US, the only true "recalls" are for safety concerns. Through that lens, could be a wiring issue or some other fire hazard with the chip. If it isn't that, idk ask Tyler Durden or something.

If licensing problems are the real issue, which I somehow doubt, it seems like it'd be cheaper to just pay the licensing fees or whatever the damages are then recalling the entire product. Though I could be absolutely wrong about that!

If it was licensing I highly doubt the set would have been released with the sounds promised to begin with. We'll find out tomorrow what's really behind the recall from TakaraTomy themselves.

On the subject of TakaraTomy responding to QC, anybody remember Go! Jinbu? TakaraTomy put a notice on the subject of Jinbu's misassembly, good from them, but I don't remember if there was a voluntary recall.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

ScottyP wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Interesting, the recall might actually not be aout the QC problems but instead about licensing problems with sound clips. That would mean that there will be a lot less on the market, especially with these sounds, so this toy might become a rare collectable if Takararecalls and destroys al the copies they get a hold of.

I thought they re-recorded all of the audio? They even showed those pictures of Satoshi Hashimoto's recording session. I wonder what the specific audio issue could be?

Emerje

Could be just sound effects from the original show.

In the US, the only true "recalls" are for safety concerns. Through that lens, could be a wiring issue or some other fire hazard with the chip. If it isn't that, idk ask Tyler Durden or something.

If licensing problems are the real issue, which I somehow doubt, it seems like it'd be cheaper to just pay the licensing fees or whatever the damages are then recalling the entire product. Though I could be absolutely wrong about that!

If it was licensing I highly doubt the set would have been released with the sounds promised to begin with. We'll find out tomorrow what's really behind the recall from TakaraTomy themselves.

On the subject of TakaraTomy responding to QC, anybody remember Go! Jinbu? TakaraTomy put a notice on the subject of Jinbu's misassembly, good from them, but I don't remember if there was a voluntary recall.

I believe there was a voluntary recall on Jinbu. Mine was delayed getting to me by the seller because he sent it back to get fixed, then sent it to me when it was returned. I'm sure the wiki knows for sure though.

voluntary recall? like all of you are going to return a potentially rare and collectable figure

From Amazon Japan

"My individual, like the others, had a voice difference between the Vulcan and the laser, and it was not possible to shake hands when uniting. I heard that there are more Hydoy individuals, so I think that I am still better."

"Like other reviews, Magnus's voice is reversed and the hinge's tightness is really the worst. If you contact a customer, it is obviously bad, but let me deposit it and let me inspect it. It will take 3-4 weeks! ! I was disappointed that it was not correspondence of expensive items. I think I will return a refund to Amazon."

"It is an opinion as a person who does not have an old fire convoy ... No, it is not bad

, the strength of the left and right ankle of fire convoy is different, right ankle is too loose and it turns at once.

And the extreme is an image. The hole and the petch for placing the parts of Transmain are opposite to each other, that is, the same shape was attached, which

makes it impossible to become a Fire Fire God. If it is just an ankle, I will consider whether I will allow it yet, but this is a little. I am very sorry to just want it because I wanted it. I will apply for returns or exchanges even tomorrow"

"The thing that arrived at us was not such a terrible individual, and the painting and molding were also beautiful at the level where it can be deformed normally.
However, even if "handshake" is forcibly pushed in, it can not be done, or the head at the time of coalescence does not fit nicely and floats.
Well it is a level that I manage to some extent on my own. I do not think any premise is to add a product with a price of 30,000 fixed price, but I'm accustomed to Takara Tomy ... It's sweat

, but a mistake in voice at God Magnus! I can not defend this alone!
When weapons are set in God Magnus, the sounds sound, but the two patterns of sounds activated by recombination are opposite to the notation of the manual. It is not a misprint of instruction manual, but a mistake of voice. This is impossible with self.
It can be seen quite a lot of people, but on the contrary if there are few normal people ...?
At that time I raised the price greatly from the goods and I can not convince the selling point which appealed extensively at this, and I think that it is not worth the price even if the state is good unless it is firm here.

How does Takara Tomy respond? Like the MPM Optimus roof, does it say that it is a specification? I think that it is described in the instruction manual and I can not say that I can not escape ... I
will watch for correspondence for the time being. I do not want you to stop the flow of commercialization of the reprinted version made here, so I would like to face the kitchen and prepare for the future."

"It is too bad compared to the old version. Bali is terrible and hip joint clicks are not decent. Magnus's voice is also reversed. Even though the price is higher than the old version. It is better to buy second hand if you can find second hand. I want you to secure quality before adding new voice. It is disappointing because I was looking forward enough to reserve it as soon as I started booking."

" Although the completion degree of Gotfire convoy was expensive, there
are some defective parts
① Firecomboy Vehicle mode can not be deformed
② Got Magnus electric garage reverse "

"It is certainly a commodity with a price of about 30,000, which is out of the question such as putting it at the lowest quality so far.
It is not that you should postpone the release so much that you should
never resell it as a terrible thing so far ... The sound of God Magnus in the previous review is not proportional to individual differences as it seems to be in every product.
Compared to the old version of my own, the right leg of the main body of the convoy was distorted first, it was not deformable.
Furthermore, the matrix cover only opens up to 90 degrees, the cover turns white.
The neck is not properly aligned with the ball joint, and the neck of the convoy is caught at the time of deformation.
Even in Magnus, the head of Godfire convoy was not hooked on the ball joint and could not be stored."

"As purchasers here say, it is full of troubles.
I did not try speech on my own individuals, but before that I could not become a Fire Fire God. Arm parts of super fire convoy, parts to connect front and rear of car body parts are different on the left and right, but the board parts with all parts, the board with the fist ball joint are the same on the left and right Because of the plate, the notch for joining with the front part of the car body was misaligned up and down and could not be joined.
Also, many of them are told, but clicks of the hip joints, perhaps both of them are left.
I could not shake hands the first one to become a Godfire convoy. "

"I just bought one but it seems to be faulty comp.
"Left ankle diagonal", "anomaly of click joint" and "reverse voice" all seemed to be applicable.
Others
· Super fire convoy head does not move obliquely.
　When looking inside, the ball joint was poorly shaped, and the ball bearing was broken by impossible screw stopper.
· The ladder is distorted, the bottom side, side does not follow the inside ladder.
· The panel of the chest matrix does not open halfway and it bleaches.
· The thighs of God Magnus are reversed (The official pictures are also reverse, so subtle?)
· You can not coalesce handshake."

"There are a lot of interfering parts, do not get fucked well. I felt compassion to a certain extent that it was the fate of Transformers Toy and so on.
However, it is a
voice that can not be satisfied in myself if it can not be convinced even if doing according to the instruction manual .
The weapon of Got Magnus is a beam on the right and the Vulcan on the left, but
this is the only thing that turns the sound into the opposite direction.

I
wonder if you did not really do inspections or final checks or something? I doubt it.
I will also contact customer service and I will keep it on Amazon. "


So based on the majority of compalints

1. GM's SFX are f'cked up
2. Neck problems with Super Fireconvoy
3. No hand shake or can't do the handshake
4. Reversed Thighs for GM
5. Matrix cover too tight
6. Fireconvoy can't be fully transformed
7. Joint issues or broken joints
8. Alignment issues
9. Issue with the Fireconvoy "boots"
10. Not worth the price of headaches!

So there are no licensing issues or anything. Just a slag hitting the proverbial fan and the JP customers/consumers are really voicing their outrage. In JP, you lose face and you lose everything!

Really one big cluster f'ck on Takara. Btw, is this made in Vietnam or India now?

Anyone selling the Sword? I'm interested!

fenrir72 wrote:
(...)

1. GM's SFX are f'cked up
2. Neck problems with Super Fireconvoy
3. No hand shake or can't do the handshake
4. Reversed Thighs for GM
5. Matrix cover too tight
6. Fireconvoy can't be fully transformed
7. Joint issues or broken joints
8. Alignment issues
9. Issue with the Fireconvoy "boots"
10. Not worth the price of headaches!

So there are no licensing issues or anything. Just a slag hitting the proverbial fan and the JP customers/consumers are really voicing their outrage. In JP, you lose face and you lose everything!

Really one big cluster f'ck on Takara. Btw, is this made in Vietnam or India now?

India's new to me, but I don't think location is a main factor in this. The warping, alignment, tolerance... the molds must be in really bad shape. The sounds being incorrectly programmed... who is usually in charge of the electronics?

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:
(...)

1. GM's SFX are f'cked up
2. Neck problems with Super Fireconvoy
3. No hand shake or can't do the handshake
4. Reversed Thighs for GM
5. Matrix cover too tight
6. Fireconvoy can't be fully transformed
7. Joint issues or broken joints
8. Alignment issues
9. Issue with the Fireconvoy "boots"
10. Not worth the price of headaches!

So there are no licensing issues or anything. Just a slag hitting the proverbial fan and the JP customers/consumers are really voicing their outrage. In JP, you lose face and you lose everything!

Really one big cluster f'ck on Takara. Btw, is this made in Vietnam or India now?

India's new to me, but I don't think location is a main factor in this. The warping, alignment, tolerance... the molds must be in really bad shape. The sounds being incorrectly programmed... who is usually in charge of the electronics?

Someone O D'd on Sake most probably

Seriously though, this was announced waaaaaaaay back in 2013.Feels like a rushed job on Takara's part. As one of the Amazon JP purchasers mentioned, all the bling is for naught if QC wasn't maintained. Kinda similar to the videogame industry, the rush to make the next deadline in order to impress the investors......gaaah! Leads to a very sloppy results.

Reason why I asked if it's Vietnam or India, I kinda heard somewhere that India might be the next hub for manufacture. Maybe the transition of locale affected the result? Though the sound chip encoding is quite baffling indeed.

I'll still support Takara and Hb and thank my fortune I have the original sans the sword............Y 30000 is nothing to sneeze at.

P.S. Seems like Amiami pulled out their stocks already.

The recall rumor was retracted the same day by the same people that posted it initially.
https://tformers.com/encore-god-fire-co ... /news.html

Man what a frickin' joke, so glad I didn't get myself hyped into buying it, it's easily one of my most desired set of figures, alongside energon o/p and wingsaber/o.supreme.

If I were has/tak, I'd take this bad boy all the way back to the drawing board and start again from scratch. Here's my list of design changes I'd implement:

-Keep them the same size

-keep the arm components, just make new molds; they are clever and straight forward and kinda iconic for the character, no need to change them

-Integrate cw combiner port designs into magnus' thighs, like godbomber did

-Gut the electronics and batteries, he's already going to be quite top heavy, and this would make the combined mode much better

-Nix the rubber tires, don't need 'em and they just add an extra material to the cost (keep the painted rims though, that's important)

-Nix magnus' giant gun and primes multi missile ladder, honestly they are low on my list of what I need out of a redesign of these guys, and they would only drive up the cost

-Redesign prime's legs, they have a huge load to bear, I would make the thighs bigger/less curvy/humanoid and use the space to add stronger ratchets with more detents to the thighs and knee's

-Cut the translucent plastic, it's not really needed and just adds to the production cost, besides, if they're in combined mode most of the time, you won't see the cabins anyways

-Rework the combined mode legs/feet to be sure they can hold up the figure

-Rework primes torso extension gimmick to at least lock together much better, as it's the primary function for supporting all the combined modes, having this be really robust is essential

Well, that's about all I got, hope to one day see a generations style update that includes some of these improvements

Knightsword wrote:The recall rumor was retracted the same day by the same people that posted it initially.
https://tformers.com/encore-god-fire-co ... /news.html

Or just a polite way of saying there won't be anymore figs to be sold anymore.

Amiami is supposedly the largest online JP store. Just a day after the report of recall, their GodFireconvoy stocks which were aplenty is now "not available"

hlj is order stop

hobbysearch is "sold out"

The last two have limited quantities in their catalog( no offense intended for the two as they are my go to suppliers if the first fails)

The first one, Amiami going "unavailable" in just a day after the recall rumor....very interesting.

A bit of tough love towards Takara. The QC supervisor for this project needs to commit sepuku for this clusterf'ck! This reminds me of Yamato's exploding shoulders in their 1/60 Valkyries due to the misplaced pins. Only this one, concerning the electronics, misassembled parts, mold degradation(?) is like x 3 clusterf'ck!

Will this be a big write off on their part? Y 30,000 a unit is no laughing matter! What is the % of the lemons sold?

Not every stock will be sold for a flat Y30,000 ( give or take their domestic TAXES). So just round it off to Y 30,000. Then, multiply that by 10,000 units which let say is Takara's minimum manufacturing capacity ( 5,000 is a yardstick for a small company consider it a profit for a figure release in Japan)

The total would be Y 300,000,000 or US$ 2,800,000+

If the target was 20,000 units sold, that would be US$ 5,600,000+

This is a big ouch if the lemons are more than 10%!

I hope this won't affect Takara's financial ability to make more of our plastic crack!

If you're going to swear, just fucking swear and let the swear filter do it for you. As far as I'm concerned, self-censoring is just a blatant attempt to by-pass a part of the forum software.

Hey, maybe there is a silver lining here. Maybe after they screwed up this release so badly they'll finally make that Masterpiece set they've always wanted to make but didn't without the incentive to try to out do the original. Now that the original is off the board maybe it's time to give that another look.

Emerje

Just opened mine. Damn. I have 2 right arms for Fire Convoy’s Super Mode. Not possible to transform into the fire truck. If anyone has 2 left arms, we can parts swap!
Thanks!

Holy cow, I was curious and went to Amazon Japn to see what reviews this toy qas getting. Over 60% are 1 star reviews.

william-james88 wrote:Holy cow, I was curious and went to Amazon Japn to see what reviews this toy qas getting. Over 60% are 1 star reviews.

I'm hoping they're from people who are already familiar with these molds and recognize the shortcomings specific to this release, rather than people who have had no experience with these molds and might possibly instead be deriding them for their complexity level and curious stability that some--but not all--took issue with back when the molds were originally released.

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:Holy cow, I was curious and went to Amazon Japn to see what reviews this toy qas getting. Over 60% are 1 star reviews.

I'm hoping they're from people who are already familiar with these molds and recognize the shortcomings specific to this release, rather than people who have had no experience with these molds and might possibly instead be deriding them for their complexity level and curious stability that some--but not all--took issue with back when the molds were originally released.

Yo can read them if you wish. It seemsits eople familiar with the toy

https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%BF%E3%8 ... iya-konboi?tag=seibertron00-22&

What I don't understand is how the mold can be so damaged ?
Or is it a change of plastic plastic/quality which creates all these issues ?

The mold is not so old (compared to G1) and has not been reused so much (compared like.. Classics Optimus, classics seekers.. even some of the cars brothers have been repainted more..)

ExciKaiser wrote:What I don't understand is how the mold can be so damaged ?
Or is it a change of plastic plastic/quality which creates all these issues ?

The mold is not so old (compared to G1) and has not been reused so much (compared like.. Classics Optimus, classics seekers.. even some of the cars brothers have been repainted more..)

They're 18-year-old molds. Even several younger molds from the Unicron Trilogy are said to now be mush from age.

ExciKaiser wrote:What I don't understand is how the mold can be so damaged ?
Or is it a change of plastic plastic/quality which creates all these issues ?

The mold is not so old (compared to G1) and has not been reused so much (compared like.. Classics Optimus, classics seekers.. even some of the cars brothers have been repainted more..)

Even back in 2002, the FireConvoy HB version already had some tilting issues. So even by 2 years, there was a frickon degradation already when HB started releasing it for the USA market.The JP releases, mine
anyway which was pre owned, does not have any tilting issues despite having such a narrow center of gravity in the design when in God Fire Convoy mode.

So the degradation and maybe, just maybe, a greenhorn QC Takara employee being assigned a job bigger than he can chew is the reason for the fiasco.

Quite sad

There has been a lot of noise regarding an actual response from Takara rearding the issues expressed with the recent Transformers Encore God Fire Convoy (which is scoring terribly on Amazon Japan). Well, Takara has indeed posted an official apology on their site and will accept these sets back and give customers refunds (rather than a fixed version). This is of course only applicable to customers in Japan.

What does come as a surprise is the highlighted reason for the voluntary recall. From what is written in the text, it seems principally based on the sound clip issue where they swapped the activation sounds for “Magna Laser” and “Magna Vulcan”. They also highlight an error on the box where there should be the combined mode rather than an image of the sword.