Beast Hunters!

Predacons Galore!

The funny thing about toy lines with promotional media tie ins is the ironic fact that the toys don't ever really have to match the media. Transformers Prime Beast Hunters is a perfect case study into this particular phenomenon. Disregarding all the internet hearsay which states that the entire premise of Beast Hunters was added on clumsily to the already successful Transformers Prime animated show and toy line to extend toy sales, the fact remains that almost the entirety of the Beast Hunters toy line has nothing to do with the show.

In the past, Transformers toys were released to coincide with the animated series. Literally, a character would be introduced and you could go out to the store and buy that character's action figure the same week. A perfect example would is Transformers Beast Wars. Arguably second to Transformers Prime in story telling and maturity, Beast Wars ran for 3 seasons like Prime. However, while Prime introduced re-imaginings of the core characters which did not appear in the show, Beast Wars redesigned the characters from events in the shows cannon. This logical action made it very easy for collectors to buy a second recolored version of the 
character or even buy the same character in a different rendition  
(regular, Trans-metal, Trans-metal 2).

Japan Only

Sadly, Beast Hunters introduced an entire line of figures which represent the core cast of protagonists and villains and a new host of beasts without any appearance on the show. This disconnect seems like it would be a disastrous. Some would argue for or against the results. I can only say that as a hardcore Transformers collector, I have only bought 2 figures (deluxe Smokescreen and voyager Optimus Prime) and I only intend to purchase 1 more in the future (ultimate Predaking). My own preference in collecting dictates I follow the fictional cannon of the show. I purchase the best representations of each character in the show, factoring in the scale of the toys to the show iterations. 

Non-Show Hasbro Figures
*Select Images Courtesy of Seibertron.com

That being said, the biggest question is why didn't Hasbro release figures that Takara Tomy did? Why would they create an entire line of fictional alternate modes for the core cast of characters for Prime and rename the show under the Beast Hunters banner when there was a perfectly good stable of figures that remain unreleased outside of Japan? Some suspect licensing issues or shared costs of the tooling and molds. Some say Beast Hunters was a huge marketing campaign which did not take into consideration the hardcore fans and toy collectors and instead focused on the Transformers brand and the casual consumer (parents who purchase toys for their children). 

The rational does not really make sense since Hasbro released some characters that were not found in the show including Hot Shot, Dead End, Rumble, Kup, Thundertron, or the early version of Ultra Magnus. Why wouldn't they release Breakdown, Unicron, Silas, Nemesis Prime, Jet Vehicon, and Vehicon General? All the before mentioned appeared prominently in various episodes. Then there is the horde of additional characters that were created by recoloring previously released molds. Some of these figures featured entirely new head sculpts, including Swerve, Lio Prime, and Wild Rider.

Wonderful World of Import Characters
*Select Images Courtesy of Seibertron.com

Regardless, there can be no argument that there are still a ton of figures that remain unreleased to the western market. Who knows if they will ever be made available. In the end, it may be too late as many like me turned to the grey market to purchase import products from Japan. 

Arms Micron - Infinite Possibilities!

Transformers Prime Arms Micron toy line released in March 2012 in Japan and while the toys are relatively identical to the international Hasbro versions of Transformers Prime Robots In Disguise toy line, Takara Tomy offered an alternative accessories for the Japanese version of the toys, Arms Micron mini-cons.

Specifically designed and produced in conjunction with decal sheets for the Japanese Transformers Prime toys, Arms Micron mini-cons were aimed to get Japanese kids and parents to play with the toys together. Parents would help decal the figures and assemble the Arms Micron mini-cons which were included on unassembled sprues. It's a pretty neat concept and as a toy collector and a adult, I admire Takara Tomy for this unconventional, by western standards, approach. Additionally, Takara Tomy added mini-con ports to the action figures to allow the Arms Microns to dock with the toys.

Obviously not every one is happy about this. Many in the international Transformers toy collecting community have bemoaned the Arms Micron, decal features, and added Arms Micron ports. Comments included the difficulty of putting together the Arms Microns, the length of time it takes to apply the fairly complicated decals to the toys, and cluttering of the toys original design with port sockets. While the easiest solution is to tell the complainers to just not buy the toys. They are not meant for you. If you don't like them, don't buy them. But Hasbro decided not to release certain characters internationally so there has become a sizeable contingent of Takara Tomy exclusive Japan only released figures. Again, I still believe if you don't like it, don't buy it.

To me these complaints equate to someone saying a Japanese version of a Transformer is inferior because the owner could not figure out how to transform the toy and blaming the Japanese language instructions, "Can't they make the instructions universal just for me?" Again, these toys were not meant for you. If you want this toy of this particular character, suck it up. Pay your secondary market import fee and be happy you got it.

Additionally, Takara Tomy has invested a considerable amount of time and money into the customization messaging. They want kids to think of these toys as limited model kits (very similar to the mid-80's Votoms/  Dougram boom when Gunpla got huge and toy lines started messaging the customization and scale features of their mecha toys). Check out this toy developer video below featuring their own customization including recycling plastic bottles, forks, and printing and cutting their own sticker sheets. You have to admit, this is pretty cool and again please remember this is geared towards kids. How fun would it be to customize your own Transformers with your parents? I for one think it's ingenious and adds a new dimension to the toy line. ^_^

Transformers Quality Control Issues and Customer Service Woes

Bumble Bee, Why You No Have Head?
*Image courtesy of Planet Iacon - Singapore Transformers Fans Unite!

Any Transformers collectors run into quality control issues with the recent toys? I've actually had a bit of bad luck lately with some of my purchases. I've been collecting Transformers for the better part of 13 years now and I have never run into this amount of defects and quality issues with the toys until now. I suspect my own increase in defective or imperfect figures has to do with the fact that I rarely purchase figures at the retail brick and mortar stores anymore so I can't inspect the figures for flaws. Despite this, the number of incidents has occurred alarmingly frequently lately. I have purchased a defective officially produced figure 7 times this year, with the last 5 happening once per month in a row.






December 2002

Car Robots Brave Fortress Maximus *Image courtesy of TFW2005

This happened a long time ago and my memory is a little hazy on exactly when I purchased my Sonokong Car Robots Brave Fortress Maximus from Big Bad Toy Store. I remember this was the largest purchase I had ever made up to that date and it was a big deal for me. Once the toy arrived, I was super sadden to search the box and to realize he was missing his head master. After silently sulking in sadness, I contacted BBTS and their customer service department. Thankfully they sent me the part I was missing from a sealed set. I will always be loyal and thankful for BBTS's service and dedication to their customers. Their online retail store is a godsend to the toy collecting community and I have been a proud customer of theirs since 2001 (that's 12 years as of this article). In short, BBTS is awesome and this incident was isolated since I have purchased a horde of Sonokong Transformers, Microman, and Yuusha Brave figures since then and they all seemed perfectly fine.

September  2006

Classics AstroTrain *Image courtesy of cliffbee.com

The next run in I had with a defective product is when I purchased a Hasbro Classics AstroTrain, He came with 2 right shoulder joints. Sure the figure came in the package in space shuttle mode but I failed to notice the flaw when I grabbed the figure off the peg at Target. Sadly, I figured out the assembly mistake after I broke open the toy. I really should have returned him but at the time, I just accepted the flaw and moved on with my life. He looks fine in bot mode and train mode but the shoulders do not lineup correctly in shuttle mode. Eventually I picked up the Takara Henkei AstroTrain figure with the cartoon accurate color scheme and my Hasbro White AstroTrain has been at the bottom of a storage bin ever since. 

August 2011

Animated Bulkhead *Image courtesy of tilallaremine.wordpress.com

I really didn't have any other problems with defects for while until last year. I purchased a Transformers Animated Voyager Bulkhead (2008) sometime last summer MISP and his shoulders were miss-assembled.  His right shoulder was his left and vice versea which lent to a bot mode miss-transformation. Unfortunately  there is not a way to correct this assembly defect as pulling the shoulder pins will most likely stress the hinges to the point of shattering. Bulkheads vehicle mode is fine though. I've been content to keep him as placeholder figure for now until I feel compelled to replace this factory reject. Thanks Hasbro, your suckage traveled 3 years into the future to suck.


February 2012

SG Drift *Image courtesy of TFW2005

In February this year, I purchased Shattered Glass Drift from the Official Transformers Collector Club run by Fun Publications. As with many of the figures sold, mine came with mix matched pistol set. I believe I received 2 right side pistols. This really didn't bother me as SG Drift does not come with the companion sniper rife that combines with the pistols like the original Transformers Generations Blurr (2010) figure. The mix matched pistols really do not have corresponding negative effect other than the fact that the set is mix matched. Still, it is rather disturbing that no one caught this at the factory level and that the frequency of the mix matching was throughout the entire product line for this figure. It should not be up to the end consumer to have to contact each other on forum boards to trade parts to get a set that is complete and matching. This shows very poor project management on Fun Publication's part (but of course Fun Publication has become a joke of a organization with leaked credit card information, defective products, and general mismanagement of events, seriously it's like they can not do anything right at all). Fun Publication Majorly Sucks.

May 2012

SG Wrek-gar *Image courtesy of Seibertron.com

Coming off of Botcon 2012, I purchased the Shattered Glass Junkion Set from TFSource. Lucky me. After opening the set I discovered Shattered Glass Wrek-gar was missing his head entirely. I contacted Fun Publications (yup them again) and they told me since the set was sold to a wholesaler I had to contact the retailer I purchased the set from and file a claim through them. Now on a wild goose chase, I contacted TFSource and filed my claim. They told me they submitted the claim to Fun Publications and they were awaiting a reply. It was communicated to me that there were multiple claims through TFSoruce and Fun Publications wanted to sort through them all together at one time. So I waited. I emailed a few weeks later. I waited. Etc, etc. THREE MONTHS ROLL BY. It got to the point were TFSource was not even replying to my emails because they were attending conventions during the summer. I happen to rant about the situation to a friend who knew some of the people at TFSource. I was then contacted by them and the situation was finally resolved. Apparently, Fun Publication reversed their stance and were taking claims directly from consumers with the end product in hand. Fun Publications failed to contact me about this. TFSource failed to followup with my claim because they assumed I was contacted by Fun Publications. Thank you both for a epic failure in customer service. Granted, I got Wrek-gars head after 3 months of waiting. But when you buy a car, do you expect to get the steering wheel 3 months after purchase and when you ask about it do you expect the mechanic and the car dealer both to point at each other? Sigh, EPIC FAIL.

July 2012

FOC SDCC Brawl *Image courtesy of Seibertron.com

During Comic-con this year I purchased the Hasbro SDCC 2012 Exclusive Fall of Cybertron Bruticus Set (2012) through a friend who stood in line for me. The set included a Brawl figure that was missing part of his head. Yeah, he was missing a chunk of his upper head. It's not really noticeable but one of his ornamental horns on his head is missing and it looks like he might have lost it when the part was removed from the sprue after the molding process. I keep the set in Bruticus mode so it really doesn't bother me but still that is a really crappy thing to happen for a set that retailed for $100 MSRP. I'm just glad a friend stood in line for the set and purchased it for me. I would be super duper pissed if I stood in line for 6 hours, paid $100, and found out I got a defect after coming home from the show. Yeah, you suck Hasbro.

August 2012

Arms Micron Swerve *Image courtesy of  Hobby Search

I picked up the Takara Tomy Transformers Prime Swerve in August 2012 and his head actually broke off straight out of the package. I literally took him out of his package and rotated his head 30 degrees and it snapped off. There's nothing worse than  opening a toy and having the figure break in your hands as you take him out of the package. It takes that euphoric moment of joy and dumps it in a toilet bowl full of stagnant putrid crap. I remained composed and put the figure down and did not return to him until the next day. I drilled a pin in his neck base connected to his broken neck ball joint and super glued the pieces together. I then used a X-Acto knife to clean out the glued neck joint of any excess glue. I crossed my fingers and snapped the head back onto the joint. Ultimately  the neck joint is sufficiently reinforced to allow full 360 degree articulation without any undue stress. So, the figure is fixed but that really sucked. This is the first time a Takara Tomy figure failed for me but not the last.

September 2012

Generations Junkheap *Image courtesy of Wikia.com

In September 2012, a friend picked up a Transformers Generations Junkheap figure for me. This was my second Junkheap. I wanted to get him to properly display the Maiden Japan B-01 King Tiger third-party accessories pack that I recently purchased. Sadly, his right bike handle fell straight off the figure when I opened him. It seems the rubber part cracked when it was snapped into place on the securing peg of the figures body. I glued it back in place since I did not want to return him and try to hunt down another one (the figure is a year old after all and not widely available for the MSRP price anymore). The base figure works well displaying the Maiden Japan parts for King Tiger but essentially the Junkheap is broken out of the package. Hasbro Sucks.



October 2012

Arms Micron Gaia Unicron *Image courtesy of Seibertron.com

In October I picked up Takara Tomy Transformers Prime Gaia Unicorn. I know a lot of people had mixed feelings overall with this toy. While the figure looks TV show accurate, his transformation into a rock ship with his face on it and the really lame battle suit mode for RID Optimus Prime and Megatron was really poorly designed and executed. Surprise to me, the figure I got has a small tear in the rubber horns on his head. It looks like his horn was assembled wrong and when the rubber was glued to the PVC plastic base someone tried to adjust the horn to point in the right direction which tore the rubber horn. The horn is pretty secure in its glue and the tear is not loose at all. However whomever tried to adjust the position failed and promptly tied the figure down into it's packaging and moved on with their lowly life, thanks for the defective figure mysteriously incompetent factory worker.

November 2012

GDO Asia Wheelie *Image courtesy of cooksux.com

This month, I picked up Transformers Asia Exclusive GDO Wheelie. Based on the Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz mold, Wheelie has a new unique head, sling shot weapon, and sporty orange color scheme. Unfortunately for me, he was also miss-assembled. After trying to transform him I realized his head was not elevating out of his chest cavity fully. His eyes and head visor barely cleared his chest. After comparing him to my other Jazz mold figures (Special Ops Jazz, Kick Off and SG TreadShot, I deduced that the auto transformation mechanism in his chest was misaligned by 2 to 3 teeth. I had to disassemble him and adjust the figure manually to get the head to fully deploy from Wheelie's chest. Anyone seeing a pattern here?

So, if we review the tally, I've had a Transformer purchase failure once a month for the last 5 months straight with 70% of the defects happening this year!!! The big question to ask is, why is this happening so frequently now, especially when they are increasing the MSRP on figures globally. Each of these figures specific issues have marred my collecting experiences  What should be a happy occasion turns into a problem to be solved or an headache to be trudged through. Purchasing products or a service should not be like this. You should not purchase food and get poisoned. You should not purchase a Transformer figure and get something broken or incomplete out of a factory sealed box. 

Hear this Hasbro, Takara Tomy, Fun Publications, your product quality is getting worse. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER.

Any of you guys out there have defect stories about Transformers? Please chime in. I'd love to compare notes.

You make Optimus Prime Cry.