Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

[Rodimus Knight]

I didn't realize this was an issue. I didn't bother to look at the instructions, I transformed her since I had the Animated one, saw the gap and figured something must move up to fill it.

[grimdragon2001]

The gap isnt the real problem with this figure though.. the damn plastic choices are. The soft plastic is even worst off than the original animated mold. The ones on the shins especially omfg they will tear off some day i swear. The whole place faith in takara thing because they are millions of times better than hasbro thing is idiotic. Both companies make mistakes but takara is always more expensive and sometimes that extra expense is just not worth it.

No, thats a myth, Takara is the same price as Hasbro in Japan, it just costs more for some peole because they need to import it and shipping costs depend on where you live. That has NOTHING to do with how much Takara is charging, they are charging the same or less.

Hasbro Devastator Toysrus: $ 169.99

Takara Devastator Amiami: $ 152.10

Oh wait, Hasbro's is more expensive here my bad.

So think about it, if Takara is charging the same amount but always giving you more paint apps or extras, then Hasbro is the company that is actually more expensive since you are paying the same price for a product which has less. You just take the abuse blindly because your other choise is to import.

i tried this chest fix for black arachnia, it dosnt work for me. everytime i push up, the chest pushes back. infact i worry about breaking her everytime i try, those chest pieces are translucent plastic after all and for this fix, you have to apply a lot of force directly to them very close to the ball sockets.

It can be done, just just have to push the chest up while using her back as support (like your fingers are giving the figure a huf). Watch EMGO's video for help, it really works.

ok, think i may have managed to get it up, after way too much work, and i dont like it. the gap in her neck is cut in half, but there is also a gap below the bust now, noticed it on Emgo's video too. i think ill stick with arching the back, less stress and still looks good

[Short Circuit]

TJ Ortega? Pretty sure it's TJ Omega, were you thinking about nachos William?

[william-james88]

TJ Ortega? Pretty sure it's TJ Omega, were you thinking about nachos William?

Wow, I will go fix that now, pretty hilarious though.

[Tego00124]

This issue is caused by a misassembley.

The Inner abodomen part is facing the wrong way around, It's been assembled wrong which is leading to this issue. You will also notice the spider mode does not clip in over the shoulders properly...which is also a result of the misassembled part.

Forcing the part up isn't a fix for the issue, it's just forcing it in to place passed the point where resistance is being hit due to the improper assembled parts

Unfortunately to correct this it requires you remove a rivet...

[ubertenorman]

So I actually cracked the chestplate on mine trying to push it up, so everyone's fears have been justified. When I took it apart I suspected that maybe it was misassembled but this is my first experience with the mold so it's hard for me to tell.

You can fix the pressure on the chestplate by loosening the screws that hold the black piece on. There's two screws that you can access without disassembly if I recall correctly. Loosen just enough so the the black piece kinda flaps around a little bit when you touch it--doesn't need to be much. The pressure in robot mode will hold it tight and in beast mode you can hardly tell.

[shadow panther]

um do you guys know that this toy is factory misassembled?

when comparing this to the Animated I noticed the rear of the spider was not locking over the robots shoulders in spider mode. upon comparing it with Animated I noticed the screw hole on the robot body was on the opposite side. apparently the pieces with the ball joints for the robot arms are on backwards. I took it apart and heated the rivet inside the waist pieces until they came apart. I swapped the upper body pieces and re-riveted the pieces. after re-assembleing her, the rear of the spider now locks over the robot shoulders when in spider mode. the chest also easily slides up and locks into place with ease. its not a easy fix, I was cringing the whole time but now she is solid in both modes

[william-james88]

um do you guys know that this toy is factory misassembled?

when comparing this to the Animated I noticed the rear of the spider was not locking over the robots shoulders in spider mode. upon comparing it with Animated I noticed the screw hole on the robot body was on the opposite side. apparently the pieces with the ball joints for the robot arms are on backwards. I took it apart and heated the rivet inside the waist pieces until they came apart. I swapped the upper body pieces and re-riveted the pieces. after re-assembleing her, the rear of the spider now locks over the robot shoulders when in spider mode. the chest also easily slides up and locks into place with ease. its not a easy fix, I was cringing the whole time but now she is solid in both modes

Thanks! But I have to admit, I was cringing just reading it. Might be a bit too daunting for me.

The part I highlighted is the part I dont get. How did you re-rivet them?

[shadow panther]

just be careful trying to force that chest piece into place, because of the misassembly the body is on backward so the arch of the body is different

[william-james88]

just be careful trying to force that chest piece into place, because of the misassembly the body is on backward so the arch of the body is different

Doing the fix now. I unscrewed the 3 screws, but I dont know how to swap the spider legs, they are stuck, how do I undo them and swap them?

[shadow panther]

you have to heat the head of the rivits that hold the whole 3 pieces together. spider legs/body/waist once the whole assembly is apart you swap the body pieces only, the spider legs and waist piece are on correctly

[william-james88]

you have to heat the head of the rivits that hold the whole 3 pieces together. once the whole assembly is apart you swap the body pieces only, the spider legs and waist piece are on correctly

How do you just heat the head? And how do you rivit them back together after?

[shadow panther]

you have to heat the head of the rivits that hold the whole 3 pieces together. once the whole assembly is apart you swap the body pieces only, the spider legs and waist piece are on correctly

How do you just heat the head? And how do you rivit them back together after?

I touched the head of the rivet with a soldering iron until the plastic softened enough to pull it apart

[Gunmetal]

No, thats a myth, Takara is the same price as Hasbro in Japan, it just costs more for some peole because they need to import it and shipping costs depend on where you live. That has NOTHING to do with how much Takara is charging, they are charging the same or less.

Hasbro Devastator Toysrus: $ 169.99

Takara Devastator Amiami: $ 152.10

Oh wait, Hasbro's is more expensive here my bad.

So think about it, if Takara is charging the same amount but always giving you more paint apps or extras, then Hasbro is the company that is actually more expensive since you are paying the same price for a product which has less. You just take the abuse blindly because your other choise is to import.

Whoa, hold up a minute.

I usually respect and agree with your board posts, but your point here on price isn’t honest. You’re comparing a discounted Japanese price website to TRU, who are infamous for demand-based markup and are probably the most expensive place to buy at American retail.

Here’s some more data. I used Google for yen/dollar conversions. List prices and discounts are as given by the store websites.

• UW Devastator, AmiAmi: $152.36, discounted 30% from $219.64 list price
• CW Devastator, Amazon: $143.00, discounted 5% from $149.99 list price
• CW Devastator, BBTS: $139.99, discounted $10 from $149.99 list price
• CW Devastator, TFSource: $139.99, discounted $10 from $149.99 list price
• CW Devastator, TRU: $169.99, no MSRP/list price given

I’ll concede that AmiAmi is giving a much more generous discount, but that’s still greater than the un-discounted American list price.

I've always considered you the voice of reason WJ; please let me know what I'm missing...

[william-james88]

I’ll concede that AmiAmi is giving a much more generous discount, but that’s still greater than the un-discounted American list price.

I've always considered you the voice of reason WJ; please let me know what I'm missing...

I am truly grateful for your vote of confidence and while I should have used a bbts listing for devastator rather than TRU, I do stand by my prices for Takara and here is why: in Japan at retail the price you pay is not the MSRP you see. That MSRP exists because of the heavy importing of these products. A wholesale price is usually around 50% of the MSRP (I used to work in a collectables shop) so in an international trade, the MSRP is marked up so that the wholesale price is also marked up. However, in Japan in retail stores the MSRP is not the price Japanese fans buy their toys (hence why I compared to TRU, I wanted to compare stores you could actually visit). Retail stores in Japan actually price their TFs at the Amiami or HLJ price, and we know because we have a japan correspondent who buys his TFs in japan at retail and you can click this link to see that the prices are exactly the same (or cheaper) as if you bought them at a Toysrus in the states. Hence why Amiami or HLJ is not a preorder discount. It is a year round discount from the MSRP (read, the actual price of these TFs in Japan) but since us fans dont want to miss out, they always sell out before the order is in stock. Its not always the case, Legends Arcee came back in stock and I was able to buy her at the same "discount".

Better example: Legends Magnus is still at the same 30% discount even if he is out proving this is not just for preorders but a default discount of the MSRP made to mirror what these cost at reatil in japan (just as BBTS mirrors the price you would expect to pay for a Hasbro product at retail is the states).

I dont know why alot of the fandom is not aware of the price parity but I am happy to explain it. All fans should know because its pretty nuts when you think about it; for the same price you can buy the same TF in Japan or the US but the Japan TF has a greater cost. It sometimes really makes me feel like Hasbro is skimping by comparison and I am not getting the same value for my money.

So the long and short of it:

1. Buying a Takara TF in Japan costs the same amount as buying a Hasbro TF in the US and here is the proof: http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... ail/33333/

2. Amiami and other Japan online stores mirror that retail price to compete with retail Japan stores, and for us it appears as a discount on the MSRP (it is not really a discount).

3. Said apparent discount is not just special for the preorder but because it is the cheapest option for fans, it often sells out before coming in stock, hence the confusion. But the price would be the same if the product was in stock, and here is the proof (available 2015/11/11 for 45.96 $ US): http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail ... agecnt%3D1

I hope that redeems my previous post. Cheers!

[william-james88]

you have to heat the head of the rivits that hold the whole 3 pieces together. once the whole assembly is apart you swap the body pieces only, the spider legs and waist piece are on correctly

How do you just heat the head? And how do you rivit them back together after?

I touched the head of the rivet with a soldering iron until the plastic softened enough to pull it apart

Aint got one of those, guess I will revert it back to how it was and spend the rest of my evening screwing my blackarachnia's bosom.

[Gunmetal]

I’ll concede that AmiAmi is giving a much more generous discount, but that’s still greater than the un-discounted American list price.

I've always considered you the voice of reason WJ; please let me know what I'm missing...

[Good explanation, omitted here for length, but worth scrolling up for.]

Interesting; can't argue with that. I'm curious why that all is. I guess there's the old "evil-white-Americans-are-greedy" answer, but if you don't think business is business worldwide, let me know: I'll sell you the Rainbow Bridge for less than you'd pay for the one on Brooklyn!

PS: Leave it to me to learn market economics in the middle of a discussion on modifying toy breasts.

[fenrir72]

No, thats a myth, Takara is the same price as Hasbro in Japan, it just costs more for some peole because they need to import it and shipping costs depend on where you live. That has NOTHING to do with how much Takara is charging, they are charging the same or less.

Hasbro Devastator Toysrus: $ 169.99

Takara Devastator Amiami: $ 152.10

Oh wait, Hasbro's is more expensive here my bad.

So think about it, if Takara is charging the same amount but always giving you more paint apps or extras, then Hasbro is the company that is actually more expensive since you are paying the same price for a product which has less. You just take the abuse blindly because your other choise is to import.

Whoa, hold up a minute.

I usually respect and agree with your board posts, but your point here on price isn’t honest. You’re comparing a discounted Japanese price website to TRU, who are infamous for demand-based markup and are probably the most expensive place to buy at American retail.

Here’s some more data. I used Google for yen/dollar conversions. List prices and discounts are as given by the store websites.

• UW Devastator, AmiAmi: $152.36, discounted 30% from $219.64 list price
• CW Devastator, Amazon: $143.00, discounted 5% from $149.99 list price
• CW Devastator, BBTS: $139.99, discounted $10 from $149.99 list price
• CW Devastator, TFSource: $139.99, discounted $10 from $149.99 list price
• CW Devastator, TRU: $169.99, no MSRP/list price given

I’ll concede that AmiAmi is giving a much more generous discount, but that’s still greater than the un-discounted American list price.

I've always considered you the voice of reason WJ; please let me know what I'm missing...

Not piling on you kimosabe as it might be misconstrued as endorsing a particular online store but YES, the prices are indeed cheaper. Only gets expensive when you tack in the shipping and your friendly neighborhood custom collector fees.

If you live in great Nippon, you'll see. If you live like in the UK,Europe and the USA, of course expect higher shipping costs.

You may not have to agree with wj88 (I don't ) but his position in this is sound.

May i also add, factor in your country's foreign exchange rate though at present, JP has recently devalued(well, during Abe's term) the Yen to make their products competitive (sorry about the boring economics 101 insert)

[william-james88]

Interesting; can't argue with that. I'm curious why that all is. I guess there's the old "evil-white-Americans-are-greedy"

Glad I was able to redeem myself. And to answer your question as to why we get more from japan for the same price, I truly believe that it is simply a difference in culture. While all companies have a goal of making money, Japan across the boards seems to have this sense that a corporation equals a clan/family and that there is a history and quality that should be honoured and respected through the products it produces. Cobotron was the one to postulate this and it actually makes sense. Nintendo is willing to go into major depth to try new things and unlike every other game developer, their games run day one. No need to patch things up later in order to actually play the game. In collectables, Takara and Bandai (especially Bandai) have this pride in their legacy and really feel the need to be the best they can be to their customers who are after all the reason they continue to survive as a corporation. Maybe Cobotron can help me flush this out better, but the main idea is that unlike the US, Japan collectible companies have a hardcoded sense of legacy they feel to own up to, even at the detriment of making lower margins than their American counterparts.

[Cobotron]

Wow Will, don't think I could have put it any better.

And by their code of tradition, I'm sure Takara will be very upset when they find out that there was a mass mis-assembly issue with one of their products.

[SW's SilverHammer]

Well the gang can get racist a little later, I finally got my gals from SAL. Well, two of them. I only bought Nightbird and slipstream, then immediately regretted not getting Black Widow.

[fenrir72]

Well the gang can get racist a little later, I finally got my gals from SAL. Well, two of them. I only bought Nightbird and slipstream, then immediately regretted not getting Black Widow.

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail ... agecnt%3D1

still available mi amigo!

[william-james88]

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail ... agecnt%3D1

still available mi amigo!

In stock and still "discounted", this couldnt have come at a better time.

And while I do believe Takara would be displeased to know there has been a missasembly, I believe the existence of these three figures alone is a testament to their devotion to the fans.

[fenrir72]

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail ... agecnt%3D1

still available mi amigo!

In stock and still "discounted", this couldnt have come at a better time.

And while I do believe Takara would be displeased to know there has been a missasembly, I believe the existence of these three figures alone is a testament to their devotion to the fans.

And to the contents of our wallets

[fenrir72]

um do you guys know that this toy is factory misassembled?

when comparing this to the Animated I noticed the rear of the spider was not locking over the robots shoulders in spider mode. upon comparing it with Animated I noticed the screw hole on the robot body was on the opposite side. apparently the pieces with the ball joints for the robot arms are on backwards. I took it apart and heated the rivet inside the waist pieces until they came apart. I swapped the upper body pieces and re-riveted the pieces. after re-assembleing her, the rear of the spider now locks over the robot shoulders when in spider mode. the chest also easily slides up and locks into place with ease. its not a easy fix, I was cringing the whole time but now she is solid in both modes

Thanks! But I have to admit, I was cringing just reading it. Might be a bit too daunting for me.

The part I highlighted is the part I dont get. How did you re-rivet them?

WJ......shouldn't this be headlined in the site or something? This IS breaking news. Seems like dejavu with that jet from TF-Go!