Takara Tomy Transformers Encore #23 Fortress Maximus Out of the Box

Fort Max looks strange without its stickers. That's all I have to say.

Even without his stickers, I'm getting as giddy as the 10-year old boy who wanted this almost three decades ago. I will probably have to change my shorts several times when he arrives at my house. He may cost three times as much as he did back then, but after waiting this long, I'm cracking that box open the second it gets here. I deserve it after a wait like this!!

P.S. After looking through the pictures again...holy s**t......he's HUGE...that sword alone is big enough to fit into a HUMAN hand???

So he comes with a miniature version of himself?

GuyIncognito wrote:So he comes with a miniature version of himself?

No, that's the Kabaya one. Japanese bloggers like to get a bit silly or mischievous with their omake

OK, random question time. I had the Headmasters mini-series on VHS (probably my most played video) and the box cover featured the same artwork shown on the back of this box. I always wondered then, and am only just now reminded, who is the two-headed dragon in Dinobot colours facing off against Mindwipe?

Sodan-1 wrote:OK, random question time. I had the Headmasters mini-series on VHS (probably my most played video) and the box cover featured the same artwork shown on the back of this box. I always wondered then, and am only just now reminded, who is the two-headed dragon in Dinobot colours facing off against Mindwipe?

Doublecross.

Sabrblade wrote:

Sodan-1 wrote:OK, random question time. I had the Headmasters mini-series on VHS (probably my most played video) and the box cover featured the same artwork shown on the back of this box. I always wondered then, and am only just now reminded, who is the two-headed dragon in Dinobot colours facing off against Mindwipe?

Doublecross.

Cheers. That's that conundrum put to rest. On to the next.

Making me look forward even more to getting mine; even happier that I chose to bite on this early before I saw the Botcon set.

I don't see why they needed to use stickers rather than paint apps for his eyes. Stickers are absolutely horrible. Even water slide transfers would have been preferable...Why, Takara, WHY?!?!?!

In fact, I'd rather they did away with the sticker sheet altogether and just slathered him in paint apps.

Not that I'm buying him, mind you, as he costs a fortune and I don't buy G1 toys on account of them all being terrible.

just wanted to ask if there has been any rumors that the kabaya version of fort max was actually made to "gauge" the collectors' feelings of having an encore fort max prior to its' production start?


there has been some collectors saying it was so. but there was no definite proof that it was. there were collectors with wild imaginations trying to tie-in unrelated toy releases. they were fantasizing so much as to boldly claim that the kabaya version itself was the mini-prototype of the then-to-be-announced encore version and the reissue would also have fort max split into 3 different smaller bases like the kabaya one.


can someone clear it up? thanks


seeing the finished encore fort max, i could not wait to laugh at their faces, but then it would be rubbing too much salt on an open wound.

Arrived in the mail from Amazon this afternoon. It arrived in great shape, but check out how they "padded" the box.



That's not a joke.

Professor Smooth wrote:Arrived in the mail from Amazon this afternoon. It arrived in great shape, but check out how they "padded" the box.



That's not a joke.

Yeah, I'd say that's typical Amazon.com fashion

He has arrived ...

alot of people have been Stating these problems with the new Fortress Maximus reissue

So the current list of known issues with the Fortress Maximus reissue includes:

0. Red guns on left hand are improperly installed so that they face backwards (fixable: unscrew the hand assembly, flip the gun and reassemble).

1. Cerebros has very tight leg joints (fixable: loosen the screw and/or shave off some plastic).

2. Cog has 2 left arms.

3. The holes to plug in Gasket's guns are susceptible to stress marks.

4. Fort Max's left hand doesn't have the extra circular holder in the fist to hold his weapons.

5. Bottom of Spike's feet has mould flash, making him unstable (fixable: shave off the excess flash).

6. Fort Max has a defective left hip ratchet.

7. Cannon on left leg is loose and is prone to popping out easily.

8. Spike is missing his arms.

9. Missing one or more weapons.

10. Smudged blue paint on the central die-cast panel.

11. Loose knee joints on Spike.

also 11. Loose knee joints on Spike.

prototype33 wrote:Are the Eyes stickers uppose to be already applied?

was told that there not stickers that there panted on not sure if thats true or not.

Johndoe4880 wrote:

prototype33 wrote:Are the Eyes stickers uppose to be already applied?

was told that there not stickers that there panted on not sure if thats true or not.

His eyes are painted, but he also comes with his original eye stickers on the decal sheet.

Thankfully the only QA issue I noticed with mine was the missing styrofoam insert, which I wouldn't have even known about without the Japanese twitter images. Made me happy to go through that list and check each one, the only ones I haven't are the stress marks, because I haven't put weapons in any fists yet.

Edit:
Spoke too soon. Add number 12, red plastic insert in the tower half without the green window protrudes by a couple of mm, making it difficult to keep the tower halves together. Fix: Tighten the screws holding the red plastic in until it no longer protrudes.

The Cerebros faceplate on Spike is loose/askew (fixable: use a flathead screwdriver, rather than a Phillips head, to loosen/tighten the hard-to-access restraining screw).

also some one said that some of there Cerebros stickers tech spec are crooked and looks terrible.

like pictured below.

Sadly, I am also in this thread to give a heads up on a QC problem. I particularly have two glaring ones, and another minor one:

- Cog's gun is missing. Checked every little compartment, no dice. Got two Cerebros swords instead. Trying to work it out with the retailer - but if you wanna trade, hit me up!

- Right eye tampo wasn't put on correctly and bubbled a bit, making it look like someone took a key to his eye. The stickers will correct it, but still. I like the look of the tampos more, it's a shame.

- Minor one: middle red ramp in base mode doesn't stay put while transforming. You can peg it back in easily, but it really doesn't swing back to either position, just kind of have to reattach it.

Me = ;_;

Burn wrote:He has arrived ...

How is yours? Any QC issues to note?

Also, all you guys who have reported QC issues, from which retailers did you all get your Fort Maxes?

And this is a prime example of why you should never mess with an early release.
QC issues out the yen yang!
I will gladly wait for the 4 I ordered from TF Source to arrive.
Hopefully the issues reported are rare though, this fi costs to much to be
dishing out stuff that's not not even as good as the Repro's, like the Scorponok everyones buzzing about, lol.
Regardless, we finally got another shot at Fort Max, thanks Takara!
David

Sabrblade wrote:

Burn wrote:He has arrived ...

How is yours? Any QC issues to note?

Should have read this thread first.

Nothing noticeable like what others have reported. Got mine from RobotKingdom.

here is a updated list.

0. Red guns on left hand are improperly installed so that they face backwards (fixable: unscrew the hand assembly, flip the gun and reassemble).

1. Cerebros has very tight leg joints (fixable: loosen the screw and/or shave off some plastic).

2. Cog has 2 left arms.

3. The holes to plug in Gasket's guns are susceptible to stress marks.

4. Fort Max's left fist is missing the plug insert to hold his weapons.

5. Bottom of Spike's feet has mold-flash, making him unstable (fixable: shave off the excess flash).

6. Fort Max has a defective left hip ratchet.

7. Cannon on left leg is loose and is prone to popping out easily.

8. Spike is missing his arms.

9. Missing one or more weapons.

10. Smudged blue paint on the central die-cast panel.

11. Loose knee joints on Spike and/or a difficult (tight) insertion into Cerebros' body.

12. The Cerebros faceplate on Spike is loose/askew (fixable: use a flathead screwdriver, rather than a Phillips head, to loosen/tighten the hard-to-access restraining screw).

13. Eye tampographs on Fort Max's face appear "bubbly" and/or Cerebros' chest tech spec sticker is askew.

14. Right-side chest door has slightly warped hinge tabs, though it functions correctly.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... ax-63.html

From which online retailer did you get yours from?

A bit sad. On closer examination, my Cerebros had a very tight knee joint, and I had to remove his knee sticker to get to the screw. I had to shave off some plastic to fix it, but I can see major plastic stress inside his lower leg under the knee from where it bends in going over each lump on the knee. It's even visible on the outside in a couple of places. I can also the the 'catch' that stops Fort Max's visor in head mode from flopping down is showing a lot of plastic stress.

I don't think I can afford to keep transforming him if I want him to last

To those who are reporting these QC issues, where did you guys get you Fort Maxes? Which retailer did you buy them from?

Sabrblade just to let you know I have not had any QC issues with mine. I've taken a look at my Fort Max (got it a day eariler then my brother ) and I have not seen any problems. I've transformed him into each mode three times no problems other than a tight left hip joint. I unscrewed Cerebros' left leg worrying the tightness was causing problems and nothing but a little plastic flash which I just scraped out. Other than that my only real complaint is I'm not playing with him as I type this I got mine from BigBadToyStore.com

Cliff Jumper wrote:Sabrblade just to let you know I have not had any QC issues with mine. I've taken a look at my Fort Max (got it a day eariler then my brother ) and I have not seen any problems. I've transformed him into each mode three times no problems other than a tight left hip joint. I unscrewed Cerebros' left leg worrying the tightness was causing problems and nothing but a little plastic flash which I just scraped out. Other than that my only real complaint is I'm not playing with him as I type this I got mine from BigBadToyStore.com

I'm glad you aren't having any issues with yours. My question to you is, was the box double taped? I'm curious to know if it was one of the ones checked over for QC issues. Mine is coming from BBTS too, it's coming much more slowly though.

Flux Convoy wrote:

Cliff Jumper wrote:Sabrblade just to let you know I have not had any QC issues with mine. I've taken a look at my Fort Max (got it a day eariler then my brother ) and I have not seen any problems. I've transformed him into each mode three times no problems other than a tight left hip joint. I unscrewed Cerebros' left leg worrying the tightness was causing problems and nothing but a little plastic flash which I just scraped out. Other than that my only real complaint is I'm not playing with him as I type this I got mine from BigBadToyStore.com

I'm glad you aren't having any issues with yours. My question to you is, was the box double taped? I'm curious to know if it was one of the ones checked over for QC issues. Mine is coming from BBTS too, it's coming much more slowly though.

Mine was double taped as was my older brother (who I'm talking to now). We both had the same minor problems, tight left leg on Cerebros, tight left hip joint on Fort Max for first couple of transformations, a little plastic flash on Spike, and the left sliding launcher on the white ramp is looser then the right one.

Cliff Jumper wrote:Mine was double taped as was my older brother (who I'm talking to now). We both had the same minor problems, tight left leg on Cerebros, tight left hip joint on Fort Max for first couple of transformations, a little plastic flash on Spike, and the left sliding launcher on the white ramp is looser then the right one.

Good to know. The issues you listed seem to be the easiest to manage fixing. Thanks for the info.

the Qc problems that are listed. are from a mix of venders.

also too too the orignal has tight joints.

here is the review of the oringal. this is not me reviewing him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1j3ddWYjrQ

Also too if you would like you can upgrade your cerbrous figure.

to where he looks like either the g1 cartoon (us) or the headmasters (japanesse)cartoon. also too you get a sword.

this will cost you between 40-50 + shipping dollars.

here are the links if your instrested.

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail

http://tfsource.com/products/view/product_id/3430

here are the pictures and a review.























Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS9mAYwZAhk

he current list of known issues (both minor and major) with the Fortress Maximus reissue includes:


0. Red guns on left hand are improperly installed so that they face backwards (fixable: unscrew the hand assembly, flip the gun and reassemble).

1. Cerebros has very tight leg joints (fixable: loosen the screw and/or shave off some plastic).

2. Cog has 2 left arms.

3. The holes to plug in Gasket's guns are susceptible to stress marks.

4. Fort Max's left fist is missing the plug insert to hold his weapons.

5. Bottom of Spike's feet has mold-flash, making him unstable (fixable: shave off the excess flash).

6. Fort Max has a defective left hip ratchet.

7. Leg cannons are loose and prone to popping out easily or making worrisome "snapping" sounds when raised.

8. Spike is missing his arms.

9. Missing one or more weapons.

10. Smudged or chipped blue paint on the central die-cast panel.

11. Loose knee joints on Spike and/or a very difficult (tight) insertion into Cerebros' body.

12. The Cerebros faceplate on Spike is loose/askew (fixable: use a flathead screwdriver, rather than a Phillips head, to loosen/tighten the hard-to-access restraining screw).

13. Eye tampographs on Fort Max's face appear "bubbly" and/or Cerebros' chest tech spec sticker is askew.

14. Right-side chest door has slightly warped hinge tabs, though it functions correctly.

15. Cerebros in tower mode is a very difficult (tight) insertion into Fort Max's chest, requiring him to be first stood up and then bent down to fit in place.

16. The Fort Max face on Cerebros's back has a dent on its forehead from being jostled around inside the box.

17. Fort Max's big gun is loose when pegged in and pops out easily if jostled.

18. The red launchers attached to Fort Max's white ramps are susceptible to stress marks.

19. Cerebros's fists are tight and do not flip open easily. (fixable: loosen the screw and/or shave off some plastic).

20. Cog is susceptible to stress marks where his gun-arms attach in vehicle mode.

Some one Posted this on facebook.

witch i thought was cool.

This is how one of our customer bring back his Fort Max

Johndoe4880 wrote:the Qc problems that are listed. are from a mix of venders.

Okay, so, any idea which vendors these are? One that we can exclude is BBTS, since they only just recently got their first orders sent out.

I don't think the vendors are to blame, and I don't even think the QC problems are in specific batches of FM. The QC problems are mostly incidental: execpt for one or maybe two of the problems mentioned (tight legs on Cerebros) they do not seem to be universal: almost all of the problems were only mentioned by one poster each.
I've said it before: I'm pretty sure that back in 1987 the original Fortress Max's had the same kinds of incidental QC-problems as mentioned here: except back then there was no option to be so vocal about sharing these problems with the world (no internet).
By the way, TFSource and BBTS are and will be shipping out from the same batch as all the others: it's just that their stock took a while to get to the US and some of their stock (again, all from the same batch) has been taking it's sweet time cruising across the Pacific to the US. The vendors that have been shipping their stock out are the Japan- and Hong Kong-based vendors (HLJ, AE, RK, EtoysJapan, to name a few) with quick access to the factory stock.

i happen to agree.

some of the venders are mostly from japan, tf source, robot kingdom, HLJ. i don't Know about bbts. heard about others too.

bbts is from usa.

i haven't got mine yet.

i tried to get a better deal from robot kingdom. they included a coin and a headphone jack of fort max. witch was $299.99 + shipping. i got a better deal with bbts. becasue of shipping was over 125 dollars making fort max 419 when bbts it was only 350 with shipping and all.

i have to wait late April early may for mine.

some one posted this. this is from hlj

Yeah you really have no idea how big this thing is until you own one or see it in-person. Yikes! I don't get the "cheap" feeling for the plastic like some others have, but then again I've never had a good feel for that.

Wow though. Goddamn.

also too someone said they got there cerbrous figure but it had two right legs.

However, upon a closer inspection i noticed Cerebros came with two right legs

Im gonna contact HLJ right now, but knowing them i might end keeping the figure anyway

I had the floppy helipad issue as well, but fixed it this morning.

There's a white plastic catch inside the diecast pare of the helipad, that's supposed to catch on a protruding piece of grey plastic at the hinge, but it wasn't. I first tried extending the grey plastic with nail varnish, but no joy.

I disassembled the helipad to get at the diecast connector, then unscrewed the white plastic. Be careful when you do this, there's a strong spring in there, so push in the rotating red tab the entire time you're unscrewing and removing.

The catch on the white plastic had been bent inwards just enough so the top of the bit that should protrude was level with where the base should be instead. I put a hairdryer with a flat focusing attachment thing right up against the catch. The plastic heated up enough to become malleable, and the force of the air was enough to bend it without my intervention, but I did help it along the way just to make sure, and to heat it for as short a time as necessary.

Once I was happy it was straight, I put it back in, and tested it a few times before screwing back on the helipad. Now I have a helipad that can support its own weight against gravity.

I remember back in 1990 when I got my Fortmax, his legs/thighs were mis assembled. The the left was on the right and......I had to disassemble it and switch them to the right position. So QC issues did exist even back then. Cerebros'/Spike crest was also floppy, luckily I got the store to change him (Spike)

I have a white mark on the left side of Fort Max's forehead. It looks like where the plastic came off the sprue or something. In addition, the forehead has rough plastic or something going on, kind of like it is deformed or something weird. Based from what I've read online, this appears to be a more one off problem as I can't find anyone else with this issue.







Should I try to get a replacement or is this something that I just have to deal with?

Seibertron wrote:Should I try to get a replacement or is this something that I just have to deal with?

Depends. Would they replace the whole set or just Cerebros? I know you're a perfectionist so you'd want it replaced. I would think difficulty of replacement would depend on whether just the damaged part gets replaced or the whole thing has to be sent back. I don't know their policies.

This figure looks great. If I didn't have an original already, I'd get it. I still can't believe they actually reissued him. Now, will Grand Max be on the way? And will the reissues affect the 2ndary market prices of the originals?

Seibertron wrote:I have a white mark on the left side of Fort Max's forehead. It looks like where the plastic came off the sprue or something. In addition, the forehead has rough plastic or something going on, kind of like it is deformed or something weird. Based from what I've read online, this appears to be a more one off problem as I can't find anyone else with this issue.







Should I try to get a replacement or is this something that I just have to deal with?

No big Mr. Izquierdo. The whitening will eventually darken or you could use one of them light gray color Gundam markers and apply a light dab (you can sand it a bit (use the type of file that's used on human nails (I kid you not).......ask the Mrs. seibertron., the ladies know of this)....the file looks like a quad sided rectangle with one of the 4 sides having varying levels of roughness.

I can't remember if mine has that nick in it or not, but if it does, then it's something so minor that I either forgot about it, never noticed it, or both. Or, I might have assumed that they were all (or at least some of them) were like that.

Either way, I don't see reason to split hairs over something as minute as that, so you can ask for a replacement if you want to, but if it were me, I wouldn't worry about it.