My big troubles have been (several times now) with pins going through clear stuff. I've never had any trouble with clear plastic as a decorative part, but when metal goes through it for articulation, eventually the plastic often cracks around the pin. I don't know if it's modern QC not being close enough in sizing to keep the pin from cracking the tube, or if it's temperature changing differently between metal and plastic, but I've had enough bad experiances that I avoid it where I can.
I love love love clear plastic in general from a purely visual standpoint. Just stand em up and look at em. Forever. Engineering and durability are another matter, as I always feel very tentative when actually transforming or even holding the things. I'd be all too glad to remove clear plastic windows and such from regular retail figures (just give me clear weapons and the occasional special edition Takara or whatever releases of Jolly Rancherized bots). The Buzzworthy experiments turned out great and I'd love to see more, starting with the Datsuns and Jazz.
This Ironhide is interesting. While I'm impressed by their choice to make an all-new mold so soon, AND the lack of partsforming (albeit at an uneasy price) I wouldn't have minded if it had just been the Earthrise mold with new feet and a retooled roof that could turn into the sled. Like the upgrade kits, but self-contained. I'd pay Voyager prices for that.
This Ironhide is interesting. While I'm impressed by their choice to make an all-new mold so soon, AND the lack of partsforming (albeit at an uneasy price) I wouldn't have minded if it had just been the Earthrise mold with new feet and a retooled roof that could turn into the sled. Like the upgrade kits, but self-contained. I'd pay Voyager prices for that.
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I think they're nice to have in cases like TR (so you can see the Titan Master through the windshield). But generally, yeah.
As a decorative part, I don't mind clear parts, but as structure, it's a failure point waiting to happen.
If they just used transparent plastic for the transparent bits, it'd be fine. (Though I still find seeing a bunch of robot mode kibble inside the car to be as equally fake looking as painted windows. Give me opaque!) but these days they don't make Transformers with enough parts to separate out the transparent bits from the surrounding area, so they make it all one big piece of transparent plastic, which means mismatched colors as the painted transparent plastic doesn't quite line up with the regular plastic, as well as more transparent plastic used on hinges, pegs, grooves etc. etc.
Modern TF's just have too much cost cutting to do transparent windows well.
Modern TF's just have too much cost cutting to do transparent windows well.
I fall into this category, too. I actually love the look of transparent windows. I think they go a long way into making the vehicle modes look better and, in turn, make the robot mode look more like it's made from vehicle bits. With few exceptions, they've always tinted the windows enough that the fact that there's no vehicle interior (usually. Obviously stuff like Titan Master type cockpits DO have real interiors, which are great) isn't annoyingly obvious.
That said, if I have to choose between them and a functional figure, I can live without them. I've actually been lucky so far, I guess, and never really had any issues with cracking plastic other than Wolfwire's translucent rubbery cockpit.
It's perhaps worth noting that, on the original Datsun brothers, the windshield is by far the most frequently broken part. I still remember the horror of my original Prowl when the babysitter accidentally broke it during transformation....
But, to those who say they like the look of transparent plastic from a purely aesthetic standpoint, I agree with you, too. Like I said, I've not had too many troubles with this problem in modern toys, myself. I'm just all for stopping the practice if it would only mean we didn't have to go through this same cycle of fear-mongering with every new figure.
I transformed my Earthrise Wheeljack so much that one of his windshield bits in his leg broke the coupling. Not the end of the world, but that bit likes to slide off now whenever I transform it.
Great... guess I'll never touch that Swindle again.My Swindle broke the same way
Finally got around to opening my Sludge last night and my god is he loose. He can't stand straight up in robot mode without leaning over at the waist and knees. His arms and shoulders are nice and tight so it just seems to be an issue with the leg pins. The only other time I've had an issue like this with Studio Series is all the way back to Cogman. Guess I need to watch some YouTube videos about using floor polish to tighten pins.
Swindle is definitely one that gives me pause. I just looked up my review of the toy from a couple of years ago:
Yeah... mine was kind of floppy and I feel like the plastic feels more shampoo bottle-ly.
I feel like I won the lottery that my Sludge is great. All the leg joints are plenty tight and strong.
-ZacWilliam, loosest joint is probably the dino head and that's fairly fine too.
-ZacWilliam, loosest joint is probably the dino head and that's fairly fine too.
crack them nuts!
I am irrationally angry about there not being a thin yellow stripe on a Voyager priced “screen accurate” Deluxe Ironhide.
Change anything about that (Legacy Voyager, Studio Deluxe, etc) and I could rationalize it away but the combination of it being Studio Series *and* costing another size class up and they can’t put a ******* stripe is infuriating.
Change anything about that (Legacy Voyager, Studio Deluxe, etc) and I could rationalize it away but the combination of it being Studio Series *and* costing another size class up and they can’t put a ******* stripe is infuriating.