This reminds of an episode of the Jim Henson Hour (The Secrets of The Muppets) where they talk to a puppet builder working on a new Gonzo puppet because of wear and tear. My 8 year-old mind was blown.
It's impressive how during the 80s tools went from one country to another. That's how we got MOTU, GIJOE, MASK, Super Powers and many other lines in Argentina.
I would love an in depth video on how the tooling is created. Are the action figure negatives CNC machined into the metal or is it done by hand? When the S was filled in on Supergirl do they just add molten metal and polish it or is there a special substance for changing molds like that? I make a lot of silicone molds of things so I understand how that works, but have never seen how metal molds get made. Great video!
if it's indented into the figure, then it's raised on the mould and just a matter of filing that down. i'm not a tool and die guy, so i don't know you would -- if it's even possible -- to reverse that. as far as how the mould is constructed i imagine it depends on what plastic you're using, production, detail, material hardness, etc.. some might be CNC router, 3D router, others EDM (electrical discharge machining). seems i recall how the old aurora models were made back in the 60's as being a pantograph EDM, which is kind of like doing it by hand. of course, you could always break out the chisels, too, but i'd venture to say that's very old school.
Having worked in manufacturing for so many years this entire video makes perfect sense to me. I always understood this component of how plastic products are made so thank you for sharing. Also if you forget your lunch is on top of the machine while it's running it will reheat it for you. Can't say I recommend that, but true story.
i think it's probably interesting to folk who haven't seen it every day for years on end, lol. they'd be like, 'oh, so you just jam this vacuum hose thingy into a huge box of plastic pellets? cool!' but, when you're the guy at the end of the conveyer or have to put your hand into a mould to pop off stuck parts it's like, 'oh, gawd, this again....'
Thank you, it was very informative. I keep wondering "well why don't they just print more of the old He-Man toys from the 80's" but I guess it's much more complicated that flipping a switch somewhere
Another example is the Jazz toy released in the Commemorative Series Transformers line by Hasbro in the 2000s. The robot’s mouth had a strange smirk not present on the original, allegedly due to tool degradation. Later reissues fixed the tooling so it looked more like the original G1 toy.
I thought it was odd when I saw a video about the recent Kenner Real Ghostbusters line that showed slight differences between the vintage toys and the new ones. Now it makes more sense.
Mr. Netilich, Making a small presumption that you still know some folks working at Mattel - could you please pass on to whomever is working MOTU on the Mega Contstrux line, *THEY ARE KILLING IT!!!* - In the good way! In fact, the whole Mega Construx line is killing it. It seems like the team they have over there must be in a good work environment, because it shows in the design. For itty-bitty-class figures, they are supremely done. I picked up a TMNT Michaelangelo, and WOW! (Also nice, because I'm retired in my RV, where space is a premium.) I picked up all kinds of MOTU figures at a rural Walmart in Lamar, Colorado last night, and I'm full of all kinds of "squeee!" The little Battle Cat/Panther figures are just... so... coool! I'm loving the hell out of mixing and matching parts and pieces from different lines (like the 80s Joes) , and that's the sort of design elements that tell me Mega Construx knows their audience - GenX/Millennial parents, shopping with their little kids in Dollar General and the Lego isles in big boxes. Swing by a Dollar General store, and they put the action figures in with the tike toys, at adult eye level of course, "Dad" eye level. And it works. Dad can't have a $12 set of new Mega Construx figures, if Junior doesn't also get some toys - smart. So, anyway - enough gushing from me 😊 - if you could pass that on to the Team and Bosses over there, I'm sure they would probably appreciate it right now. Thank you Sir! ~W
@@spectorcreative1872 That is unfortunate about the mass layoffs, regardless of the industry - layoffs suck. I think that is another missing component that a lot of the "why are there empty shelves" ragers miss - somebody has to *make* the toys. Somebody has to *make* the plastic that makes the toys. Somebody has to drive the truck, plane, train that delivers that plastic - and somebody has to do all of those things, for the people who make the plastic. Same goes for the paint used - lose the supplier of a chemical component that is used to make the paint, you lose the whole figure line for that time. Any one of those links in the logistics chain breaks - and the whole thing breaks, or has to be readjusted. There's a hell of a lot more to the logistics behind manufacturing that a lot of people realize.
This has all been gained wisdom for me over the last 8 or 9 months. I had/am having action figures created for promotional purposes to go along with the novel I’m working on. The factory I’m working with agreed to store the tools for me for later use. But I’m sure that’s not a forever arrangement.
I'd really like to see more about how the tools are made. That must take a great deal of artistic endeavor to carve out those chunks of metal and make them congruent with one another.
I’ve said for years that many G1 “reissues” are in fact made from newly created molds. The MOTU reissues from the early 2000’s are pretty sweet considering they’re copies of copies. I wish we could see a video about how they made them. I really wish Stargirl had used the standard JLU female body buck. She looks out of place with the rest of the line. Even Supergirl got a 2nd figure using the regular buck.
Injection molding is a fascinating subject. It's amazing how much engineering goes into common household products. The production rates are unreal. Around the turn of the century, you could get a 100 ton injection mold machine(less dies) for $100. But it would have cost about $10k to move and set up. I have a lot of stories from back then, it wasn't a time to set a small manufacturing company in the US.
Interesting watch, not just as a toy fan but as someone who works in metal stamping and assembly. There's definitely some overlap in the issues surrounding the life of tooling, although we shape material rather than mold it.
I could watch as many of these about tooling as you care to make, it's so insightful. Question though, how do they go about creating/recreating a tool such as they did for the Commemorative editions of the original 80's figures?
The oldest tool I personally know of is from Character Options Dr Who line, Theyre still using the same ones from 2004. I guess more limited runs mean they arnt getting worn out?
I know that many of the Godzilla toys in Japan use the same tooling from decades before, some being as old as the 1960s. But those use a different process (soft vinyl) and in some cases more limited runs, so that probably plays a big role in the tool surviving. And I think it might be easier to make casts off the original hollow vinyl figure if something does happen to the original.
I recall that a lot of the G1 Transformers figures when they were reissued by Takara - and later, Hasbro - used the tooling from the Generations 2 line. This is why a lot of the reissues had changes that were made on the figures during the G2 area. Anyway, when Takara reissued Jazz, the face looked odd due to mold degradation. Takara tried fixing the face with different runs, but it didn't come out right. I think it was finally fixed when Hasbro did a later run of either Jazz or Ricochet(a once Japanese exclusive of a black redeco of Jazz named Stepper) where they recreated the tooling. Tooling degradation is also why not all G1 figures have been reissued officially since some tooling are beyond repair. I also recall that the tooling for Soundwave's clear tape deck door degraded beyond repair during one of his reissue runs, which is why the Hasbro versions - until recently I think - had to use the Soundblaster version, which can hold more tapes due to the part being deeper
First...I LOVED IT!!!!! I've seen tooling made, we even had Stycast and casting epoxy at work because one of the aviation systems was made in '97. We never produced anything Safety of Flight, but still. I've even made small scale stuff, weapons mostly. Flatter things. Very small runs. My boss thought I was crazy. The big question... do you have the Spector Tool in your home? It would only be fitting. I've read a lot of released inter-office memos from Hasbro from 30 years ago in different places. A few of them mentioned sending tools to South American factories, and then took the factory to keep them to cut down on cost. So Hasbro was not paying to get the molds back to get rid of them. I've read the two product tools they were eager to dispose of were the Flagg, and the Defiant Shuttle Launch Complex. They took up so much space. I'm sure Castle Greyskull (or is it Grayskull 😝) was huge as well.
Great video. By the questions asked already this seems to be a big point of interest for your fanbase. I'm off to scour comment section for answers to questions already asked. Thanks for the informative video.
Scott, I once heard that certain articulation points are copyrighted by individual companies, for example - ankle pivots being copyrighted by Hasbro. Would love to see a video explaining this. Great video. Liked
Good point. I think you can use a patented process if you improve on the design. If you took something like Revoltech’s “revolver joint” or shfiguarts and altered the mounting points, you’re good. Plus that may have been a rumor cause certain designs are just too common.
@@machineman6498 I mean, McFarlane and NECA double elbows and knees are pretty much the same as marvel legends. Even Mattel had some double jointed DCUC figures like blue beetle back in that era
Awesome Vid. This explains why the latest G1 Optimus Prime did not had the trailer. Ill love to see a video on how paint apps are done in mass production toy lines.
2:10 the same thing happens when you use one master tape (analogue) to make one thousand copies. Quality degradation happens everywhere outside digital formats.
Were the tools in the 80s more durable than the tools they make now? I always assumed G.I. Joe reused the original tooling to make Tiger Force, Night Force, etc. And I was under the impression they used the original 82-83 tooling to make the 1997 figures - but they couldn't find them all (or some deteriorated) so they used some 86 parts.
The video mentions there being five classes of injection molds, based on life expectancy. My guess is that 80s toy companies spent the extra money for higher class molds with the idea that the volume of sales and years of re-use would justify the investment. Modern specialty lines presumably see parts runs that may be several orders of magnitude smaller.
Part of this falls into the same category as the Palitoy example. Funskool had a lot of the Hasbro tooling from the 80's/90's and those were used to produce the '97/'98 lines. The plastic quality on those figures also shows how differently they were produced vs. the original ones.
I guess they never splurged on that class 1 million use tooling. Only industrial titans like Ford or Sony can afford the good tooling and they are not using it to make toys.
Hasbro has been continuously making the Cobra HISS tank since 1983, I wonder if that's the same tooling or have they had to retool it at some point? (Thank you, Scott, for all of these videos, by the way. This channel has become such a part of my life in 2021, I've been really enjoying it.)
Yeah. 100% not the same tool. Maybe the same master, if they haven't been changing it, but it has definitely been retooled dozens of times if that was that case.
This was very informative. But now I can say this. I love that I have all of the Seven Soldiers of Victory (even though it would have been epic to have Sylvester Pemberton Star-Spangled Kid) I'm kinda disappointed that Stargirl can't hold her cosmic rod. (I also lost Vigilante's gun and rope and my Shining Knight has one leg shorter than the other) but I'm still happy I have every member of the team.
I remember the Takara Encore G1 Bruticus....ugly burn/scorch marks all over. Got it just the same to finally get a complete Bruticus and it's aftermarket price went through the roof. Still an "ugly" re-issue but I still love it warts and all.
Scott, I heard a rumor that the bootleg Neca [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles] line of toys were such high quality is because workers just used the tools, casts, and dyes in the factory after-hours to produce them (using their plastics). That was probably the only best-case scenario in regards to bootlegs. Since most toys are made in factories located in developing nations, do you know anything about the security around the tooling?
i've heard stories like that, too, and i suspect there's a lot of truth to that. i've also heard some knock-offs are nothing more than factory rejects workers smuggled out/picked from the trash. i also imagine a lot of shenanigans by management knowing about it and getting a kickback to look the other way. i've worked with chinese for several years, i'm talking straight up commies literally off the plane and sent to work before they went to their apartments set up for them, and i won't sugarcoat it -- they're not like us in the way they think. what's a bootleg to us might just be a different version to them, copyright and all that... bwahahahaha! yeah, they just don't see it that way. it's no wonder corruption is one of their biggest problems and exactly why you have to be very careful who you deal with. (it was funny when i first started working for a chinese company just how many signs they'd posted warning against corruption.) i'd venture to say a lot of these 'offshore manufacturers' are entirely willing to pop out some bootlegs with the owners' approval, maybe even some lines whose manufacturing processes are owned by the toy company themselves. i literally put nothing past them cuz i've worked with 'em. don't get me wrong, that's not saying they're bad people, just they don't think like americans do and won't balk at making an extra buck under the table doing something they simply don't have the moral qualms about. i say all that to provide some kind of reasoning behind why they do what they do. i don't think it's really a big secret that you really don't want to give a chinese manufacturer your trade secrets because they won't be secret for long, lol.
I too heard stories and rumors about this as well. One example is G.I. Spy Troops Scarlett repaint? - I think it was the purple repaint rather than the green version - where variant versions were coming out from China with the center being flesh colored rather than grey or off-white. Fans suspected it was a "midnight" run figure because it was available shortly Hasbro's version was out. In addition, the figure was identical with the Hasbro version in terms of quality. As for example 2, I heard a rumor that Sota's Street Fighter and World of Warcaft line started to show up all over ebay years after their initial run because SOTA failed to pay the Chinese factors for the production cost of figures. Since both SF wave 1 and WOW were desirable at the time due to being limited prior, it probably made sense for the Chinese factory to make additional unofficial runs of them. I think the only oddity in those runs was the Evil Ryu figure where he had the SDCC parts. Then again, I've heard that variant was an official Asian version. The notion of Chinese factories makin unofficial runs to be released to the Chinese market makes sense to me since I recall watching a years segment decades ago where this American tried to release a children's toy car - the one kids actually get inside of - to the market. The problem was that he discovered a defect on the toy, which made it dangerous for kids to ride in. However, because the toys were already produced, the guy was forced to pay for the entire stock out of his own pocket. Otherwise, he claimed that the toy factory would have released the toys into the Chinese market to offset the cost of making them.
Awesome, this was very informative. Was that Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves line from 1991a case where Kenner still had some original Star Wars and Super Powers tooling laying around a warehouse? I’ve always found it interesting when I see old stuff resurface in other lines.
@@spectorcreative1872 Thanks that makes sense. I should have been more clear. Because they used the same buck so many times, I wonder if they had to make (or remake) the tools do to extra usage?
In short, Mr. McGuire didn't tell us the whole deal regarding plastics. Like the molds (which I assume are as important for Tupperware as they are for toy production). Of course. Well, I'm sure someone is going to mention 3d printing, regardless of the challenges that presents...
my understanding is 3D printing is okay up to about 100 prints, and beyond that you might want to consider getting a mould made. i can understand that -- i owned a screen printing business with my ex, and we would do shirts in vinyl up until about 20, which after that point it was more economical to screen print. these guys with printing farms banging out 100's of the same thing, i dunno, seems to me at some point you're losing your efficiency just to produce an ABS product that's ugly af.
It's interesting to see how long tools for some of the smaller, more indy lines - like Glyos - last. But then on the other side, you have Transformers which has certain tools they have reused for over twenty years (such as some of the generic combiners. Even in the movie lines!), where the sculpt has started to look soft over time.
Transfomers: The Last Knight had that big demon combiner decepticon. Some of his parts have dated back like twenty years, which worked because his individual component robots weren't really seen on-screen so they could just use whatever.
So the "new" vintage scale Falcon released in Target that is the same mold as the one that came out ten years ago but with better painting probably needed the investment of new tooling. Sheesh, they might better have updated the design with modern engineering if they were going to have to pay for new tooling anyway. Black Series isn't even a decade old and its initial offerings feel like dinosaurs compared to current renditions. This isn't the thunder tank we're talking about either, it's the defacto ship in Star Wars!
Always wondered what caused burn marks on the plastic. So, generally speaking it could be tooling thats reached the end of its lifespan? Would double tooling explain subtle differences in the look of figure components ?
Oh, here were go. ToyGuru gets technical. Principles of Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering were discussed. Let us scroll through the comments to see who has pointed out any errors.
I've always wondered when they re-released the Millennium Falcon in the mid 90s, was the tooling found or re-made from schematics because it looked spot on like the one I got in the early 80s. Thanks for answering this!!
You’ve periodically mentioned the plan to release MOTUC in retail, “During a fabled movie year.” I’m guessing that was only possible as a contingency plan because of the shared bucks within the line, correct? Mattel could take whatever basic bucks remained useable and employ those for the first series of the MOTU-movie line figures and/or the MOTUC-movie-companion line. Then, in success you’d be able to retool additional bucks and/or individual figure pieces? Was that the plan? Use whatever molds were still viable in order to launch the line, then develop plans for more lines if it sold well? Or did MOTUC receive special treatment - _more robust molds? Better/additional mold storage after the initial l run? More careful/low-mold-stress production line setups? Use of XYZ factory practices in order to minimize long term wear and tear?_ - because of the fabled prospect of a movie year?
@@spectorcreative1872 not sure who Nick is, but yeah. I think that’s the video I was initially asking you about. My question is just… the molds only last 5 years. I guess, at the time, MOTUC was still *in* production, so you didn’t have to worry about old molds? They were still new? Like, I’m anticipation of the fabled movie year, were MOTUC molds treated any differently than random joblo corporate cartoon tie-in? Or was that completely unnecessary.
Very informative. I'm eternally grateful for the JLU line but you should've lost that Supergirl tool before attempting to use it again. Worst figures in the line 😱😆
This is the problem with plastic and batteries. You toy makers should have stuck with good 'ol wood and fairy dust (in the absence of fairy dust please consult your local key maker for a golden key). Nothing beets a toy come alive. They're even self multiplying - given enough time.
Very interesnting! I have a question: How they make a mold for an old action figure line relaunched? They take it from actual figures/vehicles or what?
at hasblo's level and given today's technology, replicating an original piece shouldn't be an overwhelming issue, i'd imagine. i mean, you can buy a laser scanner and create a flawless 3D copy on your printer. barring that, i would think that a modern fancy pantograph EDM could swing it. as mentioned, retooling it from scratch would be the way to go. you wouldn't want to necessarily put a lot of faith in a 40 year old mould, lol, and repairing it could cost as much as making a new modern one.
In the world of plastic model kits some molds are 60 years old at this point. But I think that the fact that it is shorter runs and styrene plastic has alot to do with the longevity. Or were the molds made in the US back then just better? Atlantis models has reissued a bunch of older kits. And from what I have heard/seen they do need some work.
Injection molding and the tooling process seems like a technology that hasn't changed much over time. With advancements in 3D printing and additive manufacturing, are there new processes being considered for toy manufacturing that could be simpler and/or less expensive?
So, with Commemorative: did Mattel use the old tools at all in recreation, how does that work? The Commemorative He-Man head is a completely new sculpt that they had to buy off eBay and that’s STILL the sculpt they use for any vintage type heman head. Is there a reason for that? Is technology not able to get a more accurate 80’s head now?
I'm pretty sure I've read they had long thrown the tools away, and for that series they might have grabbed some of the original toys, made a mould of the toy, and then used that mould to make a new tool. Knock-off toys usually use this technique.
I believe Mattel covertly bought back a lot of individual figures from eBay and scanned them to make new molds. To Scott's point, a copy of a copy. That's why He-Man's face looks funny.
Great video - Very informative. I have an unrelated question. How are toy companies able to keep product under wraps during development/manufacture? For example we didn't see the Marvel legends Eternals figures until they were on shelves, (even though they've not been officially revealed yet). How do companies stop the factories from leaking products? Thanks!
Really interesting stuff. Are all molds injected with plastic at the same pressure, or do larger molds require more pressure? If more pressure is required, are larger molds made of more durable materials to compensate for increased wear?
Hi Scott, Love the channel. I’m curious roughly how many of each figure of MOTUC were produced as the MoQ. If this isn’t a trade secret can you us know? Are we talking 5000, 10,000, 100k?I’d love to know the rough scale of production . Thanks.
Great video. Very interesting. Question: Do you know the production history on the MOTU Commemorative line many years back. Had some of those at one point and there were quite a few figures made. Do you know if a new tool was used or did they have the original tooling from the vintage line? Thought maybe since the original line made so many figures, that there may have unused tooling pieces in storage. From what I remember, those commemorative figures had pretty sharp details. Just curious. 😁
I have Zodak and Evil-Lyn from Commemorative Edition. I'd heard that the tooling was all new because the originals had been sold to Top Toys in Argentina.
So in all likelihood, Hasbro's infamous "Bucky Cap" tool used in the Marvel Legends line has been retooled at least twice without modifying any of the known issues?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to take all these giant metal tooling molds and just melt them down again into raw metal form so that they can be Recycled into even newer tooling molds rather than just use them as anchors
That is much more expensive and difficult than you might be aware. And steel is plentiful. Why would any company incur the cost if they don't have to? As far as they are concerned it was recycled, into a boat anchor.
So I kinda tried to ask this before but not sure I got an answer. The Tarzan jungle cat/big Jim tiger/battle cat figure is an example of a toy used across lines. Did they reuse the tooling for that or did it have to be recreated every time they reused it? Are certain tools easier to reuse and last longer, like a solid non-articulated cat?
Didnt this happen with the Star Wars Millennium Falcon? I heard the mold broke or tooling. It was the same bold used in the 70s or 80s and the potf one! They then made newer falcon that was electronic
Here are hypothetical questions for everyone regarding science fiction technology and consumerism. Would the behavior of collecting something continue to existing if something like an action figure could be replicated easily? Instead of buying the physical item, would we just buy the plans or technical specifics (tech-specs) of the item we want to re-create?
I think its waay after your time at Mattel but how did the process of handing out the MOTU Classics brand to Super 7 happen? Was Mattel actively looking for a company to sub-contract the remainder of the line or did Super 7 approach Mattel? Did Super7 contract to buy out whatever remaining figures that Mattel originally have planned for the line? Or did they end up designing the figures they came out with? Same question with Snake Mountain. And what about the Molds then? Did Mattel just hand it over to Super 7 and Super 7 just ended up using them up? What about their Thundercats line? Those are basically the same bucks as MOTU. How is Super7 STILL able to basically use the same buck design that Mattel did with MOTU without going into copyright infringement? I mean, that buck design must be copyrighted by Mattel, right?
I wasn't there but I imagine it was Mattel realizing no one was around to run the line so sub contracting it out to a company more connected to doing small collector lines was a good idea at the time. The first wave definitely had some Mattel sculpts in it as I worked on Lodar.
I’d imagine it would be a viable option to make new moulds (tools) from casts. When I made lead figurines, we used lost wax to create new moulds from existing moulds by essentially making a mould for a mould (if that makes any sense).
Great video !! A lot of substance. I have a question; Do you think The new TMNT x power rangers will be collectable? I already pre-ordered all of them I just wanted to see if I could get your professional opinion.
i'd love to know how many figures of a certain line are produced. i understand why a company doesn't release these numbers, and honestly i wouldn't, either, but it would be great to know just how many of a particular item was actually made. moulds aren't nearly as expensive as they used to be and it's to the point where a small business person could afford them (within reason, lol). you really don't need to need to be hasblo size pumping out product for a major line like 'star wars' to justify them now. shoo, there are even benchtop manual injection moulds you can use at home and have small aluminum moulds made for you. i'm not sure exactly sre what these small, simple moulds cost, but my understanding is well under $1000 and i assume they're made with 3D routers. sure, moulds can be repaired and pieces fixed over time to where it becomes a theseus ship philosophical thought puzzle. 'it's the original mould!' except that every single bit of it didn't exist in the vintage production and there's only three original screws left, lol. in models, i believe there are still a lot of moulds from the 60's they're still using. that's entirely different than making large runs of figures, but it's still interesting how these things are passed around through company acquisitions and might be kept in storage waiting for someone to lease the thing or simply forgotten in a warehouse. when i first started working at GM i was surprised just how many ancient moulds they had piled up on racks in a dark corner. i'd say that's pretty old school, though, way before everything was manufactured in china, india, taiwan, mexico, etc.. i'm just south of dayton, ohio, where there used to be a tool and die shop on every corner. it's heartbreaking how many moulds wind up at the end of a chinese rope or chain....
Could you talk about logistics costs? I work in foreign commerce. Right now a container freight from China has gone from $ 1000 (or less) pre pandemic to roughly more than $10000. What toll is this taking on the toy insdustry?
Is this still..a thing now that we have 3d printing ? Our molds are now digital rather than physical. What am I missing ? Is it quantity ? I. E. Is it not feasible to print a production run ? I apologize if I failed to articulate my query.
3D printing can't keep up at this time. Where I can see this going though, is micromanufacturing via 3D printing; i.e. an employee will print a known quantity for a work period, in their home or a small facility, and produce say, nothing but He-Man left-legs. Just a total run - might last months or years - all of those legs are then sent to a central assembly facility, and off to packaging machines. Something like that. When the next product comes along, the employee gets a data package and the materials, and just starts making Teela right arms for the next run. I don't know if that all is practical - but, I think it could be *made* to be practical, with the changes coming in the era of yearly "Panic Them!" pandemics and lockdowns. Get used to it, that's the fear du jour for the next generation.
@@wallaroo1295 i understand the concept you're saying and it's conceivable despite it having a lot of issues attached to it. i could rattle off a laundry lists of problems i see with that kind of plan just off the top of my head, lol. i think the biggest issue would simply be that people suck and you can't trust them to do their 'job' when you need them to. the 'sorry, i couldn't find the tape gun so i couldn't UPS them to you' won't fly when you have a bunch of assemblers, painters, and packers sitting around on the clock waiting for teela boobs. lots of ppl have printer farms, and that's okay for some things, i guess. personally, i'd be curious to see their costs vs. different processes past a certain production point. if you need ABS then only a filament printer can do that, then you have problems with it looking like shit from the layers. spending hours to print an inferior component that can be made literally within seconds using an injection mould, and soon you're going to very much close that cost gap, i would think. also, toys have a limited shelf life, and a couple hundred parts a day printing just won't cut the thousands that can otherwise be made when you have orders to fill. i don't know, i would just have to really be convinced somehow that this is the future of certain manufacturing. i've spent most of the last 30 years working in manufacturing and i've owned my own small business. i've seen a lot of crazy machines, learned that even your most trusted suppliers can flake on you, that 'just in time manufacturing' is more a buzz term idiot pieces of management love bandying about than a viable american process without bastardizing the concept to hell and back, and, as an aside, if you see any company's quality statement containing the words 'continuous improvement' just do yourself a favour and leave.
@@spectorcreative1872 it never will be, either. there simply isn't a way to remotely improve on a process that takes seconds to make a piece as opposed to printing it, not to mention the quality and consistency.
@@manlymcstud8588 🤣 Agreed whole heartedly. You have a *lot* more expertise and specifics in manufacturing logistics than I do. I was on the consumption side of hospital logistics for Veterans Affairs. Yeah, the "JIT" bullshit costs the US Taxpayer untold sums when we had to either pay extra for quick product change - or worse, during winter storms when the interstate from our supplier was cut off... fly the supplies in at I don't even want to think about the costs. JIT works for the systems Toyota built JIT ordering for, and even they have found some very significant flaws with The 'Rona. Auto-Parts stores in rural areas, with small logistics networks can run JIT - major manufacturing and high turnover, critical (like healthcare)? No. JIT is a bad idea for that. In the hospital, maybe certain divisions could work with JIT, but you can't JIT rubber gloves and PPE, and band-aids. That's as dumb as JIT for militaries. Could you imagine the disaster JIT would be in *battle?* "General, 3d Infantry says they have reached minimum order quantity levels." "Very good. Tell them to continue with bombardment as standard. Notify Captain Ward over in the Logistics company to -" "Sir, the Logistics company were all killed in an ambush." "Well... fuck." The US Feds go apeshit with all of the latest trend stuff - they are *par-tic-ularly* addicted to all things *Lean Six Sigma! Whacha!!!* - We spend a *lot* of taxpayer dollars sending our management to LEAN courses, but they never actually implement any of it. Or one tiny little piece, instead of the whole Kai-Zen package. That's why I'm glad I retired. Now, I can legitimately call on their bullshit, without fear of reprisal in what was once a free country. But, I digress - a lot. Regarding the future of micromanufacturing, I think we will figure something out. Big Tech, and the Dataminers, and the .govs - want us all sitting at home, doing this. Making data. Much easier to do, when they don't have to report to the factory for the jobs. Or to smaller facilities, rather than the Muskian Gigafactories. I think small players, who are already benefitting from 3D printing, like custom Star Wars figure makers, and the like, who aren't doing major manufacturing, but want to grow into a bigger niche market, who have a customer base who can tolerate emails saying, "Sorry, our Teela face makers didn't get their materials because of a supplier problem - it's going to be a bit, but we'll get it to you." I can see it starting there. I'm just *really* speculating on the future of micromanufacturing. Part of the reason for my creativity on it, is that I see it as a good way to employ disabled Veterans - making the products, that get sold to the VA, that get used on the Veterans themselves when they go to the VA. Little things like, the fittings for IV hoses, nose pinchy thingies for Pulmonary Flow Test machines - the little shit, the hospital uses everyday. If a Vet can work a PC, the equipment and move the product, with assistance if needed, they have a job. No need for a vehicle, etc. And so, that let's my brain be able to go all kinds of dreamy creative places... and then I have to filter out the crap and keep the good ideas. LOL
If Mattel is ever going to bring back MOTU Classics, now is the time while everybody wants anything and everything that's MOTU-related. Make the investment now and re-release all of the main figures online by next year. This time it should be twice if not even more successful than the first time around. Nowadays everybody buys their toys online, unlike 10 years ago when it was a different landscape...
of course they can be recycled, sold or leased. bear in mind we're talking about china here, though, and why buy an anchor when a cheap mould does the trick?
Very interesting, thank you. Do you know how they mold seamless figures? Either the TBLeague style body where they mold completely around a diecast skeleton. Or the way the new Death Added figure is from Storm Collectables where it seems like a regular articulated limb inside a seamless sleeve.
I own some TBLeague figures , I think they make the steel skelton after that they take the front and the back of the body and weld them together . The figures are made of TPE and that material can easy be welded via heat . The other method could be similar like TPE lovedolls with steel skelton for adults are made ...... you can find some videos of the productions at youtube (Warning , adult content ^^) .
@@paluxyl.8682 Interesting. Thanks for the info. I read that it was a TPE plastic but I hadn't heard about fusing both halves together. I don't have any TBLeague figures but I find the idea interesting and wonder what other ways it could be used for figures.
@@josephday5038 The TBLeague figures looks nice , but the rubber material is a little sticky ..... also it's suggested to store the figure never with to much bended arms or legs , and some even say best without clothes or avoid tight clothes . The concept is great , but if I would make movie figures they would not be made of seamless rubber material .
@@paluxyl.8682 my thought would be, could companies use TPE for accessories on regular action figures, like jackets, pants, hat's, etc. Maybe even use it for hair to make long hair more flexible. I guess the question would be if it is flexible and durable enough as well as how much cost it would add.
Huh, How about that. I thought they were using the same molds for the re-issues. I mean they look just like the originals. How do they get them so exact? is there like a scan or are the mold makers that precise?
@@spectorcreative1872 I think it was most recently used for spymaster in the crimson dynamo wave (black widow movie). According to oafe. It’s called the small male buck.
Hey Scott, I was wondering why the 200X shadow weaver was never made in classics. Could the tool for her have been made and released in a different colour like purple or blue under the name Horde Witch, then reused in the red colour once you got the rights to her.
@@spectorcreative1872 I understand that there were legal issues that were ultimately caused by others, however once you had the rights to make both the 200X and filmation characters would those issues have been nullified.
Just asking I felt that the power rangers toyline esp the megazords during the 2010- 2019 year seem to look cheaper in plastic than those during the 90s.Am I being paranoid lol?
I’m still curious about whether it costs less to recreate old tools than make entirely new tools. I would think that it MUST cost less because all of the design work is already done. How much of the cost of these tools is accounted for in the design portion?
it's probably just a cost analysis thing. old moulds might need a lot repairs and who knows how many shots they truly have left? would you trust a 40 year old souped up clunker to fulfill your orders? not sure i would, lol. kind of a tricky question, imo. i suspect the answer is it depends.
On a somewhat separate note, there are metal tokens that were produced in the 1860s, and the original dies that produced those tokens were acquired by an individual in the 1960s. He thought it would be a great idea to coin more of the same tokens as a 100th anniversary commemorative. He made less than 500 before one of the dies cracked, and "that's all she wrote." I'm sure that metal molds for plastic pieces undergo an easier life, but metal fatigues over time. I don't know if they don't crack like coin dies, but I'd imagine the sharpness of the piece created would diminish toward the end of the molds life, as dies' images of coins do, which is why many dies are used each year to stamp our coins (for every coin around the world).
I suppose it largely depends on the quality you want. Think model kits or weapons that come on a sprue with cheap action figure sets at walmart. I'd assume a single sprue of multiple pieces also come from a single tool; but the number of pieces can vary as much as the model kit sprues vary from kit to kit and/or kit quality to kit quality.
absolutely. funny you mention that, someone in the vintage SW group just showed off a biker scout, if i remember, still on the sprue, almost the entire figure was banged out in one shot.
If it's possible one day in the future to 3d print a slug figure that can thrown 100 times against the wall without breaking , it could make injection molding obsolete .
@@paluxyl.8682 like 3d printed gooey slug sounds gross, like great for a creepy crawlers play set and probably better then the burning hot metal we used to play with
Maybe in the future, Right now I don't think so. 3D printing is much slower than molding and because of how it works it leaves those print lines from seprate layers.
Not anytime soon. Injection molding creates pieces where the polymer/molecular bonds are strong in every direction. In the 3d printing those bonds are stronger within the layer while cross layer strength is significantly weaker. Printed pieces will be weak to shear stresses applied between layers. True voxel printing may change this. The other issue is limited material selection and printing doesn't scale up effectively for mass production.
So a toy that existed 30 or more years ago can be remade if someone is willing to invest in making a new tool? I was also wondering about reverse engineering. How do companies make knockoffs? I assume since they don't have the original tool, they are able to fabricate an inferior tool from a sample of a legit product?
i think you basically answered your own question. all you have to do is pretend you want to make knock-offs and ask yourself how you'd do it. it's probably shockingly easy and relatively inexpensive especially if you have access to manufacturing. with fairly little investment you could make all the vintage stormtroopers you want. you really don't even need a metal mould, but you're probably not going to get a high amount of repros from high-temp silicone. but, there are benchtop injection mould machines you can get for about $12-1500 i think.
Action figure manufacturing might be the single most frivolous hobby that has the most destructive impact on the environment. Between the fossil fuels needed to make the plastic, the resources spent casting these giant molds, the waste it creates when people throw away figures & when companies have to dispose of these giant metal molds. It will probably be banned by governments one day. Hopefully that’s not anytime soon, just an observation y’all don’t bully me
First they should ban all the "junk" plastic stuff that you can find in many dollar stores ..... every time I go to that kind of stores I always wonder why this all exists , some items are even without a name or discribtion and no one in the store knows the purpose of the items . lol
This reminds of an episode of the Jim Henson Hour (The Secrets of The Muppets) where they talk to a puppet builder working on a new Gonzo puppet because of wear and tear. My 8 year-old mind was blown.
I love that episode!
One of my fav shows ever!.... Just bought 'Song of the Cloud Forest,' actually.
It's impressive how during the 80s tools went from one country to another. That's how we got MOTU, GIJOE, MASK, Super Powers and many other lines in Argentina.
in modelling, mould ownership transferred all the time as one company bought out another, sold moulds to other companies, or leased them out.
Exactly
I would love an in depth video on how the tooling is created. Are the action figure negatives CNC machined into the metal or is it done by hand? When the S was filled in on Supergirl do they just add molten metal and polish it or is there a special substance for changing molds like that? I make a lot of silicone molds of things so I understand how that works, but have never seen how metal molds get made. Great video!
I wanna see how Classics Castle Grayskull was tooled...i mean the actual process
Very much like that. It is all done by hand
if it's indented into the figure, then it's raised on the mould and just a matter of filing that down. i'm not a tool and die guy, so i don't know you would -- if it's even possible -- to reverse that.
as far as how the mould is constructed i imagine it depends on what plastic you're using, production, detail, material hardness, etc.. some might be CNC router, 3D router, others EDM (electrical discharge machining). seems i recall how the old aurora models were made back in the 60's as being a pantograph EDM, which is kind of like doing it by hand. of course, you could always break out the chisels, too, but i'd venture to say that's very old school.
@@spectorcreative1872 this would be a great follow-up topic! I hope you'd do it.
Having worked in manufacturing for so many years this entire video makes perfect sense to me. I always understood this component of how plastic products are made so thank you for sharing. Also if you forget your lunch is on top of the machine while it's running it will reheat it for you. Can't say I recommend that, but true story.
Well a good story none the less
i think it's probably interesting to folk who haven't seen it every day for years on end, lol. they'd be like, 'oh, so you just jam this vacuum hose thingy into a huge box of plastic pellets? cool!' but, when you're the guy at the end of the conveyer or have to put your hand into a mould to pop off stuck parts it's like, 'oh, gawd, this again....'
Thank you, it was very informative. I keep wondering "well why don't they just print more of the old He-Man toys from the 80's" but I guess it's much more complicated that flipping a switch somewhere
More to come like this. Stay tuned
A good example of tool deterioration is the top wedge panels on the Black Series R5-G19 dome compared to the first R5-C7 Legacy release.
Another example is the Jazz toy released in the Commemorative Series Transformers line by Hasbro in the 2000s. The robot’s mouth had a strange smirk not present on the original, allegedly due to tool degradation. Later reissues fixed the tooling so it looked more like the original G1 toy.
Gréât example!
I thought it was odd when I saw a video about the recent Kenner Real Ghostbusters line that showed slight differences between the vintage toys and the new ones. Now it makes more sense.
Yup. New tools
Mr. Netilich,
Making a small presumption that you still know some folks working at Mattel - could you please pass on to whomever is working MOTU on the Mega Contstrux line, *THEY ARE KILLING IT!!!* - In the good way!
In fact, the whole Mega Construx line is killing it.
It seems like the team they have over there must be in a good work environment, because it shows in the design. For itty-bitty-class figures, they are supremely done. I picked up a TMNT Michaelangelo, and WOW! (Also nice, because I'm retired in my RV, where space is a premium.)
I picked up all kinds of MOTU figures at a rural Walmart in Lamar, Colorado last night, and I'm full of all kinds of "squeee!" The little Battle Cat/Panther figures are just... so... coool!
I'm loving the hell out of mixing and matching parts and pieces from different lines (like the 80s Joes) , and that's the sort of design elements that tell me Mega Construx knows their audience - GenX/Millennial parents, shopping with their little kids in Dollar General and the Lego isles in big boxes.
Swing by a Dollar General store, and they put the action figures in with the tike toys, at adult eye level of course, "Dad" eye level. And it works.
Dad can't have a $12 set of new Mega Construx figures, if Junior doesn't also get some toys - smart.
So, anyway - enough gushing from me 😊 - if you could pass that on to the Team and Bosses over there, I'm sure they would probably appreciate it right now.
Thank you Sir!
~W
Actually, with such a high turn over and many many (many) mass layoffs I know almost no one who is still there! But do agree with your assessment!
@@spectorcreative1872 That is unfortunate about the mass layoffs, regardless of the industry - layoffs suck.
I think that is another missing component that a lot of the "why are there empty shelves" ragers miss - somebody has to *make* the toys. Somebody has to *make* the plastic that makes the toys. Somebody has to drive the truck, plane, train that delivers that plastic - and somebody has to do all of those things, for the people who make the plastic. Same goes for the paint used - lose the supplier of a chemical component that is used to make the paint, you lose the whole figure line for that time.
Any one of those links in the logistics chain breaks - and the whole thing breaks, or has to be readjusted.
There's a hell of a lot more to the logistics behind manufacturing that a lot of people realize.
This has all been gained wisdom for me over the last 8 or 9 months. I had/am having action figures created for promotional purposes to go along with the novel I’m working on.
The factory I’m working with agreed to store the tools for me for later use. But I’m sure that’s not a forever arrangement.
I’d say get it in writing!
I'd really like to see more about how the tools are made. That must take a great deal of artistic endeavor to carve out those chunks of metal and make them congruent with one another.
A few more on this channel!
Love these informative toy videos! Scott can you do a video on toy commercials or toy catalogs? Toy marketing seems like a really interesting topic
I have been thinking of that a while. I’ll bump it up in the list!
Such an informative & interesting video. Yet another great presentation. Keep em coming!
So glad you liked! Any suggestions for topics is always appreciated.
I've been circling back on all your videos on toy tooling. I don't know why, but the subject fascinates me to no end.
Well be sure to check out the older ones too, some good gems that don't get watched enough!
I’ve said for years that many G1 “reissues” are in fact made from newly created molds. The MOTU reissues from the early 2000’s are pretty sweet considering they’re copies of copies. I wish we could see a video about how they made them. I really wish Stargirl had used the standard JLU female body buck. She looks out of place with the rest of the line. Even Supergirl got a 2nd figure using the regular buck.
I have that in the works
I think my Marvel Legends Venom from the Monster Venom BAF was was a late mold, he has a strange texture on Torso, Arms and Legs. Really interresting
Could indeed be
Injection molding is a fascinating subject. It's amazing how much engineering goes into common household products. The production rates are unreal.
Around the turn of the century, you could get a 100 ton injection mold machine(less dies) for $100. But it would have cost about $10k to move and set up.
I have a lot of stories from back then, it wasn't a time to set a small manufacturing company in the US.
And it is responsible for so much of what we collect
Great video and my favorite subject in regards to toy making. My background is manufacturing and I machine injection molds for repro toy parts.
Glad you liked. Any help sharing with others online is most appreciated
Another educational video thanks Scott!
Glad you enjoyed!!
Interesting watch, not just as a toy fan but as someone who works in metal stamping and assembly. There's definitely some overlap in the issues surrounding the life of tooling, although we shape material rather than mold it.
I';m glad it was enjoyed! Please feel free to share with others, it helps the channel a ton
Finally! some interesting information on toy making I've always wanted to learn about
Glad you liked! Topic suggestions always welcome.
I could watch as many of these about tooling as you care to make, it's so insightful. Question though, how do they go about creating/recreating a tool such as they did for the Commemorative editions of the original 80's figures?
I’ll be doing a video on that soon!
The oldest tool I personally know of is from Character Options Dr Who line, Theyre still using the same ones from 2004. I guess more limited runs mean they arnt getting worn out?
It could be a replacement tool
I know that many of the Godzilla toys in Japan use the same tooling from decades before, some being as old as the 1960s. But those use a different process (soft vinyl) and in some cases more limited runs, so that probably plays a big role in the tool surviving. And I think it might be easier to make casts off the original hollow vinyl figure if something does happen to the original.
So enlightening videos!!! Love your content. No other channel talks of these topics. Congratulations and keep it up!!!
Thank you so much! any help sharing videos helps the channel out a ton
I recall that a lot of the G1 Transformers figures when they were reissued by Takara - and later, Hasbro - used the tooling from the Generations 2 line. This is why a lot of the reissues had changes that were made on the figures during the G2 area.
Anyway, when Takara reissued Jazz, the face looked odd due to mold degradation. Takara tried fixing the face with different runs, but it didn't come out right. I think it was finally fixed when Hasbro did a later run of either Jazz or Ricochet(a once Japanese exclusive of a black redeco of Jazz named Stepper) where they recreated the tooling.
Tooling degradation is also why not all G1 figures have been reissued officially since some tooling are beyond repair. I also recall that the tooling for Soundwave's clear tape deck door degraded beyond repair during one of his reissue runs, which is why the Hasbro versions - until recently I think - had to use the Soundblaster version, which can hold more tapes due to the part being deeper
Yup. That is it
First...I LOVED IT!!!!! I've seen tooling made, we even had Stycast and casting epoxy at work because one of the aviation systems was made in '97. We never produced anything Safety of Flight, but still. I've even made small scale stuff, weapons mostly. Flatter things. Very small runs. My boss thought I was crazy.
The big question... do you have the Spector Tool in your home? It would only be fitting. I've read a lot of released inter-office memos from Hasbro from 30 years ago in different places. A few of them mentioned sending tools to South American factories, and then took the factory to keep them to cut down on cost. So Hasbro was not paying to get the molds back to get rid of them. I've read the two product tools they were eager to dispose of were the Flagg, and the Defiant Shuttle Launch Complex. They took up so much space.
I'm sure Castle Greyskull (or is it Grayskull 😝) was huge as well.
Mine too
Great video. By the questions asked already this seems to be a big point of interest for your fanbase. I'm off to scour comment section for answers to questions already asked. Thanks for the informative video.
Topics always welcome!
Scott, I once heard that certain articulation points are copyrighted by individual companies, for example - ankle pivots being copyrighted by Hasbro. Would love to see a video explaining this. Great video. Liked
They can be such as marvel legends double elbow joint.
@@spectorcreative1872 so then how are other companies able to do it? Like most companies use double joints now at least
Good point. I think you can use a patented process if you improve on the design. If you took something like Revoltech’s “revolver joint” or shfiguarts and altered the mounting points, you’re good. Plus that may have been a rumor cause certain designs are just too common.
@@machineman6498 I mean, McFarlane and NECA double elbows and knees are pretty much the same as marvel legends. Even Mattel had some double jointed DCUC figures like blue beetle back in that era
Awesome Vid. This explains why the latest G1 Optimus Prime did not had the trailer.
Ill love to see a video on how paint apps are done in mass production toy lines.
Very much so!
I’m always learning something new here, I love it
And thanks for being part of the channel
@@spectorcreative1872 thanks for being such a good host!
2:10 the same thing happens when you use one master tape (analogue) to make one thousand copies. Quality degradation happens everywhere outside digital formats.
Very much so
Were the tools in the 80s more durable than the tools they make now? I always assumed G.I. Joe reused the original tooling to make Tiger Force, Night Force, etc. And I was under the impression they used the original 82-83 tooling to make the 1997 figures - but they couldn't find them all (or some deteriorated) so they used some 86 parts.
The video mentions there being five classes of injection molds, based on life expectancy. My guess is that 80s toy companies spent the extra money for higher class molds with the idea that the volume of sales and years of re-use would justify the investment. Modern specialty lines presumably see parts runs that may be several orders of magnitude smaller.
Part of this falls into the same category as the Palitoy example. Funskool had a lot of the Hasbro tooling from the 80's/90's and those were used to produce the '97/'98 lines. The plastic quality on those figures also shows how differently they were produced vs. the original ones.
No if anything they are more durable now
I guess they never splurged on that class 1 million use tooling.
Only industrial titans like Ford or Sony can afford the good tooling and they are not using it to make toys.
@@Novusod no reason to spend more on tooling than you have to.
Hasbro has been continuously making the Cobra HISS tank since 1983, I wonder if that's the same tooling or have they had to retool it at some point? (Thank you, Scott, for all of these videos, by the way. This channel has become such a part of my life in 2021, I've been really enjoying it.)
Definitely not. They would have needed to retool ever decade at least
Yeah. 100% not the same tool. Maybe the same master, if they haven't been changing it, but it has definitely been retooled dozens of times if that was that case.
This was very informative. But now I can say this. I love that I have all of the Seven Soldiers of Victory (even though it would have been epic to have Sylvester Pemberton Star-Spangled Kid) I'm kinda disappointed that Stargirl can't hold her cosmic rod. (I also lost Vigilante's gun and rope and my Shining Knight has one leg shorter than the other) but I'm still happy I have every member of the team.
Gotta take the wins where we can
Queen did ask, “who wants to live forever?” And apparently tooling can give an answer to that….
Scott, answer (reply) in the form of another Queen song title...
Yups
@@spectorcreative1872 You could have said - We Will Rock You.
I remember the Takara Encore G1 Bruticus....ugly burn/scorch marks all over. Got it just the same to finally get a complete Bruticus and it's aftermarket price went through the roof. Still an "ugly" re-issue but I still love it warts and all.
Good example
Cool! Answered the tooling question I just asked on another video ;)
There you go!
Scott, I heard a rumor that the bootleg Neca [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles] line of toys were such high quality is because workers just used the tools, casts, and dyes in the factory after-hours to produce them (using their plastics). That was probably the only best-case scenario in regards to bootlegs. Since most toys are made in factories located in developing nations, do you know anything about the security around the tooling?
i've heard stories like that, too, and i suspect there's a lot of truth to that. i've also heard some knock-offs are nothing more than factory rejects workers smuggled out/picked from the trash. i also imagine a lot of shenanigans by management knowing about it and getting a kickback to look the other way.
i've worked with chinese for several years, i'm talking straight up commies literally off the plane and sent to work before they went to their apartments set up for them, and i won't sugarcoat it -- they're not like us in the way they think. what's a bootleg to us might just be a different version to them, copyright and all that... bwahahahaha! yeah, they just don't see it that way. it's no wonder corruption is one of their biggest problems and exactly why you have to be very careful who you deal with. (it was funny when i first started working for a chinese company just how many signs they'd posted warning against corruption.)
i'd venture to say a lot of these 'offshore manufacturers' are entirely willing to pop out some bootlegs with the owners' approval, maybe even some lines whose manufacturing processes are owned by the toy company themselves. i literally put nothing past them cuz i've worked with 'em. don't get me wrong, that's not saying they're bad people, just they don't think like americans do and won't balk at making an extra buck under the table doing something they simply don't have the moral qualms about.
i say all that to provide some kind of reasoning behind why they do what they do. i don't think it's really a big secret that you really don't want to give a chinese manufacturer your trade secrets because they won't be secret for long, lol.
Oh yes this happens. A series of videos on bootleg toys is coming ASAP
I too heard stories and rumors about this as well. One example is G.I. Spy Troops Scarlett repaint? - I think it was the purple repaint rather than the green version - where variant versions were coming out from China with the center being flesh colored rather than grey or off-white. Fans suspected it was a "midnight" run figure because it was available shortly Hasbro's version was out. In addition, the figure was identical with the Hasbro version in terms of quality.
As for example 2, I heard a rumor that Sota's Street Fighter and World of Warcaft line started to show up all over ebay years after their initial run because SOTA failed to pay the Chinese factors for the production cost of figures. Since both SF wave 1 and WOW were desirable at the time due to being limited prior, it probably made sense for the Chinese factory to make additional unofficial runs of them. I think the only oddity in those runs was the Evil Ryu figure where he had the SDCC parts. Then again, I've heard that variant was an official Asian version.
The notion of Chinese factories makin unofficial runs to be released to the Chinese market makes sense to me since I recall watching a years segment decades ago where this American tried to release a children's toy car - the one kids actually get inside of - to the market. The problem was that he discovered a defect on the toy, which made it dangerous for kids to ride in. However, because the toys were already produced, the guy was forced to pay for the entire stock out of his own pocket. Otherwise, he claimed that the toy factory would have released the toys into the Chinese market to offset the cost of making them.
Awesome, this was very informative. Was that Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves line from 1991a case where Kenner still had some original Star Wars and Super Powers tooling laying around a warehouse? I’ve always found it interesting when I see old stuff resurface in other lines.
Yes very much so
@@spectorcreative1872 The Re-used tooling was all from the end of both lines right?
Another great video sir! I wonder how many tools they used for all those Batman bucks back in the late 1980's & 1990's...
Usually one per fig
@@spectorcreative1872 Thanks that makes sense. I should have been more clear. Because they used the same buck so many times, I wonder if they had to make (or remake) the tools do to extra usage?
In short, Mr. McGuire didn't tell us the whole deal regarding plastics. Like the molds (which I assume are as important for Tupperware as they are for toy production). Of course.
Well, I'm sure someone is going to mention 3d printing, regardless of the challenges that presents...
Oh thé challenges it has indeed
my understanding is 3D printing is okay up to about 100 prints, and beyond that you might want to consider getting a mould made. i can understand that -- i owned a screen printing business with my ex, and we would do shirts in vinyl up until about 20, which after that point it was more economical to screen print.
these guys with printing farms banging out 100's of the same thing, i dunno, seems to me at some point you're losing your efficiency just to produce an ABS product that's ugly af.
It's interesting to see how long tools for some of the smaller, more indy lines - like Glyos - last. But then on the other side, you have Transformers which has certain tools they have reused for over twenty years (such as some of the generic combiners. Even in the movie lines!), where the sculpt has started to look soft over time.
Transfomers: The Last Knight had that big demon combiner decepticon. Some of his parts have dated back like twenty years, which worked because his individual component robots weren't really seen on-screen so they could just use whatever.
And it could be items that were re-tooled. We re-tooled Classics He-Man because he wore out
So the "new" vintage scale Falcon released in Target that is the same mold as the one that came out ten years ago but with better painting probably needed the investment of new tooling. Sheesh, they might better have updated the design with modern engineering if they were going to have to pay for new tooling anyway. Black Series isn't even a decade old and its initial offerings feel like dinosaurs compared to current renditions. This isn't the thunder tank we're talking about either, it's the defacto ship in Star Wars!
Likely this tooling was still usable.
Always wondered what caused burn marks on the plastic. So, generally speaking it could be tooling thats reached the end of its lifespan? Would double tooling explain subtle differences in the look of figure components ?
That can, but double tooling is designed to be identical. It is more likely overuse if a tool
Oh, here were go. ToyGuru gets technical. Principles of Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering were discussed. Let us scroll through the comments to see who has pointed out any errors.
He sure schooling all the die hard fans!
I sure their are many. I am not a scientist by trade
@@spectorcreative1872 I still appreciate the layman explanations.
@@robd1329 Or related to this topic "die-cast" fans.
I've always wondered when they re-released the Millennium Falcon in the mid 90s, was the tooling found or re-made from schematics because it looked spot on like the one I got in the early 80s. Thanks for answering this!!
Yup, good thing Palitoy had it.
They were lazy af! Im glad the mold broke!
You’ve periodically mentioned the plan to release MOTUC in retail, “During a fabled movie year.” I’m guessing that was only possible as a contingency plan because of the shared bucks within the line, correct? Mattel could take whatever basic bucks remained useable and employ those for the first series of the MOTU-movie line figures and/or the MOTUC-movie-companion line. Then, in success you’d be able to retool additional bucks and/or individual figure pieces?
Was that the plan? Use whatever molds were still viable in order to launch the line, then develop plans for more lines if it sold well? Or did MOTUC receive special treatment - _more robust molds? Better/additional mold storage after the initial l run? More careful/low-mold-stress production line setups? Use of XYZ factory practices in order to minimize long term wear and tear?_ - because of the fabled prospect of a movie year?
Did you see this video Nick? ruclips.net/video/8ca62rHeFYY/видео.html
@@spectorcreative1872 not sure who Nick is, but yeah. I think that’s the video I was initially asking you about. My question is just… the molds only last 5 years. I guess, at the time, MOTUC was still *in* production, so you didn’t have to worry about old molds? They were still new?
Like, I’m anticipation of the fabled movie year, were MOTUC molds treated any differently than random joblo corporate cartoon tie-in? Or was that completely unnecessary.
This is awsome
Glad you enjoyed! Any help sharing online is most appreciated
Very informative. I'm eternally grateful for the JLU line but you should've lost that Supergirl tool before attempting to use it again. Worst figures in the line 😱😆
Well I can't take credit for Supergirl. She came out before I ran the line
This is the problem with plastic and batteries. You toy makers should have stuck with good 'ol wood and fairy dust (in the absence of fairy dust please consult your local key maker for a golden key). Nothing beets a toy come alive. They're even self multiplying - given enough time.
Very much so
Very interesnting! I have a question: How they make a mold for an old action figure line relaunched? They take it from actual figures/vehicles or what?
They retool it from scratch. Think a copy of a copy
@@spectorcreative1872 Is it really scratch/scratch or is it easier to copy the second time around?
at hasblo's level and given today's technology, replicating an original piece shouldn't be an overwhelming issue, i'd imagine. i mean, you can buy a laser scanner and create a flawless 3D copy on your printer. barring that, i would think that a modern fancy pantograph EDM could swing it.
as mentioned, retooling it from scratch would be the way to go. you wouldn't want to necessarily put a lot of faith in a 40 year old mould, lol, and repairing it could cost as much as making a new modern one.
In the world of plastic model kits some molds are 60 years old at this point. But I think that the fact that it is shorter runs and styrene plastic has alot to do with the longevity. Or were the molds made in the US back then just better? Atlantis models has reissued a bunch of older kits. And from what I have heard/seen they do need some work.
They would have been remade multiple times
Injection molding and the tooling process seems like a technology that hasn't changed much over time. With advancements in 3D printing and additive manufacturing, are there new processes being considered for toy manufacturing that could be simpler and/or less expensive?
You are right, not too much
So, with Commemorative: did Mattel use the old tools at all in recreation, how does that work? The Commemorative He-Man head is a completely new sculpt that they had to buy off eBay and that’s STILL the sculpt they use for any vintage type heman head. Is there a reason for that? Is technology not able to get a more accurate 80’s head now?
I'm pretty sure I've read they had long thrown the tools away, and for that series they might have grabbed some of the original toys, made a mould of the toy, and then used that mould to make a new tool.
Knock-off toys usually use this technique.
Those were new tools based on the old. So think a copy of a copy
I believe Mattel covertly bought back a lot of individual figures from eBay and scanned them to make new molds. To Scott's point, a copy of a copy. That's why He-Man's face looks funny.
Great video - Very informative. I have an unrelated question. How are toy companies able to keep product under wraps during development/manufacture? For example we didn't see the Marvel legends Eternals figures until they were on shelves, (even though they've not been officially revealed yet). How do companies stop the factories from leaking products? Thanks!
It is NOT easy. Usually i is about controlling who has access to images and information
@@spectorcreative1872 I thought they would confiscate phones etc from workers and NDAs. I was mainly thinking at the factory level.
Really interesting stuff. Are all molds injected with plastic at the same pressure, or do larger molds require more pressure? If more pressure is required, are larger molds made of more durable materials to compensate for increased wear?
Yes larger molds are made of more durable stuff
Hi Scott, Love the channel. I’m curious roughly how many of each figure of MOTUC were produced as the MoQ. If this isn’t a trade secret can you us know? Are we talking 5000, 10,000, 100k?I’d love to know the rough scale of production . Thanks.
Alas, that is not something Mattel gives out. See here:
ruclips.net/video/9ugzvlNvnmA/видео.html
Great video. Very interesting. Question: Do you know the production history on the MOTU Commemorative line many years back. Had some of those at one point and there were quite a few figures made. Do you know if a new tool was used or did they have the original tooling from the vintage line? Thought maybe since the original line made so many figures, that there may have unused tooling pieces in storage. From what I remember, those commemorative figures had pretty sharp details. Just curious. 😁
I have Zodak and Evil-Lyn from Commemorative Edition. I'd heard that the tooling was all new because the originals had been sold to Top Toys in Argentina.
I will be doing a video on that soon
Now in the computer age, how is the tool made, a CNC milling machine and a steel cube? Or done "by hand" by a skilled artisan.
Still by hand
So in all likelihood, Hasbro's infamous "Bucky Cap" tool used in the Marvel Legends line has been retooled at least twice without modifying any of the known issues?
Probably
G1 transformers have loads of examples of mold degradation over time, as well as permanently lost and or damaged molds.
Very much so
Given what you've said here, is it pretty much bunk when we hear rumors like "the tool was lost" to explain why things get changed in reissues etc?
No, tools do get lost all the time
Wouldn’t it make more sense to take all these giant metal tooling molds and just melt them down again into raw metal form so that they can be Recycled into even newer tooling molds rather than just use them as anchors
That is much more expensive and difficult than you might be aware. And steel is plentiful. Why would any company incur the cost if they don't have to? As far as they are concerned it was recycled, into a boat anchor.
Id melt them down and recycle
Alas, it is not as easy as that. The metal becomes brittle from so many plastic injections
I bet there was a write-up waiting for whoever it was who dropped that Millennium Falcon tool! That's when you need some business insurance!
Well it did last quite a long time
So I kinda tried to ask this before but not sure I got an answer. The Tarzan jungle cat/big Jim tiger/battle cat figure is an example of a toy used across lines. Did they reuse the tooling for that or did it have to be recreated every time they reused it? Are certain tools easier to reuse and last longer, like a solid non-articulated cat?
Yes but eventually BattleCat was retooled from the original mold
Didnt this happen with the Star Wars Millennium Falcon? I heard the mold broke or tooling. It was the same bold used in the 70s or 80s and the potf one! They then made newer falcon that was electronic
They dropped it and it shatteres
@@spectorcreative1872 i was happy when i heard it happened 20 or so yrs ago. We ended up getting a new one
So were other vehicles from POTF2 in the 90's also from those Palitoy molds?
All of them
Here are hypothetical questions for everyone regarding science fiction technology and consumerism. Would the behavior of collecting something continue to existing if something like an action figure could be replicated easily? Instead of buying the physical item, would we just buy the plans or technical specifics (tech-specs) of the item we want to re-create?
Until that happens we just won’t know. Maybe with 3D printing?
26K here we come!
0.2K to go.
So close!
I think its waay after your time at Mattel but how did the process of handing out the MOTU Classics brand to Super 7 happen? Was Mattel actively looking for a company to sub-contract the remainder of the line or did Super 7 approach Mattel? Did Super7 contract to buy out whatever remaining figures that Mattel originally have planned for the line? Or did they end up designing the figures they came out with? Same question with Snake Mountain. And what about the Molds then? Did Mattel just hand it over to Super 7 and Super 7 just ended up using them up? What about their Thundercats line? Those are basically the same bucks as MOTU. How is Super7 STILL able to basically use the same buck design that Mattel did with MOTU without going into copyright infringement? I mean, that buck design must be copyrighted by Mattel, right?
I wasn't there but I imagine it was Mattel realizing no one was around to run the line so sub contracting it out to a company more connected to doing small collector lines was a good idea at the time. The first wave definitely had some Mattel sculpts in it as I worked on Lodar.
So what happens when you get 're issue like the motu anniversary identical to last in 80s did they ship moulds to different countries
I’d imagine it would be a viable option to make new moulds (tools) from casts.
When I made lead figurines, we used lost wax to create new moulds from existing moulds by essentially making a mould for a mould (if that makes any sense).
All new tools based on the originals. Think a copy of a copy
@@spectorcreative1872 so copy of original mould take off a original as it's now such a big deal
Great video !! A lot of substance. I have a question; Do you think The new TMNT x power rangers will be collectable? I already pre-ordered all of them I just wanted to see if I could get your professional opinion.
See here! ruclips.net/video/FcpXV2RZtwo/видео.html
i'd love to know how many figures of a certain line are produced. i understand why a company doesn't release these numbers, and honestly i wouldn't, either, but it would be great to know just how many of a particular item was actually made.
moulds aren't nearly as expensive as they used to be and it's to the point where a small business person could afford them (within reason, lol). you really don't need to need to be hasblo size pumping out product for a major line like 'star wars' to justify them now. shoo, there are even benchtop manual injection moulds you can use at home and have small aluminum moulds made for you. i'm not sure exactly sre what these small, simple moulds cost, but my understanding is well under $1000 and i assume they're made with 3D routers.
sure, moulds can be repaired and pieces fixed over time to where it becomes a theseus ship philosophical thought puzzle. 'it's the original mould!' except that every single bit of it didn't exist in the vintage production and there's only three original screws left, lol.
in models, i believe there are still a lot of moulds from the 60's they're still using. that's entirely different than making large runs of figures, but it's still interesting how these things are passed around through company acquisitions and might be kept in storage waiting for someone to lease the thing or simply forgotten in a warehouse. when i first started working at GM i was surprised just how many ancient moulds they had piled up on racks in a dark corner. i'd say that's pretty old school, though, way before everything was manufactured in china, india, taiwan, mexico, etc.. i'm just south of dayton, ohio, where there used to be a tool and die shop on every corner.
it's heartbreaking how many moulds wind up at the end of a chinese rope or chain....
See here: ruclips.net/video/9ugzvlNvnmA/видео.html
Could you talk about logistics costs? I work in foreign commerce. Right now a container freight from China has gone from $ 1000 (or less) pre pandemic to roughly more than $10000. What toll is this taking on the toy insdustry?
It is a big reason why both Mattel and Hasbro have announced large price increases coming next quarter
Is this still..a thing now that we have 3d printing ? Our molds are now digital rather than physical. What am I missing ? Is it quantity ?
I. E. Is it not feasible to print a production run ? I apologize if I failed to articulate my query.
3D printing can't keep up at this time. Where I can see this going though, is micromanufacturing via 3D printing; i.e. an employee will print a known quantity for a work period, in their home or a small facility, and produce say, nothing but He-Man left-legs. Just a total run - might last months or years - all of those legs are then sent to a central assembly facility, and off to packaging machines.
Something like that.
When the next product comes along, the employee gets a data package and the materials, and just starts making Teela right arms for the next run.
I don't know if that all is practical - but, I think it could be *made* to be practical, with the changes coming in the era of yearly "Panic Them!" pandemics and lockdowns. Get used to it, that's the fear du jour for the next generation.
3D printing isn’t far enough along to replace tooling
@@wallaroo1295 i understand the concept you're saying and it's conceivable despite it having a lot of issues attached to it. i could rattle off a laundry lists of problems i see with that kind of plan just off the top of my head, lol. i think the biggest issue would simply be that people suck and you can't trust them to do their 'job' when you need them to. the 'sorry, i couldn't find the tape gun so i couldn't UPS them to you' won't fly when you have a bunch of assemblers, painters, and packers sitting around on the clock waiting for teela boobs.
lots of ppl have printer farms, and that's okay for some things, i guess. personally, i'd be curious to see their costs vs. different processes past a certain production point. if you need ABS then only a filament printer can do that, then you have problems with it looking like shit from the layers. spending hours to print an inferior component that can be made literally within seconds using an injection mould, and soon you're going to very much close that cost gap, i would think. also, toys have a limited shelf life, and a couple hundred parts a day printing just won't cut the thousands that can otherwise be made when you have orders to fill.
i don't know, i would just have to really be convinced somehow that this is the future of certain manufacturing. i've spent most of the last 30 years working in manufacturing and i've owned my own small business. i've seen a lot of crazy machines, learned that even your most trusted suppliers can flake on you, that 'just in time manufacturing' is more a buzz term idiot pieces of management love bandying about than a viable american process without bastardizing the concept to hell and back, and, as an aside, if you see any company's quality statement containing the words 'continuous improvement' just do yourself a favour and leave.
@@spectorcreative1872 it never will be, either. there simply isn't a way to remotely improve on a process that takes seconds to make a piece as opposed to printing it, not to mention the quality and consistency.
@@manlymcstud8588 🤣 Agreed whole heartedly. You have a *lot* more expertise and specifics in manufacturing logistics than I do. I was on the consumption side of hospital logistics for Veterans Affairs. Yeah, the "JIT" bullshit costs the US Taxpayer untold sums when we had to either pay extra for quick product change - or worse, during winter storms when the interstate from our supplier was cut off... fly the supplies in at I don't even want to think about the costs.
JIT works for the systems Toyota built JIT ordering for, and even they have found some very significant flaws with The 'Rona.
Auto-Parts stores in rural areas, with small logistics networks can run JIT - major manufacturing and high turnover, critical (like healthcare)? No. JIT is a bad idea for that.
In the hospital, maybe certain divisions could work with JIT, but you can't JIT rubber gloves and PPE, and band-aids. That's as dumb as JIT for militaries.
Could you imagine the disaster JIT would be in *battle?*
"General, 3d Infantry says they have reached minimum order quantity levels."
"Very good. Tell them to continue with bombardment as standard. Notify Captain Ward over in the Logistics company to -"
"Sir, the Logistics company were all killed in an ambush."
"Well... fuck."
The US Feds go apeshit with all of the latest trend stuff - they are *par-tic-ularly* addicted to all things *Lean Six Sigma! Whacha!!!* - We spend a *lot* of taxpayer dollars sending our management to LEAN courses, but they never actually implement any of it. Or one tiny little piece, instead of the whole Kai-Zen package.
That's why I'm glad I retired. Now, I can legitimately call on their bullshit, without fear of reprisal in what was once a free country.
But, I digress - a lot. Regarding the future of micromanufacturing, I think we will figure something out. Big Tech, and the Dataminers, and the .govs - want us all sitting at home, doing this. Making data. Much easier to do, when they don't have to report to the factory for the jobs. Or to smaller facilities, rather than the Muskian Gigafactories.
I think small players, who are already benefitting from 3D printing, like custom Star Wars figure makers, and the like, who aren't doing major manufacturing, but want to grow into a bigger niche market, who have a customer base who can tolerate emails saying, "Sorry, our Teela face makers didn't get their materials because of a supplier problem - it's going to be a bit, but we'll get it to you." I can see it starting there.
I'm just *really* speculating on the future of micromanufacturing. Part of the reason for my creativity on it, is that I see it as a good way to employ disabled Veterans - making the products, that get sold to the VA, that get used on the Veterans themselves when they go to the VA.
Little things like, the fittings for IV hoses, nose pinchy thingies for Pulmonary Flow Test machines - the little shit, the hospital uses everyday.
If a Vet can work a PC, the equipment and move the product, with assistance if needed, they have a job. No need for a vehicle, etc. And so, that let's my brain be able to go all kinds of dreamy creative places... and then I have to filter out the crap and keep the good ideas. LOL
Is there a gauge on the machine (tool) that shows duty life cycle?
If Mattel is ever going to bring back MOTU Classics, now is the time while everybody wants anything and everything that's MOTU-related. Make the investment now and re-release all of the main figures online by next year. This time it should be twice if not even more successful than the first time around. Nowadays everybody buys their toys online, unlike 10 years ago when it was a different landscape...
The time is now, the tools are not
What kind of metal are the tools made of?
Cast iron perhaps?
Steel
Also, I thought that tools got melted and recycled after the life span ended. Doesn't seem to be the case.
of course they can be recycled, sold or leased. bear in mind we're talking about china here, though, and why buy an anchor when a cheap mould does the trick?
Nope
Very interesting, thank you. Do you know how they mold seamless figures? Either the TBLeague style body where they mold completely around a diecast skeleton. Or the way the new Death Added figure is from Storm Collectables where it seems like a regular articulated limb inside a seamless sleeve.
I own some TBLeague figures , I think they make the steel skelton after that they take the front and the back of the body and weld them together .
The figures are made of TPE and that material can easy be welded via heat .
The other method could be similar like TPE lovedolls with steel skelton for adults are made ...... you can find some videos of the productions at youtube (Warning , adult content ^^) .
It just depends on the vendor and how good they are
@@paluxyl.8682 Interesting. Thanks for the info. I read that it was a TPE plastic but I hadn't heard about fusing both halves together. I don't have any TBLeague figures but I find the idea interesting and wonder what other ways it could be used for figures.
@@josephday5038 The TBLeague figures looks nice , but the rubber material is a little sticky ..... also it's suggested to store the figure never with to much bended arms or legs , and some even say best without clothes or avoid tight clothes .
The concept is great , but if I would make movie figures they would not be made of seamless rubber material .
@@paluxyl.8682 my thought would be, could companies use TPE for accessories on regular action figures, like jackets, pants, hat's, etc. Maybe even use it for hair to make long hair more flexible. I guess the question would be if it is flexible and durable enough as well as how much cost it would add.
Do you think 3D printing technology will eventually replace the costly, traditional tooling process?
I just edited a video on this subject! Coming soon
Huh, How about that. I thought they were using the same molds for the re-issues. I mean they look just like the originals. How do they get them so exact? is there like a scan or are the mold makers that precise?
Its an art. I'll have a video on this shortly
The Bucky cap body lol
It’s going on 12 years
Its time for an update
@@spectorcreative1872 I think it was most recently used for spymaster in the crimson dynamo wave (black widow movie). According to oafe. It’s called the small male buck.
Hey Scott, I was wondering why the 200X shadow weaver was never made in classics. Could the tool for her have been made and released in a different colour like purple or blue under the name Horde Witch, then reused in the red colour once you got the rights to her.
Because she was not legally allowed to be in the 200X show. See more here: ruclips.net/video/BLiogQTyIAI/видео.html
@@spectorcreative1872 I understand that there were legal issues that were ultimately caused by others, however once you had the rights to make both the 200X and filmation characters would those issues have been nullified.
Just asking I felt that the power rangers toyline esp the megazords during the 2010- 2019 year seem to look cheaper in plastic than those during the 90s.Am I being paranoid lol?
Not at all. Some companies use different types of material
I’m still curious about whether it costs less to recreate old tools than make entirely new tools. I would think that it MUST cost less because all of the design work is already done. How much of the cost of these tools is accounted for in the design portion?
Thats like buying vintage heman figures with old molds. Their crap figures
I’ll have a video on this shorlt
it's probably just a cost analysis thing. old moulds might need a lot repairs and who knows how many shots they truly have left? would you trust a 40 year old souped up clunker to fulfill your orders? not sure i would, lol.
kind of a tricky question, imo. i suspect the answer is it depends.
On a somewhat separate note, there are metal tokens that were produced in the 1860s, and the original dies that produced those tokens were acquired by an individual in the 1960s. He thought it would be a great idea to coin more of the same tokens as a 100th anniversary commemorative. He made less than 500 before one of the dies cracked, and "that's all she wrote." I'm sure that metal molds for plastic pieces undergo an easier life, but metal fatigues over time. I don't know if they don't crack like coin dies, but I'd imagine the sharpness of the piece created would diminish toward the end of the molds life, as dies' images of coins do, which is why many dies are used each year to stamp our coins (for every coin around the world).
So molding can expire, but it doesn't start molding, it stops molding. 😜
Oh dear…
Would that mean the MOTU Origins are new tools? Especially with the swappable parts
Well the line is all new tools, but some figures share the same parts which don't need to be tool'd again, just cast in different colors
@@spectorcreative1872 Thanks, I thought so as I know it's based on the original line which shared some parts.
When designing a tool, how many pieces of a figure can be used for a single mold? Can you get multiple parts out of a single tool?
I suppose it largely depends on the quality you want. Think model kits or weapons that come on a sprue with cheap action figure sets at walmart. I'd assume a single sprue of multiple pieces also come from a single tool; but the number of pieces can vary as much as the model kit sprues vary from kit to kit and/or kit quality to kit quality.
Good question. It depends on the size of a mold. Usually a 6" figure will fit in one tool. But it can take two if he/she/it is big
absolutely. funny you mention that, someone in the vintage SW group just showed off a biker scout, if i remember, still on the sprue, almost the entire figure was banged out in one shot.
will 3d printing supplant injection molding in the future or do you think thats a fad for home hobbies?
If it's possible one day in the future to 3d print a slug figure that can thrown 100 times against the wall without breaking , it could make injection molding obsolete .
@@paluxyl.8682 eww lol
@@WritersOnTheWall What is eww ??? ^^
@@paluxyl.8682 like 3d printed gooey slug sounds gross, like great for a creepy crawlers play set and probably better then the burning hot metal we used to play with
Thé speed is just not there
Capes are made out of PCP? No wonder action figures are so expensive now. =P
I meant PVC! Ha
Can’t you just use an old figure to make a new mold?
If you've seen a bootleg toy with soft details that look cheap and off-model, that is probably how the mold was created.
This is like making a copy of a copy
Can 3D printing replace the molding process?
Maybe in the future, Right now I don't think so. 3D printing is much slower than molding and because of how it works it leaves those print lines from seprate layers.
Not anytime soon. Injection molding creates pieces where the polymer/molecular bonds are strong in every direction. In the 3d printing those bonds are stronger within the layer while cross layer strength is significantly weaker. Printed pieces will be weak to shear stresses applied between layers. True voxel printing may change this. The other issue is limited material selection and printing doesn't scale up effectively for mass production.
Alas the technology is just not there yet. Durability is rhe issue and speed
So a toy that existed 30 or more years ago can be remade if someone is willing to invest in making a new tool? I was also wondering about reverse engineering. How do companies make knockoffs? I assume since they don't have the original tool, they are able to fabricate an inferior tool from a sample of a legit product?
Is just that is pretty expensive
Anything can be remade if you want to make a new tool. A video on knockoffs is coming...
i think you basically answered your own question. all you have to do is pretend you want to make knock-offs and ask yourself how you'd do it. it's probably shockingly easy and relatively inexpensive especially if you have access to manufacturing. with fairly little investment you could make all the vintage stormtroopers you want. you really don't even need a metal mould, but you're probably not going to get a high amount of repros from high-temp silicone. but, there are benchtop injection mould machines you can get for about $12-1500 i think.
About how many units can one tool produce in its lifetime?
It depends on many factors but 5,000 to 100,000 is a good range
id give anything for a rerelease of MOTUC
Me too
Airfix has tools from the sixties still pumping out sprues.
I’m sure they have replaced them multiple times
@@spectorcreative1872 it's been reported by reliable sources that the Spitfire tool is the same.
It may explain why Hasbro releases the same toy for 3.75 Joe's. No tooling exists. I'll never get a night Raven!
Yups
Action figure manufacturing might be the single most frivolous hobby that has the most destructive impact on the environment. Between the fossil fuels needed to make the plastic, the resources spent casting these giant molds, the waste it creates when people throw away figures & when companies have to dispose of these giant metal molds. It will probably be banned by governments one day. Hopefully that’s not anytime soon, just an observation y’all don’t bully me
First they should ban all the "junk" plastic stuff that you can find in many dollar stores ..... every time I go to that kind of stores I always wonder why this all exists , some items are even without a name or discribtion and no one in the store knows the purpose of the items . lol
It is possible
@@paluxyl.8682 a lot of plastic should probably not be made
or when it gets molds
Very much
Its angel dust homes!
Is it?