Attention Hasbro: Clear Plastic MUST End
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- Опубликовано: 28 ноя 2024
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Meet Clear Plastic Syndrome, a more widespread problem than gold plastic but somehow the fandom is silent on it, and it's gone too long.
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Outro Music: Ginger Grant by Derek R. Audette
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Disclaimer: All videos produced on this channel are intended for adult collectors and hobbyists.
Clear plastic should only be used if its not load bearing, being used in a ball joint system, or is durable enough to hold up over time. The stuff on transformers just doesnt work most of the time unless its beast wars.
Lego is like the only company that can make translucent pieces work and even, they still break LOOONNNGGG before the solid pieces.
@@dragon1130 ive still got clear plastic legos from the 70s that my dad owned
now given, they stopped being "clear" many years ago. More like a pee yellow color now, but they used to be clear.
Even then, I've heard stories of Beast Wars figures breaking at the clear plastic parts. While my Cryoteck is from RID 1.0, it IS the Transmetal 2 Megatron mold, with clear plastic in the same places. Those wings will not hold up to much in the long term, and in the case of my Croteck, his left wing has broken on two segments about two thirds of the way to the tips. He wasn't even rested up against anything, just leaning forward and they've snapped. Now they're just hanging by a thread and I'm not even sure if they're still attached as I haven't touched mine since the early 2010s when I discovered that. Easy fix, I know, but still...
@@dragon1130 I'm a lego collector mainly and the colours that I've had the most issue with is lime green pieces from 2007, Brown and dark red pieces from 2008-2011 and regular blue pieces from 2016 to the present. Translucent pieces i haven't had break nearly as much as those.
The best example of proper use of clear plastic: Studio series 86 grimlock.
Depends on who you ask. Some people really hate the dark grey used. Imo, it's Siege Optimus. The frames are great and the details helps hide the insides
I dont know about that- it obscured the detail to me
@@jarodnole4618 you're entitled to that opinion, but if there was anywhere on that figure you'd be fine with clear plastic, it's most likely be either there, or somewhere else non-integral to the build quality.
or hell, the 2007 Bayverse deluxe Jazz. it uses clear plastic on a hinge, but the clear plastic isn't actually holding any weight. I have the G1 repaint and final battle versions. Both have black plastic used for the interior of the Solstice mode as the main hinge. the clear is just there for spacing.
Also his light piping just refuses to be dim.
have to agreed to that hasbro really need to stop with clear plastic does break a lot and same problem with studio series 86 jazz windshieds was made out of clear pastic , this is a problem with hasbro is cuting cost of everything now
It works for jet cockpits and windshields. That is it.
Even then, NO HINGES. My poor delicate JP93 with his glass roof feet will be footless in a matter of time
Also maybe for light-piping on eyes, just so long as the translucent part is inset into the head and is as far away from the ball joint as possible
TLK Nitro and his repaints have an opening clear cockpit on a hinge for a *scrapped* *headmaster* *gimmick.* Bruh.
Yup! They used it 9n kingdom Tracks and clear Mirage and many others
Yeah already mentioned but light piping is a vital element in a lot of figures.
If they ever do like an anniversary re-release of Animated toys, a non-clear plastic swindle had better be in the line!
knowing Hasbro they will probably be like fuck it we are on a budget let’s just make all the purple parts clear plastic
As a kid, I hated clear plastic windows because they expose robot junk. As an adult, I hate clear plastic windows for the same reason, and because I am more aware of the dangers it poses for my figures.
I've rarely seen any clear plastic from Lego break. Even the ball joints were pretty good for the most part. It was ironically the lime ball joints that were prone to breaking more.
Granted from 2008-2010 the joints got redesigned and they were all prone to breaking. And the clear ones for the heads had it worse.
But in late 2011 they were redesigned again and much stronger this time. No ball joints I've owned have broken not even the clear ones.
Either it's cause Lego's ball joints are much thicker. Or they are using a process that Hasbro hasn't considered.
I always like to think that Lego has a good amount of QC.
For one, Legos usually don't break when you step on them. As painful as that is, it shows that Lego planned for it so that it doesn't get broken very easily and is built to last.
Also, they have specific instructions on what NOT to do when designing a build.
I was about to say, my Matoro Inika from 2006 used clear plastic for just about every single one of its high stress joints and it's held up fine. This isn't a problem with clear plastic, it's a problem with Hasbro.
Bionicle lime green joints had alot of issues.
The lime-green plastic parts from that era of bionicle is infamous. As you said, it was very prone to break, so much so that lego had to come out to explain what happened because many people complained about the broken parts.
Long story short: They cooled the lime-green plastic wrong when they moldet it which caused it its structural integrity to become the same as clear plastic, hence why it cannot handle stress like regular plastic.
LEGO has the same problem with brown and dark red pieces, and these can also become brittle within a few years, even when the package is sealed.
How can Hasbro not have managed to make Clear Plastic durable if LEGO was able to do it?
Money.
lego have problem about brown
@@fortusEX*had
from what I've heard, it's more because lego as a company is dedicated to make solid bricks, as it's a big part of their image.
@@isuckatusernames4297that an insane quality control
I would only use it for decorative puporse, for example as a weapon, lightpiping but never as a structural part of a figure, unless it is really thicc.
Honestly that is my biggest concern with the new legacy series . Blaster comes with a 70% translucent eject figure and the others are getting translucent weapons.
I discovered an interesting thing that shows an interesting way Bandai handled it:
Power Rangers RPM had a line of figures with a kinda 'battlizer' mode, the battlizer components being all clear plastic. The interesting thing, which might be why mine hasn't broken on its own yet, is the parts of the clear plastic portion that bare stress, that being ball joints, are connected to a clear...SOFT plastic on one side of the joint. The wings being the ball itself, while the legs have the socket. This seems to provide the friction needed for it to hold its position, but doesn't put as much stress on the clear plastic.
I've had my RPM Red Ranger wearing his battlizer for over a decade and it hasn't broken because it seems doing it this way is a lot easier on the clear plastic.
Granted, it has the drawback the second type of plastic has a different look and color than the main translucent plastic (though as one of them is the wings, it gives them a more fiery look and the legs are normally behind the Ranger)...but if you're willing to paint as much of a toy as they do to get that clear plastic in there, this wouldn't be an issue. Now yes, this isn't a perfect fix, but I think you could manage it on a couple of Transformers where the clear plastic connects to a single piece you could mold in this softer plastic.
Regardless, it at least shows that Bandai put more thought into it than Hasbro did.
Not Transformers but my DST Enterprise-E has clear plastic used for its nacelles. Ive gone through 4 of them because the plastic has a habit of cracking near screw holes or other points.
I'd say animated swindle is the poster child; between weird proportion and the pure amount of clear plastic...
also, the selfdestruction mirage from the 3 vote pack
To me the plastic quality in now days is truly a garrabge,the only good modern plastic is the lego ccbs plastic imo
It kinda works ok id agree.
I would agree if my G2 Bionicle figures aren't cracking for no reason. My Gali has cracked pins, Protector of fire has broken his ball hinge on his head cracked and cannot stay on no matter the type of glue that I use and the less said about the Skull spider legs the better. Yet the clear plastic pieces are somehow Okay? So yeah Lego silver and black pieces are bad quality.
Bandai Spirits (gunpla) still uses the good plastic as well.
@@monster-mecha_enthusiast_2002 lmao what's wrong with you angry kid
@@Iceykitsune Engineering issues here and there, but Clear Color kits have reports of being more brittle. However, they only crack if you try anything stupid with them. Otherwise, their clear plastics are durable as well.
I got Kingdom Blaster and Eject a few weeks ago, Eject had stress marks straight out of the box! He won't survive 2 years I bet
same. Then my Kingdom tracks got a bug crack in the front window.
I’m gonna add on to this list: I have the Legacy Wreckers Springer and his back section that forms the cockpit is made of clear blue plastic. This section holds an important hinge with a pin and it broke there without me using any excessive force. I was able to put it back together with plastic cement but I know that’ll only do any good for a while.
Fascia. that's it. that's all clear plastic should be used for. glad I could help with this video!
and if there's only enough money to cast doors, roofs and such in one plastic, paint the windows on.
@@iron1349 dang straight
@@TheLazyEyebrow Even on MPs.
They're stupidly expensive, durability should be considered.
I have not had any of my figures break on me because of this. But my fear of translucent plastic has hindered my enjoyment of them.
I haven't either. Not once. Seems that certain people do though...?
This clear plastic made the little back of the windshield of my studio series stinger figure
It has terrified me to even think about messing with some of my collection.
Load bearing or not. Clear,gold,ect plastics do look fantastic. However, they did not engineer it properly. Did they not consider possibly making it to were it has a outer shelling around it to allow it. Now clear plastics only work as stated in previous comments. However, some parts can hold if they include a solid metal tubing for the metal, hard plastic, or hinges to set in instead of using the plastic as the hinge. Doesn't fix but still still prolongs it by alot!
I think they should do what ROTF Lockdown did. He has clear plastic windows but they are all separate pieces attached to him. The roof has the windshield connected by two screws underneath so it stays in places and the doors have the translucent connected by some small tabs that sit on the insides of the doors. So the guy really has no parts on him that is made out of translucent plastic, they are their own pieces attached to opaque plastic. The same thing can be said about Energon Scorponok's cockpit. Both are two separate pieces and the translucent plastic piece that are meant to be the windows are screwed on to the cockpit itself. That way you can avoid having joints being made out of it.
I would like to point out my Transmetals Waspinator is made out of translucent plastic but there are just no cracks on him whatsoever. Maybe he's too sturdy to break?
just you wait....
👍
It's too expensive to make toys like that anymore (It's sad but true, trust me I know it hurts) Hasbro is just as guilty as the gaming industry in regards to game preservation only in this case it's toy preservation. Rather than focus on long term satisfaction they want an excuse to keep people buying the same garbage over and over so people keep buying there products. I almost wonder if this was done on purpose to keep people buying new figures because the old ones break, but that pretty much on levels of conspiracy at this point so who knows anymore.
Of course it’s Waspinator who’s intact.
Out of roughly 300 transformers toys I'd say 80% of them have clear plastic and I transform them daily and a lot. I've had yet to break any of it because of clear plastic. Maybe I'm just lucky but don't have an issue from my experience. I've had breaks that weren't clear plastic though. I do agree that it shouldn't be used as hinges or ball joints though just in case.
Clear plastic is fine so long as it isn't used for joints.
Honestly the real issue isn't clear plastic, but cheap plastic. All of my new figures feel so flimsy.
Yes, exactly his point, cheaply made clear plastic.
From War on Die-Cast to War on Clear Plastic. You seriously treat this as serious business. I wish clear plastic are for non-joint areas, and metal for joints, not vice-versa.
Short tragic story:
-all the Prime fans were waiting for a good KnockOut toy
-announced Prime KnockOut for Legacy
-we find out, through comic books, it's going to be G1-ified
-it'going to be a recolor of the oh-so prone-to breaking-in-the-translucent-parts SS86 Jazz
-that means that Prime fan would be so disperate to buy another G1 toy prone to breaking
-realizing that KnockOut has black windows in the show but Hasbro is going to make it translucent "bEcaUse iT'S MoRe ReaLiStIC!"
when did they say it's going to be a recolor of Jazz? Why would Knockout be a recolor of Jazz? They look nothing alike
@@theStridingRebel look for the panels from IDW comics, they tend to use the current model of the character as a base for how they appear in their stories, in the present IDW continuity Knockout is clearly a SS86 Jazz repait...
And I agree, it doesn't make any sense but you know Hasbro's motto: "G1 or F***K OFF!"
@@brotquel1592 cope
@@brotquel1592 yeah I'm not seeing it. I don't know what exactly you're looking at but it's probably some other character, because all recent forms of Knockout in IDW are nearly spot on to his look in Prime
@@theStridingRebel no, you are thinking about the old IDW timeline, look for the new one.
Gonna have to agree with you about this.
Transparent plastic is fine, but only if its for something that does not undergo torque
or any type of flexing. i think its fine for it to used in windows, eyes or small inlayed details on figures. it should never ever be used in hinges or any sort of joint or peg.
I wish hasbro would recognize this.
You know what's strange?
I have had several Transformers with clear plastic break on me. But I never had any of the Hasbro lightsabers break on me and I would bash the hell out of them, so it's clear Hasbro can make sturdy clear plastic just not at a smaller scale?
That's because the lightsabers were designed to be bashed together over and over, Transformers are not
Lightsaber plastics, to my memory, also tend to be more supple, less rigid. Not exactly the material you want for transforming figures that need to hold their shape.
It's because it's Polycarbonate instead of clear ABS. Polycarbonate is on of those plastics that never get brittle. The only downside to Polycarbonate is that is susceptible to scratches.
yeah it's much softer than anything you'd want to use on a solid toy, helps with the telescoping too
Same here I have had of my minimal transformers collection, to breakages of some joint animated jolt and the windscreen of alternators optimus but of all the hundreds of bionicle (majority ccbs) I had only one crack
The Cybertron clear plastic has passed the test of time. Quickmix ankles and Crumplezone legs have not broken yet. I think the problem is the clear plastic is way too thin and the joints too tight for it to endure transformation and hold its weight in the long term without breaking. Thank you for this vídeo. Great content by the way.
My original animated battle begins megatron snapped at the biceps. They were just fully clear plastic. Luckily I have a replacement that isn't being touched again, but it's a shame.
The worsts placement for clear plastic are: elbow joints (my TFP Voyager Starscream elbow's cracked and broke into 2 pieces), 5mm pegs (Crack and break by plugging a weapon or removing weapons).
that's why I passed on the TFP voyagers. I'd probably have gotten a few if not for the clear plastic elbows.
Figures like Dreadwing and Breakdown were fine since the clear plastic parts were not on any moving joints. After what happened to my starscream, never bought another TFP voyager again. (stuck with my FE Prime and Bulkhead and APC Megatron).
I'm just glad all of my unicron trilogy toys are holding strong.
The leg on one of my battle masters broke off just now because of the ball joint being clear plastic even tho the limbs and head and body aren’t clear
One thing that truly baffles me, he’s not broken but the ENTIRE torso of SS32/SS44/SS05 Optimus Prime is translucent plastic, and so is his (get this) front grill.
I noticed some spiderweb cracks on the minicon armada toys, specially the star saber guys as you mentioned.
which is odd to me as Lego does transparent parts and they're generally really strong compared ot the ABS plastic of the normal bricks.
Honestly, I would prefer if ALL clear plastic was eradicated entirely. Legacy bulkhead’s torso is entirely made of clear plastic and on my copy, the port for the transformation has stress marks and won’t stay in tightly. The sword that came with legacy skyquake came cracked OUT OF THE BOX. I don’t need light-piping, clear windows/cockpits, and ESPECIALLY not clear joints or accessories. Clear plastic sucks. All of it must go.
The pigment protects it from UV damage. There are anti-UV products that can be applied to mitigate the problem.
It should be used for details not made to be stressed, that way I can have a massive nostalgia trip without my cool toys breaking themselves.
I remember fruitlessly slathering my Swindle’s clear plastic arm with nail polish to try to tighten that joint…and then his arm would never attach again.
My energon starscream has a snapped wing and a cracked elbow
My 1999 BWN Big Convoy clear Plastic left arm broke in 2021 so I had to buy the Encore released which had a left arm made from solid plastic. But I felt sad that happened to one of my long time favorite toy. 😐
Finally, someone says it. Prime FE Terrorcon Cliffjumper is a prime example of a fantastic figure suffering from my main TF toy collecting pet peeves, the fact that someone thought it would be a good idea to make his NECK SOCKET, a part which will receive lots of movement out of infamously brittle clear plastic baffles me. Titans Return Hot Rod’s windshield will stress over time, and DOTM Leader Bee, one of my all time favorites, had his clear windshield ports break over time, I tried to reinforce the other one but had to break off the excess clear plastic and it broke too. SO many fantastic toys suffer from this, and get this, there’s a version of ROTF Leader Prime made entirely out of clear plastic, who thought of that?! Hasbro should fix the formula of their clear plastic or just quit using it entirely.
I’m curious if other people have horrible experiences with clear plastic ruining great toys, please feel free to tell your stories.
That one guy broke their Evasion Mode Prime in the same spot my friend did. You can still hold the piece in place with the surrounding tabs but yeah it sucks
I just love the Beast Machines ultra class pair. One flakes, the other breaks.
one thing I find baffling about MP Skids and honestly most Masterpiece figures in general is the use of structural clear plastic. You have virtually unlimited parts budget, there is virtually no reason not to have the windows as a separate, glued/screwed in piece like in a Hot Wheels car.
It has everything to do with the tooling budget. Making the tooling for a figure can cost 50k to 100k. Making the tooling for the windows separately would add 10s of thousands more. So Hasbro/Takara goes with the cheaper option and makes it all a single piece. The better option would be just to paint on the windows and not use clear plastic at all. But that doesn't sell as well because it looks cheaper and more childish.
@@mpsorrentino yup!! And I’m one of those collectors
@@mpsorrentino Because Hot Wheels cars are made out of about nine parts or less on average, have barely any articulation outside of the wheels and have a fraction of the engineering costs. Plus most HW car molds get produced in exponentially higher runs than Transformers molds and repainted dozens of times over the course of several years before the mold is retired.
tl;dr You're comparing apples and oranges.
When you were talking about Prime Abonimus I immediately went to go check on my set. Thankfully they are all still in one piece but they haven't been combined or transformed in years. Now I don't even want to touch them. I remembered when they announced Ghost Starscream and most of the toy is clear plastic.
Am I the only person who didn't have any issues with clear plastic? Armada Star Saber is still holding together just as well as it did when I first got it. I don't even know how those connections could be stressed. At least on mine the connections for Star Saber mode were already loose right out of the package. Figures can hold it but I can't swing it around at all cause they'll just fall apart. Maybe it's because the joints were so loose on my copy that they never showed any signs of stress?
Hammer strike, I did have a break on him but not at the elbows. The clip that holds his weapon in robot mode broke off though that clip actually didn't even need to be there in the first place and I'm pretty sure still would have broke even if it wasn't translucent plastic. The beg alone is enough to hold the weapon in place and the extra clip just gets in the way and takes stress every time you put on or take off his weapon. It's also very thin plastic and the other "hand" is still intact because I always kept his weapon in his right "hand." I'm putting hand in quotes because Hammer strike doesn't really have hands bit I don't know what else to call the appendages that hold his weapon.
Optimus Primal is missing the clear piece on his head but that's because some jerk who was spending the night at my house when were kids decided to throw him across the room for some reason and I just was never able to find that piece.
The only parts I've ever seen break without ever touching the figure are soft rubber parts. RID2001 Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus both have soft rubber tires that have basically cracked and turned to dust just from sitting on a shelf without ever touching them. I'm surprised the soft rubber parts on RotF Jetfire aren't showing signs of deterioration yet but those are thicker part and I've tried to limit the amount of stress on them.
Energon used clear plastic a TON, even on joints. But the toys hold up rly well, the problem isnt clear plastic in itself, its the noticeable drop in quality of it after unicron trilogy toys. Cybertron used it too and for the most part they were fine. Modern clear plastic is a far cry from UT clear plastic, the quality is so reduced It actually feels/sounds different when I touch/tap it with my finger. Ive yet to have breakages on CHUG era toys but I will say im extremely careful with them.
I had that Animated Swindle. I transformed him ONCE. Got the cold sweat. Then sold him.
Then some months later, I bought Animated Safeguard. Am I a masochist?
Maybe you just like living on the edge?
My animated safeguard has been manhandled and thrown around. I had the thing since I was a kid. Now yes he's currently missing an arm a leg, and 3 of the skirt pieces, but all of the clear plastic is perfectly fine. Maybe I'm just lucky
@@Quiss-lw5uf same. My SafeGuard went through HELL, but all of his clear plastic has held up fine
I think I'm the only person who's got no issues with clear plastic on his figures. Shoutouts to the Studio Series 86 Jazz I have that fell off my 2 or so metre high shelf four times and is still keepin' on chooglin'.
Clear parts of my Energon Scorpinok and Energon Megatron snapped off. Scorpinok's chest cannons specifically and one of Megatron's shoulder cannons. and I was never rough with them.
Energon Megs (the smaller Takara Galvatron mould) is famous for that. That is why the Hasbro Ultra specifically retooled that shoulder-mount connection part out of opague plastic. Even my original SuperLink one suffered the same fate as yours, sadly...
Everyone should share this video with Hasbro's social media accounts.
Watching this cause my scourge broke at a hinge, because the entire upper torso is FUCKING TRANSPARENT
Cyberverse Ultimate Grimlock has transparent blue shoulder and hip joints. But it's not the same kind of plastic seen in windshields and such, it has flex and everyting. I will report back in a couple of years about how it ages, and if it does well we can request for them to use it more often.
That thumbnail, opens up old wounds I have.
The worst part is that not only are they prone to breakage, but you can't cement clear plastic parts since you'll see all the cement residue.
My own Animated Swindle has had a broken arm for years. Glad to see I'm not alone.
Mine too.
Just took mine off the shelf left leg started to crack
My Studio Series Barricade broke as well. Got an extra one sealed though.
Scary to see a lot of the recent figures having this problem.
I guess just enjoy them while you can.
Surprised me my studio series 86 jazz I have did not break I was so close of terrifying likely never did
Clear pastic: easily destroyed joints
Lego 2008 through 2010 socket joints: first time?
- Fans Toys love clear plastic ... .
Just saying ... . :)
- As for G1 , Hoist/Trailbreaker has cp as the front window that holds a joint (constant friction) , and some of the classic broken G1 Toys include Jazz , Prowl and Hot Rod (rooftops made of cp) .
- Another way Hasbro could fix the cp joint issues is to make the joint socket normal plastic, and glue that onto cp .
- All in all this is an interesting issue -- both in itself and in terms of ... well I can see ppl arguing against it, both in the terms of "it's not as bad as golden plastic syndrome" and / or "toys breaking is not the end of the world / toys are not meant to last for ever" -- the letter of which I don't agree with, but I can still understand ... , as the plastic in some of my own 40+ year old G1 toys (not cp) has started to show ... issues , most notably parts not moving as swiftly as they once did (Astrotrain's arms, Hun-Grr's neck swivel, PM Prime's trailer , etc.) .
It's time perhaps to face some facts : some of the (total) diecast stuff my dad left me now still in primo condition after almost 100 years .
Our toys ... , be they G1 quality of more recent offerings ... -- won't hit that time mark in anywhere near as fine condition .
This is painful to acknowledge on some level, but it's ok too .
The photos and the videos of the toys will survive longer .
I've had two instances of clear plastic syndrome:
Siege Mirage: I knew those clips on his legs would eventually snap off when transforming him and indeed they did. And I didn't even notice. Hence why I ditched him.
Siege Springer: Pretty minor, but one of the clips on the middle section that secures the arm hinges partially broke off while I was trying to get him into copter mode. Sucks, but still functions.
I have also seen figures such as ER Hoist suffer the same issue as well. Mine is good to go, but oof.
I got one that happened recently. Got the full RID Build Team set. Was transforming Landfill, and being a little quick and not thinking, I pulled up on the truck-bed section that goes under where his head rests before moving the truck cab to the side. I DIDN'T pull on it hard, mind you, just a little tug, and boom! Entire cab and head section breaks off, because guess what the cab section was made of? Yep, clear plastic. Had to get a new one
Alternity nemesis prime the one legs peg hole is clear. And the peg stresses it out.
I'm just waiting for a Megatron-esque revolution to happen if Hasbro refuses to listen.
I've already slaughtered the council. Was I supposed to wait for a signal? I hate it when I miss the meetings
I picked up this wierd clear black plastic rotf voyger optimus prime new in box and I'm scared to open him
My swindle’s leg just broke off
It's happened to me a lot, but there are 2 cases in particular that really frustrate me. One, Studio Series Barricade. That clear socket joint that holds the hood on split in half the first time I tried to transform it. Two, my First Edition Prime Cliffjumper. You may remember how borderline impossible it was to find in the US, luckily I found someone in Canada who was willing to trade one for a Human Alliance Mudflap. It was fine at first, but after a couple months his head broke off. After all that trouble I went through to get one, it fell victim to clear plastic syndrome.
One major addition to this: NO MORE GHOST STARSCREAMS!
Yeah, my Energon Snowcat broke too. I literally just remembered that.
The plastic addict Cusade TJ VULT!
Jokes aside I agree with TJ on this don’t use clear plastic on stress regions use it sparingly and make sure it’s decoration ONLY
So I just transformed my First Edition Cliffjumper after many years, there might be a stress mark on the clear plastic used in the neck socket and the head is loose now. But I can't say for certain if this was the clear plastic's fault a the hinge used to bring the head up in robot mode was tight so lifting it up by head was probably not a good idea. Though I did just break the normal plastic that holds the bull horns and the grill to the rest of the hood. Didn't even apply much force.
Had the same issue! Plasticizer effect from the rubber of the horn seeping into the solid plastic. The metal pin holding them together worsens this as metal expands & contracts with temperature change. Even the Classic Seeker nose cones can break in this exact fashion (like any of the Deluxe Wreck-Gar bike handles). Rubber parts (like Mindwipe's wings/bot legs) are actually 'timebombs' sadly...
My Beast Machine deluxe Optimus Primal had a hand that crumbled...
Wire Wolf/Weird Wolf has anyone's cockpit for his his headmaster survived?
I haven't had many figures with clear plastic explode on me yet, mostly because I just dont buy ones with lots of clear plastic (besides Studio Series Dino and Dropkick), but my Titans Return Wolfwires back canopy thing shattered within a week of owning him and about a year ago, his jaw started to break as well
oh, o forgot to mention that my Masterpiece Exhaust has a crack in one of his feet too
Same for the Takara one (2nd run, orange hue)! Plasticizer effect is the worst enemy of any TF toy. It glues the parts internally and weakens the integrity of the surrounding parts. Many toys have this issue, it happened faster here due to the thinness/fineness of the plastic. On others, it will take longer, but eventually, it hits us...
The only time I ever had an issue with clear plastic, I got an RID Side Burn & the next day, I accidentally sat on it (being paralyzed ain't easy at times) & broke part of the hood. If I was aware of this video sooner, & knew where it was stored, I could show how it looks, hopefully, glued together to fix it. I'm not rough on my toys so even with clear plastic, I never knew of the issue with it until the first time you ever mentioned it, TJ
for a while i though clear plastic wasn't as bad as people made (i've had no issues with the recent studio series), but seeing as the only two things i've ever broken, Alternaters Nemesis Prime, and sadly now that box set recolour of T30 Blurr, both were at the clear plastic hinges, being the back hinge + foot hinge. Blurr's feet having transparant feet was weird, and warning for anybody w Drift too
Things aren't going to change just by NOT buying toys with clear plastic. We need to complain, all the time. Not just at a TF live stream, but Power Rangers, GI Joe and Marvel. Take them over and shut them down.
Recently got SS ROTF Sideswipe and Jolt and they're both terrifying to transform. Really shouldn't be the case. However, a good example of utilizing clear plastic in a safe way are the windows of both Siege and Earthrise Optimus Prime. The clear plastic pieces are simply separate and inserted to the spot where they need to go. They don't take any pressure during transformation or general handling and do their job well enough. Would love to see more of that.
Really? My first jolt from HFTD had a really loose clear plastic plate and fixing it...yeah cracks
Those pictures are breaking my heart. This just sucks to see. And so many Animated Swindle. Last time I had mine out it was fine but it has been a while and I love that figure. He is doomed clearly.
'Clearly'!
I thank you for bringing light to this issue, you have no idea how many of my transformers toys have been broken bcos of clear plastic.
For me I find it odd that I only have problems with Translucent Plastic when it's Hasbro. I have a Jazwares Clear Espio collected and he has some nice articulation works just fine and hasn't disintegrated. I think the issue is mainly with Hasbro and the way others use it not with Translucent Plastic as a whole and even then I just think Hasbro's Translucent Plastic may as well be GPS under a different name.
Kiramazin and associated mecha are all clear plastic and are terrifying as a result but despite looking as hard as I can I haven't heard or seen them succumb to cps despite possessing a lot of load bearing parts perhaps it's just a case of me not being Japanese (although I have looked in those spaces even searching in Japanese admittedly it could be better but I did my best) but I hold out hope as despite being a clear plastic disliker for the above reasons I think Kiramazin looks amazing as well as the associated mecha as illogical as it sounds I hope more than anything that bandais dx diversion did something to make them safe as I want them to last and remain playable even the new donbrothers toy has clips ports and a peg made from clear plastic
I have the whole kiramager line and have zero problems and zero worries. For some like smog jokey the pegs are squared off in regular plastics to accommodate it
Even Peru kill a near perfect Lockdown figure (even if you dislike the bayverse designs, the toy is near perfect) uses clear plastic on a really vital window part that makes transforming him anxiety. I hate clear plastic. Everyone should stop it
I agree with you. We pay too much for these toys to have them self-destruct like this. Whether it's white plastic turning yellow, or GPS or yes, even clear plastic... why can't they simply understand that there are collectors that buy these toys and hold onto them for years ( sometimes never opening them ), and factor that into the design and manufacture of these expensive items, and know that it's not always some kid that owns these for a short time only to lose or get rid of it shortly after the initial purchase is made. - Gets hard to want to keep supporting them ( they keep cranking out every conceivable figure don't they? and we keep blowing our paychecks on them ) if they keep giving us stuff that self-destructs like this. Seriously, make it better, stop using shoddy materials, give us our money worth!
I hate to tell ya this TJ but... Hasbro is NEVER going to do that. They don't want for your toys to be handed down to your kids and I'm saying this as a father who just bought his kid the legacy Beast Wars Megatron and Cheetor to show him what I had when I was young. They want you to BUY more and more new toys and care nothing for the actual vintage collectors market. Takara Tomy is the same exact way on this. Trust me I wish it was different. But it isn't.
I've only been adult collecting Transformers for two years now, and don't have any horror stories about breaking clear plastic. But due to all the stories and concerns surrounding clear plastic, I worry about handling certain figures (SS86 Jazz, Kingdom Tracks) and it inhibits my enjoyment of them. Transforming toys that you don't want to transform. Fail!
It's so disappointing. I might be done with TF for a while.
I just recieved legacy bulkhead, and the entire torso is clear plastic. I'd rather see opaque plastic with painted windows.
While it does look good, the use of clear plastic essentially turns a toy from a collectible into a consumable (like a glow-stick that needs to have its internal glass broken first before it lights up).
Light piping, frame-supported windows/cockpits/highlight/details, lights, are essentially ideal; but never moving joints of any kind or parts that form the frame or pillar subject to stress or gravity.
However, combined with the use of rubber, especially pinned to solid plastic via a metal pin, swirly plastics, etc., and coupled by the increased used of recycled plastics these days, we can expect to see more consumables in the coming days. (Cherish your vintage toys. Even modern MPs cannot match their quality of make!)
Note: Energon Weapons (solid, without ball joints), Cyber Keys, and even the PCC Mini-Cons have survived well (thick high-quality transparent plastic version). (Even the clear missiles of Primal Prime & Optimal Optimus are super hardy, far hardier that the glittery opague plastic that form the latter's cannons & front wheels!) However the thin clear materials that appeared since Arms Microns (translucent exclusives) actually 'stress-fracture' almost instantly upon assembly. Of course, the Beast Machines 'Techno-Organic' parts have been an utter nightmare too!
The irony is 'Legacy's' gimmick will actually 'neuter' any chance of us handing our toys down in pristine condition to the next gen (our legacy)!
Keep the passion un-brittle, man! :-) Hoping for better quality as a whole. NB. After collecting toys for over 4 decades, opague plastics & rubber parts have formed the crust of my personal issues with sustainability. (But it makes perfect sense because overall percentage of toys made up of opague materials is greater anyways.) Ratio-wise, transparent plastics should be applied more intelligently on any toy brand.
Please want somebody think of the people who collect clear plastic action figures!
The old Tron figures hold up just fine I think it's more about the type of plastic used than anything else. Also old Gundam Beam sabers hold up fine. At least the ones that come with model kits.
One other thing Hasbro should stop doing, STOP PUTTING PINS THROUGH THIN PLASTIC HINGES, that metal will inevitably stress through the hinge and break, again, FE Cliffjumper and his bumper.
My most recent case was with ER Soundbarrier, 1 gentle transformation and the ball joint on his leg ripped right off, and my SS29 Sideswipe had the ball joint on his neck break, both cases happening within days of purchasing. One figure I am absolutely shocked hasn't broken yet is my Amazon Fan Vote 3pk Mirage, 2 years in and not even a stress mark!
I have a SS 86 Jazz and only just now his backpack/roof is cracked. My jackpot figure broke completely, but not at the clear part.
My Jackpot got 2007 Jazzed.
Thank you for taking up the cause. I have found BONDIC 'plastic weld' to be a good fix or preventative measure if used to reinforce load bearing pieces that are clear.
How about, instead of banning this material or that material, Hasbro just stops using dogshit plastic for their products
@Black Rose Just cause it could be worse doesn't mean it couldn't be better
I don't know how many transformers I've collected over the years. I've had only a couple of toys that broke/cracked with clear plastic. Energon Mirage, and Generations Classics Prowl. Even after years of storage, I get out older iterations, but have no issues. I've had plenty of gold plastic breakage, and embrittlement. I'm just wondering if these multiple situations could possibly be do to manufacturing issues. Bad batches. Two reasons I say this. One, I haven't had any notable issues with clear plastic breakage, and two, throughout my life I've mostly worked in production, and assembly. I want to tell about a unique story about a bad batch, being a good batch. At the time I was in textiles. Dyed denim thread. A particular dye was brittle during separation process. The lowest production of all. The product was 18,000 yards, of 334 individual strands to be separated. Over the course of two days the formula wasn't correct, but the separation process was rolling. Gravy train, top money. Well the production skyrocketed literally overnight, and when the formula was corrected, many people lost their certification, because it took months to reset/correct the production standard. I know that's a long winded way to get to my point, but like I said, I haven't had any notable issues. I do play with my transformers collections. If this was an issue with clear plastic, I would have more issues. Plus, I've had experience with manufacturing, and production lines. I also had a job where, just like manufacturing transformers parts, is the same process where resin powder is used to form plastic components. If the formula isn't correct, the plastic will be brittle. I'm not stating, but just wondering, if these particular issues, that many have experienced, could be simply manufacturing issues with the formula mixing.
That is the reason why I bought a metal watercooker without translucent windows.
Back in the days I remember my brother broke one side of the clearplastic rear window from g1 smokescreen. It was partially painted to cover the whole backpanel of the car. It is quite fragile from designwise.
Thank you, TJ. That was my Hammerstrike. I liked that one, too.
I thought of a few more I have too, since the ones I sent you, but never got around to posting them.
The few transformers that had very good quality clear plastic is origin Bumblebee, my copy of Studio series Jazz, Power Of The Primes Grimlock, Titans Return Blurr, Studio series 86 Hot Rods and Seige Barricade
I usually am fearful of large sections of clear plastic because of it's fragility. Especially in regards to areas that are load bearing or simply have to move a lot. I also don't personally like the aesthetic of having large sections being translucent. It's not really my taste, and I do agree with the translucent windows being a bit silly, especially since it means a large chunk of the toy will just simply be painted clear plastic most of the time!
All that being said, I haven't really had any clear-plastic bits break aside from my Transformers Adventure Roadblock's head crack a bit in the clear plastic sections of his head. It still frightens me and i'm even scared to try and fix it.
Black or Metallic Blue painted windows are FINE! We don't need to see inside, if anything it breaks the illusion
Just paint the black glossy and I would be happy with it.
My jazz figure is fine but I'm scared to break this figure
I feel your pain with Hammerstrike, that was the exact figure I thought of when I saw this video pop up