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Ride Armors, Legioss and Treads! Oh my!


EXO

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That's really amazing, what Toynami is doing. The expense of that could easily put a company out of business.

I hope they haven't paid the factory that made those messes in full, and that they've successfully taken back their tooling.

After Palisades' first factory for Micronauts screwed up the line, Palisades refused to pay them for the remainder of their charges due to the obvious violation of QC agreements, and ordered their tooling released for pickup by another company. The factory fought them on it, and the Micronauts molds 'disappeared' when the new factory tried to get them, and the tooling wasn't seen for nearly a month (were likely stolen by the crooked subcontractor the factory sent the job to), and when they were retrieved they had acrylic glue injected and dried in all the mold channels and cavities.

See what you gotta deal with?

Edited by AcroRay
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That's really amazing, what Toynami is doing. The expense of that could easily put a company out of business.

I hope they haven't paid the factory that made those messes in full, and that they've successfully taken back their tooling.

After Palisades' first factory for Micronauts screwed up the line, Palisades refused to pay them for the remainder of their charges due to the obvious violation of QC agreements, and ordered their tooling released for pickup by another company. The factory fought them on it, and the Micronauts molds 'disappeared' when the new factory tried to get them, and the tooling wasn't seen for nearly a month (were likely stolen by the crooked subcontractor the factory sent the job to), and when they were retrieved they had acrylic glue injected and dried in all the mold channels and cavities.

See what you gotta deal with?

Yeah but there had been obvious problems since the first Alpha was released and they're just coming around to complaining about it now? The Beta has exceptional quality, but it's not like there hasnt been other toys to measure up against before. I can just see the factory people with the puzzled look in their faces "you mean there are unacceptable levels to your crappiness?" I'm actually kinda pissed that I have to connect the nice, solid Beta to this wonky blue crumbling Alpha.

I'm behind everyone that says that Aoshima should make they're own Alpha to connect to the Toynami Beta (color scheme to match a whole new tooling)

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That's really amazing, what Toynami is doing. The expense of that could easily put a company out of business.

I hope they haven't paid the factory that made those messes in full, and that they've successfully taken back their tooling.

After Palisades' first factory for Micronauts screwed up the line, Palisades refused to pay them for the remainder of their charges due to the obvious violation of QC agreements, and ordered their tooling released for pickup by another company. The factory fought them on it, and the Micronauts molds 'disappeared' when the new factory tried to get them, and the tooling wasn't seen for nearly a month (were likely stolen by the crooked subcontractor the factory sent the job to), and when they were retrieved they had acrylic glue injected and dried in all the mold channels and cavities.

See what you gotta deal with?

And yet we argue endlessly that Yamatos are hundreds of dollars too expensive.

Good on Toynami for trying to rectify the situation, bad on them for ignoring all the previous issues and acting like they never happened.

Vostok 7

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I can just see the factory people with the puzzled look in their faces "you mean there are unacceptable levels to your crappiness?"

Bwaaaahahahahahahhaa :lol: :lol: :lol: that's soooo going in my signature.

I'm actually kinda pissed that I have to connect the nice, solid Beta to this wonky blue crumbling Alpha.

I would be too! It's one of the reasons I'm trying to unload my crappy blue Alpha now that the demand is high (I knew there was a good reason to hold on to it! Those poor, innocent souls don't know what they are getting into...)

Vostok 7

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And yet we argue endlessly that Yamatos are hundreds of dollars too expensive.

Good on Toynami for trying to rectify the situation, bad on them for ignoring all the previous issues and acting like they never happened.

In all fairness, there's a certain set 'failure' percentage in any product run that's acceptable before you offer a full recall. Usually a couple percent is acceptable, and can be largely ignored as isolated anomalies. Anything above that is usually dealt with as individual returns and refunds by the retailers, and the loss is theirs. They can then take it up with the distributors they got the product from, who will then take it up with the manufacturer. The 5hit - or the IOUs - flows uphill.

Every manufacturer deals with it in a slightly different way. If your customers are unhappy they could sue you from whatever level of the retail chain they stand at, or at the very least just not buy your future stuff - which would be more painful in the long run.

Not completely off-topic about the Yamato toys: I don't know if they're too expensive relative to what it costs to make them. What I do know is that they're generally too expensive for me to buy new. The give-and-take between the two thresholds to determine a price at which I will buy their product can have a very strong impact on the product's level of QC. You can see that happening - often in the negative - in both Yamato and Toynami products, I think. As well as MegaHouse, CMs, etc.

Niche-interest products might be a successful endeavor in terms of retail price and QC control for simplistic vinyl toys, action figures of Harvey Birdman or the Futurama gang, or Head-Knockers of Star Wars characters. But when you start serving niche interests that require products that have hundreds of parts per unit, in dozens of materials and a dozen different paint applications per unit, then you're walking in a realm of very expensive, complex endeavor - one much more likely to involve failure.

Edited by AcroRay
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Any initial impressions you can share? Do you see the Beagle getting as good or better of a score than the Toynami Beta, for instance?

Vostok 7

Looking forward to it.

Seems like a pretty cool toy, judging from the forum info/pics so far.

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Looking forward to it.

Seems like a pretty cool toy, judging from the forum info/pics so far.

I just finished the first version of the write-up now. Will fiddle with the toy later tonight, finalize the write-up, and post before hitting the sack. Nothing to report yet since I still have another hour of fiddling to go through. Obviously it's a nice toy.

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I just finished the first version of the write-up now. Will fiddle with the toy later tonight, finalize the write-up, and post before hitting the sack. Nothing to report yet since I still have another hour of fiddling to go through. Obviously it's a nice toy.

Yay! I hope this thing gets the highest score you've done yet.

BTW, what is the highest score you've given so far? I saw the YF-21 got a 44 but I couldn't find anything higher.

Vostok 7

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What are the dimensions of the Beta & Beta/Alpha combination specifically in fighter mode?

Zip over to Robotech.com (I know, you're cringing) because I believe they give the full dimensions in their little sales pitch... if not for the red one then try the blue one.

BTW, what is the highest score you've given so far? I saw the YF-21 got a 44 but I couldn't find anything higher.

All toys get a 35... I don't know what you're talking about.

Okay, seriously, I'm pretty sure the 1/60 VF-1 2.0 is the league leader with about a 45 (can't remember for sure). If it's at 45 I should shave half a point off for durability since more shoulders broke from the first edition then I expected. Then again, the shoulders largely seem to be fixed so maybe I should leave it alone. There have been a lot of toys breaking 40 lately, Yamato's destroids and Toynami's Beta... it'll be tough to figure out exactly where this Beagle lands.

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All toys get a 35... I don't know what you're talking about.

Okay, seriously, I'm pretty sure the 1/60 VF-1 2.0 is the league leader with about a 45 (can't remember for sure). If it's at 45 I should shave half a point off for durability since more shoulders broke from the first edition then I expected. Then again, the shoulders largely seem to be fixed so maybe I should leave it alone. There have been a lot of toys breaking 40 lately, Yamato's destroids and Toynami's Beta... it'll be tough to figure out exactly where this Beagle lands.

:lol: @ the 35. You do give a lot of "average" results, but I find your reviews to be pretty fair, that's why I'm looking forward to your Beagle review. Also, I think the individual category results speak more to the actual outcome of the review than the end score. I particularly like the comparison reviews, where you put the different toys together so we can actually see the differences between brands ourselves!

Vostok 7

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The pictures were great! Good score too.

The suspension indeed works?? I thought it did, based on the little spring, but I thought they might have just put it there for flavor instead of making it functional. Functional suspension drives this thing up a few notches in my opinion!!

Vostok 7

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Thanks, great review! I think this one will truly only be for diehard fans. In Singapore, the toy costs nearly $400 in local currency. Not too many folks have that much love in these times. I'm pretty satisfied with the CM's full line-up, warts and all.

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I was just looking at the Robotech website, another update for 1-21-09 on those Maia Alpha fighters, looks like the company that produced the Beta fighter-bomber will be making these new re-issued Alphas. Maybe Toynami has finally seen the light? better QC, parts that don't shatter, equals more sales and money! Re-issues on all the MPC Alphas would be great!! B))

I think the problem with the Toynami/Aoshima Alpha/Legioss is not so much which factory that made them, but rather the actual design itself.

While the Beta/Tread is obviously CAD designed, and thus far superior in fit, the Alpha/Legioss was clearly hand sculpted hence the poorly fitting asymmetrical parts.

Toynami really need to go back and CAD design a whole new Alpha/Legioss.

Oh, and use better, non-crumbly material for the hands! :D

Graham

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Received my Beagle this afternoon. Quite annoyed about the complete lack of friction on the helmet-head.

One thing i wish they had done was place the faux LEDs on the breasts (similar to the MH). The painted ones look rather flat to me.

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Vermillion - Got mine from Overdrive. I think I paid $40 for shipping... somewhere in that ballpark. Maybe $45? Yeah, that sure doesn't help the ol' bottom line on these things. Overdrive packages things in ways where I know I'll get the toy just like it came out of the case so I don't mind if it's a bit pricey... and of course it's lightning EMS quick shipped the day it came out. Too bad Monday was a USPS day off.

Edited by jenius
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Received my Beagle this afternoon. Quite annoyed about the complete lack of friction on the helmet-head.

One thing i wish they had done was place the faux LEDs on the breasts (similar to the MH). The painted ones look rather flat to me.

I checked out my friend's Beagle today, and it really is very nice. Tempted to get one. I did point that thing out to my friend about the chest lights, too. They would have looked much better in transparent plastic.

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From what I,ve seen I,m pretty happy with the Ley/Rand head sculpt ,hoping it,s not too late to improve on the Stick .

I ,d hate to get another floppy head Ley ,with no shoulder cloth attached to the chest armor,a loose targeting scope,and hoping for atleast an attempt at a hip and crotch armor connection!

Also a tighter bike.

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From what I,ve seen I,m pretty happy with the Ley/Rand head sculpt ,hoping it,s not too late to improve on the Stick .

I ,d hate to get another floppy head Ley ,with no shoulder cloth attached to the chest armor,a loose targeting scope,and hoping for atleast an attempt at a hip and crotch armor connection!

Also a tighter bike.

I don't think it'd be wise to attach the sleeves on the arm to the chest armor, I think that'd create a lot of potential for tearing the fabric. I would rather they use a tighter and more rubbery fabric so it wouldn't move around as much. The targeting scope is definitely loose and could be much better. There were several poses I got the armor in that would have really been impaired if the hip covers attached in front like they do in the back.

Edited by jenius
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i have to agree with jenius fabric causes a big problem.. but i think 0verall the cyclone was not too bad..

I'm pretty sure I'm getting rid of the fabric... that's why I got the Toynami version.... still need that japanese version head though...

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I'm pretty sure I'm getting rid of the fabric... that's why I got the Toynami version.... still need that japanese version head though...

No kidding. When I first saw it written that it comes with two heads, I got hopeful that they meant the Toynami one also comes with the Beagle head... then I realized they meant the helmeted head.

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Vermillion - Got mine from Overdrive. I think I paid $40 for shipping... somewhere in that ballpark. Maybe $45? Yeah, that sure doesn't help the ol' bottom line on these things. Overdrive packages things in ways where I know I'll get the toy just like it came out of the case so I don't mind if it's a bit pricey... and of course it's lightning EMS quick shipped the day it came out. Too bad Monday was a USPS day off.

Thanks jenius ... so I guess the total cost of the Beagle is approx $270 USD shipped ..... ugh, pricey.

:o

I also collect TFs and 25th Joes ... this will KILL my limited toy budget.

:(

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