I figured that was intentional, I was just wondering if it might have had a flow on effect in the assembly of the figure, causing the wing connectors to be installed on the wrong sides?Quote:
Originally Posted by Krayt
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I figured that was intentional, I was just wondering if it might have had a flow on effect in the assembly of the figure, causing the wing connectors to be installed on the wrong sides?Quote:
Originally Posted by Krayt
it's possible, as I think the last release if this mould would have been the Botcon Rainmakers, which don't have this issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by UltraMarginal
Funnily enough, the assembly error that popped up at the same Botcon with G2 Electrons/MW Hoist with a chest piece being the wrong way around actually flowed onto the the Hasbro Asia 3Pack Kup as well So we can't lay the entire blame for the fault with the club (just the lack of checking before they left the factory....)
I was really impressed to find a replacement missile launcher arrive this week. I hadn't received an email reply, so was quite relieved to get one
The Club has sent out an email to confirm what we had expected about their Gen2 Starscream toy - it has the same mis-construction as Nacelle (the wing connectors).
It's good that we finally get the club taking a pre-emptive step on letting us know that something is wrong, even though it wasn't their fault. It is just better than their history of ignoring issues, or deflecting blame to everyone else afterwards.
It still took them too long to send this out, as they've known about this problem for 7-8 weeks.
At the end there is a mention of yet another server move, which seems to be their regular excuse for when technical things go wrong that might actually have been their fault (like ignoring messages sent through their website in the last couple months).Quote:
Hello Everyone,
This is going out to everyone who has ordered the TFSS 3.0. We hope that you are enjoying your first four figures but we need to take a minute to make you aware of a production issue with one of the two final figures, G2 Starscream.
We will try and take a long story and make it short here, but we want to give you all the info so you can understand the process better. Often times, for our exclusive toys we select molds that are not currently in production. So for those assembling the toys, they are often working on a mold that has not been seen in some time. Coupled with the fact that these are produced in VERY short runs, this allows for the possibility that minor glitches can occur in the assembly. Yes, there are checks and balances in place to avoid this. We get samples ahead of time. While every situation is unique, in the case of Nacelle and Starscream the samples we received were assembled 100% correctly. For the production versions, there was a minor issue however.
As you may be aware, the hinge piece that connects the wings to the body on the Seeker mold has a very small groove on the one side that allows for the wing to fold up in a smooth manner. If the tiny hinge piece is put on backwards, the wing has to fold up over a more defined right angle edge, without the small groove. To stress, this does NOT affect the ability of the toy to convert from robot to jet and back. It ONLY makes it a little more of a “hard” click as opposed to the smooth click as intended. Your Starscream still will convert to and from robot and will display great on your shelf! However IF you have any additional concerns, please contract our office before the final billing next week as we will NOT be able to do any exchanges on figures that have the hinges assembled incorrectly. Unfortunately, this was a wide spread error on both Nacelle (which also had reversed tail fins) and Starscream and we do not have the product to exchange.
We are in the middle of moving to a new server and provider (yea!) so I'll send out an email next week for you to update your account for those who have moved or need to change thier card number. Please do not use the old link as the data will not translate to the new code.
Thank you again and please know we make every effort to make sure you get the best exclusives possible!
Brian
So a bit of good and bad this time.
Since I don't do instalments, I didn't realise it until just reading it on another site, that the third instalment payment to cover Starscream & Krok is only 4 days away... which explains why they waited 7 weeks to notify people about this toy, so that the message only gets out to people at the last minute. That way, if they didn't get the email, they might not hear about it before they make the final payment, or they might have already made the final payment in the last week before getting the email.
I emailed them earlier this week to see if they had made any headway with the Nacelle issure with the factory.
the reply informed me that they have not and there is no solution forthcoming, the only offer I got was to send the figure back if I wanted for a refund on that figure.
I'm going to keep it, as I'd be surprised if they cvered shipping and I doubt I'll have any of the shipping refunded from that figure being sent out either which isn't so much of an issue.
I just can't see it being worth it.
I haven't tried it yet, I'm a little sceptical of forcing that hinge to rotate past the corner like that. I didn't get the email either since I'm not a member of the club this year... that's a bit of a shame.
I think that's the disappointing thing about this - they are sending out an email to let people know that one of the two remaining toys are mis-constructed, so that they can decide not to pay the last instalment, but the email looks to only go to people who are members this year (eliminating 2015 subscribers who are not 2015 members), and sent out four days before the cut-off of payment (which is too late for people who have already paid before the last minute) instead of 7 weeks ago or any time since.Quote:
Originally Posted by UltraMarginal
And I was giving them a pat on the back for stepping up with open communication before the toy was released... when clearly it was carefully planned to prevent too many people foregoing the final instalment and being stuck with a lot of Starscreams and Kroks. (they would have sold a few Krok's on their website later, but they would never be able to sell the Starscream... unless they don't note its flaw on its listing on the Club Store )
As for returns and refunds, you'd have to pay postage back, and you'd only get a refund for the toy's value, not the postage paid to send it over... so yes, you'd get very little back from your $50-60 toy.
At least you can pop off the wing and file down the corner to allow the wing to move over it easily (match the edge on the other side, just don't file down too much)... and then polish it down with really fine sand-paper.
When retailers get a batch of faulty products, they can get a refund or credit to their account from the toy distributor (who would be more than keen to compensate them just to keep them as a customer), so I wouldn't be surprised if FunPub got a refund from Hasbro for Nacelle and Starscream (because it was the supplier's fault for not ensuring the products met FunPub's requirements), and they are just keeping it instead of forwarding a partial credit back to the customers. (you wouldn't get a full refund because FunPub paid a lot less per unit than we did, so FunPub wouldn't be refunded enough to cover what we paid... but if they get any refund at all they are selling those two toys with a reduced cost to them, so shouldn't be charging as much to us)
I'm a member, but I didn't get this email.... So I wonder what the criteria were to make the list...Quote:
Originally Posted by UltraMarginal
As for forcing the wing.... I did it to one side once, and that wing popped out of the connector straight away, and must have stretched or weakened the hole/connector, as it is loose all the time. So I'm NEVER going to do it to screamer or nacelles other wing... Too risky...
Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin
Stupid thing is that I've subscribed for the 4.0 but not the 3.0 and I DID get the email :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Krayt
This morning I decided to see if I could pop out the pins in Nacelle and swap over the connectors, and it was easier than I was expecting... but the worry is that the pins holding in the connectors are going to be weaker because they've been moved 3 times through the tight plastic now instead of once, with each movement ripping up the plastic hole more.
That's the point I was guessing - people who aren't members this year, but subscribed to this year's toys (by being a member last year), might not be on the mailing list to even get this notice... to know that the Club is aware of the problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev
According to someone on TFW, the Club is willing to refund people who don't want Starscream (and not get it posted to them), if they tell them in time (before it is sent)... so not only is that not communicated to the members in that email, but they waited 7 weeks to minimise the amount of people who would phone in to cancel their Starscream toy.