Toy Review - Masterpiece Hound

[dirge]

Sadly, I suspect the cracking of plastics is - at least to an extent - a by-product of the cartoon-accurate ambition. Hound has a lot of very thin pieces of plastic on active transformation joints.

I'm not being critical of TakaraTomy when I say this... but yeah, the less ambitious more toy-inspired equivalents like Sideswipe and Inferno seem to be fine.

Luckily for me, I prefer the toy-accuracy. But... I mean, I still have a cartoon-centic Hound because... well it's not like there's an alternative,

[Magnus]

Sadly, I suspect the cracking of plastics is - at least to an extent - a by-product of the cartoon-accurate ambition. Hound has a lot of very thin pieces of plastic on active transformation joints.

I'm not being critical of TakaraTomy when I say this... but yeah, the less ambitious more toy-inspired equivalents like Sideswipe and Inferno seem to be fine.

Luckily for me, I prefer the toy-accuracy. But... I mean, I still have a cartoon-centic Hound because... well it's not like there's an alternative,

In Hound's case, the plastic itself may be at fault, based on a statement from a TakaraTOMY representative at Wonderfest 2020:

Regarding recent QC issues found in Masterpiece Hound: Regarding the factories, different materials were used in Vietnam but they were unaware how they would pan out for Hound as they were unaware of what the results will be. They know of the breakages right now, but no decision has been made for a future re-release or if they will change the factories or materials.

Source: https://news.tfw2005.com/2020/02/09/...e-event-404884

It's possible that the prototypes were tested and made from a different plastic than would be used in mass production, or that early samples from the factory were lucky enough to not break. Either way, it's a shame that as many Hounds have cracked as they have, because plastic aside it's a great piece.

[Deano85]

If they do a re-release of MP Hound in toy colours then I would definitely get him. (hopefully without a heap of accessories to keep the cost down)

[Skyfire]

I removed the screw at the armature. I used a JIS screwdriver but the screw came out easily and I perhaps could have just used a regular Philips head. Perhaps the reason the screw came out easily is due to the post being cracked as shown in the pics. Also one thing I've noticed for a while is that a bit of oil has been seeping from that armature joint. I guess that's an oil they used at the factory. I don't think it's coming from the plastic itself. The pressure of the screw opens the crack more, so the plastic quality is poor or the screw/hole size is badly engineered or both. As you can see, the peg cracks are like a network so it's a matter of time before the whole thing fractures into tiny bits. Some people have filed down the peg to solve the problem of the outside ring of that joint from cracking. But since the screw is cracking the peg, sanding the peg won't fix that, and could even increase the chance of peg cracking. The only way to fix this that I can see is to fill the screw hole (and cracks) and redrill it. Without some fix, I'm certain transformation will completely break it. And it's only been transformed from new in box car to robot. Such a shame for such an expensive figure.

[Skyfire]

I have done a repair of the armature in Ratchet's Repair Bay section.