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Post by lurkerx on Aug 13, 2010 9:10:46 GMT -5
Gundam MMM:
Quite possibly the BEST gundam chogokin ever created I bought have all three of them the Limited Launcher/Sword, the regular version and the Strike Gundams I absolutely love these things and would never get rid of them. Yesterday I was re-arranging my shelves for another up and coming downsizing campaign when I realized that all the shoulder sockets for both the regular Launcher/Sword and Strike are cracked/broken.
Now I don’t really play with my toys I just love the way they look, I haven’t handled since I bought and assembled a long time ago.
What the hell Bandai you go 98% the way of making a fabulous die-cast Gundam figure but you couldn’t go the rest of the 2% and design decent shoulder joints for these.
Thankfully the Limited one seems to be ok….but who know when its shoulders will give.
I would’ve gladly paid an additional $20 for these if that’s what it took for Bandai to design sturdier shoulder joints
Gundam Destiny MMM:
Quite possibly the 2nd Best gundam chogokins ever created, mine all yellowed because Bandai skimped on the quality of plastic they used. The spent all that money to make these figures great then at the finish line they skimp on its materials. Opting for the cheaper plastics prone to yellowing.
I’m just royally peeve-ed right now cause I will likely end up re-purchasing the MMM strike or Launcher to replace the endoskeleton of the ones that broke then find myself in this situation yet again 2-3 years from now or maybe in a couple of weeks time if the shoulders are broken right of the box…….curse you Bandai !
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Post by meisterstyx on Aug 13, 2010 14:59:00 GMT -5
aren´t those the ones with the inner frame made of metal? how can they break so easy?
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Post by lurkerx on Aug 13, 2010 15:56:26 GMT -5
aren´t those the ones with the inner frame made of metal? how can they break so easy? Yup. The socket attaching the arm to the shoulder is plastic. Reflecting on this further, I'm thinking since I had them displayed/posed with the big gun for the Launcher and the rifle and shield for the Strike this may have been the factors to weaken and ultimately crack and break these sockets. |
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Post by mechamasterj on Aug 14, 2010 12:57:39 GMT -5
i only heard about problems with the strike freedom versions..... my normal strikes have withstood the test of time.
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Post by zmmptet3 on Aug 17, 2010 4:15:00 GMT -5
What part is broken exactly? The part inside the torso, or the ball that sticks out off the arm?
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Post by lurkerx on Aug 17, 2010 5:42:26 GMT -5
What part is broken exactly? The part inside the torso, or the ball that sticks out off the arm? Its what that ball attaches to that has cracked/broken. Now the arm just keeps falling off. So if you notice your MMM's is somewhat loose chances are you have the same thing. Like I said I think its from displaying them with the weapons on for extended periods of time. The arm itself is pretty heavy tack on the shield which is also heavy or the Launcher gun then. Either that or I just got a "lemon" My camera sucks but here's a pic:  |
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Post by zmmptet3 on Aug 17, 2010 11:26:10 GMT -5
My strike had the problem with the arm being loose pretty much straight out of the box(however, I just checked it and it doesn't look cracked). You might want to try what I did, disassemble the torso(it's like 3 screws, on the back) and add a little superglue to hold things together. Mine is still going strong.
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Post by zmmptet3 on Aug 21, 2010 6:41:25 GMT -5
Have you found a fix yet?
Sucks to have a busted gundam.
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Post by lurkerx on Aug 23, 2010 13:36:10 GMT -5
No.
Hope these two busted ones are exceptional lemons rather than a chronic characteristic of these figures.
These figures are really among the best Gundam chogokins ever made despite the faulty shoulder socket. I really enjoy them figures so I bit the bullet and bought a couple of MMM launchers to replace the broken endoskeletons.
I’ll still try and repair these possibly opening it up as you suggested and gluing it, I’ll also try and reinforce it with some putty to make for a stronger hold.
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Post by paladin on Nov 7, 2010 5:44:07 GMT -5
Any update on the fix?
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Post by lurkerx on Jul 14, 2011 8:24:43 GMT -5
Sorry to resurrect this old thread, though I still believe that the shoulder sockets are made with inferior plastic thereby making it prone to cracking or the ball joint of the arm attaching to the socket is too big thus cracking the socket.
I think what exasperated the problem in my case was that I forgot to remove the sockets when I decided to soak the MMM endoskeleton in WD-40 for a few days to get rid of the blemishes in the metal.
I've since assembled the other 2 MMM gundams I bought to replace the broken ones and found the same problem with a stress crack at top of the joints, that being said, the arms still feel tight and hopefully it doesn't get any worst. And though I see blemishes on the metal I'm going to avoid dunking any part of it in WD-40
Bandai still fraustrates me in that it goes full blast in creating a great toy then just stops short of delivering because of stupid things like these.
Another example of this is the Metal Grade Gundam with its lower arm sockets cracked from either the lower arm peg being to thick or just bad socket plastic quality.
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Post by boricua on Jul 14, 2011 12:11:46 GMT -5
Oh man, you should never use any petroleum products of any sort, even the ones designed gentle enough for human use, on plastic. Plastic, also being a petroleum product, will sooner or later react to the other petroleum products on it and deteriorate.
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Post by nikodiablo on Jul 14, 2011 22:00:22 GMT -5
I haven't found any problems with my MMM Sword / Launcher Strike yet, even though I sprayed the frame with WD-40 about a month ago to clean the blemishes. The joints did get sort of loose from the lubrication.
The problem was with the yellowing plastic of the GQ Blast Impulse, where it has turned pretty much yellow, has loose joints, and a cracked crotch socket. Bandai didn't choose durable materials for this line it seems.
Haven't discovered any problems in the Metal Fix Gundams yet, though.
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Post by lurkerx on Jul 15, 2011 12:14:18 GMT -5
Oh man, you should never use any petroleum products of any sort, even the ones designed gentle enough for human use, on plastic. Plastic, also being a petroleum product, will sooner or later react to the other petroleum products on it and deteriorate. lessons learned....  What's a bit concerning is MMM is not the only toys I apply petroleum products on......I generally use petroleum jelly on my toys if, for instance, the fists are difficult to get in the socket or the part is has a "too tight" fit. I previously used it on my Kado Senshi RX-78 and my Wave SDF-1 to name a couple....so far its been "ok" though |
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Post by Ben-Ohki on Jul 15, 2011 12:45:40 GMT -5
I'm my years as a collector the only conclusion I can draw is that there are simply too many environment variables to concern oneself with unless you were to lock your toys in a climate-controlled cabinet of some kind... I have toys get uneven yellowing (whether they were in direct-sunlight or not), rubberized ball-joints disintegrate (the hips on a 1/48 valk even though it had been stored in its box since I moved), and other inexplicable tarnishing on chrome or metal parts (maybe I touched them some time ago with not-so-clean fingers and forgot to wipe it down?)...
As for my MMM Aile Strike Gundam, mine has had any broken parts to date but it has been a pain to keep clean (since the metal will tarnish with the slightest oils from ones fingers)... I find myself rubbing it down with a clean cloth from time to time. Maybe I've just been lucky?
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Post by gogglev on Jul 15, 2011 12:48:41 GMT -5
I've used petroleum jelly on things with metal and plastic parts before and have never had any issues with it. I know WD40 says its safe for use on plastic. I know you want to stay away from petroleum based products for anything rubber since it will deteriorate. Just to be safe you, you might want to switch to silicon based lubricants that are safe for rubber and plastic. Just make sure its 100% pure silicon lube.
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