Phyrox Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 I have a Bernard, and it is fine. It isn't worth $80, but none of these "adult" toys are worth what they charge. I think a lot of the opinions about the Alpha are based on the "squeeky wheel gets the grease" phenomenon. Sure there are some that have problems, but by and large they are OK. But people who get an OK toy rarely log on to message boards to say: "I just got toy 'X,' and it is fine." I do not mean to imply that the Alphas are extremely well put together, or are on par with other collecter toys like the Prime...but the chances are that you will not end up with a basket case. I could be wrong, but this is my impression. My only problems on the Blue Alpha were - a paint smudge on the leg (same place my red one has it) - some general stiffness - difficult to pose (somewhat lose) arms, made all the more difficult by a gun that doesn't want to be held - the upturned nose sculpt. For me, those were outweighed by the otherwise good sculpt and durability. The alpha seems to have less inherent flaws than the MPC VF-1 did. I got one just to have a 1/55 to go with the upcoming Alphas...but it was so ugly in fighter mode I put it back in the box and haven't seen it since.
zeo-mare Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 yes i do agree that the nosecone in fighter mode looks weird the way it points upward. i have mine in battroid mode all the time. they are nice, if you can pick one up for alittle cheaper (i got mine on ebay for about $60.00) then they are really worth it. I did not have to many problems with stiffness or looseness, thankfully also not with paint smudges. just the friggin hand disintergrating on me . here is a pic of mine.
Magnus Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 When you say that the hand 'disintegrated', did it literally crumble into a pile of dust?? Is it at all repairable?
Hiriyu Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 I just received my Rook today (#00971) and have not noted any issues with it yet, with the possible exception of tailfins that don't seem to want to stay 'canted out' in fighter mode as easily as they do on my Bernard model. Anyone else notice this?
Feyd-Rautha Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 I just received my Rook today (#00971) and have not noted any issues with it yet, with the possible exception of tailfins that don't seem to want to stay 'canted out' in fighter mode as easily as they do on my Bernard model. Anyone else notice this? becareful and try too shave down the area where the fin rubs against the hinge.. a fin on my bernard snapped from this same prob... toynami is replacing the item.
zeo-mare Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 (edited) When you say that the hand 'disintegrated', did it literally crumble into a pile of dust?? Is it at all repairable? the joints on the fingers are so frail even the slightest bend in the wrong direction will break all 4 main fingers off, all i was doing was taking the gun out of the hand and all the fingers fell off. it is very hard to fix, i managed to fix mine with glue but from this point on i will not touch the hand with fear of it breaking again, be careful everyone when putting the gun in the hand , it is not just me there are a lot of reports of the hands doing this. chris Edited December 3, 2004 by zeo-mare
Chowser Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 Their are still using the default Alpha nose/canopy, opposed to the series almost single piece canopy. also, here's Steve Yun's answer about why the shoulders weren't changed. Steve Yun Rank: Captain Subject: shoulders... Posted On: December 2, 2004 - 3:55:27 PM Profile Although the hexagonal shoulders looked nice in the cartoon they looked awkward and weird in toy form, so Toynami opted to go with the standard shoulders with it. It's not like it was a cost issue, since they spent the time and money to change so many other things about the Shadow Fighter. ------ meaning, well, since there was no shadow fighter toy we could copy, we're just force feeding you another color variation. Oh, we were able to mold some claws and some new intake covers.
Pat S Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 Haha, who are these guys to say something looks right or not, they should have the line-art. It can't look any more right than that, duh.
Retracting Head Ter Ter Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 (edited) Hrrrmph. To all those who have not bought but are contemplating buying an MPC Alpha. DON'T BUY IT!!! I got a rook and it sucks so bad. The pics on the net look 3 times better then the thing does in real life. Bloody QC is worse then Yamato. They don't even bother to cut the pieces from the sprue tree properly. Mine has huge scar marks on the cut points. Toynami really does suck! Edited December 3, 2004 by Retracting Head Ter Ter
gilermo Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 The pics on the net look 3 times better then the thing does in real life. just like at mcdonalds
Phyrox Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 Haha, who are these guys to say something looks right or not, they should have the line-art. It can't look any more right than that, duh. I think he means there is way too much anime-magic going on with the Shadow Alpha's shoulders for a lineart-accurate shoulder to work in both modes. I for one have never seen how it works, given that the legs and rest of the arm seem just like a regular Alpha... Either way, loads of anime-magic or no, you can't do those shoulders with the MPC sculpt and have it turn out good on the fighter.
Retracting Head Ter Ter Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 The pics on the net look 3 times better then the thing does in real life. just like at mcdonalds Yeah, just like that pic of the nicely stacked Big Mac vs the soggy mess in your hand. But a Happy Meal never cost me 80 bucks!!!
Feyd-Rautha Posted December 3, 2004 Posted December 3, 2004 Haha, who are these guys to say something looks right or not, they should have the line-art. It can't look any more right than that, duh. I think he means there is way too much anime-magic going on with the Shadow Alpha's shoulders for a lineart-accurate shoulder to work in both modes. I for one have never seen how it works, given that the legs and rest of the arm seem just like a regular Alpha... Either way, loads of anime-magic or no, you can't do those shoulders with the MPC sculpt and have it turn out good on the fighter. good point.
Kin Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 Hrrrmph.To all those who have not bought but are contemplating buying an MPC Alpha. DON'T BUY IT!!! I got a rook and it sucks so bad. The pics on the net look 3 times better then the thing does in real life. Bloody QC is worse then Yamato. They don't even bother to cut the pieces from the sprue tree properly. Mine has huge scar marks on the cut points. Toynami really does suck! Ill take your advice
goldenboy_forever Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 hey guy I just email toynami about my blue mpc alpha fighter. They sent me a email with a return address. So if you guys have ay defective mpc just return it to. Toynami, Inc. 15315 Magnolia Blvd Suite #216 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 if this is old news sorry for jumping the gun I just didn't want to go through the 100 plus pages on mpc complaints here is the original email I sent and recived Dear Richard, Please send your blue MPC alpha to the following address: Toynami, Inc. 15315 Magnolia Blvd Suite #216 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 I hope this is helpful to you. Happy Holidays, Customer Service Toynami Inc ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Kim" <goldenboy_forever@hotmail.com> To: <info@toynami.com> Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 9:30 AM Subject: Re: Want to exchange blue MPC alpha for a new because of Q.C. problem/accident Dear Customer Service, Thank you for your response to my email I greatly appreciate your helping hand. Can you please provide me with the address I can ship the mpc alpha to? Also on the shipping label what department should I put it to? Lastly is there any other special preparations I should know about or include in the shipment before I send the mpc alpha back to Toynami? Thank you again for taking the time to read my response. Sincerely Richard Kim From: "customerservice" <customerservice@toynami.com> Reply-To: "customerservice" <info@toynami.com> To: "Richard Kim" <goldenboy_forever@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Want to exchange blue MPC alpha for a new becasue of Q.C. problem/accident Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 17:46:38 -0800 Dear Richard, We're sorry to hear about the trouble you had with your Robotech Masterpiece Collection Scott Bernard's VFA-6H. If you ship the original figure back to us at your own expense, we will happily replace it for you with a new figure. Best regards, Customer Service Toynami Inc ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Kim" <goldenboy_forever@hotmail.com> To: <info@toynami.com> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 5:27 PM Subject: Want to exchange blue MPC alpha for a new becasue of Q.C. problem/accident Hi my name is Richard Kim and I have more of a paint quality issue. When I bought my mpc bernard alpha in L.A. the paint at the foot was doubled layered almost peeling . The damage is really odd its as if a piece of metal accidently landed on the foot while it was on the production line then it got paint over with the little piece of metal stuck to the foot. If there is a way I can exchange my mpc alpha for a new one I would greatly apreciate it. If you are the wrong person or department to email please send me in the correct direction so I can resolve this Q.C. issue. Thanks you very much and Happy holidays From: Richard Kim
Retracting Head Ter Ter Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 Hrrrmph.To all those who have not bought but are contemplating buying an MPC Alpha. DON'T BUY IT!!! I got a rook and it sucks so bad. The pics on the net look 3 times better then the thing does in real life. Bloody QC is worse then Yamato. They don't even bother to cut the pieces from the sprue tree properly. Mine has huge scar marks on the cut points. Toynami really does suck! Ill take your advice Please do! REALLY! I really hate Toynami after buying the MPC Alpha Rook. Been kicking myself mentally everytime I see it sitting in the unwanted corner.
Pat S Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 I'll have to sticker mine up and take some pics, mine looks pretty good, and I was impressed that the arms don't have the flopiness of the Blue 6H. They actually made an improvement!
Chowser Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 (edited) Scott #2579 Rook #1985 Ok, finally got around to trying and transforming both. Scott was very loose and Rook was very tight, tight to the point I had to get a screwdriver out and pry pieces apart. And I still can't figure out what the heck to do with the knees. I give up. As much as I hunger for new Mospeada toys, I'm gonna skip Lancer, Sue, and maybe I'll just buy the Beta to say I have one. Anyone want to sell me their Lancer and Shadow boxes for $30 shipped each when they come out? Don't need the inside box that holds the toy, just the bookcase one so my collection looks complete... Of course, rear landing gears on both fall in, in fighter mode, the whole thing is basically sitting on the chest. Paints pretty decent. Hate the missiles that only show half??? WTF??? Do the heads even snaplock into position when in battroid mode??? Scott's got a permanent lean and Rook's legs won't close together any tighter. Well, these are going to be transformed back to fighter and replaced back in the box.... Edited December 4, 2004 by Chowser
CoryHolmes Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 and Rook's legs won't close together any tighter. Yeah, let's see you say that to her face
Cyclone Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 meaning, well, since there was no shadow fighter toy we could copy, we're just force feeding you another color variation. Oh, we were able to mold some claws and some new intake covers. They do have a point on the shoulders, it would take serious upper body/side section remodeling to make them work, and then it would probably suffer from looking really funky from above/rear. Though of course the "too hard in a transformable" doesn't fly with the Superposable version, where the same problem caused similar grumbles but people were willing to overlook it because we thought for the MPC version Toynami would.... um... Cyc
Pat S Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 Couldn't they make a trap door in that section of the engine that drops down with a spring mechanism...??? I think it could be done.
CoryHolmes Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 I dunno, there's not a whole heck of a lot of room to work with on this beast. And people are complaining now about the apparent fragility of the MPC Alpha, I'd hate to think what the complaints are going to be about how a dinky little spring no longer works and that it totally ruins the toy and isn't worth the MSRP.
Pat S Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 Well, anyone should be able to make a foolproof spring/door mechanism, but we're talking Toynami here, so maybe not. I definitely could do it
do not disturb Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 Hrrrmph.To all those who have not bought but are contemplating buying an MPC Alpha. DON'T BUY IT!!! I got a rook and it sucks so bad. The pics on the net look 3 times better then the thing does in real life. Bloody QC is worse then Yamato. They don't even bother to cut the pieces from the sprue tree properly. Mine has huge scar marks on the cut points. Toynami really does suck! in the snwoballs chance in hell that i actually break down and buy one of these....i think i'll just leave them MISB. why open them and ruin the value. if i opened one, i would proably end up revisiting my days of old and strap the the sucker with a bunch of fircrackers and M80's.
Feyd-Rautha Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 When you say that the hand 'disintegrated', did it literally crumble into a pile of dust?? Is it at all repairable? the joints on the fingers are so frail even the slightest bend in the wrong direction will break all 4 main fingers off, all i was doing was taking the gun out of the hand and all the fingers fell off. it is very hard to fix, i managed to fix mine with glue but from this point on i will not touch the hand with fear of it breaking again, be careful everyone when putting the gun in the hand , it is not just me there are a lot of reports of the hands doing this. chris I'd send it back dude...Toynami should be held accountable for this kinds of sshht...my bernard hand crumbled..and i was e-mailing toynami moments later(zero tolerance). they prompty replaced it for a bernard with a funky fin and SUPER LOOSE left leg.... .... so off it goes too toynami for replace and i remain pleased with toynami enough too blow more$$$ on mospeada stuff..the end.
Feyd-Rautha Posted December 4, 2004 Posted December 4, 2004 Hrrrmph.To all those who have not bought but are contemplating buying an MPC Alpha. DON'T BUY IT!!! I got a rook and it sucks so bad. The pics on the net look 3 times better then the thing does in real life. Bloody QC is worse then Yamato. They don't even bother to cut the pieces from the sprue tree properly. Mine has huge scar marks on the cut points. Toynami really does suck! Ill take your advice Please do! REALLY! I really hate Toynami after buying the MPC Alpha Rook. Been kicking myself mentally everytime I see it sitting in the unwanted corner. just send it back too them for a replacment. the sculpt is worthy! the gamble of QC is not a gamble if you just keep returning duds until they give you a good one.. hey, if you dig mospeada designs...your left with little alternative. they really do make my large gakkens look kinda dorky..(never thought i'd say that)
zeo-mare Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 do you have to send the box back as well? or just the figure, i want to save some shipping money. also do i have to email them first? thanks chris
Feyd-Rautha Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 email 'em first.. make sure too keep the gun so your next alpha will go double fisted!!! i returned the box with no insert or rifle or cyclone...and they sent me a spanking new unit.yeahhh! not sur about box thou... enjoy
Magnus Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 Each time you mail them your dud back, you have to pay shipping costs though right? Or does Toynami cover that too? If it costs you an extra 40 dollars to keep sending duds back over and over until you get a good one, is it worth it?
Feyd-Rautha Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 Each time you mail them your dud back, you have to pay shipping costs though right? Or does Toynami cover that too? If it costs you an extra 40 dollars to keep sending duds back over and over until you get a good one, is it worth it? true enough... yes u must pay shipp. too them..they cover return shipp.. mine cost $5 too mail from mass. too cali. not bad when you keep the gun/cyclone/pilot from your dud!!!!
Magnus Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 Ya, true enough. The only thing is, i live in Canada and shipping would be double for me I just won a Scott Alpha from ebay for $60 bucks as an xmas gift for myself. I hate the fact that it feels more like i'm playing at a roulette table than buying a toy
CoryHolmes Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 Ya, true enough. The only thing is, i live in Canada and shipping would be double for me I just won a Scott Alpha from ebay for $60 bucks as an xmas gift for myself. I hate the fact that it feels more like i'm playing at a roulette table than buying a toy It's not really that bad. We had a poll here on MW.com and it turns out that most people were happ with their Scott Alphas.
Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0 Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 that doesn't prove anything. Just because the majority likes it does not mean EVERYONE will be happy with it. I think we all agree it's got GREAT design but HORRIBLE and rather INCONSISTENT quality. It's not fair that only a few people out of whole lot get a MPC with no problems. For 80$ there SHOULD be no problems. And they can't say toynami is a young company, they've had 3 yars to change up quality control and yet we're still here not knowing if we are getting lemons or not.
zeo-mare Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 by the way what is toynami's email address that i must use to send the item back? also do you need a receipt? because i got it off ebay and it did not have one. thanks chris
Feyd-Rautha Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 Toynami, Inc. 15315 Magnolia Blvd Suite #216 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 i had no recipt for mine...told them that i got it thru robotech.com and that RT.com failed too address my problem...toynami told me too shipp the defect too this address for replacment..badabing
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