Disintegrating 1/60 YF-19 Joints

[Graham]

Damn, one of my display 1/60 YF-19 toys suffered a spontaneous disintegration of the right shoulder joint and left knee joint at the weekend 

This was a first release YF-19 that had been standing in battroid mode in my display cabinet, untouched for several years.

At the weekend, I decided to have a reorganization of my display cabinet. I carefully lifted out the YF-19 and the arm and lower leg just suddenly fell off. The grey plastic in the affected areas had literally just crumbled away.

I’ve seen this happen to VF-0 shoulders and elbow joints before, but never on a 1/60 YF-19.

Will post some photos of the effected joints later.

Anybody else had this happen on their YF-19 before?

Graham

[Kanedas Bike]

Ugh. Time to go and check the YF-19 with Fold Booster & Fast Pack bundle.

Will confirm either way.

-b.

[Loop]

Now I'm getting scared, maybe I should put it back to plane mode....

I bought mine from the run where the gun lines up straight underneath as that was my First 1/60 v2 and I was bit late to the party.

I have only had this happen on a 1/48 VF-1J hikaru that I bought years after the release. It wan on the gerwalk joint/gear.

The mold looked like it had been over used though and the little tab that keeps the leg onto the joint crumbled on the first transform.

Edited September 20, 2011 by Loop

[kanedaestes]

I think you should go back to Yamato Graham and tell them about it and to fix it with a new release STAT! lol

[Kicker773]

hmm.. knocks on wood.. havent' had any problems with mine............yet...............

[EXO]

Ugh. I just sold my 19 to a really good member here maybe a month or 2 ago. First it was hinted soon after that there's gonna be a new one and now this. If I would have sold it on eBay or Craigslist I wouldn't worry about it or maybe even feel like I dodged a bullet but I hope this doesn't happen to the one I just let go. I let it go for supercheap but I'm still hoping it doesn't turn out to be a lemon.

[Kicker773]

Don't jinx it. I have a squad and their holding up pretty good.

[EXO]

I'm already working on something to help out people with cracked 1/60 VF-1 shoulders. If it works out and if it happens to the 19s then I'll do the same for it. I'll be sure to give the person I sold it to a free set.

[Kicker773]

Wooohooo

[Kicker773]

Btw Graham can you take a picture of the damage?

[Graham]

Btw Graham can you take a picture of the damage?

Will take some pics when I get home tonight.

It was strange, cus the toy was standing there fine in the cabinet, but as soon as I picked it up the joints literally crumbled before my eyes.

Graham

[VF-18S Hornet]

I got a crack in the hip airintake joint. It's practically visible after applying painters tape to the joint to prevent the leg from falling off. but now I know why it's falling off.

[Kanedas Bike]

Ugh. Time to go and check the YF-19 with Fold Booster & Fast Pack bundle.

Will confirm either way.

-b.

Happy to report no damage at all. Hopefully just an isolated incident.

Not that I want to wish ill on you or your Valks Graham, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed this was one of your pre-production samples or one from a super-small batch that never made it into retail distribution.

-b.

[Chronocidal]

The YF-19 I got had this in both arms. The shoulders appear to be made of the same material as the old VF-0 shoulders, with approximately the same effect. Specifically, the little shafts on one half that the screw goes into just sheared off at the base, allowing the shoulders to completely collapse.

I was able to get them to stick together by essentially dunking the shoulders in superglue, but neither shoulder will support any weight.

The one thing about the VF-19 that bothers me the most is that it uses the same sort of shoulder design. The material looks much more sturdy, and doesn't have the texture of the VF-0 shoulders, but relying on a single screw to both hold the shoulder together and provide tension still has me worried.

[m0n5t3r]

Renato should have something to say about this topic...

[eugimon]

just transformed my 1st release copy after about 6 months. Still holding up fine but man... this is a design that really hasn't aged well.

[MacrossJunkie]

Damn, one of my display 1/60 YF-19 toys suffered a spontaneous disintegration of the right shoulder joint and left knee joint at the weekend 

This was a first release YF-19 that had been standing in battroid mode in my display cabinet, untouched for several years.

At the weekend, I decided to have a reorganization of my display cabinet. I carefully lifted out the YF-19 and the arm and lower leg just suddenly fell off. The grey plastic in the affected areas had literally just crumbled away.

I’ve seen this happen to VF-0 shoulders and elbow joints before, but never on a 1/60 YF-19.

I made an observation about grey plastics before.

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=34295&view=findpost&p=916558

It just seems to me that, somehow, they seem to be prone to breaking or disintegrating quickly even when left alone.

Edit: Checked the two YF-19s I had on display and they appeared to be fine. No falling off of arms or legs or other indications of valk leprosy.

Edited September 20, 2011 by MacrossJunkie

[Uxi]

Uh, perfectly happy with my YF-19 FP but that would change the equation drastically....

[takatoys]

The same happened to me a couple of months back on my first version YF-19, right shoulder joint was about to break.

Transformed only once and left it in battroid for several years. I quickly glue the pieces and sold it.

I will say it again, plastic quality has become worse on modern toys. My old vintage toys from the 80s are still strong.

In order to save money, manufacturers are using cheap quality plastic.

[kaiotheforsaken]

Good lord, I'll have to go inspect mine. Mine is the FP version but still, I really love it, so I'll have to inspect it in the morning.

[Renato]

Bleah.

[myk]

Dammit I'll go have to look at mine also-I've only transformed it once since I bought it, too. I don't suppose there's a spontaneous breakage thread on the stablemate 1/60 '21, is there?

[GXPT2000]

it is stupid that some companies chose to use cheap plastic on the joints. It detracts a whole lot from the toy and decreases the value a toy is worth, playing wise.(One prime example would CM's sunrise amd mecha action series, which was such an awesome idea that failed....just insane.)

[myk]

Well in Yamato's case we've been dealing with this stuff for years-reason why I gave it up a long time ago...

[Graham]

Photos of the breakages attached.

Graham

[Renato]

I never had breakages in the legs, but the arm ones looked pretty much the same as yours do.

[VF5SS]

You're just giving the Yamato haters more ammo.

My old vintage toys from the 80s are still strong.

Clearly you've never handled a Takatoku Gerwalk Ishkick or a Chogokin Gordion :c

[firmpulse]

Photos of the breakages attached.

Graham

that makes me sick to my stomach. i love my yf-19. one of my favorite yammies

[Matrix Soul]

Reminds me of what happened to the Yamato Garland, the shoulders just crumbled one day.

[Shaorin]

and this really scares the crap out of me,

considering that i've been planning to buy one of these 19's off a fellow MWer within the next couple months or so...

Reminds me of what happened to the Yamato Garland, the shoulders just crumbled one day.

happened to mine as well, almost right off the bat, during the second transformation i put it through, IIRC.

thankfully the replacement shoulders YAMATO U.S. sent me have held fast to this day, transformation after transformation,

and nothing else on the model has shown any signs of weakening or breakage, knock on wood...

Edited September 20, 2011 by Shaorin

[Isamu Dyson]

I've transformed once and displayed in battroid for a couple of years and everything seems intact. Weird how if you leave grey plastic alone in a climate controlled environemnt it would just crumble? Graham, by any chance when you mentioned that it crumbled did you see any small specks or small little plastic pieces dropping as well? If so then I would assume crappy plastic by Yamato in which you should follow up on them about that. Transforming and breaking is one thing. Displaying and breaking now that's a new thing. However just by looking at your pics and seeing no smaller parts along with it - It looks like a twist or snap, any glue residue?

Seriously, one time my VF-19 looked a little different, nose cone was slightly not connected and wing was misaligned. I can already tell it dropped and my girl friend was the only one who was in that room. After a little interrogating i got the truth out. If it was a severely damaged I wouldn't be surprised if she would use superglue.

Just a thought but sounds more logical than sudden self destructing plastic.

[Kicker773]

That is why you get locks lol. Bad hands need to be punished LOL

[takatoys]

You're just giving the Yamato haters more ammo.

From Takatoys:

My old vintage toys from the 80s are still strong

Clearly you've never handled a Takatoku Gerwalk Ishkick or a Chogokin Gordion :c

I have the Ishkick and Ishforn and they are fine. That does not have to do with plastic quality.

It is the plastic joint that is very, very thin. You just need to be careful handling it.

Like the Ishkick, Ishforn, Lover Maaie and a bunch more I have in my cabinet, they have been there for years.

Those toys were manufactured 30 years ago and none of them have developed the disintegration syndrome.

Yamato have the Garland, VF-0S and now the YF-19, toys that were made a couple of years back.

Edited September 20, 2011 by takatoys

[nightmareB4macross]

Graham,

Those broken areas are just like those of the VF-0A/S. Would there really be any reason to bring this issue up to Yamato? The only thing they could do is move on an use different types of plastics.

Would using POM for joints ever become an option? Sure, it might be a bit more expensive, but at least it would do the job well. Hopefully, Yamato can use this should they ever attempt make a revised version of the YF-19.

BTW - Do the new VF-19(s) use this same material?? I would hate to think what future holds for these new releases.

As it is, I have already come to the conclusion that no matter what Yamato product I buy, I am ready to accept the worst case scenario.

Invest in PlaticWeld. It works.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Since there are comparisons being made with the VF-0's, I would just like to add, I have the 2010 reissues and so far my A and S haven't had damaged arms yet. There were some light stress marks on the brace that holds the hip bar in fighter/gerwalk and the area where the backplate tabs plug into the lower legs, moreso on the A model than the S. The arms have not fallen off but the rubber coverings inside were seeping out to begin with.

I don't know what Yamato did with the V2 1/60 VF-1 but the joints, especially the ball jointed shoulders, never felt worn out after constant handling, unlike my 1/48 VF-1 and other older Yamato Valkyries.

Honestly though, I would take universal rotation joints that are ratcheted, like on the 1/55 VF-1, rather than ball joints. As long as there is also a hinge that can pivot inward and outward(in addition to universal rotation joints), you don't really need a ball joint imho.