Friday, October 17, 2008

Figma Headache


Finally decided to bite the bullet and order Fate Testarossa (or Fate T. Harlaown for you dedicated fans) at an inflated price. The price was not too bad at 35$ actually. With shipping it came out just over 40$. Ordered this figure off of Amazon.com which is rare for me to do as I only order books and CDs from them usually.

Anyway, the package arrived in 3 days time and I was all smiles until I heard, *clink* *clink* inside the box. Oh-no, please not something wrong, I have not even opened the box yet! (all figma boxes *clink* as they contain individual parts :eyespin:)

Sadly, when I looked inside, Fate was in two halves, seperated at the torso. Either this was a problem at the factory or Elvis Presley was driving the mail truck since there had to have been a whole-lot-a-shaking going on. Upon closer inspection there seems to have been a manufacturing problem with the I-joint assembly that holds the upper body to the pelvic area. I tried to press it in hard, but it still pops out. It seems the inside of the Pelvis was not machined round enough so the I-joint does not seat properly inside. I could dremel it out but that might make the figure loose which is a far worse scenario.

In the end, I pressed it in as hard as I could without damaging the legs and it seems to hold well enough. As long as I do not bend her body section there are no problems, but it does limit the pose-ability, and should we as consumers have to 'settle' for defects in brand new goods? This is the 3rd figma I own and all three of them have had some 'issue' in regards to the quality of manufacturing. I am very grateful that Max Factory tries to keep their prices very low with great craftsmanship, however, if the original quality is not reaching the consumers then that is a bigger issue than saving a few dollars.

EDIT:
After applying the fingernail varnish like Anonymous suggested, it works good enough. This is only a temporary fix as fingernail varnish is made to come off after time. This is good since it does not damage the figure. The figure is able to hold its pose as long as needed, but it did come loose once I began moving the joint around. I applied a new coat and everything is all better. A more permanent solution might be model varnish, but I am not brave enough to try that.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you can,, try putting some clear nail polish on the joint for about 10 minutes and then pop it back. That might tighten it up for you.

Potatochobit said...

Good idea! I put a little nail varnish around the top and lets see how well it holds! I was against using super glue. Thanx

Q said...

I did hear a few people having problems with the waist part, so it definitely is a QC problem, but that's fixable.

Hope it's fixed by now.

Anonymous said...

Hmm. Really want that Fate Figma too, but I hear it's going to be re-issued soon. I sure hope so!

Anonymous said...

Did it hold well?

Potatochobit said...

So far it looks like it, I have it on display atm. I'll check it soon and take a new pic.

Anonymous said...

Excellent! I'm glad I could help. I really hope it IS working well.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, I'm glad I could help at least. I don't really know anything better you could do, though... ah well. I don't know anything about model vanish, so.