Figures broken in packaging

[jediX]

Well, it does certanly seem that way, I guess. Maybe I should just keep all depressing personal matters separate from defective pieces of plastic?

Sigh....I give up.

 

[frogboy4]

This is certainly a place where you can share that kind of personal information. I can't give you much help in that area but you have my prayers and support.

The issue about the action figures was that you made the grievance in the wrong place. The store where you purchased the item will be more of help. Palisades also has a good track record in that area. There is a solution for your problems if you act in time. I'd try and swap Link if I were in your position. I believe that there's an air pocket. Sometimes things get through. You know, they say there are a certain amount of rat hairs allowed in every jar of peanut butter. Eeek! There are some things that are beyond QC control, but you have a legitimate issue, just not as big as the first post made it appear. No worries.

 

[jediX]

I'm sorry I even posted it in the first place... I should have just done a thread in the friends&family section instead of complaining. Now I've made a fool out of myself.. Lets forget this ever happened, k?

 

[Joggy]

Wait a second... are people actually saying that Link and Strangepork have movable wrists??!!

... Wow.

Now that we're talking about surprise joints: is Crash Helmet Gonzo's head supposed to move? Because mine doesn't, but it looks like the pin is too long (you can actually see it) and twisting the head might cause breakage...

The pin in my Animal's arm snapped too, just like Ryan's. The hand still fits over it though, so there's no reason to glue it.

As for Palisades not recommending putting figures in the fridge: they DID recommend that during the days of series one. Other repairing methods included pliers and small screwdrivers (but most certainly NOT a knife or a shaving blade).

 

[Luke]

Maybe that store just got a bad case, it happens. But series four has no wide spread problems.

I'm not being funny Wiggy but how the heck do you know ? You just come on a forum of about a hundred regular posters (if that) and see the reports back from such a small cross section and even then they are mostly friends of Palisades who might not want to mention something and try and fix it themselves. These things are made and sold by the ten's of thousands - not all problems will reach here and if there are damamged figures Palisades doesn't usually get those kind of reports back till much later on and the previous spot checks have missed things on many occasions. It is fair to say that Palisades are very good at sorting these things out, and they have got WAY better in terms of quality but it's also probably false to say it's exactly the same with any action figure whatsoever. Yes, there will always be a few mishaps but with the Muppet figures lots of people have the same problems and some companies have much higher quality control and resources to avoid these - Palisades are a small company with a lower budget and have to go with whoever they can afford and they think will do the best job. Again, they have got tons better since Series 3 but there does still seem to be problems - lots of reports of sticky joints, lots of reports of poor paint jobs - if it was really all BS then you wouldn't hear about it on these forums because the chances of one of us getting a dodgy figure in a run of many many thousands should really be quite small.

It's good that Palisades don't recommend using any kind of sharp instruments or freezing methods to fix things as obviously there is safety to consider here - as Jamie says, if there is a problem people should just take it back to the shop and if they can't, email Palisades for a replacement. Personally i wouldn't even bother to move a sticky joint - as a consumer if i pay the money, i expect the product to be 100% perfect, and all the Palisades stuff i have so far has been just that. If there was a problem, it's upto the retailer or manufacturer to sort out, not me !

 

[WiGgY]

I know what Ken has said, and he has said that no real wide spread problems have been reported back to him, aside from sticky joints. And about sticky joints, those are to be expected on figures. For one thing it's summer, so it's hot and the plastic gets tacky and sticks, Another reason could be that the shipping conditions of the figures is hot, causing the same thing. So even if the figures are perfect at the factory, they mey be exposed to conditions Palisades can do nothing about. It happens.

Yes, you expect the figure to be 100%, but that doesn't always happen. Life sucks. Thats why we have the phrase "Buyer Beware". Look at you're figures before you buy them. If a joint is sticky, return it, or try to fix it, and make sure you report it to the company so it doesn't happen again. There is no use in coming here complaining like this when you didn't do anything to fix the problem by returning the figures.

Oh, and Ken said that the freezing method was not something the company recommended, but was something members of the forum recommended which is totally different.

 

[Luke]

Ah ok, there is a difference between announcing there are no widespread problems, and Ken saying that no widespread problems have been reported back to him. Not that i expect there to be any big problems or anything but there do always seem to be the same kind of smaller issues raised all the time with the Muppet line although theres been a massive improvement with the factory change - obviously they are issues very important to people who got stuck with the figures but i'm guessing that it takes quite a lot for Palisades to turn round and say that an issue is widespread. It's wierd, i've had He-Men, Gobots, Transformers, Star Wars, Ewoks, Simpsons, A-Team and now Muppets - i've never had a single sticky joint or manufacturing problem whatsoever so i find it strange out of a hundred or so regular posters across the forums i see stuff posted quite a lot - i do agree that it's important to check the figures and return anything that doesn't look right.

 

[WiGgY]

I'd never report anything like that as fact if I hadn't read it in a post from Ken.

I think the higher in deatail action figures are the more technical problems occur. Probably because they spend so much time getting the look just right, they can't afford to start production over if a relativly small problem occurs. And sticky joints aren't really a problem in series 4 as much as they are annoying. If they were a problem they would break when you tried to move them, but because sticky joints seem to happen no matter what, Ken said that they were made bulky so that you can put more pressure without breaking them. Also, the pins on Rizzo's hands were modified so that you can pull them out if they get stuck, and then push them back in with no problem. So as long as they don't break it's not too much of an issue.

Of course there have been real issues, like Bunsens glasses, the lab wires. And who could forget Animals sticky joints that broke when you moved them. I bet there is at least one broken Animal for every whole one.

 

[frogboy4]

Personally i wouldn't even bother to move a sticky joint - as a consumer if i pay the money, i expect the product to be 100% perfect, and all the Palisades stuff i have so far has been just that. If there was a problem, it's upto the retailer or manufacturer to sort out, not me !

I think this is a case of a non-collector perspective. I felt the same way in series one, but have been informed since then that action figure industry leader McFarlane has the same issues. It's not about quality, company size or clout. It's about soft plastics and the manufacturing process. All products of this sort go through the same sort of factories in China and have a similar QC method. Joints stick, just like some jars of peanut butter are harder to open than others. I wouldn't take it back to the store. I'd put it under hot water and get a rag to open it. To me, it's the same thing with figures in using the fridge or pull and loosen technique.

I've collected every figure so far and have had very few issues with stuck joints. It's usually when they are fresh out of the packaging. Things are still a bit fumey and soft. I'm too high to really care at that point anyway. I know they must put something in that packaging.

 

[sarah_yzma]

so that's your excuse?

I need to get some figures!