40th Anniversary Haslab: RID2001 Omega Prime

[Platypus Prime]

I was just worried I had accidentally put up something really rude, because that IS the area in question, and I didn't think of it till AFTER the fact. I try to avoid anything like the other boards, there is a reason I don't post there.

It's also hard to tell tone in text, so believe it or not, I do tend to edge on the side if caution. Which I recognize is very hard to believe.

I don't buy a lot nowadays, so its actually been years since I've seen plastic like this in a Transformer. I have seen it,in GOLD, in MOTU Krang, which doesn't make me comfortable at all, but it's also a whole lot cheaper.

 

[unluckiness]

Exact same one on mine. Can’t be 100% sure but it’s Probably a molding thing

 

[LordGigaIce]

It's a moulding thing. Just how the mould is built and how the plastic they used mixes in it I guess.

I don't think there's anything to worry about. It's not cracking or anything. Like this release has been plagued by genuine toy- breaking QC issues. No use sweating over a curious result of moulding techniques that doesn't seem to be structurally compromised.

mix. This has also always worried me because really, how is gray/silver plastic different from mustard/gold plastic in a way that makes the former impervious to or less susceptible to the shattering of the latter?

The answer is it doesn't! But you still shouldn't be worried.

GPS is really unfortunately named because it wasn't specifically gold plastic that was affected, but just plastic with metallic flakes in general. GPS has cropped up across toylines with multiple colours, because metallic flaked plastic was one of the 90s' big things.

The issue, as best as I understand it, is that the metallic flakes added to the plastic keep the plastic molecules from properly bonding. The colour of the flakes and plastic doesn't affect anything, it's the faulty mixing process.

It's the mixing process that's important. Take G1 Thunderclash, famous GPS sufferer. I got myself a complete one a bit ago and after a few tenuous transformations realized he wasn't shattering, even after all this time.
So I looked into it.

Basically Thunderclash had two production runs. The first had gold plastic that used a high amount of flakes to bring out the shiny gold colour. This is the run of figures that crumbles into sadness.
The second run reduced the amount of gold flakes in the gold plastic, leaving the gold bits a bit of a darker caramel. Mine is from this second run, and by all accounts the reduced gold flake usage in the plastic has left it far more durable over the decades.
I'm still not going to make a habit of transforming the thing, but I have put him into base mode, including putting stress on some gold plastic load bearing pieces, and it's still holding together.

All of this is to say that the real culprit of GPS isn't the gold colour, but faulty processes in how metallic flakes mixed with plastic in the 90s. Silver was just as susceptible.

The good news here is that Hasbro fixed the issue with their metallic plastic mixtures on their end a while ago (Takara admittedly took longer) and has been rolling out plastic with metallic flakes in it for decades now without issue.

 

[Platypus Prime]

Thank you! It was the metalflake mixed with the odd lines that worried me. Like I'd said in a prior post I'm messing with them a bit more now that I have the backup bits, which is also leading me to find some very strange things.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

All of this is to say that the real culprit of GPS isn't the gold colour, but faulty processes in how metallic flakes mixed with plastic in the 90s. Silver was just as susceptible.

And blue, as super robot fans have known for a long time.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

I was just worried I had accidentally put up something really rude, because that IS the area in question, and I didn't think of it till AFTER the fact. I try to avoid anything like the other boards, there is a reason I don't post there.

It's also hard to tell tone in text, so believe it or not, I do tend to edge on the side if caution. Which I recognize is very hard to believe.

I don't buy a lot nowadays, so its actually been years since I've seen plastic like this in a Transformer. I have seen it,in GOLD, in MOTU Krang, which doesn't make me comfortable at all, but it's also a whole lot cheaper.

Ah, sorry. Just my (apparently bad) sense of humor at play here, you're all good. XD

 

[Platypus Prime]

So BBTS has the DNA Omega kit up, and it seems they include every possible part except the one that everyone had to change to fix the issue. Which also means their side-filler parts may or may not match whatever someone did sanding to fit properly, and they also appear to depend on intact side fins to hold in place.

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/354674

They clearly put a lot of effort into this but I don't think they put it into the right spots. We'll see.

In other news, the Accessory set Prime rifle that didn't seem to fit anything till this one came along also fits on the truck and when you put the post into the top hole the magazine fits perfectly flush, too, no weird stress-angles. Go figure.

 

[unluckiness]

DNA always innovating the height boosting game.

 

[lastmaximal]

Don't worry, the actual relevant part will be in the part 2 kit, accompanied by 38 utterly superfluous bits including 26 weapon add-ons he never used in any media but that they saw fanart of and wanted to inflict on the world.

 

[unluckiness]

All I wanted is Magnus hands that look like hands and still function for the transformation.

 

[lastmaximal]

That's in part 3, a combo set with a static T-AI figurine, gap fillers for Sky-Byte and Tow-Line, and alternate weapons for Side Burn.

 

[unluckiness]

I'm not buying that unless it also adds height boosters for Side Burn and articulated fins plus an unnecessary new head for Sky-Byte

 

[lastmaximal]

That's in part 4, produced based on loud and frequent demand from commenters on some internet forum. It will also include a second run of the actually useful Omega Prime repair parts, additional weapons for their Scourge upgrade kit, some parking cones for Tow-Line, and fully sculpted and painted trains to strap to Sky-Byte. The cords for strapping the trains to Sky-Byte are in part 5...

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

I don't think RiD Prime is ever going to look right with a rifle to me.

 

[Platypus Prime]

It's not, I just did it because I liked it, that rifle fit for me, but it's not remotely correct. I just beat DNA to it for the 'part he never had but we put it in anyway!" bit (I saved a couple of the long guns from that pack for Onslaught too but that's probably a bit closer to right). It is odd how that one gun from the pack didn't actually fit ANYTHING. The axe and roller were clearly for Earthrise Prime, but the gun is too big for it and most all of the mainline Primes released (and my nephew has probably had it attached to almost all of them at some point trying). I wonder if it was originally planned for some Optimus we never saw? The closest might be the TR Powermaster, but his hands can't use it.

Then again, I'm the guy who smokestack extenders on RID Prime in a comic once as a joke...they HAVE to be long! Even if they don't exist! And his hands must be blue! The internets tellz me things!!!

 

[Sciflyer]

As much as I slam DNA for their practices, I went in on the set. I actually never performed surgery on mine - and still haven't opened it But there was enough about this set to like, and I fee like the price scales well with the figure(s) it is supposed to upgrade.

I don't know, but mentally, I have an easier time tossing an additional $40 at something that I paid close to $300 for, as opposed to tossing the same amount at a Voyager or Leader. Generally speaking, if I am expected to pay as much - or more - than the figure itself to upgrade it, then it just isn't worth it to me. I actually see some value in this Omega Prime set.

 

[Platypus Prime]

For once the price isn't nuts. You're right, it's in the 'upgrade' range, like a Toyhax sticker set, rather than a 'replacement or spare of the same toy' range. Just be careful, their track record with fit is better than most but not perfect, it may require a bit of adjustment too. I have their Victory Saber kit, I wanted the longer sword blade and guns, which I used as additions, not replacements. They all worked great. I did NOT try to fit the weirdly jointed extra long wings on. Those press-fit studs weren't long in the first place and I didn't want to wear or stress them.

 

[Sciflyer]

Oh yes, I have bought many upgrade kits from DNA over the years (Nonnef is another go-to of mine). I am also a customizer, so I generally take things slowly, and if fitment is an issue, I work to discover why and correct it. If it doesn't want to cooperate, I simply do without. No sense is marring a perfectly good toy!

 

[unluckiness]

I think the new chest/abdomen part is a good product. I just find that too much of the kit is dedicated to bits and bobs to stick Optimus’ super mode parts onto Omega Prime and don’t do anything else. Rest is the usual articulated hands and the Magnus gap fillers, but if you’re displaying Magnus in robot mode and expecting him to look good, you're doing something wrong.

 

[Echowarrior]

As much as I slam DNA for their practices, I went in on the set. I actually never performed surgery on mine - and still haven't opened it But there was enough about this set to like, and I fee like the price scales well with the figure(s) it is supposed to upgrade.

I don't know, but mentally, I have an easier time tossing an additional $40 at something that I paid close to $300 for, as opposed to tossing the same amount at a Voyager or Leader. Generally speaking, if I am expected to pay as much - or more - than the figure itself to upgrade it, then it just isn't worth it to me. I actually see some value in this Omega Prime set.

I still haven't opened and inspected mine either. I preordered DNA's set, however, and I'm hoping to have it before I properly fiddle with him.