Looks like I just experienced that weird FedEx tracking info finally showing up in my email this afternoon. Clicking on the link to the tracking shows the shipping label was created on Oct 30 but the item is due for delivery tomorrow. Well at least the wait will be over.
So I was watching the "A Toy Kinda Mood" livestream rerun this morning and the guy who goes under the name "Toyoptics" was showing how his gull wing door on the Dragonfly had broken off at the hinge. This is the front left piece and not the whole canopy which still worked fine. After that I did a bit of searching and it looks like there have been a number of people with the same problem (so far it looks to be around 10). This is a bit of a common problem with modern clear plastic toys. The clear plastic is already weaker than regular plastic, and adding a hinge/joint makes for a weak point for breakage.
Naturally I took a closer look at mine and I can see it might start developing stress marks at the hinge (at the least) and maybe even break down the road. Apparently Hasbro CS told someone they would have replacement parts for the Dragonfly (probably a general statement not specific to this issue) in January.
So I might have to keep an eye out to see what solution, if any, is offered by Hasbro and maybe get in on it just in case.
Well, I got notice from Hasbro today that my dragonfly left the building for shipping. Fedex delivered it yesterday. It is a pretty amazing piece of plastic that harkens back to my youth.
I am such a nerd. I got the Dragonfly today and I just started unboxing it. I am enthralled in this box and its art. It’s got me in a trance. I’m gonna need a while just to enjoy this big ole masterpiece of box art. Stunning.
Thwipp!
@canprime Those hinges seemed scary. I partially opened mine and stopped because it wasn't moving very smoothly and felt like it might be flexing.
I know I've mentioned here my renewed interest in vintage vehicles after getting these new Classifieds. I snapped a hinge on my brother's perfectly nice and complete Warthog. My brother's a comic guy and I'm a toy guy, so he said I could take whatever he had that was packed away. And there I go and break it. The kicker, a few weeks later I was watching Toy Federation's YouTube and the store's owner warns about opening the doors on a Warthog.
Yeah, same so I canceled all my pre-orders with Hasbro Pulse that I could cancel and that weren't exclusives and pre-ordered the same items with EE and BBTS. EE normally uses UPS which I have zero issues with. BBTS store I will just pay the extra shipping to ship USPS.
they have been using DHL with handoff to usps for about 2 months with all my orders....except for the haslab stuff
with Fedex I would have orders next day. their warehouse is about 2 hours away.....with dhl/usps a figure I ordered last Thursday will deliver today....from the same warehouse.
pulse premium's "free standard shipping" changed to free economy shipping after paying for pulse premium...hmmm...
Regarding the canopy hinges, Gun Bunny Customs talks about it a bit in his first teardown video, saying it helps to heat the hinge up and work it past the "breaking point" back and forth a few times to smooth out the plastic:
3:17 in if the timestamp doesn't work.
...or you could be like me and the Hisstank and just never touch the small clear plastic on clear plastic hinges and only use the big/major hinge, lol
@canprime Those hinges seemed scary. I partially opened mine and stopped because it wasn't moving very smoothly and felt like it might be flexing.
I know I've mentioned here my renewed interest in vintage vehicles after getting these new Classifieds. I snapped a hinge on my brother's perfectly nice and complete Warthog. My brother's a comic guy and I'm a toy guy, so he said I could take whatever he had that was packed away. And there I go and break it. The kicker, a few weeks later I was watching Toy Federation's YouTube and the store's owner warns about opening the doors on a Warthog.
Way to go thumbs!!!! 🤣
Yeah I've talked about this with friends/fellow collectors before.
A lot of the 80s brands we love are now 40+ years old and the toys were never meant to last a long time. Which is why so many of the O-ring figures are having issues with joints, rivets, thumbs, rings and now heels. The same goes for the vehicles, especially the ones with really thin plastic walls/pieces. They are going to snap very easily.
Just over 20 years ago I got a sealed Defiant and when I opened it everything was pristine but the blue launch bay doors. One of them had an edge piece that had snapped off (about 3" long). I was bummed, but what can you do? That piece is so big, but thin, that it was probably going to happen eventually. And at that time it was already almost a 15 year old toy.
So many of the original vehicles are bound to have the same problem now and over the next decade. It's why I am glad they did the 25th/ME line. A lot of vehicles got re-releases, or updates, and so they'll probably last until I'm dead and gone.
Also I wonder what the market will be like for vintage stuff. I would think that the rarity of complete stuff should keep prices high, and the natural loss of product every year can only exacerbate that trend.
@vicious7171 Yep that's my plan. Only open the whole canopy and avoid the gull wing section at all cost.
I knew the dimensions. I could see the box.
I am blown away by its overall size and presentation!
This copter is big. That Rattler is going to be huge. A Skystriker? Massive. Whale? No way…
So damn cool.
I have worked with the canopy windows and while cool will be used sparingly.
I love the idea of the teeth and eyes but that will have to be painted. No stickers. I did put on Chips and Salsa as well as sticker on the base. Might be it due to sculpting textures.
Those cockpit lights! So cool! All the details in the gunner and pilot console!
Im torn on load out. I love the big cannon. I may do asymmetric look with Jester rockets on the other side. Repelling line gets lost. That may be okay. It’s only a 10” role I think.
So damn cool!
Thwipp!
I'm really enjoying my Dragonfly with the only downside for me being that ugly clear plastic. When the light shines through I can see all these microcracks/streaks on the flight stand and both the stand and canopy have a blue tint to them. I've been buying a lot of cheap clear acrylic containers and they all look leagues better than this $275 item. I can see why they used this kind of plastic that has a little give to it, but I would have preferred something nicer.
As for the figures, they're a mixed bag. Someone said the faces looked like Barbies and I can't shake that thought. They're just features on a head. Eyes, nose, mouth, done. Crazylegs in particular looks terrible but IMO they're all less than great. I wonder if this has anything to do with them changing factories, pushing toys back in 2025. I never want to buy a Joe with this style of head ever again. They look like shitty KOs.
I was curious so I tried a few stickers. I’ll leave em on for now. I like the pops of color. Sure the rivets show but it’s just a few stickers. I did find a spot I like the teeth. Looks cool!
Thwipp!
Well if anyone wanted another look at what a Classified scale Skystriker could look like here is a Youtube review of the Dragonfly that shows off a 3D printed Skystriker: (Oh and there is a 3D printed APC as well)
Overall it looks like the 3D printed Skystriker had to be shrunk a little bit on the front end. Otherwise it looks fairly accurate to what it would be like from Hasbro.
Size-wise it is pretty big, but not quite as big as I thought it would be. Still it would be a monster to both buy and display. Not sure I would realistically want one to be made. No cares me (about money or space) says "Sure why not?" However realistic me says "No thanks."
I kind of want the teeth on my Dragonfly, but I have no confidence in myself to apply them cleanly.
Meanwhile, the only 1:12 Skystriker I'd consider is a crossover with Transformers' Jetfire so it can double as a Veritech Fighter.
😲😲😲
YEAHH!
this has to happen!!!
ive been so good and I deserve it! Lol
Anyhow I can certainly get why someone would say “I don’t think I would buy it.”
I don’t get why someone would say they don’t want it to be made.
can’t they make it for those who want it and you just not buy it?
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