Mattel needs to make stronger crotch t bars

[bharrisfan]

elite figures are awesome. and they are expensive.
they also seem to break. a lot.

which to me is unacceptable. i feel like basics will hold up much longer than elites. which is ridiculous when elites are twice as much.

the elite crotch t bar is too thin.
i just looked at a jakks t bar (say what you want about the poor quality of those...and i have...) but those jakks t bars were thick hard plastic.

mattel definitely needs to make some kind of switch because after 2+ yrs of elites breaking or threatening to break...please...come on already...do something

[turtle]

Basics do hold up longer to me and it's worth the ten bucks knowing it won't break when for 15$ with the possibility of it breaking

[cocacolabottle]

I am strictly a MIB collector but I sympathize with those who play with their figures and have them break. Why shell an extra $10 - $15 bucks for a figure that won't last as long when you can get two or three figures for the same price that will hold up far longer?

[Joejitsu22]

My 6 year old beats the crap out of his figs and none have broken yet. Sorry bout your luck dude.

[Joe Delta]

Less playability or more figures and less likely to break. I will go with the later.

[Chewdeezy]

If the leg feels like its not moving, place it in a cup after microwaving for a couple minutes and let it soak. Then it should allow you to move the legs.

[Grant]

I've never had a Mattel figure break (and almost all of mine are elites) But I sure did have plenty of Jakks fall apart.

[MonsoonMan]

i havent had any break, but there are a few where that ball joint gets locked up and when you go to move the leg forward, you can feel the t bar twisting.

[bharrisfan]

Jul 28, 2012 15:16:50 GMT -5 MonsoonMan said:

i havent had any break, but there are a few where that ball joint gets locked up and when you go to move the leg forward, you can feel the t bar twisting.

ya this is what im talking about.
listen i know all the fixes but the fact remains the bar should be stronger. the plastic should not at all be able to twist. thats just flimsy construction.

and trust me ive bought every elite series released and each one had at least one figure with issues. so it's not about luck. you guys are lucky who havent had any issues yet.

[Joejitsu22]

Jul 28, 2012 15:32:16 GMT -5 bharrisfan said:

Jul 28, 2012 15:16:50 GMT -5 MonsoonMan said:

i havent had any break, but there are a few where that ball joint gets locked up and when you go to move the leg forward, you can feel the t bar twisting.

ya this is what im talking about.
listen i know all the fixes but the fact remains the bar should be stronger. the plastic should not at all be able to twist. thats just flimsy construction.

and trust me ive bought every elite series released and each one had at least one figure with issues. so it's not about luck. you guys are lucky who havent had any issues yet.

Considering there isn't widespread reporting, daily threads, question to Mattel for q&as, and hate regarding the issue, I again say sorry about your bad luck. Loose joints are more common than straight up breaks. Those are the exceptional and not the rule.

[bharrisfan]

i dont know man i see comments everyday regarding QC issues related to the hips/t-bar

[PJ]

I've had 1 figure that it actually broke that was the DM Macho. Any others that were stuck work fine after running under hot water for 2 minutes.

[East Coast]

i have over 20 elites.....had no problems w/ the legs breaking

[Tyler Black]

I've never had a problem with Mattel elites, however I've had a huge problem with Jakks.shoulders constantly breaking out of.the socket

[jeffro2000]

My nephew is 7 and he beats on his pretty good. He has over 100 elites and none have broken yet. Had plenty with stiff legs, but I just heated them up in water.

[mrhoss]

I have at least one of every elite-style figure and the only thing to break was a HHH wrist peg. It was mostly my fault, I felt it stick but I still twisted. A little hot water would have loosened it. I've had stuck hips/legs but nothing ever broke.

[Darkhawk]

Elites aren't really meant to be played with. As they can get a very loose joint or break easily. That's why it's best you buy basics instead. One thing about jakks is that I played with those figure's so much that they didn't break or get loose joint's that's one thing I liked about jakks.

[bharrisfan]

interesting.
i really thought there'd be more support
ive had slaughter and gabriel's legs flat out break off the t bar
and countless others that i always have to heat to loosen the joint because once it cools it sticks again and either twists the bar or puts downward pressure from splits poses. (figures like legends 2 rock, perfect, duggan, e16 punk, e9 kofi, e8 edge, e9 mvp, rude and thats just off the top of my head.

but to me, even 1 figure breaking should warrant a reexamination of design
especially in light of so many figures needing heat to function. ive collected tons of gi joes, MOTUC, dcuc, transformers, dcuc (and granted each line has there own issues...motuc loose ankles, etc etc) but none of them have had some across the board issue that leads to the destruction of the figure.

[bharrisfan]

Jul 28, 2012 16:57:53 GMT -5 Darkhawk said:

Elites aren't really meant to be played with. As they can get a very loose joint or break easily. That's why it's best you buy basics instead. One thing about jakks is that I played with those figure's so much that they didn't break or get loose joint's that's one thing I liked about jakks.

right
its tough tho because the whole point of the articulation is to be able to mess around with them more. but since some seem so fragile you cant...

[Next Man’s Yeeter]

There is definitely a design or manufacture problem with Elites. I've noticed that a lot of mine (in particular Elite 9 Kofi, every elite Punk since All Stars, Justin Gabriel) have a specific problem in the leg. It's iffy to move it past a certain point, and when you do, it never goes back right again. I think on all of them it was the right leg, it won't go back into position for straight standing, it's stuck hanging to the side.