Quality control

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Quality control, or QC, refers to efforts on behalf of a company to ensure that their mass-manufactured products are free from flaws that affect the functionality and/or aesthetic quality of the product. This has nothing to do with safety-testing which is usually done at an earlier stage of the development process, and which only aims to make sure that the product isn't harmful to the target audience (in the Transformers toys' case, children), but says nothing about the functionality or quality of the product. (In fact, safety measures may sometimes affect the functionality.)

Usually, quality control involves picking individual samples from a production run and testing them to make sure they're free from a variety of errors. Testing the entire production run is not commercially feasible, so instead, the manufacturer relies on just testing random samples, hoping to catch at least the more widespread problems this way.

Unfortunately, despite these efforts, errors still occasionally creep their way into products available on store shelves. While for the most part, these are limited to flaws on individual samples which aren't caught due to the very nature of the quality control process, the occasional widespread error exists, some of which even affect an entire production run, or at least a considerable percentage of it.

Fields of quality control

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Molding

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Though somewhat in character, the facial expression is one of the most infamous examples of mold degradation.
The good and the bad and ugly.

Transformers toys are assembled from many smaller parts usually made out of plastic, die-cast metal or rubber. These parts are cast from mass-manufacturing molds. There are several problems that can occur at this stage:

  • Too little material can be used for the molding of one part by accident, resulting in an incomplete or deformed part. This is usually limited to individual samples.
  • Parts can be damaged during the molding process or after it, again resulting in incomplete or deformed parts, but again limited to individual specimens.
  • The sculpting may be imperfect due to a design flaw, which can result in aesthetically flawed (incomplete or damaged) parts, but also in too little or too much space between connected and moving parts, or too tight or too loose joints. This usually affects the entire production run, and is therefore more likely to be caught during quality control, although some cases still slip through. For example, 2007 Transformers Deluxe Class Decepticon Brawl's shoulders are connected to the torso with diamond-shaped pegs as part of the transformation, but the ports into which they plug are in the wrong shape, resulting in the shoulders being unable to connect to the torso. This problem was eventually fixed for the Revenge of the Fallen Deep Desert Brawl redeco of the toy, however. Meanwhile, initial batches of Prime: Beast Hunters Cyberverse Legion Class Hun-Gurrr were unable to fold the claws over all the way in both directions due to problems with the plastic tolerances. This was amended by a running change, which also affected international releases of the figure. All subsequent releases and redecos of the sculpt came with problem-free claws.
  • The molds can wear out and deteriorate due to excessive use, resulting in the same problems caused by imperfect sculpting. Again, this would affect the entire production run. Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Class "Preview" Bumblebee and Binaltech Asterisk Alert are just two of many examples. Though this sort of problem is usually also spotted during quality control, Hasbro and Takara only address this in rare instances (such as Generation 1 Jazz's head whose mouth had degraded into an ugly smirk with various reuses of the mold, and which was eventually either restored or replaced by a brand new, flawless mold), instead just hoping that the flaws aren't being noticed that much, and eventually just retiring the molds in question altogether. Various iterations of the Classics Starscream sculpt also came with varying degrees of unstable connections for the included missile launchers. Henkei! Henkei! Thundercracker is particularly notorious in this regard, with subsequent uses of the sculpt having the problem fixed. A particularly nasty example of a molding flaw that affected a considerable portion of the production run (but not the entirety of it) was Dark of the Moon Mini-Con Rav, whose Powerlinx socket was deformed to the point of uselessness on many specimens.


Materials and stability

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Okay, this was honestly hard to foresee.

Sometimes a toy that was perfectly stable as a prototype may develop problems at the manufacturing stage. This can be due to the materials used for the mass-produced version having different properties and qualities than the materials used for the prototypes.

  • Some types of plastic may turn out to be too brittle to be used for small parts or parts put under a lot of stress as part of the transformation process. This affects clear plastic in particular. This is a flaw that usually affects most, if not all of the production run and therefore should theoretically be caught during quality control.
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  • Some plastic types will deteriorate after being exposed to air or sunlight for a while. Although in some cases one couldn't realistically expect quality control to notice the problem (such as the infamous Gold Plastic Syndrome, which doesn't manifest until years after exposure to the elements), there are instances where materials have degraded very quickly, such as 2007 Transformers Legends Class Scorponok's tail stinger, which might be the reason why the toy has only been redecoed once thus far.
  • And while very rare, there can even be contaminants introduced in the building or packaging process - most notably in the case of Legacy Nacelle, which was prone to growing a layer of mold.


Assembly

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Paint operations, tampographs and stickers

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Something's missing from these Decepticon insignias.
Meanwhile, these Decepticon insignias have something they're not supposed to have.

Sometimes something goes wrong at the painting or tampography stage or with the stickers, resulting in weird parts of the deco. Sometimes this is caught before mass production, but the occasional weird fluke gets through:


Packaging images and labelling

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A vampire going by multiple names.

The packaging can also turn out to sport errors. Sometimes they are corrected before production starts, sometimes a running change fixes them in the middle of the production run, and sometimes they are never corrected at all:

  • Generation 1 Shrapnel's package art for his Hasbro and Milton Bradley releases hilariously depicts him with two left hands. For Takara's Japanese release, this error was corrected.
  • Considerable quantities of the Generation 1 Jumpstarters were available with each other's package art depicted in their Tech Spec/bio strips. Many fans consider the erroneous versions genuine variants.
  • Similar to the Jumpstarters, the European exclusive Generation 2 redecos of the Sparkabots Sizzle and "Blaze" (aka Fizzle) depict each other's package art, both on the front of their packaging and in the motto section, which is the only place on European packaging from that era where the characters are named.
  • Generation 2 Dreadwing is identified as a "Heroic Autobot" in all known versions of his instructions (English-only United States, bilingual Canadian and both trilingual European versions, the latter of which alternatively named the figure "Stealth Assault" or "Ace Evader"), even though all corresponding versions of the packaging invariably label him as a Decepticon.
  • Some versions of Beast Machines Mirage's packaging refer to his weapon of choice as a "piasma mine blaster".<ref name="bmmirage1">Beast Machines Mirage's on-packaging bio featuring the typo "piasma mine blaster".</ref> Presumably, that was the initial production run, since the correct spelling "plasma" also exists.<ref name="bmmirage2">Beast Machines Mirage's on-packaging bio featuring the correct spelling "plasma mine blaster".</ref>
  • The original American packaging variant of Robots in Disguise Ultra Megatron had the Spanish translation of the franchise summary on the back of the box accidentally cut one line short, thus having it abruptly end in mid-sentence.
  • A typo on Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Megatron's packaging refers to the Darksyde as "Preadcon ship" rather than "Predacon". Since the name sports a trademark "®" symbol after it, Hasbro fixed the error with a sticker sporting the correct spelling,<ref name="predaconsticker">Sticker covering a typo on Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Megatron's packaging with correct "Predacon" spelling.</ref> so they wouldn't falsely claim a trademark they don't actually have registered.
  • Both Alternators Nemesis Prime and Decepticon Rumble sport the ID number "24" on their packaging. Since Nemesis Prime was released earlier, common consensus among fans is that Rumble's packaging is the faulty one, seeing as there is no Alternators toy sporting the number "25".
Apparently he don't do much spelling, either.
You gotta be ***in' kidding me.
  • 2012's Cyberverse Soundwave (a redeco and retool of Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Legion Class Soundwave) features a bio that is printed in white instead of black ink, making it impossible to read on the white background of the cardback.<ref name="soundwavewhite">Cyberverse Soundwave with "white text on white background" bio.</ref>
  • Transformers (2014) "Classic" Legion Class Grimlock and Strafe, redecos of Prime: Beast Hunters Cyberverse Legion Class Predacon Rippersnapper and Windrazor, respectively, have their instructions printed on the back of their packaging... but those instructions are entirely inaccurate, as they depict the Energon Cruellock and Beast Wars Terrorsaur sculpts, respectively, which were redecoed into Grimlock and Strafe from two Walmart exclusive Age of Extinction two-packs around the same time.
  • Generations War for Cybertron: Siege Dazzlestrike, who came in a two-pack with Greenlight, is spelled "Dazlestrike" with a single "z" on the front of the two-pack's packaging, but with a double "z" on the back of the box and in the instructions.
  • The Walmart exclusive Siege "35th Anniversary" figures (Classic Animation Optimus Prime, Classic Animation Megatron, Soundblaster and Bluestreak were some of the first figures to be released in a new "worldwide" multilingual packaging style that combines the languages previously found on American packaging and the languages previously found on European packaging. However, while the other three figures feature French, German, Spanish and Portuguese translations of all the English texts (omitting those translations that would be identical to one another or to the English version), Optimus Prime's packaging repeats the English phrases "Classic Animation", "Special Edition" and "Function: Autobot Leader" four times.
  • The Encore rerelease of Omega Prime was plagued with design problems in both the toy itself and its packaging, with the latter advertising incorrect electronic features. TakaraTomy took the unprecedented step of apologizing for these flaws and issuing a recall and refund.
  • Studio Series Bonecrusher's box copy is filled with spelling and capitalization errors: "Boncrusher battes the autobots on Autobot city on earth" [sic]. The translations have a bunch of errors too.
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Faulty packaging

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  • The crowdfunded HasLab Victory Saber set provoked widespread fan complaints, because Star Saber was held in the box by twist-ties that rested across his chromed chest plates and frequently left prominent scratches across the chrome. Hasbro produced a replacement run for purchasers who were willing to trade in their original damaged specimens; this second run had an extra plastic clamshell piece protecting the chestplates.


Notes

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  • TakaraTomy products are manufactured under much the same production conditions as Hasbro's, as pretty much everything for both markets is made in China (and Vietnam)—, according to Hasbro Australia representative and Hasbro designer Eric Siebenaler, all of the Transformers toys jointly developed between Hasbro and Takara/TakaraTomy are manufactured at factories contracted to the Japanese toy company.[citation needed]{{#ifeq: ||}} This means Takara is (at least indirectly) responsible for whatever quality control problems occur with Hasbro-released toys. Takara's standards of quality control for their domestically released toys are just as likely to let mistakes creep through, and any claims that "Takara's toys have better quality control" are a complete myth.

References

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<references />
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  • [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Quality control|{{#if:Quality control at Wikipedia|Quality control at Wikipedia|Quality control}}]]
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