Toy Construction

[Philip Ayres]

Thanks to recent Botcon Custom Classes we have some idea of how our toys are put together:

www.botcon.com/customclass.html

www.seibertron.com/events/gallery.php?event_id=409&size=2&image=5

www.onepercase.net/2014/07/botcon-2014-custom-class-primal-prime.html

Like a model kit, the toy comes as parts on a frame which are assembled together.

All the parts on the frame are the same colour and the same type of plastic.

Fair enough so far.

At the moment gang moulding, sharing a sprue between more than one toy, like the G2 Gobots/Spychangers & BW Tarantulas & Waspinator, seems out of favour.

As a result of this there seems to be a minimum quantity of each type & colour of plastic, which partially explains the lack of clear canopies & lightpiped eyes on the Combiner Wars deluxes.

So why not just make a frame of lightpipes for toy X? Each toy get one part in that colour off the frame and shares it with the next however many off the production line?

[Philip Ayres]

tfwiki.net/wiki/Retool is worth a read on the subject

[Toph]

Tarantulas and waspinator are gangmolded?

[Philip Ayres]

Ooooo yeah:

www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm
www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Waspinator/waspinator.htm

If you look the green of the upper arms, neck and gun trigger on Tarantulas matches the green of the shoulders, waist and gun trigger on Waspinator.

The same parts are a different, but still matching! shade of green on their repaints Blackarachnia and Buzzsaw

www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Blackarachnia/blackarachnia.htm
www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/BuzzSaw/buzzsaw.htm

Crucially when Blackarachnia and Buzzsaw get repainted for Japan, pictures at the same links, these parts change colour again, and all are back to grey.

It's a massive coincidence for the same parts to be the same changing colour through 3 versions of the same pair of moulds without gang moulding involved!

[nevermore]

Speaking of gang-molding, it's my own long-running theory that BotCon 1995 Nightracer was created from spare parts that were left over from the production run of the Japanese market versions of the G2 Go-Bots Optimus Prime, Megatron and Soundwave.

[Philip Ayres]

I think you might be right: philstfreviews.site11.com/zzSpy.html

Never realised the single carded Action Masters were gang moulded before!