Defects with bbi (Elite Force) figures?

[tpa05]

Hey guys, purchased some Elite Force figures for my son a few weeks ago and, long story short, within a few days ALL of them had fallen apart. My son and I for years have used figures from every manufacturer including 21st Century, BBI, PTE among others. While the other BBI figures I've purchased in the past were fine, these are from the "Combat Command" series and what I'm wanting to know is whether there's others out there who've experienced the same.

Thanks guys and any info/comments would be appreciated.

[Fritzkrieg]

I've had a problem with the boots snapping off of my D-Day Elite Force figures, I've also had one of my Paratroopers Snap at the torso. I think they have a problem with the articulated joints especialy the smaller joints like the boots. The plastic they use is a little to brittle.

[digger]

Hey guys, purchased some Elite Force figures for my son a few weeks ago and, long story short, within a few days ALL of them had fallen apart. My son and I for years have used figures from every manufacturer including 21st Century, BBI, PTE among others. While the other BBI figures I've purchased in the past were fine, these are from the "Combat Command" series and what I'm wanting to know is whether there's others out there who've experienced the same.

Thanks guys and any info/comments would be appreciated.

Sorry to hear that. Combat Command is less sturdy than the other EF stuff. All the lines have certain figures that are like humpty dumpty, but usually you can put them back together. If your CC is done for that's a shame.

[tpa05]

You're absolutely right Digger regarding the Humpty Dumpty (actually all of 'em perhaps) but in all fairness a nod towards the gear which is pretty good in my opinion. Fritzkrieg made an excellant point regarding the plastic being brittle and is perhaps the reason I even started this thread. I say this because when my son first approached me about the figure I thought to myself "ok, which limb popped off" and from which joint (shoulder or hip). However things I noticed immediately included how loose the hips were, but most of all how the knee in several figures disintegrated right in my hand. In one case in particular, the leg itself broke apart not at the joint but where the plastic is bound together. In another case I noticed how the plastic itself (sans seam) broke into pieces.

Don't know if I'm beating this up but just getting the figures delivered cost more than $10 and I'll keep the cost of the figures to myself. I guess I'm interested to know if indeed I'm the only one who has experienced this.

Many thanks again for any info you can provide.

[Jesse James]

Part of the problem with BBI figures I've found is that BBI used a heavy wash, which gets into the joints, and it tends to wish to stick at the joints causing a lot of stress at those points. I always heated my BBI guys with hot water to loosen their joints before trying to move them.

Unfortunately they tend to "freeze up" over time. Not usually as bad as they did direct from factory, but they still tend to, especially at the waist and boot tops of the Paras.

FOV's similar I've found.

[tpa05]

I purchased a package of 12 and to have all of them fall apart within a week is a bit much. Can't blame it on my son as he's particularly careful about his figures. Not only that, 2 of 'em broke while I was working on them. I have the non-"Combat Command" Elite Force figures and yea, while they too are a little flawed around the boot area, they don't have nearly the number nor the different types of problems. In the case of the Command Command figures, they're simply brittle on top of the other problems detailed so far.

When I brought this to the attention of the (popular 1:18 vendor) store I purchased them from, the first e-mail wasn't answered. In the response I recieved on the second email I sent them they reported that "this was the only complaint..." that they'd recieved regarding the quality of the figures.

Anymore suggestions?

[Jesse James]

Hah, well I'm not surprised at the responses from who sold them to you, I can say that much.

Like I said, my best advice is heating them in hot water to loosen the joints up a bit. I'm not sure what figures you're talking about exactly, but I have had the problems being spoken of on their WW2 and modern figures. I love BBI's stuff but they really have figures that seize up after their paint washes are applied for some reason, which I largely blame on the paint more than the figure/plastic.

21st's figures had the same problem when they had excessive washes... The original waves of D-Day figures all suffered from this, as did first series figures at times.

FOV figures have similar seizing problems but it seems less a problem of paint and more a problem of design as they don't have much of a "wash" on them that woudl seep into joints like that.

STar Wars figures and all kinds of other similar stuff have the same problems at times too though. The hip joints of some SW figures seize and need loosened. Generally when they get loosened once though, it doesn't reseize like it does on 1:18 military figures. That's kind of odd.

A bummer for sure man, and definitely considerthe water thing before you move future figure's joints too much and they snap.