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Author Topic: 25th rattler wheels  (Read 3072 times)

akpayne

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25th rattler wheels
« on: October 19, 2008, 09:58:23 AM »
I was lucky enough to find one of these at Target yesterday - I love this toy, not a huge update to the original one, but it is alot cheaper and I am not paranoid about handling it.

However the wheels are still no improvement.  I lowered the landing gear for the first time - one wheel came down with no problems, the other rear wheel now shows signs of stress (dark blue plastic is not light blue)  the same thing happened with the front wheel.  I am betting that if my son were to spend 30 minutes with it, those wheels would be broken off.  The plastic is softer and the the front wheel has been completely redesigned - however the same design flaw exists.
The landing gear are now down, and will probably stay that way for fear of them snapping off.

Anyone else notice this?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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Pete The Greek

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Re: 25th rattler wheels
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2008, 10:53:18 AM »
I guess my landing gear will stay up for good.  I was afraid of this happening.
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akpayne

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Re: 25th rattler wheels
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2008, 11:20:26 AM »
don't get me wrong - it is a million times better than the original brittle plastic.  However seeing the discoloured blue was a bit of a bummer.  I don't think this plastic will snap off if it is handled with care - however it will stretch and bend.

The other improvement is the cockpit.  I have gone through 3 canopies on my vintage Rattler - those plastic clips snap so easily on the clear plastic,  These appear to be longer and thicker (I am not taking my original canopy off just to compare as I know the damn things will break when I try)
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FastFord58

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Re: 25th rattler wheels
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2008, 12:50:21 PM »
I had this problem with one of the Rattlers I got. The problem is a little piece of mold flashing inside the wheel carrier. I just heated the tip of a steak knife on a burner and flattened the piece down. Now the wheels open and close like butter.
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akpayne

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Re: 25th rattler wheels
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2008, 04:32:11 PM »
I did a similar thing to my vintage "for parts" rattler simply to see if it would fix the wheel problem.  It did fix it, however an adverse side effect was the wheels really didn't fit snugly in place and droop a little.
I also really don't like the idea of buying a figure/vehicle only to have to repair it out of the box, especially when Hasbro took some steps to correct this problem - they just didn't correct it enough.  If I had more than a day I could list the number of action figures from Hasbro and Toy Biz that I have had to do this too.  Fortunately the number of 25th anniversary figures I have had to fix out of package is under 5.
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FastFord58

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Re: 25th rattler wheels
« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2008, 08:34:32 AM »
Quote from: "akpayne"
I did a similar thing to my vintage "for parts" rattler simply to see if it would fix the wheel problem.  It did fix it, however an adverse side effect was the wheels really didn't fit snugly in place and droop a little.
I also really don't like the idea of buying a figure/vehicle only to have to repair it out of the box, especially when Hasbro took some steps to correct this problem - they just didn't correct it enough.  If I had more than a day I could list the number of action figures from Hasbro and Toy Biz that I have had to do this too.  Fortunately the number of 25th anniversary figures I have had to fix out of package is under 5.

Yeah...only melt the flashing just enough. You can over do it. I did mine so you can still feel a bit of a click when opening and closing them.
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Colonel Abernathy

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Re: 25th rattler wheels
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2008, 07:02:33 PM »
The wheels on mine seem fine.  I haven't moved them too much though.  However, the stickers on the new Rattler are not good.  Anyone figured a way to make them actually STICK?!?
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Canuklehead

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Re: 25th rattler wheels
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2009, 07:21:20 PM »
Ack!  I've been toying around with my Tiger Rat, and had a hell of a tough time with the front landing gear.  The rear ones are fine...  but it was hella-hard to lower the front one.  I finally got it down and (though it's hard to tell with yellow plastic) it's starting to get stressed and I even think I see the plastic cracking!  I'm leaving it up, for now...  but I'll have to try to reinforce it a bit when I finally make room to display it.
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Canuklehead

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Re: 25th rattler wheels
« Reply #8 on: July 23, 2009, 06:31:04 AM »
Anyone have any suggestions for the front strut?  It hasn't broken, but it's looking like it's starting to crack slightly...  and I want to do what I can to keep it from becoming a problem.

I was thinking of dabbing a touch of plastic cement on the part where it's starting to crack but was afraid that might actually weaken it more than help.  I have super glue, too...  but I try to avoid using that stuff as much as possible.  Any ideas? 
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