WARNING: Snout Spout's trunk breaks!

[oICEMANo]

So my brother phoned me today to let me know that his Snout Spout trunk split... badly. He advised me to check mine and sure enough mine was broken as well. I had it propped up on his axe and I guess the material just can't handle being posed in a bent state for too long!

So if you have yours bent I suggest you leave it in a neutral position asap

[Executioner]

Aw man, here we go again with the QC issues.

Its killen teh lien!!!!

[Jon-O]

I was afraid of that...

[davidlogan]

Hey Matty - what happened to all this quality testing you said you did on the trunk?

Most of us could tell the thing was going to crack once we had it in hand.

[oICEMANo]

I expected a crack or two but for it to split this badly!?!!

[davidlogan]

I imagine one small crack started (went unnoticed) and the force of the trunk being dipped in the middle applied a small amount of force to one place, the crack kept going.

Unfortunately anyone that gets a crack will have to be extremely careful that it doesn't turn into a major split. It's great that Scott told us extensive QC testing was done on the material of the trunk. But a picture is worth 1000 Mattel promises.

[a-star]

Committed to bringing you the best quality figures possible!!

[Slave2Evil_Lyn]

So my brother phoned me today to let me know that his Snout Spout trunk split... badly. He advised me to check mine and sure enough mine was broken as well. I had it propped up on his axe and I guess the material just can't handle being posed in a bent state for too long!

So if you have yours bent I suggest you leave it in a neutral position asap

WOW! That really stinks! I'm sorry this happened to you and your brother, I hope this is not an issue everyone will have.

[Pixel Dan]

Oh man, that's terrible! I was really worried about this right away, as mine immediately had stress marks.

[Alexx]

Hrm. Yeah, I was afraid of that. Wasn't planning on moving it much anyway, but that doesn't mean this isn't crappy. I really think this should have been a segmented plastic trunk rather than the bendy one. If it wasn't the foam they used, then it would have been the wire in the trunk. Oh well, I guess. I figured they had tested this, but they didn't bother with the long-term test.

[npbaity]

I figured they had tested this, but they didn't bother with the long-term test.

This is in no way intended as a call-out statement, but can we really consider 3 months of consumer life "long-term"? If we were talking 3 years then maybe, but 3 months?

Kinda makes you wonder how Hssss has managed to survive his first year. (Not that he isn't without his own controversies & issues.)

Long Live MOTU!!!!
Now & Forever!!!!

[Prahvus]

Well, yeah... I told you all that BENDY PARTS ARE VERY FRAGILE, didn't I ? Now, you've got proof ! We received Snout Spout 3 months ago, and there are already cracks in his bendable trunk !?

From now on, we must DEMAND that Matty won't use bendy parts anymore, and will find a better solution !

Taken for the ass, once again... World class, Mattel... World class !!!

[EldestSon]

don't worry. they won't make this mistake again.

So shouldn't we ask the original poster how much pressure he applied to the trunk before it broke? I mean come on, apply enough pressure to ANY of the figures and it will get damaged...

i agree. let's question the OP. after all, matty doesn't have a long record of QC issues...

[JafariStew]

I've got a bad feeling about this...

[shadowfall1976]

12.jpg

"We are dedicated to making quality products" ??? I pulled out my UNO cards after not messing with them for a long time, and had to laugh when I turned the box over and saw this....

Where's that world class Mattel research now?

I'm sure this will be blamed on either the customer being too rough with Snouty, or like Goddess, be blamed on being weakened by a manufacturing process. After almost 70 years of making toys they still can't get certain things right.....vac metal anyone? or a flexible piece of foam plastic that won't break, funny some toys in the 80's played the hell out of by kids have outlasted some modern adult collector toys with supposedly far superior materials.

[npbaity]

"We are dedicated to making quality products" ??? I pulled out my UNO cards after not messing with them for a long time, and had to laugh when I turned the box over and saw this....

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that statement isn't to be found on any of our MOTUC Product. Plenty about Meeting Saftey Standards & Where to Call or Log On if there's a problem (cuz let's face it, it's YOUR Problem, right?!), but no Quality Assurance or Mission Statement.


Long Live MOTU!!!!
Now & Forever!!!!

[hhhelmsley]

This is not good at all. I bet this figure will break anyway with the passage of time.

[BlueStreak]

So glad I put the 200X station head on mine.

[Marvelous0ne]

Just saw this thread and went to check my Snout Spout cause I too used the fork to hold up the trunk. Cause it looked cool! and this is what mine is like!



Not a happy camper! I knew this would be an issue, but so soon? Why is there always these issues? If it's not one thing it's another! So tired of these things!

[Dayton72]

I took my Snout Spout out of the package - placed him in a suitable pose - bent his nose to the left slightly and let him sit.....a month later I looked and saw a blue line.....investigated and realized that his trunk split! I mean, I guess I can understand how that happened.....no movement - just the stress of it SITTING IN THE SAME POSE FOR A MONTH caused it to break!



Not sure if it's even worth bugging DR for a replacement....I mean, it's Snout Spout, after all. But the principle of the matter.....for $28 after shipping.....that is pretty annoying!

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Not sure if it's even worth bugging DR for a replacement....I mean, it's Snout Spout, after all. But the principle of the matter.....for $28 after shipping.....that is pretty annoying!

Yeah, getting a replacement from DR is kind of pointless since it will just be another defective one. This needs to be taken care of by way of make new corrected heads and sending them to everyone who ordered a Snout Spout (regardless of whether the trunks have split or not yet, since it's obvious that they are not made to last).

This should NOT be as complicated as the Goddess issue because as I said earlier, only the head needs to be replaced since the heads are swapable, not the whole figure. In the case of the Goddess, with such a substatial breakage happening in the middle of the figure itself, so pretty much the whole figure (or at least the body, which is the bulk of the figure) needed to be replaced. And the Goddess didn't sell all that well, while Snout Spout did sell out.

So considering Snout Spout's comparitive success as a figure and the fact that only a small portion of the figure needs replacing, there's no reason that Mattel can't take care of this issue properly. Yes, it will likely take some time to figure out what kind of material to use for the corrected heads, produce them, get them sent from overseas, etc, but they should get a plan together ASAP to actually take care of this PROPERLY and communicate it to fans.

I think this is something that we really need to rally for. It's the most reasonable solution to the problem. This is a small line with limited resources, so I can see where replacing the whole figure would be an issue. But I don't think asking for just a replacement head is all that unreasonable.

[belmont]

Wow, I just checked mine and - it broke too! A REAL shame ...

IMAG0249.jpg

[Barron Gagnat]

Why didn't they use the same material as on King Hiss' snake arms instead?

[CicconeSC]

This line is just losing it.....2012 is a terrible year so far!

[dagodfather]

Ah ****, just checked mine, and it is also torn.