Adepticon Misprinted Premium Rifleman

[Youngblood]

Earlier in the summer I asked the Catalyst online store staff about getting a replacement Premium Rifleman mini based on their announcement that the examples sold at Adepticon 2023 this past March had been misprinted (size), with the reply saying that a list will be made after the corrected Rifleman (& Phoenix Hawk?) miniatures were made available.  Now that they're on the store, I've sent an email regarding this issue but have not received a reply yet.

Anyone else going through this process right now?

Also, without having unbagged my Premium Phoenix Hawk (that I believe I purchased from the online store around the same time as Adepticon), what was wrong with it?  Will there be a replacement mini recipient list for that one too? my phoenix hawk was fine when i looked at it

[carne68]

I ordered 4 of the early chicken legged version of the Phoenix Hawk. I have already ordered new models as replacements. Can I get store credit for the earlier casts?

[Youngblood]

Ah, I went ahead and investigated my Premium Phoenix Hawk, and it appears to be just fine.  I wish it had a second set of head & upper/lower torso pieces, it'd be such a waste to not use that second set of limbs!

Still waiting on a response regarding the Honey I Shrunk the Rifleman though.

[RazorclawXLS]

I found some youtube reviews of the premium Phoenix Hawk and the Rifleman.

Phoenix Hawk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sczmTFeBKRA

Rifleman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHfq-_-X4gs

The Phoenix Hawk seems to be the same as the previous release.

But the premium Rifleman is the new, corrected miniature, as it is the same size as the plastic regular ones.

[Luciora]

Just received my package of Phoenix Hawks and Rifleman mechs.  Yeah...no left arm laser for the Phoenix Hawk.  Pretty disappointing.  Rifleman only has 2 left legs and 2 right legs,  and no alternate arms.

[Cylence]

Phoenix Hawk still has the same wasp-size legs as before (and as seen in the video above)?  I'm not sure how Catalyst can call it "corrected", seems like it's the exact same as before.

I'll see if the Stormcrow got fixed sometime this week, but based off the con releases I'm dreading it isn't and the pictures on the store are mirrored.  Someone needs to go through the store pictures and swap a few of them (and add parts shots for the ones lacking them).

[Luciora]

Seems properly scaled to me.

[RazorclawXLS]

Seems properly scaled to me.

Can you show the how thick are the Phoenix Hawk legs, in comparison to the regular, plastic sculpt?

[Luciora]

I'll have that done when I get back from dinner

Can you show the how thick are the Phoenix Hawk legs, in comparison to the regular, plastic sculpt?

[Prometheum5]

I bought 4x Phoenix Hawks the first time around and would very much like to get them replaced because I'll never use them as-is. Hadn't heard anything about that actually being an option. The head still being merged into the boosters is trash, but at least with the limb scale fixed the minis would be usable.

[Cylence]

Just need to file down the left and right sides of a matching pair of legs from two sets then glue them together at the right thickness!  Just don't breathe in the resin while doing it.  Choose between skinny legs, normal legs, or never skipped leg-day legs.

I'm kind of hoping some of the original batch got put on the top of the new inventory and maybe we can somehow swap old ones for truly fixed ones, but I don't recall Catalyst ever properly acknowledging the Phoenix Hawk issues - the adepticon "recall" announcement only covered the Rifleman.

[Luciora]

Plasitic Pixie, new premium, modified original premium release

Premium Rifleman, plastic Rifleman

[Prometheum5]

Very helpful comparison pics. The PHawk release continues to confuse me, it's not better looking than the plastic in any way.

[Fat Guy]

Very helpful comparison pics. The PHawk release continues to confuse me, it's not better looking than the plastic in any way.

If anything, the head looks much worse on the premium.

[Sartris]

Yeah if you did a poll of mini enthusiasts who didn’t know about Battletech which was which, the results would be exactly the opposite of reality. 

[klarg1]

Yeah if you did a poll of mini enthusiasts who didn’t know about Battletech which was which, the results would be exactly the opposite of reality.

I’m not sure about that. The premium pixie mini has some casting flaws, but the panel details are much sharper on the plastic mini.

The Riflemen are much closer to each other.

Luciora: thanks a ton for posting examples!

[RazorclawXLS]

Plasitic Pixie, new premium, modified original premium release

Premium Rifleman, plastic Rifleman

Thank you for the photo.

Too bad it doesn't have the legs of the regular Phoenis Hawk pointing the same way as the premium one, side by side, as comparison.

To put to rest any doubts that the premium Phoenix Hawk has been fixed or not.

[RazorclawXLS]

I bought 4x Phoenix Hawks the first time around and would very much like to get them replaced because I'll never use them as-is. Hadn't heard anything about that actually being an option. The head still being merged into the boosters is trash, but at least with the limb scale fixed the minis would be usable.

The ones you bought were no different than the ones other people bought, at the time of the purchase.

I may be wrong on this, but to have CGL replaced them, they would have to be defective in some way compared to the other copies sold at the time. Which they don't seem to be.

[RazorclawXLS]

I’m not sure about that. The premium pixie mini has some casting flaws, but the panel details are much sharper on the plastic mini.

I don't know. I see that the premium ones is missing panel lines on the thighs, the shoulder pad flaps have a huge chunk of the material connecting it to the upper arms (which the plastic one has separate from the upper arms).

The overall impression I get of the plastic one is better that the premium, from looking at the photo above.

This may change when I compare them side by side in real life. Similar to how I didn't like the CGL Orion from the Direct Fire Lance, but had the impression flipped 180 degrees when I had the miniature in my hands.

[GuyIncognito]

I'll see if the Stormcrow got fixed sometime this week, but based off the con releases I'm dreading it isn't and the pictures on the store are mirrored.  Someone needs to go through the store pictures and swap a few of them (and add parts shots for the ones lacking them).

There was something wrong with the Stormcrow?

[Prometheum5]

The ones you bought were no different than the ones other people bought, at the time of the purchase.

I may be wrong on this, but to have CGL replaced them, they would have to be defective in some way compared to the other copies sold at the time. Which they don't seem to be.

If a 'fixed' version had to be released, then the initial product was defective.

[Cylence]

There was something wrong with the Stormcrow?

The gencon release reportedly had the arms swapped (laser on left, ballistic on right). 

[Joewrightgm]

The gencon release reportedly had the arms swapped (laser on left, ballistic on right).

Mine was delivered just today, direct from the CGL store; the TC configuration arms are still wrong.

[m0nolith]

Got two Stormcrows delivered today as well.
Yeah, both are mirrored.
Damn.

I’m new here, how does CGL go about issues like this? Are they going to replace them if I ask?

[Joewrightgm]

Got two Stormcrows delivered today as well.
Yeah, both are mirrored.
Damn.

I’m new here, how does CGL go about issues like this? Are they going to replace them if I ask?

That’s the neat part; they don’t do any QA.  I’ve been made aware that CGL management has just now been getting samples of the premium mechs, and they are unaware that the arms were mirrored.

Since the base issue is how the molds are made, enjoy your rare misprinted mini and flip it on EBay for a profit ;)

[Youngblood]

Plasitic Pixie, new premium, modified original premium release

Premium Rifleman, plastic Rifleman

Did you buy the Premium Rifleman new outright, or have you successfully replaced a misprinted one?  Trying to figure out what went wrong in Catalyst Store customer service between summer and now.

Got two Stormcrows delivered today as well.
Yeah, both are mirrored.
Damn.

I’m new here, how does CGL go about issues like this? Are they going to replace them if I ask?

I was able to contact them about the Rifleman back in the summer and was told to wait, but I've been absolutely dead ghosted this fall asking again now that the Premium RFL's got its full release.

[Luciora]

Brand new order.  Didn't make adeptcon.

Did you buy the Premium Rifleman new outright, or have you successfully replaced a misprinted one?  Trying to figure out what went wrong in Catalyst Store customer service between summer and now.

I was able to contact them about the Rifleman back in the summer and was told to wait, but I've been absolutely dead ghosted this fall asking again now that the Premium RFL's got its full release.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I just got in a new Premium Rifleman mini that I ordered last week, and this mini is a mess.  Really I don't feel like the mini I received should have made it through quality control.  The arms are all right, but they're basically the only parts without problems: the torso and hips both have a lot of excess flash, the base has a really big piece left from the mold sprue still attached to it, and then there's the legs.

Both legs have enormous mold-lines, the feet are round, and there's obvious discoloration on them.  I'm definitely regretting spending money on the mini now.  If anyone reading this is considering getting it, I recommend waiting.

[Swift Hunter]

Has anyone received a reply regarding the mirrored arms on the Stormcrow? I'm still waiting on a reply three weeks later.

[m0nolith]

Has anyone received a reply regarding the mirrored arms on the Stormcrow? I'm still waiting on a reply three weeks later.

Nope, sent off two emails, about to send a third.
I would appreciate at least a “we’re looking into it” reply, but I got absolutely no response.
I get that CGL is a small company, but this is a hard pill to swallow if they’re just going to ignore us.

[RazorclawXLS]

Has anyone received a reply regarding the mirrored arms on the Stormcrow? I'm still waiting on a reply three weeks later.

Nope, sent off two emails, about to send a third.
I would appreciate at least a “we’re looking into it” reply, but I got absolutely no response.
I get that CGL is a small company, but this is a hard pill to swallow if they’re just going to ignore us.

I wish you best of luck in getting your ordered stuff sorted out. I hope you are in USA, that would make replacement  rather easy.

If this happened to me, I would be furious as an international customer, as the only recourse that CGL does in these cases is give you a store credit.

[Youngblood]

I wish you best of luck in getting your ordered stuff sorted out. I hope you are in USA, that would make replacement  rather easy.

If this happened to me, I would be furious as an international customer, as the only recourse that CGL does in these cases is give you a store credit.

Even a store credit would be acceptable in my case, as the premium Rifleman I'm looking for a replacement for is already listed on sale from the store.

[_Cactus_]

Yeah if you did a poll of mini enthusiasts who didn’t know about Battletech which was which, the results would be exactly the opposite of reality.

I'm a mini enthusiast who doesn't know (much) about Battletech and I'm underwhelmed by both 'premium' versions of the Phoenix Hawk. I would expect a premium Rifleman to have hip and knee joints to give some posing options but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

[Swift Hunter]

I noticed the premium Stormcrow is back on the store again. I'm curious if they've fixed the issues or still intentionally selling them with the wrong arms.

[m0nolith]

I wish you best of luck in getting your ordered stuff sorted out. I hope you are in USA, that would make replacement  rather easy.

If this happened to me, I would be furious as an international customer, as the only recourse that CGL does in these cases is give you a store credit.

Nope, I live in Canada so I paid an arm and a leg for shipping, more for it than the actual models.
I just sent off a 3rd message. Hopefully I'll at least get a response this time. If not, I'll have to figure it out how to escalate this. 

[ANS Kamas P81]

Shrink your image down to something visible on a monitor.  The tag is

Code: [Select]

[img width=600]imageurl.jpg[/img]

[m0nolith]

I fixed it.
Thank you for the code.

[Youngblood]

Resurrecting this thread to mention that if you bought a misprinted premium Rifleboy at last year's Adepticon 2023, bringing it to the BattleTech merch counter at Adepticon 2024 is enough proof of purchase to get it exchanged for a full-sized premium Rifleman.

[worktroll]

I wonder if, with enough time, the Rifleboys will become a completist collector's item, like the Inverted Jenny?

[GRUD]

I wonder if, with enough time, the Rifleboys will become a completist collector's item, like the Inverted Jenny?

I missed out on the Rifleboy, but have the Rifleman.  I haven't even checked to see if anyone's selling or not. 

Yes, the Collector in me wants 2 of them!