http://www.gearlog.com/2008/06/hasbro_showcases_new_star_wars.php
"Gearlog got a glimpse of Hasbro's upcoming toys today at a hotel in midtown
Manhattan. While my colleagues were petting the scarily real plush puppydogs,
I was distracted by the big Millennium Falcon sitting at the other end of the
room. Chalk it up to adult ADD or just a lifelong obsession with a galaxy far,
far away, but I couldn't wait to get a closer view of the thing.
Upon closer inspection, this was clearly not the same mockup of Han Solo's
trusty, if well-worn, ship we've seen before. For starters, the ship is
a lot
bigger than I remember--30-percent, in fact. According to Hasbro, this
is the first update to the toy Falcon in 30 years, because, after all this
time, the mold they had been using to churn out ship after ship finally broke
down. So why not go bigger and better? "
Every Falcon produced for the last THIRTY YEARS has been off the same mold? Oh
my god.
I bet Jon wishes his molds had that kind of life...
> Mike Stanczyk wrote:
Well, if he was moulding plastic and could afford the cost of injection
moulds, they might... It's not that unusual for injection moulds to last
a long time, though having the same model in production for 30 years could be
said to be exceptional.
Just how old are the ex-CMD moulds anyway?
Phil
> Phillip Atcliffe wrote:
> Mike Stanczyk wrote:
A recent quote on frothers for an injection mould for 12 figures was in the
range of 15k to 20k UKP. A lot less than it used to be (100k?), but I still
think a bit too much for the niche Jon's goodies are in.
> Mike Stanczyk wrote:
Pretty much all the old CMD moulds have now been replaced, we only ever use an
old one here and there for casting up "specials" that aren't in the current
range. Generally nitrile (black rubber) moulds are good for several hundred
spins, sometimes many times more that this, but it all depends on undercuts
and stuff.
Jon (GZG)
> Phil
In metal castings, retention-of-design should be in the masters, not the
moulds, right? Jon, do the CMD masters still exist, as in 'I know where they
are...'
The extremes of 'exist' would be 'I've looked everywhere, talked with
everyone, and no one has a clue, so I'm not aware of them being destroyed' to
'I'm looking at them, can lay my hands on them at five minutes notice, and can
start producing a mould as soon as someone steps up to the door
with enough notes-in-hand to cover several hundred units production'.
Jon wrote on 06/06/2008 08:09:44 AM:
> >Mike Stanczyk wrote: