Are you saying that the variation is the plastic injection points?
No. And I do need to clarify. The four circles on the back of Kinkeshi/MUSCLE figures is not where plastic entered the mold. The plastic enters the mold via a tiny hole either at the sculpt's head or feet. Check out the tree Arforbes found for a visual.
KinkeshiTree_IM_Forum.jpg 52.49K
21 downloadsVia PM's with TGB (which I will post here in a minute) he said those tiny holes were probably drilled into the molds after the molds were made. Therefore, their exact location on the mold will be slightly different for the sculpts on either side of the family mold.
Now, the four circle on the back of each Kinkeshi/MUSCLE are caused by the ejector pins pushing the figure out of the mold. Wikipedia:
Once the mold is open, the ejector pins are moved forward, ejecting the part. When the ejector pins retract, all criteria for a molding cycle have been met and the next cycle can begin.
Since #060 appears to have two
consistent ejector pin patterns, I'm proposing that this is due to #060 having two different molds. (We already know -- due to Arforbes tree -- that each family mold had two molds for each sculpt.) So, the question is:
(1) Are these two ejector pin patterns a result of #060 being on
both sides of a family mold. One ejector pin pattern on one side, and the 2nd ejector pin pattern on the other.
(2) Or are the two ejector pin patterns a result of there being 2 family molds, both having two molds for sculpt #060, for a total of 4 molds for #060. Family mold A has ejector pin pattern 1, and family mold B has ejector pin pattern 2.
My opinion is that option (1) is the correct option.
Edited by Soupie, 06 August 2008 - 09:46 AM.