Hasbro quality control, what happened? Are ALL the new rainbow ponies like this?

[sweetapple]

I've been to my local Toys R Us and back 3 times this morning, trying to find a decent Rainbow Rocks Deluxe Rarity pack. I swapped her twice and no improvement, pretty disappointing

The doll was fine, but the pony had the same issue in each of the packs I opened-- the neck seam was a mess. Gaps galore, and an ugly bulge around her neck where it meets the body, yuck.

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Above is Rarity number 2 (I didn't take a pic of the first one, but she was exactly the same.) Below is Rarity 3, the one I ended up keeping:

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By the third pony, I didn't want to go back yet again! It's not so obvious in the photos, but the 'swelling' goes all the way around her neck like a ring 

As if the neck isn't bad enough, the Rarities all had an issue with their face.
The face is wider, yes, since it uses the new head mold, but when did her snout start, er, melting? Her mouth is nowhere near as crisp and pronounced as any other G4 I've seen. Her nostrils are almost invisible. I've tried to get a clear pic:

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So, did my TRU just get a bad batch, or are all the new Rarities like this? I'm in Perth, Australia.
I'm thinking of trying another TRU, but if they're all like this I won't bother. So please let me know, those of you who bought this set, what is your Rarity like? As for mine, guess I'll be hiding that unsightly neck seam with hair for now :p

[nessa16]

Are those supppsed to be the single packed ones?  I thought the single packs were supposed to be "rainbowfied" but just have tinsel in their hair.  Or are these EQG?

[sweetapple]

EQG, Rarity doll and pony packaged together

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[CupcakeLoverXx]

Sorry you got a bad quality pony, I would be upset with that too Mommy and Gracie (Youtube toy reviewers) had the same problem with their Rarity I don't think it's a problem with all the Rainbow Power brushables though, just this pony with the doll. I think Hasbro compromised even more on the quality with the Rarity pony you have as she comes packaged with a doll and Hasbro are always trying to save money. I have just ordered the Rainbow Power Rarity with tinsel in her hair, I will let you know if she has the same problem when she arrives.

(Pic of Mommy and Gracie's Rarity)
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[ponylady]

I had the same thing when I was buying the EG Principal Celestia and pony set. They only had three at Target and two of them the pony was covered in black smudges. I am actually scared to take the one out of the box I did settle on cause who knows what the other side looks like.

I am sorry about your Rarity. I guess when I do decide to buy her, I better make sure to look them over throughly. 
 

[Dragonflitter]

I just bought that Rarity last night and when I got it home and took it out of the package, I saw the same thing. Weird bulge around the neck (thought thankfully not a gap, like in your first picture).

I checked carefully for eye and symbol smears before I bought her, but didn't think to look for anything weird with her neck.

The only good thing about it is that the neck will be hidden after I style her hair.

[Katika]

I actually had a similar thing happen with one of the two Rarities from the other part of the rainbow set (the single brushables that come with the streaks of tinsel in their manes).  The first one I bought as soon as I saw her in stores and she's fine, but the second one that I bought maybe two weeks ago has the same weird chunks missing from the head side of her neck seam, like it was sloppily cut with an exacto knife.  I was hoping it was just a weird fluke a la the occasional missing symbol from the QC snags with G3s, but now I'm kind of worried.  That, and I really don't want to buy the dolls to get a hold of ponies, lol!

[dori86]

Oh nooo!!! I have to check mine, she still sitting in the box!!!

[Shenanigans]

Wow, Hasbro's quality just keeps getting worse

[kaoskat]

So I'm not the only one with a Quasimodo Rarity then. I'd say good to know, but really I'm not sure that it is, more aggravating to know I guess.

[reanna-mator]

Blaaargh. Now I've got to be extra careful, and I have a bad habit of seeing something I've been looking for for weeks, grabbing one and marching away with it happily. Now I've got to peruse the package first.

[Iris Patch]

Geez, it's like they don't give a flip about anyone over the age of four anymore! They're letting these flaws pass inspection and hoping nobody notices or cares. Glad I recently got into G1 collecting, because if things keep going the way they're going, I might not collect G4 anymore. :/

[Galactica]

Wow- not cute.  I wonder if the other doll/pony packs will have similar issues?  How strange and not good.

[gabumon]

I'm keeping mine MIB, but I'm gonna go see "what I can see" tonight.
 

[Alipes]

The warping around the neck line is new to me, but the "ring" seems to be an issue sometimes with the new head mold.  The head used to be one piece of soft plastic, but now there is a hard plastic ring instead where the neck plug connects.  This tends to cause bulging if they do a crummy job with the insert, it seems. 

I took a quick picture as a comparison.

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Old-head Rarity is on the left (neck hole was widened with a dremel, she's from a custom)
New-head Mrs. Cake on the right

You can see the pretty distinctive ring on Mrs. Cake.  It's a harder piece of plastic that is glued in, not molded with the rest of the head.  The hole is wider by default, so it's easier to pop the head off without hot water, but it can look pretty ugly, like on those new Raritys.