Who would have though a simple discussion about body clips would garner so much replies lol. A pretty good discussion though.
I had access to a lot of bodies when I was leading the charge for disintermediation with groupbuys.
I am adamantly sure they used different styled clips for different bodies within the same era of manufacture. They have the same general center point for mounting, but there are different clips. Some were thinner and some were thicker. Shorter and taller. Some body clips required shaving for the actual body to fit and others would fit seamlessly. Considering they need two clips per body and the amount of bodies being pushed out, and the variation in chassis' (010, 015, 02), it would make sense that they would have a few different variations per run not only for easing the slip on and fit for some bodies/chassis' but also out of necessity through mold degradation.
I don't buy that larger molds hold better shape longer. If you put enough heat and use into anything you will get issues regardless of how thick or heavy it is. Slight tweaks or edge wearing is just the start. There is a reason first runs of any plastic collectible are more desired and have a premium cost over later runs.
As for quality, check out the old school focus vs a recent r34. Which would you consider a better clip lol? Regardless, as you stated in the past they mostly used quality solid thick plastic in either white or black compared to the majority of the translucent stuff we get today.
The recent R32 reissue uses the older styled clip as well and is much better than the r34 clip which at the least reinforces different styled clips per run. I am interested to see if my older r34 pre ASF had better quality clips (I am sure it does), but to be honest I don't feel like digging it out. Kind of curious about the clips on the type r civic, but I don't feel like digging that out either lol.
If you still think they used the exact same styled clips check out the LM clip. If I recall this clip was also used on the murc or enzo as well? I was a weird sidewall bearing clip. Sadly the release of the LMs were when clips started getting cheaper translucent plastics and started getting even thinner.
Just examining the newer bodies does show some slight warping on sides though in addition to pretty bad flashing. Nothing a few shims for the front and reseating the side clips can't solve, but if the pricing went up the quality should have at the least remained the same regardless of how it got that way. I'd prefer not to have to fix things out of box for such an expensive item.
I am interested in any other clip findings you may cross though, being a former asc collector myself.
Side note, can any old timers recall ever needing an actual clip when these things started lol? If anything they would just pop off and you could glue them back on. I'm pretty sure with time or moderate use this newer clip from the r34 will crack due to the nature of the plastic and how thin it is which sucks.
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