RBI Hide Boxes VS Vivarium Electronics?

[KevinK]

They maybe changing sources or the manufacturer is changing something in the manufacturing process like SDA said.
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I will tell you EXACTLYwhat they did, I make stamping dies and plastic injection molds for a living. These hide boxes are created via a plastic injection mold. As millions of parts are created and the die requires polishing several times, the mold wears out and requires a new cavity and core (which are the male and female halves of the die that create the part). The die was worn out and they remachined these halves with a closer tolerance in order to save plastic costs and prolong the life of the die.....welcome to the world of cheap, chinese mold making.

This is a section view of an injection mold



The little circular bits of plastic people are talking about are "flash" or leftover material that flows out of the gate ( they direct area where plastic flows out to create the part. Crappy tolerances and poor die building creates this.

I couldn't tell you how many Chinese molds I have worked on over the years and the build quality is amazingly poor. Tolerances and quality go out the window in order to save money. If I had the time I would make my own molds and produce hides that I guarantee would last a lifetime.