Bricks in Motion
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On a few of my minifigs, there is a crack in the torso underneath the arm.
This causes the arm joint to be loose, making it difficult to animate with.
Does anybody know what causes this, how to prevent it, and how to fix it when it does happen?
Causes:
Wear and tear, aging, physical violence, taking the arms out regularly can also do it. Occasionally a bad batch of plastic slips through quality control.
Prevention:
Keep the original arms in, be gentle and kind, keep in a temperature-controlled environment as major temperature and/or humidity swings may weaken the plastic.
Fix:
Unknown. Perhaps if you were will to get a bit radical, you could attempt to melt the plastic back together.
You might try superglue or something, but I'm not sure what will stick or actually do you any good.
I can't find much on how to fix them. Most recommend buying a replacement, or contacting Lego if it's a newer torso and they may replace it.
For something a bit more...redneck, you could stuff clay/stick-tac into the arm socket and that may help stiffen that joint up. Though it wouldn't help the crack any.
Probably around 70% of the Minifigures I use for my films will have one piece or another, whether it be the head, the torso or the legs that are vintage. Whilst I don't recall ever having this exact problem, some of my arms have cracked and broken apart. Like Pritchard said, it happens with age. I would definitely recommend using a replacement. That crack is only going to worsen.
A cracked torso is a very common problem when it comes to older minifigs.
Damaged minifigures are still usable though. I just don't recommend pulling out the arms anymore after the cracks happen. I also don't recommend using super glue because it will change the shape of the plastic. I'd only use super glue as an absolute last resort. Maybe a layer of elmer's glue over the cracks might do the trick to help keep it together temporarily?
I'd just say save them for fight scenes when you want to show 'damage' and add a small amount of blood around the cracking in order to sell the damaged effect.
I had to buy a new Brent and Melissa torso not b/c they are broken, but super-loose
I think I know why it cracked.
This is my sigfig that I made at the LEGO store a few years back out of the parts they have in that little stand where you can make your "custom" minifigs out of the small selection of pieces that they have there.
The parts in there must be the factory rejects, or "B-stocks."
When I get to the store, I'll try to get some liquid super glue to use, and just put a bunch of pressure on it, then scrape off the excess. Too bad the dollar store doesn't sell paint polish.
I think I know why it cracked.
This is my sigfig that I made at the LEGO store a few years back out of the parts they have in that little stand where you can make your "custom" minifigs out of the small selection of pieces that they have there.
The parts in there must be the factory rejects, or "B-stocks."
I doubt that's the case. LEGO doesn't intentionally let lower quality products into the world, they melt them down and re-use the plastic. I've bought minifigs from those stands before, and there was nothing wrong with them.
Backyard Legos is right. The Lego Store explicitly doesn't let such pieces go for sale in the stores, and will refuse to sell such parts at the price they do (or even at a discount). It tarnishes their quality associated with their name to do so.
Hey I know how to fix it! You just need to put a small piece of paper in the arm socket to give it more balance, I did it with my old Indiana jones torsos and it worked just fine, just make sure you hide the paper
Last edited by sebas (February 5, 2017 (04:58pm))
Posts [ 9 ]
