Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
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I have found some minifig with very stiff joints making animation difficult, I have considered adding oil to the joints..... I actually tried Vaseline in my last film, works pretty well but can't be good to the paint on the minifig.... Also considering using mild abrasives like Autosol to polish up the joints ..... Any suggestions?
I'd avoid putting much of anything on your minifigures. Not only could it damage them, the "lube" could show up in the film and/or make the figure hard to grip.
For arm socket joints, I carefully pop the arm out, then back in, a time or two, then spin it round and round. That generally loosens it enough.
Legs can be loosened by the same procedure, but you really don't want to loosen those too much. You need the legs to be stiff and sturdy if you intend on doing any upper body movement without him whole body moving around.
If the head is too stiff, spin it around and around rapidly. That should do the trick.
Ah..... Never thought about having a stiff set of Legs being a good thing.... 
Legs can be too stiff. I used a different pair of legs (an older pair) than the vampire's legs in my Drakeula parody because his were too stiff. I'm also not opposed to sanding a neck on a torso I don't care much about, to enable the head to move better. I find that when things are too stiff, it's hard to make the finer movements. Granted, I don't consider myself a collector, so I'm not a purist about loosening up some joints.
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