Loose MOTUC figure joint problems - Ways to fix them?

[radrcks]

Merman, Faker, Hordak and MAA (all 3 of my MAA) all have loose ankle joints. Thankfully Hordak has the cape and staff so I can kind of balance him, but MAA is just horrible, two of them have ankle and thigh joints so loose I have to lean them against my 200x Castle Grayskull prison or else they fall down every 10-15 minutes. Even leaned against the prison bars they still fall down at least once a day.

[G3PO]

yeah, my MAA has loose a loose ankle joint to. I'm a little bummed

[Lerath666]

the hip joint on MAA is loose on mine as well. he seems to keep wanting to go into a split.

[Jii Dee]

I tried tightening the knee on my zodac to no avail..the 2 halves that cup the shin are too wide...and..i fear...soft? seems the plastic has alot of give.
Tried heating under tap while compressing joint with a compress but ..no luck. I'm thinking i may need to knock out the pin, heat the 2 outside sections and then bend them past the point i want them to be so when they spring back they're still tighter than they were? anyone else had issues with the plastic on some figs joints being a tad flexible?

[Darkkosis]

My Hordak had a very loose (floppy) ankle until moments ago, where I fixed the problem with a a common household rubber band!

I used a school glue before but it didn't work as desired, so I pealed it off... And I was worried to use a super/crazy glue due to the high probability of causing any permanent damage to problematic area, since the outer joint is/was way too wide anyways for any glue to settle in to cause a suitable friction!

So, here is what I did:

I looked for a thick (enough) rubber band laying around, and I snugged it inside the space that is located between the ankle and the foot, then I warped tight into the cavity where the rubber-band section disappeared within the cavity.
Then I made sure that there is enough friction to hold the figure in different poses before I cut the excess pieces.
Once the desired friction was obtained, I cut the rest of the rubber band and stored it away for any future applications.

Maybe over time, the rubber band will wear off at one point, then you can take it with a pair of tweezers, and replace it with a new piece.

Such a solution can be applicable successfully to these loose joints without any permanent damage: arm joints, knee joints, ankle joins, and even rest joints.

All you have to do is to figure out the right rubber band thickness for each loose joint and application.

Hope it works for you guys...

[Dayton72]

I used to pop the arms off of my original figures and put masking tape on the pegs to stiffen the arms...something to be said for the old simple design of toys. However, these new figures are simply kick a$$ in detail

I plan on trying the boiling water on 2 or 3 of my floppy figs tonight. Beastman and Stratos are a bit wonky too...

Thanks to the admin that moved my post over to this forum too

XXX Update XXX

The boiling water trick is SWEET! I did that during lunch and now my MAA will stand up straight! Also boiled and reshaped some of my classic figure weapons, 200x weapons, and Zoar and Screech's wings!

Thanks for the terrific tip!

[orionpaximusprime]

My he-man has had the bent knee of doom since day one and Beast man is a floppy as a marionette doll... my skeletor and MAA are in good shape though.

[bobshumway]

My Teela's right elbow joint is super loose to the point where she can't even hold the sword upright. Any pointers on how to fix this?

[Marvelous0ne]

Boil some water in the microwave. Put the arm into the water for 30 seconds or so. Put the faucet on cold and let it run. Take Teela out of the hot water. Pinch the elbow joint tightly. While pinching the elbow. Place her under the cold water for a good minute. Then dry her off. Then place her in the freezer for 30 minutes or longer. Then take her out. The elbow should be tighter once she has reached room temp.

If that doesn't work, try clear finger nail polish. Put some in the joint and move her elbow back and for to get it in there good. Then let her sit for a while. Once dried, move the elbow again. the polish should crack and make it tight. You can also do the same with crazy glue. But you have to be careful not to glue her elbow together. Also do not try to wrap anyhting into the joint. it could warp it and make the problem worse!

[RafiS]

Hi, uh, sorry, newbie here and I got my first MOTUC Teela figure about a week ago.

Anyway, as with most figures, her knees are a bit loose - I know about the boiling thing - but won't that cause paint smudges. I'm so worried cus I don't wanna spoil any of them.

Do I just put it in boiling water, take it out in 20 seconds and leave it - or do I wipe it dry.

I mean, its Teela!! and its my only figure lol, so I have to be really careful

[WhiteKnuckles]

does all this boiling/freezing the plastic do anything to the paint job? i would think it could affect it in some negative way??

[Whiplash7]

I read the rubber band suggestion above and tried it...I've saved many of those clear rubber bands from the packaging and they came in handy once again. My Tri-Klops can stand again!
I used the smaller ones that came with Webstor, and simply looped them around and around the inside of the ankles until it couldn't loop anymore, and now he's as good as new. You can't even see the rubber bands if you do it right.

[BustaJesse]

I received Hordak yesterday and his anlkes are really loose. I am going to bang out the pin and use future floor polish to tighten things up.

I received Hordak yesterday and his anlkes are really loose. I am going to bang out the pin and use future floor polish to tighten things up.

So I got the ankle pins out, not as scary as what I have done with some Transformers. I coated the inner parts of the ankle with future floor polish and the rings on the feet that connect to the ankles got a couple coats as well. All Mattel would really have to do to stop floppy ankles is make that foot ring like 1 or 2 millimeters thicker. I won't really know for 24 hours how much it helped but I am hoping for positive results. The biggest problem with Hordak is he is so damn top heavy with his cape and chest armor.