Loose MOTUC figure joint problems - Ways to fix them?

**Vorgon** · January 31, 2009, 03:54am

I just boiled some water in the kettle poured it over his waist and twisted,worked like a charm.I am in agreement with everyone about not putting him the freezer.

**chuc98** · January 31, 2009, 09:47am

Yeah it took a little coaxing, but my King Grayskull twists at the waist.

**Kent Parker** · January 31, 2009, 10:42am

Freezing causes brittleness, boiling can not be controlled, therefore every other joint could become too loose. If you can find a hair dryer, put it about a 1/2 inch from the palm of your hand & if it gets too hot for ya then it'll work perfectly. Use the hairdryer at intervals & different lengths as to not heat it too much.

let us know your status when your done so others will know.

**Larry Waters** · January 31, 2009, 11:05am

Ended up using a hair dryer, worked great.
Thanks, all!

**Whiplash7** · February 2, 2009, 12:53pm

When I opened skeletor and starting posing him, it became obvious that if I screwed around with it too much, over time the joints would become pretty loose. I got He-Man and Beast Man now, and they have looser joints than skeletor has. Beast Man is fairly loosey-goosey, not horrible but wouldn't stand up over time with a lot of playing around.

**Zuff-Man** · February 2, 2009, 01:36pm

My Skeletor has a really weak ankle, always turns inwards.

**Multibot** · February 2, 2009, 07:45pm

Originally Posted by Captain Atkin

Articulation is sooooooooooo overrated! I would rather they get rid of some of it (especially the ankle articulation... I like my figures when they are able to stand.)

yeah, but some of the 200x figures could have benefitted from ankle articulation. Especially Adam, Trap-jaw, Buzz-off, and any of the females, except Evil lynn.
I, for one, am glad these have ankle articulation. it means i can have them stand the way i want them to without them being pre-posed and falling over like the 200x figures do. i like my figures being able to move in many diff poses, especially $20 ones. they better have joints everywhere for that price. Anything less, and I wouldn't pay the $20 for it.

to me, the new figs are perfection. I certainly don't want joints to be so ungodly tight they break off right away, like some of the McFarlane figures do. But I don't like them loose & floppy either. i guess I'm one of the lucky ones to have decent joints on my figs.

if you hate the articulation so much you can always super glue the joint. problem solved.

**jok** · March 24, 2009, 08:34pm

Most of my MOTUC have loose joints right out of the package. My beastman has the biggest issues. Beastman's left knee and ankle will not hold the weight of his body when they are bent. This hinders his poseability. I know a few people mentioned some issues a while back, but I haven't noticed many people posting joint issues recently. Does anyone else have issues with the MOTUC joints, or am I just unlucky? Does anyone know a long term fix that has worked on tightening joints? Thank you in advance.

**Tiggerbeast** · March 25, 2009, 12:18pm

My Beast-Man couldn't stand up because his knee was loose. Someone told me to stick a bit of white school glue in the back in the leg joint. Get a lot in there. More the leg a bit. The let is dry. When it's drying, still keep moving it and the surpluss will come out. His legs is fine now.

I also had the famous Skeletor's wrist problem. After finding out how to alter Stratos' wings i used the same method.

First remove the his hean and armour - so they don't get soft and don't have melted paint apps.

Then wave a hairdryer over his wrist for a about 30 second. Pull it. If it doesn't budge, repeat for another 30 seconds until you can pull the hand off. Then put some glue in the wrist. Push the hand back into place and let the glue dry. My SKeletor's wrist doesn't flop about anymore.

I'm not sure how you would deal with arm pit sockets or hips. Someone posted a picture of a dsmantled Strats. If you can do that you could apply the glue technique to that.

I wouldn't recommend sticking a figure in a freezer because as soon as it warms up to normal temperature you'll still have the same problem of looseness.

**Overhaul** · March 26, 2009, 02:49pm

My Beastman Right knee and ankle are loose to no end....

It seems that heat might fix this issue. I'll give it a try.

**Eternian Poet** · April 27, 2009, 07:06pm

My Faker has a loose left arm - semi-positionable, shakes at the shoulder socket.

I'm told loose joints are common, but all my other MOTUC have stiff joints (HM, BM, Skel, Strat) with a few shaky ankle connections and some joints being very stiff I almost daren't move them.

Are very stiff & very loose joints common? I don't want to send back my Shaker-Faker & just get a new one back with 2 left feet.

thanks

**eternia23** · April 27, 2009, 07:07pm

i have 3 MOTUC figures. none of them have any loose joints.

**adam03** · April 27, 2009, 07:35pm

Mattel ran out of replacements for Faker, so your stuck with it. Try putting him in boiling water for about 30 seconds and letting him cool down, I`ve heard it works. I still haven`t had a problem with loose joints *knocks on wood*

**danbrenus** · May 2, 2009, 11:49am

I'd like to tighen the elbows and knees joints of some of my MOTUC but I bought just one figure per character so I'm afraid of ruining them.
Does someone know how to dismantle those joints without risking of broking it?

**Uncle Montork** · May 2, 2009, 12:08pm

For a second there I thought this was gonna be tar swamp material.

**GrtEternal** · May 2, 2009, 12:59pm

2 Suggestions:

1) Hair Dryer. Put in under the hair dryer for like 5-10 mins. When the plastic is soft enough, squeeze it a bit and then while squeezing it, run it under cold water to harden the plastic quickly. This should work, in theory anyway!

2) Crazy Glue. Put a drop on the joints that you want to tighten and just keep on moving the joint while the glue hardens. This will make enough friction to tighten the joints as the glue dries and it wont stick the joint as well, since you'll be moving it.

**adam03** · May 2, 2009, 01:16pm

Boil some water dip the figure in for 30 seconds. let cool and your done!!! takes as long as it takes for the water to boil and then 30 seconds

**Eric** · May 2, 2009, 03:40pm

I've used a hot glue gun before with the same procedure as GrtEternal listed for crazy glue. I haven't done it with a MOTUC figure, but I used it on a DCUC Nightwing whose head was insanely loose. I removed the head, applied some glue, stuck the head back on, and kept moving it until the glue was hard (only seconds for hot glue). It worked well.

**Eterniandreams** · May 2, 2009, 03:57pm

Some joints are just plugs, others have hinges with stubs in them.
The all open with hairdryers. Make sure to make it HOT.
Here are some pictures:

and a picture that is not mine, but from the forum:

**danbrenus** · May 3, 2009, 03:20am

Thanks guys, looks like I'll be busy with my wife's hairdryer!

**Eterniandreams** · May 5, 2009, 02:19pm

Did anyone open up a torso yet? I want to replace a shoulder.

**Dayton72** · July 26, 2009, 08:15pm

Anyone else get a Man-At-Arms with loose ankle or leg joints? Anyone have a cure for this? My MAA will barely stand....

**RockinHard** · July 26, 2009, 08:21pm

My MAA had a loose right ankle, and my Hordak and He-Man figures had a loose left ankle. Frustrating!

**Scare Glow** · July 26, 2009, 08:30pm

It’s a commonly reported problem.

And yes, My Man At Arms has the loose ankles as well.

If you haven’t discarded the package yet you can take some of the clear band which was used to hold the figure to the inner blister and wrap it into the joint, cutting it off flush.

Every other method I’ve heard of involves the use of glues and can damage the figure.

**yodafreakmaster** · July 26, 2009, 08:34pm

Yup. My leg joints are a bit loose. It is hard to get him to stand. Otherwise, I'm blown away by how awesome this figure is!! The accessories really made this figure something special! Probably the best "good guy" to date.

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