9 replies to this topic

[Donut]

Earlier this week I received some Fabuland figures from a friend of mine and together with the two that I had since childhood, my small collection is up to five . I hope to expand my collection in the near future, but for the time being I want to take good care of the ones I have.

As of now, two of the figs have worn out printings.



You can slightly tell from this low quality picture that both the elephant's eye and raccon's nose are a little worn out. What is the best method to restore the printings? Would a fine tip Sharpie pen be sufficient for this job?


Also are Fabuland figures detachable like a standard minifgure? I tried removing the head of the racoon but it didn't seem to budge. I am afraid that I damaged the integrity of the figure.

Thanks in advance!

Edited by Donut, 22 April 2011 - 01:31 AM.

[badboytje88]

Only thing I would do is remove the decal on the racoons body as it is not official. I wouldn't touch the heads with a sharpy if I were your. I find it the charm of fabuland that most of the figs look a little bit used.

[Rufus]

Donut, on 22 April 2011 - 01:30 AM, said:

Also are Fabuland figures detachable like a standard minifgure? I tried removing the head of the racoon but it didn't seem to budge. I am afraid that I damaged the integrity of the figure.

Read The Forest mafia for the answer to that!  It shows many innovative ways Fabuland figures can be abused.  

The head can be removed, but it requires quite a lot of force, and results in a disconcerting 'pop'.  The legs can be removed by pushing the little bar out.  I guess the joints will be weakened if this is done too often, but the legs of Fabu figures tend to get very weak over time anyway.

And, like badboy, I couldn't recommend using Sharpie.  Those figures are in reasonable condition; a little wear only adds to the charm!

[SlyOwl]

Also, the arms can be removed and swapped with minifig arms.
Head-wise, the head can always be removed, but, depending on the age of the figure, the grey neck bit (right in the middle there) sometimes comes out with the head or stays in the body. It can then be separated again, but you're going to need pliers for that... (or at least I did!)
It's true the legs get floppy if you keep swapping them around, but Hinck posted somewhere about how to stiffen them up again - I can't find it right now, but it was something to do with painting the red bar with PVA glue or summat to widen the bar.

[Rick]

SlyOwl, on 22 April 2011 - 10:02 AM, said:

It's true the legs get floppy if you keep swapping them around, but Hinck posted somewhere about how to stiffen them up again - I can't find it right now, but it was something to do with painting the red bar with PVA glue or summat to widen the bar.

The article is linked in the FBG index.

[Donut]

Thanks for the response everyone!

badboytje88, on 22 April 2011 - 05:59 AM, said:

I wouldn't touch the heads with a sharpy if I were your. I find it the charm of fabuland that most of the figs look a little bit used.

For the sake of preserving charm, I will take up your advice! However, I am going to leave the decale alone as someone took the time to decorate this figure. It would be good to preserve their memory.

Rufus, on 22 April 2011 - 08:44 AM, said:

Read The Forest mafia for the answer to that! It shows many innovative ways Fabuland figures can be abused.

The head can be removed, but it requires quite a lot of force, and results in a disconcerting 'pop'. The legs can be removed by pushing the little bar out. I guess the joints will be weakened if this is done too often, but the legs of Fabu figures tend to get very weak over time anyway.

Poor Helena hippo! At least her death was not in vain as I have learned that heads are detachable.

SlyOwl, on 22 April 2011 - 10:02 AM, said:

Also, the arms can be removed and swapped with minifig arms.
Head-wise, the head can always be removed, but, depending on the age of the figure, the grey neck bit (right in the middle there) sometimes comes out with the head or stays in the body. It can then be separated again, but you're going to need pliers for that... (or at least I did!)

That's great to know! I think just to be safe, I will use tools to remove the head.

SlyOwl, on 22 April 2011 - 10:02 AM, said:

It's true the legs get floppy if you keep swapping them around, but Hinck posted somewhere about how to stiffen them up again - I can't find it right now, but it was something to do with painting the red bar with PVA glue or summat to widen the bar.

Rick, on 22 April 2011 - 10:06 AM, said:

The article is linked in the FBG index.

Thanks for the reference and the link. Using the acrylic paint is brilliant. Does this method also apply to standard minifig joints?

[brickart]

Hello,

I just got 3 cool FABULAND figs from 1979, but the necks of the figs are a bitt TO moveable, they are not as tight as they use to be.
Is there a SAVE way to tighten up the necks of these vintage figs?

[Darkdragon]

You can put a thin coat of clear fingernail polish on the neck ball (not in the socket) and the same with the leg bar.

However, it can be very difficult to get the legs off without damaging anything.

[Pandora]

brickart, on 24 July 2012 - 06:58 PM, said:

Hello,

I just got 3 cool FABULAND figs from 1979, but the necks of the figs are a bitt TO moveable, they are not as tight as they use to be.
Is there a SAVE way to tighten up the necks of these vintage figs?

The answers you seek are found in the Fabuland Builders Guild - Discussion thread.  

A good place to start a search when looking for answers to questions about FABULAND.  

[Rufus]

Pandora, on 24 July 2012 - 07:46 PM, said:

The answers you seek are found in the Fabuland Builders Guild - Discussion thread.  

Thanks, Pandy.  

I'll merge this into 'Concerning Fabuland Figures'.