How come not all minifig accessories come with rounded ends/smooth gri

[ziljin]

I know for some its impossible like the rifle, and some its more stylish to have a non-smoothgrip like the Bow or Pirates theme sword.

But some weapons like the Atlantis trident, some of the castle pikes, crossbow, and mace, the bottom of the weapon is not round, and I find it difficult to get the minifig hands to equip the weapon without noticeable "damage" to the weapon. I don't know if its the material of the accessory, but I always thought it was the non round edge that made it difficult to equip. I know for accesories with rounded grips/ends the accesories slide right into the hands without any trouble.

And the non smooth grips like the bows or the pirates sword, the grips get even more noticeable damage on the grips.

To minimize damage, I started leaving the weapon in the minfig hand and switch the hands.

[Ralph_S]

I know for some its impossible like the rifle, and some its more stylish to have a non-smoothgrip like the Bow or Pirates theme sword.

But some weapons like the Atlantis trident, some of the castle pikes, crossbow, and mace, the bottom of the weapon is not round, and I find it difficult to get the minifig hands to equip the weapon without noticeable "damage" to the weapon. I don't know if its the material of the accessory, but I always thought it was the non round edge that made it difficult to equip. I know for accesories with rounded grips/ends the accesories slide right into the hands without any trouble.

And the non smooth grips like the bows or the pirates sword, the grips get even more noticeable damage on the grips.

To minimize damage, I started leaving the weapon in the minfig hand and switch the hands.

Your post had me a little confused for a bit, but I think that what you're trying to say is that if the end of the grip isn't rounded off, you damage it when sliding it into the minifigs' hands.

Pulling the minifig hands out of the arms is undoubtedly doing damage there, so that's probably not a good idea. My suggestion would be not to try to slip the hands over the non-rounded ends of the weapons, but to simply click them onto the hands. The hands are flexible enough to do that. That way the hands and the end of the weapon don't even come near each other.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Front]

I suggest the same as Ralph_s. This is how the minifigure hand are supposed to function. You are not required to slide anything in from the end, just let the hand clip onto the rod, and pull it of the same way.

Edited January 9, 2010 by Front

[ziljin]

Clipping them into the minifig hand does the same damage if not more.

[thelast]

I have the same problem with pirate sword, you can see the damage on it when you try to clip it in a hand. I like very much spears and axes, cause you can just slide the weapon in the hand. :) If I can, I always try to slide the weapon first and then clip it.

[Ralph_S]

Clipping them into the minifig hand does the same damage if not more.

I find that hard to believe. I can't see any damage whatsoever to any of the weapons (or other utensils) I've got, including those with a shiny finish. Even sliding things with a straight edge into a minifig hand or a clip for that matter doesn't produce any visible damage if you align them properly. I can imagine some wear occurring if you do it dozens of times, but do you do it that frequently?

Cheers,

Ralph

[Rick]

It mainly has to do with the soft material (there's been a similar thread in the Pirates forum) that many weapons are made of. Spears, pirates pistols, and 80s swords for example are made from a harder material and aren't damaged when clipped into minifigs' hands. The softer bows, new swords, and pirates cutlasses for example are softer and get damaged slightly when put into minifigs' hands.

[jamtf]

I think it depends on the item that is being used. Some utensils and weapons like goblets, spears, axes, rifles, etc. are made of more durable plastic. Other items such as cutlasses and the bow and arrow assembly are always getting somewhat damaged since these seem to be made of softer and more flexible ABS.

Edit: Rick, you beat me by 1 minute!

Edited January 9, 2010 by jamtf

[CP5670]

This is actually a known issue now, and several people have brought it up in the quality thread. See the entry on "deformable minifig accessories." It's a fairly recent problem and seems to be caused by poor molding tolerance.

[ziljin]

Okay thanks for the info.

[Ralph_S]

That explains it. I don't actually have any Atlantis or pirates sets, so the weapons in my collection are probably made of sterner stuff.

Cheers,

Ralph