Are minifig arms supposed to be removed?

[lotryay]

SDFSDS

Edited July 29, 2012 by Sinner
Replacing your post with nonsense is really rude and annouing...

[Darkdragon]

According to TLG, no.

[CMP]

No, but you can, and I believe a lot of people do.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I agree with darkdragon. While they are the easier appendage to disassemble, compared to disassembling individual legs, there is the possibility of cracking the torso. I have switched plenty of older arms ('94-'03) with no problem, but am a little weary on newer ones. Especially white torsos. If you're like mint, best bet is to leave'em in

[friedchikenfairy]

I prefer not to, they're so annoying to put back in

[questforcastle]

The arms do come off quite easily, if you are careful. Here are some pics and links on minifig surgery: http://questforcastle.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/minifig-surgery/

[jFox]

I will occasionally remove arms and swap them to another figure. Usually its to get rid of "bare" yellow arms on a figure and give it some sort of shirt/armor. The same goes for hands. Sometimes a torso has the right colors but needs some non-yellow hands for gloves or gauntlets, so I'll swap them out. I worry a little every time I swap them out, but haven't had any major issues yet.

[The Blue Brick]

I always remove arms and limbs with no problem. I have noticed they can become more loose and can crack the torso, but never mind. Most mini figures that I perform surgery on are older ones from the 90's that I don't care about as much.

[SheepEater]

I'm with LEGO's official stance on this - no. I removed the arms from the torso, hands from legs and legs from hips numerous times on all my classic space minifigs when I was a kid and eventually the joints all became loose.

Eventually the wrist part of the arm cracked, and the torso around the arm joint cracked too.

Edited July 27, 2012 by SheepEater

[______]

No.

But rules are made to be broken.

[davee123]

My experience has been that normal torsos and arms can be removed and re-attached without much problem. Once you've done it a lot, or have put the arms under other stress, you may start noticing that they start to become loose.

However, with Chinese-manufactured torsos, I've found that if I remove an arm even once, that may be enough to make it loose. That's seemingly not true of ALL Chinese-manufactured torsos, but I found it was true with several of the "battle pack" figures (Trolls, Kingdoms). I haven't tried with the Collectible Minifigures for fear that the same problem would happen.

DaveE

[Omicron]

If you use the proper procedure of removing arms from torsos, you will have no troubles whatsoever and no cracking will happen. As a customizor, I remove and switch parts, new and old, many times a day over and over, and I've never had a cracked torso. Or arms for that matter.

-Omi

[Vindicare]

I don't do that anymore. I remember doing it as a kid. But now that I collect LEGO as sets and not for parts or MOCing, I leave 'em as is.

[sologuy369]

No.

But rules are made to be broken.

And apparently torsos too! I have never removed them. I had a friend that did this, and his figs were all messed up. I will only do it if I had to.

[HumanPackMule]

I used to do it all the time for customization or battle damage, but now I refrain from it since I don't do either of the latter, being more of a purist now.

[HawkLord]

I've also removed alot of Lego arms and legs when I was a kid and didn't care as much. Now that these are a collectible to me, I like to keep them organized and in good condition.

I guess on some non-themed sets I could see myself modding figures like this again.

[TheLegoDr]

I would say they are not meant to be removed. But that isn't to say I haven't removed my fair share. Some of the figures (new and old) are loose, whereas others are still tight as can be. I think it is a luck of the draw. You produce millions upon millions of pieces, there are going to be a few that aren't identical (even though theoretically they would be). I don't have a problem removing arms or legs, but I would be upset at myself if/when they become loose.

[______]

Has anyone's minifigure torsos cracked WITHOUT taking any arms off, ever? This happened to my Boba Fett 3 years ago and I was heartbroken. It doesn't seem like it was anything I did.

[Lightning Dragon]

I never do, because the joints might and usually become loose. It also slowly damages the torsos. After a few years, the torso might crack. I just don't want to risk it.

Edited July 28, 2012 by Lightning Dragon

[Omicron]

Has anyone's minifigure torsos cracked WITHOUT taking any arms off, ever? This happened to my Boba Fett 3 years ago and I was heartbroken. It doesn't seem like it was anything I did.

Torsos can crack from hip removal as well, since removing and putting them on can cause more stress to the torso than arms do.

-Omi

[______]

Torsos can crack from hip removal as well, since removing and putting them on can cause more stress to the torso than arms do.

-Omi

Thanks for that Omi, I did take his legs off a few times.

[Omicron]

Thanks for that Omi, I did take his legs off a few times.

What you want to do when removing hips/legs is to pull straight and not at an angle, that way you don't push on either sides.

-Omi

[______]

What you want to do when removing hips/legs is to pull straight and not at an angle, that way you don't push on either sides.

-Omi

Thanks for that, I generally don't take them apart at an angle nowadays, but 3 years ago...

[Admiral-Ackbar]

To kind of summarize what has been said here, the Lego Group does recommend removing the arms of a minifigure, as well as many people who believe that minifigures should be left the way they are, but it can be done for the sake of customising, battle damage or just cos you can. If you don't want to risk breaking the arms or torso of your minifigures or just want to keep your minifigures in mint condition, don't bother.

[Hammerstein NWC]

To kind of summarize what has been said here, the Lego Group does recommend removing the arms of a minifigure, as well as many people who believe that minifigures should be left the way they are, but it can be done for the sake of customising, battle damage or just cos you can. If you don't want to risk breaking the arms or torso of your minifigures or just want to keep your minifigures in mint condition, don't bother.

Typo - "doesn't"?

Personally I swap arms out all the time and have never had one crack on me.My nephew has some white arms with cracks in them but I guess that is because he isn't quite so gentle.