Figma Drossel’s Stiff Shoulders

So you’ve finally gotten your hands on a Figma Drossel, huh? She may be an awesome Figma to pose and play with, but from both firsthand experience and feedback here and here, some care is needed when handling Drossel.

(Click on the thumbnails for the full-sized images)

Hey, Shishkabob!

Yes, my lady! By the way, my name is actually Ged- never mind.

The problem mostly lies with her shoulder joints. There are quite a few cases where Figma Drossel’s shoulder joints are incredibly stiff, leading to breakage. Posts on Figure.fm and 4chan.org’s /toy/ section also talk about Drossel’s problematic shoulders.

Stiff shoulder joint?

The first thing to remember is to gently test Figma Drossel’s shoulders first. If it moves freely without any significant force, you’re golden. Otherwise, don’t force it! In most cases, forcing it to move will just increase your chances of snapping the joint in half. If you do get a Drossel with stiff shoulders, here’s I did to loosen her shoulder joints.

Drossel prepares for a dip

1. Heat an ample amount of water and put it in a bowl or any container. It should be hot enough, but not boiling. Unless you want to burn your fingers, of course.

Since this involves water, you’ll want to do this in a place where no gadgets and electrical stuff are around. With your bowl of hot water ready, let’s move on to the next step.

No, not like that!

2. Next, pull apart or ‘pop’ the parts that won’t be needing a dip in the water. You can safely remove Drossel’s head and arms before dipping her in hot water.

Drossel without her head and arm

3. Dip the affected part (in this case, her shoulder) in the hot water and swish it around for about 5-10 seconds.

Like sushi in shoyu

The plastic will soften a bit so let it cool before you touch it, otherwise you’ll risk stripping the paint or deforming the part. Watch the video on how to loosen the shoulder joint:

It may take a few tries before it totally loosens so just give it a couple of dips if you don’t get it on the first try.

To explain how this works, the hot water makes the plastic more pliable and when you take it out of the heat, the rapid cooling loosens up the joints. You could get the same results with a hair dryer, but you’ll have to be careful not to melt the whole thing.

This trick isn’t exclusive to Figma, and you can use it on almost any figure that you’re having stiffness problems with.

Getting stiff yet?

Almost, Echidna. I hope other Figma Drossel owners would find something helpful from these tips.

In case you haven’t got a Figma Drossel yet, you can get her from the following stores:

• Figma Drossel at Play-Asia (pre-order)
• Figma Drossel at Otacute (pre-order)
• Figma Drossel at HobbyLink Japan (pre-order)