Leaning Figures
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67)
Fri 2007/06/01 00:58
Is it my imagination or is this figure leaning?
She looks like shes trying to pull a Matrix or something ^^;
She looks like shes trying to pull a Matrix or something ^^;
Many figure collectors may experience a leaning figure in their collection from time to time.
Here is some low down that I got from Modeller T last Sunday. There are different grades of figure factories in China (mainly in Shenzhen). The cost per unit goes up with higher grade factories. So if you are going to give away a freebie with a magazine ( like this figure of Kujo Hachie ) then you will want to keep the cost low.
Cost goes up when the body and arms are made of PVC and leg parts of ABS. The strong ABS usually prevents figures from leaning even if they are standing on one leg.
In this case, I guess the figure was designed with too much weight distributed towards the front of the figure + cheap unit cost = leaning.
So what can I do about it? Well I do what I did to my leaning star wars figures and take a hairdryer to the legs.
Once the legs start to turn black and you start to smell burning plastic, then you can kiss your figure goodbye.
Only heat the legs until they are bendy ^^;
Here is some low down that I got from Modeller T last Sunday. There are different grades of figure factories in China (mainly in Shenzhen). The cost per unit goes up with higher grade factories. So if you are going to give away a freebie with a magazine ( like this figure of Kujo Hachie ) then you will want to keep the cost low.
Cost goes up when the body and arms are made of PVC and leg parts of ABS. The strong ABS usually prevents figures from leaning even if they are standing on one leg.
In this case, I guess the figure was designed with too much weight distributed towards the front of the figure + cheap unit cost = leaning.
So what can I do about it? Well I do what I did to my leaning star wars figures and take a hairdryer to the legs.
Once the legs start to turn black and you start to smell burning plastic, then you can kiss your figure goodbye.
Only heat the legs until they are bendy ^^;
Once the legs are soft n bendy, I run them under cold water and hold the legs in the position I want them to be in. You can feel the plastic harnening as the water runs.
The result. I kept her leaning forward just a bit. From time to time figures will start to bend depending on how cheap the plastic was and or weight distribution but this has worked wonders on my star wars figures before without having to repeat the process.
More lowdown behind the figure scene soon. If there is anything you particularly want to know, let me know ^^
BTW, this is a figure of Kujou Hachie who can be found weekly in a series called "bee-be-beat it" in the telephone book sized manga Dragon Age Pure.
More lowdown behind the figure scene soon. If there is anything you particularly want to know, let me know ^^
BTW, this is a figure of Kujou Hachie who can be found weekly in a series called "bee-be-beat it" in the telephone book sized manga Dragon Age Pure.
If you are new here, you may want to keep up with more of the same via RSS or Danny's other networks. (dont show again)
I just have a bunch of lame gashapons.. i don´t have this problem of leaning. u_u'
(ID #48827) Posted on 2007/06/01 01:24
Hey Danny, I just have a request. Often times, I look at these posts and always wonder where the character is from. I liked how you told us who this was, and where they were from at the end of the post. It would be really cool if you did this for more posts. However, I understand that in most posts you cover like 20 figures and it would be hard for you to name them all. Yeah...but whatever, just a suggestion...Keep up the good work! :D
(ID #48828) Posted on 2007/06/01 01:39
Graphic Designer
none of figure leans at the moment, thank god, since i only have a few of them out for display, the rest are still in box. i live in a tropical country so heat will always be a problem, i wonder if there's anyway to prevent leaning
(ID #48829) Posted on 2007/06/01 01:49
Kenny Liu in New York
Omg! I've been waiting for a solution like this! Thanks a lot!
(ID #48830) Posted on 2007/06/01 02:23
Ho....well this is gonna be helpful Lol. Hopefully I don't burn my figurine to a crisp :X
(ID #48831) Posted on 2007/06/01 02:31
The-O in California, USA
Great guide, leaning figures are becoming quite common now with all the dynamic poses. I'll definitely give it a try and see what happens.
(ID #48833) Posted on 2007/06/01 03:04
Yuri eroge artist. Well, sort of.
Except for figma :D
(ID #242222) Posted on 2008/07/19 20:18
CG Artist wannabe / Figure Collector / Deadman
I don't have any huge leaning figures as I don't display them outside their boxes. Some small figures that has no window box (gasha, trdg figs, etc.) are starting to lean though...
(ID #48834) Posted on 2007/06/01 03:13
Rob_Jedi
I've used the heat em up and set with cold water thing before. Worst case I had was when I found out the reason an Appleseed Deunan action figure wouldn't stand up. She litterally had 2 left feet T_T The heating up trick worked enough to bend he foot so she could stand. This used to be a big problem with old vinyl kits too, they'd bend over and collapse in summer. That's why they'd always tell you to fill the legs with plaster.
(ID #48835) Posted on 2007/06/01 03:24
IT Developer
I prefer to use hot water instead of using hair dryer, safer. I fixed my leaning figurines with hot water + cold water method.
(ID #48838) Posted on 2007/06/01 03:43
student
not even gashapons are safe from the leaning problem. a few of my rei's from my evangelion collections are doing a great limbo dance.
(ID #48839) Posted on 2007/06/01 03:57
My Mamiya Ayumi figure by Max Factory acts like its trying to lean, as is the Yamamoto Seras Victoria figure when i have the arm thing attached.
(ID #48840) Posted on 2007/06/01 04:03
Hobby Store clerk guy thing...
hmmm, I only got 2 figures I'm worried about leaning atm, it's Ink-tan of Moetan by Kotobukiya (I think...), and my Black Saber by Alter. Saber is showing signs, but Ink-tan, while looking VERY prone to leaning, isn't actually leaning o_O Bah, I wanted to get that figure you got there Danny, I never got around to finding it tho >.
(ID #48842) Posted on 2007/06/01 04:17
omesius in Hawai'i
She's doing the Michael Jackson lean. The base looks like it has to be pretty heavy to hold her up.
(ID #48844) Posted on 2007/06/01 05:10
Some of my Pinky:st figs are leaning that way, their heads are to heavy so they end up like that, also, I'm moving soon so I started to pack everything and broke the base of one of my figs in the process, I'm searching for a replacement, but I can't find anything useful.
(ID #48845) Posted on 2007/06/01 05:17
Hasn't happened yet to any of my figures, then again I only have 3 and they're high quality SEGA - Gainax Extra Summer Beach Figures of Rei and Asuka, and the Gothic Lolita Asuka.
(ID #48846) Posted on 2007/06/01 05:20
None of mine have started to bend yet, maybe because the weight is either evenly distributed or there is a wide base for the figure.
(ID #48847) Posted on 2007/06/01 05:45
For me should be okay since i have not open and displayed any of my figurine out of their box yet. If my figurine lean, it will break my heart.
(ID #48850) Posted on 2007/06/01 06:17
Student
Never happened to me before but i know that if you were to leave figures of a lower quality, say Gashapons or Trading figures, out in the sun on a hot day, they will gradually bend so i keep my figures away from the sun. Also...Noizi Ito FTW!
(ID #48852) Posted on 2007/06/01 06:52
I hate leaning figures! My new Atelier-sai Mikuru leans quite a lot now - more due to a loose connection to the base than shoddy bendy plastic, so i cant do much about it. I like figures standing on one leg, but i always worry about leaning. Hope my non-non will be ok when i get it! My all time fave figure (max factory kasumi) is thankfully fine after several years, despite reports of it being prone to leaning. Great tip about the hairdryer by the way.
(ID #48853) Posted on 2007/06/01 06:53
Software Developer
I have 2 figures that tend to lean : the well-known blue Max Fact. Kasumi, and the Max Fact. Ayumi (Magikano), and this is mostly because of the base fixings. But in your case, woho! That's a real issue O_o First time I see such a leaning figure.
(ID #48854) Posted on 2007/06/01 06:56
Dog of the Country
i didn't know figures can lean.. new thing to note..
(ID #48855) Posted on 2007/06/01 08:42
.NET/Web Developer
Thanks for the tip. I'll try that out along with the other tips I've read on leaning figures.
(ID #48856) Posted on 2007/06/01 08:47
Oh this reminds me of last summer. I bought lots of sega girls gashapon figures from the May MCM Expo, only to find that half of them fell over because they lean to one side, i will have to try the haridryer, because a couple of them still lean >_
(ID #48858) Posted on 2007/06/01 08:53
Designer & Animator
Ouch...!! Thats gotta "hurt" the figures? Good thing for the tip you gave here now i can fix those Gashapon figures with bent legs ^^
(ID #48863) Posted on 2007/06/01 11:50
GundamJehutyKai in London
Leaning is a major problem for any PVC kit (which is why I mostly stick with resin). It's also why you don't get too many kits with really dynamic poses in resin. Unfortunately there is no way around the problem, save for keeping the kit in it's box.
(ID #48864) Posted on 2007/06/01 12:30
Student
Interesting way to solve leaning figures. I did have a problem though, with one particular figure: the EnterBrain Craft Saber. She began to lean backwards, and I was afraid to put anything hot near her legs because her huge skirt would probably get deformed as a result. I just ended up putting her back into the plastic casing and just let gravity do its work on her. It's really slow, and takes up a lot of space, but it at least requires no other effort on your part. She's still slightly bent though.
(ID #48865) Posted on 2007/06/01 13:11
icie in Sydney
Holy crap, your Kujou Hachie has leaned that much already? It's been out, what, a month? I only just got it last week. Gonna observe it and see if it does any bullet-dodging slowmo action. But it's winter over here so the temperatures are pretty cool and stable, unless I go crazy on the heater.
(ID #48867) Posted on 2007/06/01 13:32
Many thanks to you, Danny. You have saved my Max Factory Ignis from a fate of certain aesthetically displeasing slanty-ness. I've had this problem before with my Yuna figure from Kotobukiya which I fixed by propping up with some blu-tack under her feet, but this method works much better ^^.
(ID #48868) Posted on 2007/06/01 14:06
Policy & Research Officer
normally I soak them in hot water instead of using a hairdryer. But now I would really think hard before getting a figurine on impulse so I won't have to constantly deal with such problems
(ID #48869) Posted on 2007/06/01 15:35
anime/cosplay events organizer
this is a great tip danny! thanx! ^^ i now know how to deal with leaning/bending figures ^^ @alafista that's an interesting tip ^^. *adds tip in the list* thanx ^^
(ID #48872) Posted on 2007/06/01 16:03
Thats too bad, I'm thinking of starting a figure collection but everytime I see something like this makes me reconsider investing in more gunpla. Does resin cast figures have this problem?
(ID #48873) Posted on 2007/06/01 18:50
never buy any PVC figure. to shy^^ in indonesia if u did buy it many ppl think you are.... sukebe^^
(ID #48874) Posted on 2007/06/01 19:23
Animator/ graphic designer
looks like a smooth criminal!~ i rarely have bendy leg problems because i keep the figures in supported positions(usually by lieu of another figure's random body part)
(ID #48887) Posted on 2007/06/02 02:27
Only some of my gashapons lean. Don't have any problems so far with my scale figures.
(ID #48912) Posted on 2007/06/02 12:58
Polytechnic Senior, Bronze Lifesaving Trainee, Mech Designer, Pokemon Indexer.
i don't have any leaning figures because i coundn't buy any T_T... thank god gundams are hard.
(ID #48918) Posted on 2007/06/02 14:21
Nice one! Can't wait until my wife finds me blowing her hairdryer up Ranpha Framboise's skirt tonight.
(ID #48924) Posted on 2007/06/02 16:54
Self-Employed IT, Aspiring Web Designer
I have heard of this leaning phenomenon before, and while it is true that time can be hard on these figures, heat is also a factor. Every summer (as well as this one), I take all my figures off the shelves and put them into cold, dry storage in the basement. Cold and dry meaning that I put them into sealed plastic storage bins. They're cheap and they work. I've been lucky thus far. ^_^
(ID #48929) Posted on 2007/06/02 21:06
hey danny choo. i am a huge fan of yours. you got everything i ever wanted. anyway hope you read this. i have a question about the figures in general. i recently fell in love with the haruhi figures, and got the one from max factory (can you also tell me if they are any good in figures? if not which company is good?).....i was drawn by beautiful photoshoped pixtures and cover art of the box. however, i saw some pictures online of that same max facotry figure of haruki and it looks sooooooooo BAD!!!!! the plastic was shiney, and the color was dull and really off from anime skin color....it was ugly. can you tell me if its the pictures or .....my imagination or is it maybe posiblly a fake? http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Anime-Haruhi-Suiumiya-18cm-figure-w-box-Y853_W0QQitemZ220117785434QQihZ012QQcategoryZ1345QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem thanks a bunch danny!!!!!
(ID #49034) Posted on 2007/06/04 10:58
CEO MIrai Inc
renatanaka, A bit difficult to see from the photos so I cant tell you - sorry
(ID #49040) Posted on 2007/06/04 14:17
Scanlator, iCONIST, Web master
and i thought leaning figurines were cool, guess i have to think twice huh? XD
(ID #49203) Posted on 2007/06/07 00:25
One way quick way to prevent this is to use a piece of wire of adequate length to hook to the base and 'pull' the figure back. If it's too short the wire will not be able to cover enough area around the leg. If it's too long there wont be enough force to tug the figure backwards as it's loose or the hooks won't attach. This method depends on the design of the base though. The pics (Hiro from NEverland Collection by Atelier Sai) provided will give a graphical explanation of the point Im trying to deliver. Hiro (pic) is the only 1 of 5 in this set which bends like 3 weeks after purchase. It's been almost a year since this piece of wire was stuck and still no signs of possible bending. http://s2.supload.com/free/P1000477.JPG/view/ http://s2.supload.com/free/P1000479.JPG/view/ Otherwise you can always take a drill and pin your figure's centre of gravity to the base nicely (hurts regardless of gender D:). Also the support will not visually hinder the figure with this method. Hiro can get away with the cheap method because of her skirt.
(ID #51287) Posted on 2007/07/09 14:46
mangarabbit in roswell, NM usa
hey your figures are amazing, the vivid colors, detail, and poses, and allure of some of your figures is trancing. i own some magical pokan, and i think you desighned the kodomo no jikan i have...well anyway keep up the good(oops i mean awesome)work.....and ill buy!, also if you wanna see some of my work just let me know.....i draw manga(my addiction)....original ideas, tattoo desighns, and anything art!
(ID #52931) Posted on 2007/07/30 03:39
My Saber Swimsuit from alter is leaning forwards, so is Temari and Ryomou leans backward. Semi fixed them with some form of support. Except Saber, i've even screwed her to the base because she riped a pin off... but that was hanging Melissa in her hands xD
(ID #57900) Posted on 2007/09/27 13:51
Anime Retailer
I had a figure of Belldandy that started to lean... I also used a hairdryer to get the proper shape back and then fitted her with a GUNPLA parts tree cut to size. :)
(ID #61681) Posted on 2007/10/31 19:27
I just keep my figures on their boxes/packaging since I'm an obssessive-compulsive person regarding this issue. After all the figures are somewhat visible even if they're in the boxes/packaging. An awesome tip nonetheless, thanks!
(ID #69819) Posted on 2008/01/16 01:46
I have a few figures that i just lay down because they bend or fall over constantly.
(ID #70998) Posted on 2008/01/30 06:12
Jut tried out your tip and it worked out great!! Thanks!!
(ID #71449) Posted on 2008/02/04 18:44
Isit me or does the figure leans like Micheal Jackson? My trading figures is still in good shape, so no worries for me.
(ID #201403) Posted on 2008/05/31 20:49
At first I thought the figure is supposed to be leaning! Don't own any PVC figures, the closest thing I encounter this is with the SD Gundam Full Color gashapons.
(ID #201451) Posted on 2008/05/31 22:58
lol i thought the same thing!
(ID #201463) Posted on 2008/05/31 23:38
student
I also thought that it was supposed to be leaning... Never even knew figures would bend so easily. Since I have so few figures, there are no signs of any bending in mine.
(ID #201481) Posted on 2008/06/01 00:14
well til now none of my figures are leaning but i do have problems with Star Wars figures everytime i buy a figure its legs are crooked T_T my dad tried to fix 'em by heating its legs LOL! anyway it worked, they're not melted though
(ID #201508) Posted on 2008/06/01 00:47
Why don't trying to build in some precious metal sticks ? Could be some help or not ? ^^ I decided not to buy cheap manufactured figures. Even if it costs a bit more.
(ID #201601) Posted on 2008/06/01 02:09
Pursuing that ever-elusive diploma.
Nice, I can use this method to fix my leaning Haruhi figurine! ^^ Epic thanks, Danny.
(ID #201634) Posted on 2008/06/01 03:15
What an amazing tip! I've been lucky at avoiding leaners but at least I know when the day comes where one does lean all hope is not lost!
(ID #226743) Posted on 2008/07/01 12:19
Video Reviewer of Anime Figures, Mecha and Merch (youtube.com/user/Actar576295)
Really wondering what kind of temperatures would most encourage leaning.
(ID #233994) Posted on 2008/07/09 21:27
Evil Fanfic Writer
Good thing that if Gundams start to lean, you just straighten the leg a bit :P
(ID #255599) Posted on 2008/08/03 19:22
School girl(MIDDLE SCHOOL)
oh thank you soooo much i needed hel with that ToT
(ID #367718) Posted on 2008/11/12 07:45
School girl(MIDDLE SCHOOL)
help heh sorri
(ID #367719) Posted on 2008/11/12 07:46
For a moment I thought those were bootleg figs.
(ID #451074) Posted on 2009/01/17 06:17
Client Services Management
I second that thought. Eeeep! Thought that only bootlegs would have that tendency. :p
(ID #466776) Posted on 2009/01/29 16:18
nice touch on making the figure lean forward. might try that techniques the next time i get a figure.
(ID #546928) Posted on 2009/04/03 02:19
my very first figure was altelier sai's HnY black suit series. Of course Mikuru in maid outfit kept leaning and falling offher base due to where i live (vegas) but yeah the hair dryer / cold water trick fixes it every time. Stupid top heavy figures... Since ilive in an extremely hot climate (read: desert) it happens more than once. so i decided to take a stand and drill deeper holes up their legs and fit them with metal 'poles' and screws to keep them from falling. works like a charm. did it to my witchblade, mikuru and Nijihara Ink.
(ID #614713) Posted on 2009/05/21 04:37
darkcloud (Registered on 2008/12/04 18:49)
I have seen people that drill holes in the legs and put ironwire/clothhangers in these holes to give the legs strengt. Really scarry process though =_= would not recommend
(ID #617422) Posted on 2009/05/23 05:32
Student
Hi there~ I has a newbie question ><; My second-hand <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/Keele_Zeibel/20081228_0003.jpg">ArtFX Kotobukiya FFX Yuna figure</a> is leaning... I would gladly do this method, but my problem is that Yuna's legs are under her very long skirt ><; so I don't think that this method would work as planned... I've tried looking for other methods online but they're mostly the same... ;A; Any kind of help would be much appreciated *bows*
(ID #645754) Posted on 2009/06/15 22:50
Student
*fails* picture here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/Keele_Zeibel/20081228_0003.jpg I couldn't take a picture of her leaning because she falls down most of the time ><;
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