Repairing glued on Vintage Action Man heads from Palitoy - Toy Polloi

A guide on how to repair glued on vintage action man heads. The heads on Blue Pants era Action Man figures often fall off as the rubber inside degrades. And many people then glue the heads on. This vide show's you how to remove the heads and attach them properly.
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[@DavidJames-ew8bv]

Absolutely fantastic 👏 I've been watching quite a lot of your videos of late. Just fixed my Eagle eye head while watching this one. Well done 👏

[@toypolloi]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@Blind_Haze]

Just found 2 of my old Action Men both decapitated, one with a glued head. I look forward to using your video to help bring new life to them. Thank you very much for the help!!

[@steveqo]

What a great vid. Tried it on my blue pants action man that I’ve kept in my mums loft for the last 35 years. I had glued the head on and this worked an absolute treat thank you!

[@chrismayer3919]

I just LOVE these toy-fixing videos!

[@MrPopCatGaming]

you made my action man faint when you took the head off

[@thomasplouffe1363]

I really like the 60s one because they don’t break as easily

[@jacenstarhunter8988]

Very nice Toy-Polloi you never cease to amaze,great ideas thank you

[@MrDparker69]

Yet another fantastic video. Really really enjoying working my way through watching these. Thanks for sharing 👍

[@greenlanternhg5141]

Another great video for a fabulous toy, great job.

[@virtualdave]

copied your vid, works pefectly to put action mans head back on, just done two of them 😊 thank you.

[@TalkingGIJoe]

Always a proper tool for the job... Swiss Army knife!

[@toypolloi]

Never go anywhere without a swiss army knife. I'd be lost.

[@andrewtaylor940]

Here's a real effective trick for re-breaking or undoing old glue repairs. You will find that most glue repairs and pretty much ALL that you cannot see the Glue were done with CA glue. Cyanoacrylate Glue, commonly known as Super Glue. And most toy repairs were done with the common and fairly awful 'Super Glue" formulations, and not the much better quality Hobby and Comercial use variants. Well here's the secret of getting CA glue undone. It hates freezing. If you need to rebreak break a glued seam or part, freeze it. Put it in the freezer for a day or two. take it out and while it is still frozen apply gentle pressure. The glue seam should be the weakest point and should just pop. Some care will need to be taken in this case as the head is a softer vinyl which does itself become a little more brittle when frozen. But it should still be stronger than the glue. Also be aware that CA glue is strongest if you are trying to directly separate the parts. It has a very low shear strength (side to side motion parallel to the glued seam.) So in this case freeze the figure then gently twist the head should just pop the glue. This is also great for taking apart old glued together model kits.

[@toypolloi]

I'll give that a try and see how I get on. Cheers

[@andrewtaylor940]

Toy Polloi You will be amazed. CA glue shrinks and contracts when frozen, so it just pops. Weirdly you can sometimes more easily pop the Toluene/Plastic Solvent based glues such as Plastic Weld by boiling the part then gently applying pressure. Either way the trick is the glue has different heat expansion characteristics than the plastic it is gluing and POP

[@dbsimms63]

andrew taylor Be careful with boiling. I tried this and unfortunately distorted the plastic on an Adventure Team life line catapult....:-( I was taking it apart to replace the plastic viewer with crosshairs and to recoat the mirror.

[@thehaymaker3922]

This is the longest message I've ever seen XD

[@garza8633]

look´s great Dave, to easy !

[@johnwild8336]

Quite a heads up repair. Thanks for sharing.

[@toypolloi]

Very funny :D

[@contactlight8079]

Thanks Dave :)

[@davelane6176]

well done Dave a better way of doing it

[@danielg.vgremio83]

Ótimo trabalho 👍

[@brianfearn4246]

Great repair.. looks as though palitoy made action man with cheaper plastic as the years went by . The early ones seemed to be indistructable.

[@chesterisblue6174]

I've got a few early gi joe figures and they still seem like they are brand new apart from paint rubs on the face and a few cracks on the knees

[@markshellard5894]

I had the space man one anything on that one Remember it had a rubber blue suit

[@jump9506]

GREAT Tutorial: What was the thickness of the cord elastic that you used... 5mm?

[@grimmyx22]

Another one saved.

[@ethrieltd]

You could use a 2-hole button possibly instead of the Lego piece I think. I can see how it works in my brain but i have neither buttons nor elastic to see if it works. I do have an action man with a glued on head though...

[@sathington_willoughby]

Have you ever tried using a set of needle-nosed vice grip pliers to hold the elastic out while you tie it. pull the elastic and then clamp on the pliers. I think that would give more control over the length of the elastic and allow you to put the lego piece in more easily. By the way, when will you do a video on how to fix all of these broken lego pieces I have lying around now? :)

[@thomasplouffe1363]

I always buy broken, missing feet, cracked joints, dirty and broken voice boxes too, I know how to repair a voice box but not when the string breaks out

[@TheSilvershaun]

i live in saint john newbrunswick is there anyway to get action man fixed or get parts

[@saulmorales1513]

In 12:36 minutes KZbin forgot something very social o your green tablet...that litle spot in flesh colour. ☺️

[@therestorationofdrwho1865]

You can use acetone to remove glue.

[@toypolloi]

+The Restoration of Dr Who It can also damage the plastics. Especially on the action men. So not a good idea.

[@manko8852]

try a necklace bead instead of the lego , it may be easier to tie.

[@originalboringtimes453]

0:54 the eye moved

[@haydnjenkins7607]

I have used a small cable tie to refix head

[@toypolloi]

+Haydn Jenkins I know other people use cable ties, but I find they are too stiff and restrict the movement of the head.

[@haydnjenkins7607]

not being critical just saying it worked for me

[@toypolloi]

Understood, I was just giving my reason for not using them :D

[@andyterry9366]

Have you got a vid if there's no neck post? Would you need to buy a post or is there a fix without? Cheers

[@toypolloi]

I haven't. But I should probably look into that as neck posts are getting harder to find.

[@shaddapushaddap]

what thickness is your elastic rope?

[@toypolloi]

3 to 4mm is about right, but you can use anything that will fit through the gaps.

[@shaddapushaddap]

@@toypolloi Thanks, I will try 2 or 3 with 4 I cant get the 2 ends back through the neck gap

[@MeanJohnDean]

Nail polish remover, Acetone, will remove that glue without leaving scratches.

[@toypolloi]

It will also melt the plastic these figures are made of. So not a good idea.

[@dewback1975]

I don’t know if it’s me or if you start to watch at 54 seconds wait for it , the eyes seem to move , when he says it’s not been played with again don’t know if that is a gimmick in the toy but if it isn’t very creepy

[@chrismayer3919]

Do you have a vid on how to replace hands? (like for Atomic Man)

[@toypolloi]

Yes. I have a video on Atomic man!