I seen this done by DarkWynter at the PA Joe Customs Picnic this past Saturday...and I loved the results.

It is more controllable than the "Whack a Mole" attempt...and for that alone I love it.

Again...all credit goes to DarkWynter for thinking this up...I know he is busy, so I duplicated the tools and happily the results and made up a tutorial on it.

You can view the tutorial here: http://www.cobraisland.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4283

Thought it might be useful for those of us who are kind of leery on hammering a figure. It got me into breaking them down...so I am very happy.

Kooky. I'm definitely going to try that.

Thanks for that.

I've had about a 50% success rate separating torsos without irreparable damage and was just thinking today of how expensive/wasteful that is.

I'll definitely give this a try.

Gotta love how the cheapie pair of channel locks aren't taped, but the more expensive Craftsman ones are....

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Wow, you did a great job with the tutorial Apoc!

I have used this to take apart figures with the wide shoulder pads like SS, and have not had any break as of yet........(knocks on wood). This just works so much better and consistantly for me than the whack -a-mole method.

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lol, I was waiting for someone to say something. I have all my tools lined on the walls in my workshop...I grabbed one set, assembled the tool the way Darkwynter did...gave it a try and it worked. I then figured I would post a tutorial showing it...but figured why break down the tool I put together to take pics and put back together...I have extra channel locks...so I used them for pics of the tool broken down. And..actually the blue set cost me more as I had to buy them... I got the craftsman set for free as a gift.





Thanks buddy...glad you approve. This is all you...thanks for thinking it up!!!

I tried this on shipwreck and snake eyes, and I never been able to take apart a joe torso quicker, thank you very much!!!

You just made this hobby a whole lot easier, and funnier!!!

Thank you again!

Bookmark'd!

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Interesting.... I will give that a shot.

Glad to hear others are liking the results...DarkWynter hit a homerun with this idea..I agree, the hobby is more fun now, though the wife doesn't care too much for me picking up multiples now for customizing. lol

SWEET!!!!! I can't wait to get home and try this on the custom I'm working on. I know I have all the neccessary tools, and I'm ready to break the figure down for paint. Coming across this post couldn't have come at a better time.


Got home and tried this. It worked GREAT!!!!!

Glad to hear it was successful for you Maximus!!

Question for anyone that has done this. Have you had any figures that just won't bust apart? Last night I tried to break open a 5 pack Duke torso and the freaking thing won't pop open! I took apart the tool and retaped the socket 3 times thinking it was just slipping or something. It also put a big dent in the plastic right on the seem instead of breaking it open. After my failure with the Duke Torso I thought I'd try a different figure that I need parts from ,Major Bludd, and he popped open with no trouble. Has anyone else had any problems getting a torso to pop open using this method? If so do you have any tips for what to do next?

If I had to guess, I would say that you have a figure that just had a lot of glue in the torso at the factory. If you notice some figures come apart way more easialy than others, even if they are the same mold. If you look closely at the torso once it's open you can see where the glue was put in and it's not consistant. Some have a lot on the left, others just a drop around the pegs, ect.
The fix is pretty easy if thats the case. Just take an exacto knife and work down a seam, using the exacto method. You don't have cut it all open, one side should be enough to allow the figure to pop open after the procedure.
On a side note, with the customizing tool method if you are precise when you pop the figures open you will start to get a feel for just how much pressure is needed. It's like driving a clutch, when you find that sweet spot it should be about the same for all the figures. If the figure is a tough walnut and won't pop without excessive pressure, usually I will just flip the figure around and try the other side. If this won't work (I've only had one myself) I just work one side carefully with the exacto method, but you need to do this carefully to avoid making the seam look tampered with.
If you are finding bite marks in the figures when you pop them open, you may be either using to much force or a socket that is to big. I hope this was helpfull.

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This is very helpful and in line with what I was thinking I would need to do. I probably have a Duke with a ton of glue. I was using a lot of force to get this one open. The Bludd figure came apart really easy, just like the Stalker figure before. Thanks again for your help. I'll keep cutting the one seem and see if that will be enough as i've already tried to flip the figure. That or I just use out a different Duke figure.....