LOL !!! Back in the day my older cousin would take apart his Joe's and totally rebuild them ( before customizing was kool btw ) . Then I'd come over on holidays and think wow !!! My cousin has new Joe's I've never seen before !!! I've always been easily duped ...
More than half my G.I. Joe's fell victim to this problem. Each time I had one with a broken O-ring I felt like I lost a friend. Then I discovered how to fix them on my own. Only I didn't know where/how to get new O-rings but I discovered that the rubber bands I got from the dentist for my braces worked just as well, if not better. I got a glasses repair screwdriver and started fixing my Joe's. Having them all back in action was like Christmas morning all over again.
you all probably dont care but does someone know a method to log back into an instagram account?? I was dumb lost the password. I love any tricks you can offer me.
@Jakob Caiden i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm in the hacking process now. I see it takes quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Awesome video! I dug some of my toys outta storage to pass them down to our son and ran across my "every day" Joe's box. I had toys I played with and toys I collected. Anyhow, I popped the box open and it's nothing but parts...every o-ring has snapped! So I'm about to work on restoring them, well, at least putting them back together, these are toys I played with so they have some wear on them.
Just did a second generation storm shadow, I bought the rings at home depot #9 o ring 5/8" x 7/16"x 3/32" worked great. Got this info from you and then did a search for the ring size.
My younger brother and I used to collect Joes back in the day. We would take them apart and replace the worn or snapped o-rings with whatever small rubber bands we could find to repair broken toys. Or we would simply make "new" figures by mixing and matching spare parts. One of the neighbors kids gave us a box of broken Joes saying he did not want them anymore. In it, was all the pieces to a 1988 Stormshadow (hooded white uniform with the grey camo markings)! This is still one of the finest sculpts of any Joe ever made IMHO so we were elated to to find that it just needed a new o-ring (or rubber band as it were). The next day we proudly showed our new toy to the neighbors kid... who promptly snatched Stormshadow out of my hands and ran his fat ass back toward his house. "Thanks for fixing him for me!" he managed to mutter in between heavy breathes. Never saw that figure again. Great vid, brings back the memories.
Great ,helpful video! I've had to repair several of mine. You can get the O rings at your local hardware store for pennies on the dollar. You can take an original with you and if they don't have an exact match, they will order them for you. These O rings are commonly used in faucets and water tight connections ,etc. I have restored several vintage figures. Recently a friend had a whole box full of parts of Joe's he had during his childhood. We spent a few days putting his childhood back together, and he had all of the original 13 and over 75 more different Joe's as well as around 20 more duplicates, there were only 3 incomplete Joe's left...He never got any vehicles, but between him and his older brother they would get a new figure or two almost every month. Let's face it, GI Joe in the 80s were affordable and very matched to the cartoons, until later..they went to sci fi. He had a very complete collection with only a few from the early 80 s he didn't have. I got a first edition snake eyes for helping..since he had 3 completed figures...we're we done? We had another box full of accessories to sort...that took weeks. I got the system down on the repairs , only takes two or 3 to get good at it.
My all time favorite was Copperhead, and I played with him so much his O-ring broke when I was a kid. It was panic time. I built a medical chamber and we rushed to my best friend's house because his dad was a repairman and had every tool known to man. I don't remember which joe gave up his life to save Copperhead, but his O-ring lived on!
I remember fixing one or two Joe's when I was a teenager. I used my unused small rubber bands that my Orthodontist would give me for my braces. They were pretty thin and wouldn't last as long, but it did the trick.
I bought a vintage Rock 'N' Roll figure from 1982 at a local independently owned toy store in my hometown and Rock 'N' Roll had lose legs so I went to Menards to buy some O-rings and I was able to get his legs tight again the way your video shows how to do it but when I was a kid, I had no idea that's how you restored your G.I.Joe figures with loose joints! I'm really pleased I was able to successfully replace the O-ring on Rock 'N' Roll!
If the screw is rusty, rub it on a bit of Scotch Brite, it does wonders. Also, always change the o-ring when you buy used or broken joes, it's totally worth it. I'm in the process of repairing all my old joes while acquiring a few new ones, and the first thing I bought were O-rings, and a small, magnetised screw driver.
It's funny, this was one of my favorite toys as a kid. My older brothers took a lot of them apart with a screwdriver to rearrange them into custom monstrosities, some of which were pretty cool.
I learned how to improve the movement of loose legs at the knees by putting a piece of tape around the studs. Some may feel and feel like new or a slight improvement.
We could have a blast chatting 80's toys- my house has He-Man, GI Joe and Transformers set up everywhere (+more). Have you done an Original Cobra video? H.I.S.S. Tanks and Rattler VTOL jets. No generations before or since us had the magic we had- a big part was killing the law that didn't let toys tie-in to shows or shows tie-in to shows.
I just used this video to make my first ever Joe fix (on Spearhead), thank you for this! I bought a bag of 50 o-rings, so now that I know how to do this I'm going to buy some of the old broke figures I saw at a local store and fix them up.
When I was a kid, like 7-8 years old, I would do this fixes. And when thumbs or crotch’s would brake on my favorite figures I would rob parts off ones I wasn’t a big fan of. I’m still surprised I was able to do this at such a young age.
Michael, You're tip about how one should be careful when installing the brand new ring was spot on! I repaired my original Duke figure years ago and cracked his crotch when installing the new ring:( Repairers beware!!! I learned a lot from you and Melinda...Thank you both!
How? When your a child you haven’t concepts of reverse engineering? No spare rubber bands in the 80-90’s. No walkthroughs. You were solely responsible for whatever you screwed with and took apart. I thought when they broke that would be it? Thee end. I felt horrible for breaking them. I still remember seeing the nicest individually displayed walls of GI Joes at this antique mall by us, he had 4 aisles, front and back of action figures...
@@chaddsteinberg3758 I got curious about the back hole screw. I found a screwdriver that fit, and took it apart. When the figure came apart, it was easy to see what went where; so putting it back together was a breeze. 😁
I mainly collect 25th anniversary/movie figures, but i have to get a vintage sgt slaughter so thanks for making this video so i can fix him if he breaks
The best video I have found on replacing the o-rings on GI Joe figures, excellent idea on pre-stretching the band. I got my collection out of the attic at my parents house & much to my dismay that out of about 200 figures all but a few have fallen apart or are about to, looks like I have a hobby for awhile restoring them LOL. Also, do you happen to know of a reference site that would show the original figures & their original accessories? I have 2 large Tupperware containers full of loose guns, backpacks & other things they came with but don't remember which accessories belong to each figure o_0
i got a lot of joes and cobras that are broken in half due to the rubber band :( and some that i have tried to fix back then have the screws messed up , "crotch" broken off , lost thumbs , loose elbow joints ... that Crimson Guard ii got also , always wanted to have more then 1 of those :) cool tips btw , thumbs up !
+Lego Forestman Man I hate the broken crotch epidemic that comes with the old Joes. Sooner or later, it is bound to happen with every figure! (Insert scream here)
Good stuff. I always knew you could do this but never saw it done. I'm tempted to open up a figure to see for myself. With a oring and a screw you can rebuild, thats great. Wish i had my orig played with figures to fix up :( Another great video!
now Im searchin a bag of broken body's ....that sounds strange.I JUST GOT MY HE*MAN,& GI JOES BACK,FROM HOME..I LOVE MY GI JOES..82-91,I always loved mostly setting them up in a big battle..like a video was paused,all characters, mid motion..the flower beds in those days where battle fields
I remember this crap of my 80's Joes breaking because of the rubber bands inside...i just used regular rubber bands to fix them. Another problem i hated were the balls or crotch piece in front breaking off on a lot of figures... these figure really sucked and got rid of all mine...I'm now 25th anniversary Joe collector!
Speaking of repairing Joe’s, I found my old Zartan figure awhile back. I was showing my wife (not that she really cared) how he turned blue in the sunlight, only to find out he doesn’t turn blue anymore. Guess age faded the dye or whatever it was that made him turn blue. Is there anyway to fix this issue?
just small tip (ive learn it from my car mechanic teacher and if you dont apply it everywhere you turn or screw you have the chance to fuck things up !! ) if you turn the screw and its starts getting stuck you actually fuckt up the best part of the screwEee and the most precious i find... now this isnt to bad in toys or plastic even 2 second glue fixes it! but just know if the screw or bolt dropped in the hole just turn it "lose"FIRST (normaly never a full turn) till it feels like the screw jumps up and falls down !!!!!! if you hit that g spot you know your aim is only going to be a headshot !! THEN SHOOT LIKE A BOSS an scrw it like a boss never turn a screw or bolt useless again even if its already completely gone ! every bold or pre turn screw must actually be in two turns by hand before you use a tool to screw it in !! why because the smart people who invented the shit know and do this to ! hope i helped at least one person...
Thanks for posting this. It makes it very easy to follow. I have a few Joes I might like to fix and a friend of mine has a ton of them. Is there a way to tighten Star Wars figure joints?
I'm told by a friend that light amounts of heat can tighten star wars figures. He bakes them for about a fraction of a minute. But you've got to be quick and careful as not to warp them. Boiling water for a split second might be the safest so they don't stick to a pan.
Easiest way instead of scissors:use a small flathead screwdriver to stretch out the o-ring instead after looping the bottom half onto the j hook located where the legs are.then thread thru the crotch slowly and stretch out until top of oring is snug onto the center of back chest piece part where the screw hole.then before closing the chest piece itself secure the head and arms back onto figure.
I once read somewhere that the size of O ring needed depends on the year the figure was made / released. There are 2 different sizes of O rings the Joes use but I forget when the cut off from one O ring era to the other is. Anyone know the eras? Sizes?
I came back to your o-ring tutorial years later! I have a question (if you're still seeing these comments lol)... Do you swear by stretching your o-ring band before inserting it into the repair? I've always stretched mine, using scissors as well. I work at a vintage comic/toy store ... the guy that does most of the toy restoration (I'm more of the comic book end), he says he never stretches the band first. I thought that to be bad. But now, I'm alot of my Joe's are breaking at the o-ring all at the same time... I've had at least 16 or more snap in the past 2 weeks! Never had that happen in abundance ....and a fair amnt of em are ones I had repaired myself. I am now pondering whether they break because i pre stretched em? Also I'm wondering if its party because stretching them with scissors is maybe making lil incisions due to the sharper edges of the outside of the blade arm? Or this could very well merely be because my gi Joes are displayed on a rack that is directly under the air conditioner vent (swamp cooler).... I live in NEW MEXICO, so maybe the change of high dry heat and the cooling off at night or during parts of the day when a swamp coolers actually do anything lol... maybe its messing with the bands. Imma try getting needle nose pliers for the stretching. But a small thought in the back of my mind is wondering what people feel about pre stretching the o-rings or not?!?
well i don't have any joes but i will get some soon, even though i am 15 i love 80s toys mainly because i find it hard getting invested in most of todays toy lines .
***** sorry i was using UK ebay terms, a 'lot' of figures would be like a bundle or multiple pieces in one listing if you know what i mean, and the O-rings i am thinking about getting from a different seller
Nice video. I figured out the exact same method thru trial and error. Have you ever painted any figures? I want to start custom painting figures and vehicles but I'm not sure what types of paint to use. If you have any recommendations please let me know, thanks.
can you change the arms from the elbow ? i mean from the rivet ? if so can you make a video on how to do that ? you can change the thighs and legs too, from the knee.. you should make a detailed video about both. i probably will too, once i figure out how to change the elbow rivet. thanks.
I just restored about 20 joes and I have a few that the screw is SO rusted in there that the head stripped out. Is there a fix for getting a stripped screw out
The only figures I had that had O-rings were the Buck Rogers ones (and after over 30 years, and The Great Cataclysm, the survivors are a little wobbly.) Had NO idea that the modern Joes had O-rings as well. So, now I know.
These o rings are standard plumbing parts. As much as the online companies would like you to be live they are special they are not. You can get them from Home Depot...
You can find them on Amazon and ebay. You can get repair kits with o rings, screws and t hooks. If it comes with the little tech deck screwdriver I would recommend tossing it. They are a little to small and if you run into a figure with a tight screw you run a very high risk of stripping the screw with that screw driver. You can also just look for #8 & #9 o-rings at any hardware store. 1982-1984 use #8s 1995-1994 use #9 o-rings. You can make #9s work on older Joe's but they can be a tight fit and you really don't want to risk breaking anything.
I never knew if they had any O-rings anywhere until now. I have fixed most of my Joes, including Barbecue. Before fixing them, my Duke figure from the 91 line was the only Joe that is still standing. Its O-ring is like the character himself, its will was strong. The only downside of fixing them is unscrewing them all because screw could be rusted. Other than that, I got most of my Joes fixed. Now, they are strong willed like Duke. YO JOE!!
Jason It really brings them back to life, right? It's pretty amazing. It's also a fun hobby, especially if you get Joes at toy shows that are in garbage condition.
Try to use the same shaped screw that was taken out of the figure, if it's pointed try to use that. I just bought some from gijoeheaven.com that seem to be a good size blunt tip that work in legs and also small enough to work in most backs.
If you take the knee joints apart and put a thin coat of Krazy glue in the female end of the joint ( the loop at the top of the calve) this will usually tighten the knees up nicely. Although, if you use too much Krazy glue you may have to bore the hole back out again.
Btw I just fixed 8 joes today.... orings can be found at any ace hardward. I never prestretch. Never had a problem. Broken screws how ever prevent it from being fixed NEED A NEW VIDEO JUST FOR THAT.
I stopped by a Home Depot near my home to purchase the O-rings. Very expensive! A pack of 4 O-rings was almost $5 Canadian plus tax. I didn't bother to buy them. I will look elsewhere.
I had an old Breaker (COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER )which slipped and drilled thru the side of the bracket holding the joe together. However, it lost its value. It is restored with a new band and it is holding.
