13 replies to this topic

[bachamn]

I'm sure I can't be the only one who is annoyed by the plungers on the Beast Saga series. Of course, removing the entire fixture leaves a hideous hole in the middle of the figure, so that's not really a viable option.

So while inspecting the construction of the plunger on my clear shark figure, I pulled on the end-piece (with the beast logo on it) and to my surprise it cleanly popped off with little pressure. This allowed me to pass the clear plunger piece through the black chasis, thus allowing the figure to be displayed with the die in its chest but without an awkward plunger protruding from its back! There's still a small hole in the back of the figure where the plunger would go, but it's still a huge aesthetic improvement. The end-cap pops right back on the plunger too so there's no visible damage to the figure.




I was disappointed however when I tried this on my other figures and found the plungers to be very securely glued together and could not be removed without damaging it. Seems my shark was just a fluke with a weak glue job. Has anyone else come up with a safe/reliable way of removing the plunger from the figure without physically breaking/cutting it? Maybe a way of weakening the adhesive they use to secure these two pieces of the plunger together?

[Draznar]

This is a genius idea. I hate the plungers and that was one of the biggest reasons why I wasn't buying this line. I've since bought one figure to see how I feel about them, and I'm glad you've shown me this. I'm definitely going to be trying this, even if it breaks the plunger. I'm only using these to add to my collection of BBs, and not to actually play with. So for me at least, this is awesome news!

Edited by Draznar, 26 November 2012 - 02:46 PM.

[Louk]

The thing to do is just remove the clear plastic bit altogether and glue the black end of the plunger to the back of the dude so there isn't a hole there, but then you lose the light piping altogether, and getting the dice out of the figure's chest may also prove difficult (but that is okay for display purposes).

I'm not going to alter mine, because I really don't mind the plunger any more.

[Skullking]

Wow, this is a great find. I'm going to be ripping some beastly plungers out tonight!

[Draznar]

Wow, this is a great find. I'm going to be ripping some beastly plungers out tonight!

I'm assuming you've done this by now, Skullking. How have you fared?

[bachamn]

After checking my batch of new BS arrivals yesterday I've yet to find another plunger with a weak glue bond like my shark above. Still interested if anyone can come up with a way to weaken the glue without damaging the plunger or figure itself...

[Draznar]

Agreed. I got my bat in today and I pulled at that sucker for a solid 30 minutes both forcefully AND carefully. I can't get the stupid thing off. I've now just admitted defeat and put it on the shelf with the plunger intact.

[b00sted]

try boiling it?

[imperfecz]

Boiling might work... or freezing, like with upturned canned air....

No idea just throwing a couple things out there.

[Skullking]

I'm assuming you've done this by now, Skullking. How have you fared?

Well, mixed success. The blind bag little bird I had (forget his name, the blue and white sparrow), his plunger came out easily. My killer whale and wolf, wouldn't budge. Don't want to break them, but I don't see how to get them off any other way. I thought about taking a saw and just cutting off the end, then pushing the plunger through. since the whole casing with the plunger can be easily slid out of the beast, and placed in another beast, if I EVER wanted to play the little dice game with them, I could just hold on to one set of plunger inserts for that.

[Draznar]

I don't want to ruin the figure, but I don't think I'll ever play the dice game associated with these guys. So I don't really have a reason not to, I just have this inherent tick where I can't destroy toys, (had this even as a child).

[b00sted]

I hulk smashed the shit out of mine for the heads for my armorvors. it seems they used random amounts of glue as some heads just had a dab and popped right off and others my fingers were bloody stumps and I had tore rubber chunks on my hands when I was done.

this may break it even worse.. maybe try boiling it then tossing it in freezing water right after?

[bachamn]

I thought about taking a saw and just cutting off the end, then pushing the plunger through. since the whole casing with the plunger can be easily slid out of the beast, and placed in another beast, if I EVER wanted to play the little dice game with them, I could just hold on to one set of plunger inserts for that.

Yeah, I had a spare giraffe that I used as my test subject for working the plunger out. His was very secure and I ended up mangling the end cap in the process, so I just took my dremel saw bit and cut it in half then removed it.

I'm also on the fence about doing this to all of the plungers because for the sake of having a complete figure I don't really want to damage the plungers (even though I really don't care for them). On the other hand, I don't really have plans to sell my set so...

The boil/freeze idea might work, and since the whole plunger unit can be removed it won't hurt the actual figure, but the only thing making me hesitant is that I believe the beast symbol on the back of the plunger is applied with a sticker, so the boiling method would almost certainly remove this as well as (possibly) removing the adhesive on the plunger. Using a heat gun would probably have similar results.

[Skullking]

The boil/freeze idea might work, and since the whole plunger unit can be removed it won't hurt the actual figure, but the only thing making me hesitant is that I believe the beast symbol on the back of the plunger is applied with a sticker, so the boiling method would almost certainly remove this as well as (possibly) removing the adhesive on the plunger. Using a heat gun would probably have similar results.

Y'know, this is a good point. If we just scanned the individual beast symbols, you could just color print them onto a sheet of transparent red/green/blue plastic. Then just glue them onto the pushed in plunger, and BANG! same effect (to a degree).

It would be faster/easier/cheaper to just saw off the back end and push it through, and slide the dice in.

So, I guess it's just a matter of preference.

or, if you could get the back of the plunger sticker off, you could stick it on the front of the plunger? I don't recall them coming off easily though.

[bachamn]

Just spreading the word that I finally posted a thread outlining my custom aftermarket solution to the plunger problem.