r/lego • u/Miles12212 • Mar 27 '26
Minifigures So this happened today…
Went to move the arm on my absolutely mint radaghast to place his stick/ staff in his hand and it just completely disintegrated. My fingers went straight through it breaking the arm and back, sending the legs flying…I’ve never seen a Lego mini figure break like this.
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u/MPA_Dad Mar 27 '26
He looks pretty upset about it
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
Definitely, discontinued piece and it’s looking like $30ish for a new torso 😭
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u/ILikeDragonTurtles Mar 27 '26
Wouldn't a replacement torso be just as likely to break like this?
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u/Boring-Republic4943 Mar 27 '26
They have changed the recipe for the brittle colors from my understanding, not sure if they would do a reprinting to address that issue though, they do sometimes replace other pieces that had this issue though.
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u/ILikeDragonTurtles Mar 27 '26
They don't reprint anything that's retired. If it's not a piece used in a current set, the only replacement you can get is one that was printed when the set was still in production. All Radaghast figures come from the brittle brown era. They're all at risk of this type of damage.
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u/TheRealMasterTyvokka Mar 27 '26
Couldn't hurt to call Lego. They probably aren't going to be able to replace the torso but they could potentially give you a small gift card for your trouble.
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
I’ll contact them and update yall with what they say, great idea
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u/NuclearAnt Mar 27 '26
30 isnt that bad for a discontinued piece.
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
It’s not horrible just annoying tbh
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u/NuclearAnt Mar 27 '26
Yeah I get that. Had the same issue when my cat decided to become a burglar and broke into my box of old legos and chewed up an old electrical part from the 90s. The replacement wasn't cheap but you could have had the cat for free that day.
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u/Nuggsanddippingsauce Mar 27 '26
If it was wire, I recently did a repair myself for 6979. Super cheap spool of wire recommended from a Youtube source, some smaller jewelers screwdrivers to help open the bend plates, and a wire cutter/striper.
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u/Lurkeracc543379 Mar 27 '26
A new copy would still be brittle. So I wouldn’t be eager to spend $30 only for it to break again
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u/Nuggsanddippingsauce Mar 27 '26
Personally, I'd try carefully fusing it back together. Look up what they use to fuse the big display models and try the same thing! I've not done this yet myself, but my first thought would be to make a little poster putty disc to hold the torso together and still, and then applying the adhesive inside in small amounts.
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u/voucher420 Mar 28 '26
Looks like a really clean break. I would use some quality CA glue from the local hobby shop to get it back together. Less is better than too much in this case.
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u/Pepsi_Boy_64 Ninjago Fan Mar 27 '26
Fall victim of the brittle brown. Heck this dude is expensive in the after market
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
Good old brittle brown, didn’t know about it until today, instantly hopped on the web to see if this happened to anyone else :(
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u/chadnorman Mar 27 '26
I just pulled my childhood legos from the 80s out of storage, and the only broken piece was a biggish brown plate that just fell apart in my hand when I picked it up. Brittle brown, bitter brown...
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u/Thunder_Fudge Mar 28 '26
Brittle brown (and dark red) is typically from 2007-2018. Yours is likely just from a bad batch or a less-prolific problem. That being said, several 1980s toys suffer from dyes degrading their plastic, Transformers have brittle gold for example. It seems that browns, golds, and reds tend to have this issue the most due to the respective chemicals in the dyes and plastics.
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u/Different_Field_6504 Mar 27 '26
Hope you know bout brittle dark red cause it can be just as bad as the brittle brown :( i haven't seen a minifigure get ruined like this but brittle brown has gotten a few of my minifigures arms/legs (luckily none of those have been printed pieces)
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
Gotcha thank you for the information, I have the old pirates of the Caribbean boat that has a lot of redish brown so I’ll make sure to be extra carefully when I rebuild it :$
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u/air_and_space92 Space Fan Mar 27 '26
I was in the local Lego store a few weeks ago getting some dark blue plates and another AFOL who worked at a different retailer that carried Lego said they've seen it with dark blue too besides red and brown. Newer sets still have broken pieces in those colors too even after the recipe change.
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u/AirFriedWings Mar 27 '26
Its really the plume. Its over $60 for that tiny piece and it looks like OP doesnt have it.
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u/Nailfoot1975 Mar 27 '26
It's over Anakin, I have the high ground!
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Wait...
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u/GoodMantra65 Mar 27 '26
Oh man... Honestly, I thought Lego minifigures were the one thing that was impossible to break.
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
That’s what I was thinking, I’ve had brown pieces break but never a mini figure
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u/indianajoes Mar 27 '26
This is part of the reason why I want sets from that time period to be remade.
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u/Nuggsanddippingsauce Mar 27 '26
Personally, I'd try fixing him before spending a ton on a new one. Might not be mobile after, but better than trashing him. I've not tried this kind of fix myself, but my first idea would be to make a flat poster putty disc to hold the torso together, and apply a plastic cement very carefully to the inside of parts to fuse them back together. Just make sure to pose for permanence!
I've never glued any lego myself, and am a firm believer in keeping it kragle-free, but if the alternative is trashing a part then let's go!
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u/Bionicle_was_cool Mar 27 '26
Also you might try filing the inner edges at an angle to create a groove for the glue
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u/Nuggsanddippingsauce Mar 27 '26
I was thinking of the variety that would cause the plastic to fuse, which also wouldn't dry itself it would evaporate out. In that case, max surface contact between the pieces would be 100% ideal. If using a traditional glue that would be a good idea though.
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u/AlexEscapist Hidden Side Fan Mar 27 '26
If you aren't dead set on having the exact og figure then theres a star wars pirate torso that fits him nicely. Its not brittle and even has leg printing!
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u/microwavedgerbil25 Mar 28 '26
Brittle brown and other colours is the worst mistake Lego has ever made as a company. They should rerelease sets affected by it because almost all the best sets and figs are
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u/thefamilyjewel Mar 27 '26
Doesn't hurt to contact Lego. The worst they can say is no.
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
Facts I’ll contact support and let everyone know what they say…
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u/in_taco Mar 27 '26
They're usually rather happy with replacing damaged products, but only if they actually have one available
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u/Ahsoka707 Mar 27 '26
If it were me I'd super glue the torso and legs. Swap out the arm if it can be done without further breaking, otherwise glue that too. Can't take it apart but can still display it
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
I’m thinking I’ll just spend the $30 to replace it, would rather have it be back to minty, plus the other arm seems to be stiff
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u/knickvonbanas Mar 27 '26
Yikes. Just got the battle at the black gate set and something similar happened to me too
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![[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/6979-1.jpg){kind=link}
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u/Praetorian_1975 Mar 27 '26
Well shucks, he’s had an emotional moment, I mean just look at the poor guy he’s in pieces.
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u/IAMAfortunecookieAMA Mar 27 '26
OP, do you have an essential oil diffuser in your home?
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
I do not, just this past month I have been sorting through my 1000’s of old Legos sorting them by color ect, this piece has been sitting in a dark closet for over 6+ years
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u/Thunder_Fudge Mar 28 '26
It's from the brittle brown era, it's the dye in the plastic having a chemical reaction with the plastic.
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u/A-Mad-Hollow Mar 27 '26
my Uruk-Hai berserker also shattered into pieces, but I managed to glue him back together. I can even still articulate his arms without issue
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u/SnowCold93 Mar 27 '26
Can someone explain the brittle brown thing to me? Why are some of the older brown pieces so fragile?
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u/Zestyclose-Koala-610 Mar 27 '26
It’s a result of a chemical reaction between specific color dyes and the ABS plastic used during a specific time period, usually 2008-2018. Reddish brown, dark brown, and reds were especially affected. This is a known issue esp for LOTR/Hobbit sets which were released around 2012-2013.
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u/Clockwork_Phoenix Mar 27 '26
Just to add to this, the 2008 timeframe is somewhat inconsistent. The problem is best known to have become prevalent in 2012. It affected dark green and dark blue as well. For those familiar with the lime joints curse that affected Bionicle from 2007 onward, it's a similar but separate problem, as is the brittleness known to affect gold parts.
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u/PlutoniumBoss Mar 27 '26
Plastics chemistry is really complicated. Every single pigment and additive interacts with the plastic in a slightly different way. You can test when you make a change to the formula, but sometimes flaws don't show up for months or even years because the chemical reaction is still happening.
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u/DogFarmerDamon Mar 27 '26
You should be able to fix him with some plastic glue that's pretty common to use in modeling. Worth a try, and a lot cheaper than buying a new torso
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u/Turd-In-Your-Pocket Mar 27 '26
Why is the brown plastic so brittle?
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u/microwavedgerbil25 Mar 28 '26
Cause Lego fucked up bad and used dyes that deteriorated the plastic for brown, reddish brown, dark blue, and dark green. Anything in those colours made before 2018 (I think?) will break just like this figure
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u/Thunder_Fudge Mar 28 '26
It's a chemical reaction between the dye and the plastic. It affects a few different colors and there have been several "outbreaks" over the years in LEGO and other toys brands. Brittle brown LEGO is mostly from 2007-2018.
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u/Dear-Routine7468 Mar 27 '26
Do you have an oil defuser or air freshener in your house?
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u/Thunder_Fudge Mar 28 '26
It's brittle brown, the LOTR sets this came from are right in the middle of that era
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u/paintscum Mar 27 '26
i’ve got a few brittle brown era figs that have extremely stiff legs/arms so i don’t even bother trying to move them lol
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u/Classy_Corpse Mar 27 '26
My smaug is in shambles too. The plastic in thay era just seems super brttile for some reason???
I need to sit down and see if i can kragle him back together. My dad got that set for me for Christmas when I was a teen, I feel so bad that the wings snapped and more. But I think it was also a poorly designed fig :/
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u/Thunder_Fudge Mar 28 '26
It's certain colors (mainly brown and dark red) in that 2007-2018 time frame. It's the dye and plastic having a chemical reaction
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
Damn rip, that’s what I’ve been reading, although I’ve never seen a minifig break like this, usually was just the brown bricks and flats
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Mar 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Miles12212 Mar 27 '26
Nothing, it’s been in a closet for years just sitting in a box until last week, but no airborne scents at all, very very rare that we use one
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u/UnstableHerb Architecture Fan Mar 27 '26
Ex wife’s uhhhh lover (I guess) bumped my falling water set into a wall and shattered half a dozen pieces. None brown though.
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u/TheMightyTywin Mar 27 '26
I have never seen a minifig break like that. How??
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u/Thunder_Fudge Mar 28 '26
Brittle brown. The dye LEGO used for brown from ~2007-2018 has a chemical reaction that makes the plastic more brittle over time. Other colors, notably dark red, also have had this problem
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u/-BananaLollipop- Mar 27 '26
That sucks. I recently went through my old Lego to find some specific minifigures. I didn't find any brittle brown, but lots of pieces with clips, like the Star Wars droid arms, have snapped. And most of my single stud, round lights/translucent pieces have split.
I've recently started collecting all the Mandolorian figures, so I hope they don't get hit with the BB disease, since there's lots of brown in a bunch of them.
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u/Looney_Port Mar 27 '26
I shoved my ucs sandcrawler in a box years ago and I am absolutely terrified to take it out and see what shape it’s in
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u/SexRobotDeathMachine Mar 27 '26
time to get out the superglue. Now's as good a time as any to get into the fig modding scene & maybe thing about using epoxy or something to make it a bit more custom and a bit stronger than just super glue alone.
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u/Aggressive-Sort-115 Mar 27 '26
Do you happen to have a scent diffuser in that room? I’ve heard that they can destroy the integrity of Legos
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u/tristamgreen Lord of The Rings Fan Mar 27 '26
This is simply the function of the notorious brittle browns from the late 2000s to mid 2010s.
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u/tremel1313 Mar 28 '26
He’s not very expensive without feather. If you still have you’re you won’t be out much.
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u/Kiora87 Mar 28 '26
Any "essential oils" in the house. I've seen lego wrecked like this by them. Gutted either way though.
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u/Rich-Housing582 Mar 30 '26
It SHATTERED? SEND IT TO LEGO, THEY MAY REPLACE IT. ☆TELL CUSTOMER SUPPORT. ☆
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u/ctiang112 Apr 01 '26
Was this placed under sun exposure area? I got a space set from a long time ago turns brittle as its exposed to the sun for many yrs…. The display was moved to a window area TT
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u/TheBatman7424 Mar 27 '26
Radagast the Brittle Brown fell to the Dark One's Power!