"Dead Limb"- A NECA Predators Rant

[RazorSlash]

This is a rant, avert your eyes if need be.

NECA is really starting to annoy me as of late.

I got all of Predators Series 3 for Xmas, the Hound, Jungle Hunter, and Greyback. All of them, except for the Hound, suffered from what I like to call "Dead Limb", in which the figures joints, usually the limbs, are so stiff, even ATTEMPTING to move them will cause them to shatter, almost on contact, leaving you left with a stiff figure that can get into VERY few poses. Jungle Hunter had broken the moment I took him out, his "dead limb" was so bad, his entire arm snapped off at the slight touch of me pushing the figure out of the plastic. Greyback had it in all major joints, the waist, elbows, and knees. Even his neck joint was a bit stiff. Greyback eventually broke, and I ended up trashing both of these figures. I got a new Jungle Hunter, but this one was Dead Limb'd in quite a few areas, so I managed to return it and get my money back.

Today, I got Gort....But his ENTIRE right arm(every joint: shoulder, elbow, wrist) was dead limb'd. His right knee also suffered from this. Afraid of breaking this one, I decided to just keep it in a bin until further notice.

"Dead Limb" is much different from a typical stiff joint, which can be fixed by just wriggling it or soaking it in hot water. Dead Limb is when the joint is simply glued in a position, and a dead giveaway of this is when attempting to move an area, the peg moves, rather than the joint itself. Which, when continuing to try to move this, will cause the peg to snap, thus snapping that entire part off.

This ONLY seems to be a problem with NECA's recent Predators line, as I got not one, but four of the NECA Gremlins figures for Christmas, and none of them had suffered from this, nor have I had any major problems with this before Series 3(Although my first Tracker had this issue, but I traded him in with the handy-dandy receipt, and got one that didn't have the problem at all).

Maybe I just have terrible luck, but I'm actually beginning to contemplate flat out AVOIDING the Predators line by now. Its really beginning to aggravate me. Anyone else having this trouble?

[Njm1983]

You have a point, but you should try dipping the affected joints into boiling water for a few seconds. It softens the pegs so they don't shatter and also loosens the paint in the joint causing the stiffness.

I understand the figures shouldn't come with this problem, but with a little patience some of the breakages can be avoided.

[Sabres21768]

Yes, and since this issue (and its fix) have been mentioned NUMEROUS times...there's no reason anyone should be taking these out of the package and immediately trying to move stiff joints.

It's obviously an issue and the fix has been mentioned so many times it's not even worth repeating, so don't keep breaking your damn figures...dunk them in some hot water and you won't have anything to whine about.

[RazorSlash]

my point was that, it's gotten worse. I KNOW they've always been a bit stiff, but my point is that, now, the hot water doesn't seem to work anymore, they still stay stiff, as if they just glued the joints together.

[gtsp669]

We shouldn't have to be dunking figures in water at all.

[Shadow]

We shouldn't have to be dunking figures in water at all.

quote of the day. so very very true

[RazorSlash]

We shouldn't have to be dunking figures in water at all.

That too

[Mister Skeezler]

There doesn't seem to be as many problems with the newer figures (series 4).

[RazorSlash]

My Gort(which I thought was from Series 4) had his right knee and every joint in his right arm stiff and/or dead limbed, I haven't bothered to try soaking him in water yet.

[Njm1983]

The SDCC Gort figure was before the change in factory. I also suspect that a portion of series 3 was from the old factory as well. Series 4 seems to be devoid of stiff joint issues.

I understand your rants. Im in complete agreement that we shouldnt have to dunk in hot water at all. Im just saying that if taking that step prevents a breakage 50% of the time, then its worth that extra effort. That is all.

[Sabres21768]

We shouldn't have to be dunking figures in water at all.

I agree.

But...we ALL know that any of the earlier series figures have stuck joint issues.
There's no denying it or getting around it...so there's no use whining about it.

So, save yourself some tears and dunk any of the earlier series figs in hot water before you start bending joints and breaking them.

It's just that simple.

[slaysaliens]

Hello all!  Couple of things I need to say and NONE are opinion only facts:

NECA Series 3 figures were the only figures made at a certain toy factory in China.  Their first and only run of NECA Predators at that factory had the defective joints.  Therefore, ALL Series 3 Predators at the store/TRU/online are from the bad factory.  ALL.

NECA noticed and addressed the defective joint problem and dropped that factory like a bad habit.  Series 4 was made at a new and different factory in China.  NECA had to get the molds of Series 3 from old factory to new factory and that took a little time-BUT if you contact adams@necaonline.com w/ a picture of your broken joint and your address-you should get a response and hopefully a NEW GOOD Predator from the new/good factory.  No promises, but you should.  This Adam guy is a one man customer service army and it will take time to hear from him. 

So, let this comfort you and take your anger away from NECA.  They just had a small hiccup w/ one factory and they fixed it!

GO NECA!

[Gosutoraida]

I can only think of one worse thing than a dead joint. The 'Joint-thats-not-even-plugged-in-properly-and-no-matter-what-you-do-to-fix-it-that-joint-will-f**king-snap!' And that's precisely what I just gotten with my new Series 1 official repaint Berserker, One of his knee joints just wont pop, it's not even connected properly and would snap. I feel like I wasted 15 quid on that when I could of gotten the Neca Freddy Krueger from the first Nightmare on Elm Street. :/

[samoht]

We shouldn't have to be dunking figures in water at all.

The facial expression on that avatar goes so well with what you said.

You are right btw.

But it is totally worth going to the little effort of dunking them in water instead of risking breaking these awesome figures.

I guess we just have to live with these flaws until they are fixed...if ever.

[CavatinaTheXeno]

The warm/hot water is the trick or a hair dryer lol but I blame cheap pay and crap plastic even more..........shit joints!