Any chance of ungluing the Lego Magnets?

icey117

Hi, I read somewhere that Lego started the sad fact that they've started gluing their magnet sets. (shame, shame, shame). Comments state that "Minifigures are not detachable from 2x4 bricks."

Two questions:
1) does that mean that all pieces are totally glued together?
2) and did anyone succeed in ungluing in a nice nondestructive way?

rocao

Try a web search. There have been a few guides written about breaking down the glue. Offhand, here is one:
http://thebrickblogger.com/2011/01/lego-glued-magnet-removal/

Matthew

There are few guides floating around, try the ugly duckling, the heads, hair, hands and accessories aren't glued I know though.

brickmatic

If you want to be picky, they aren't glued together. From what I've read LEGO uses a solvent to slightly dissolve the two adjoining plastic pieces so that they bond together before the solvent evaporates. Thus, you can successfully separate the two pieces but the back of the legs will have a slightly rough texture from the degradation of the plastic.

Only the legs are bonded to the magnet.

icey117

Thanks alot! The guide sounded good, though with a bit mixed results in the comment field!

georgebjones

I have actually done this with the Atlantis and Pharaoh's Quest magnet sets. It is tricky to get the water at the right temperature. I was more concerned about melting the ABS, so I didn't try to get it too hot. Only one popped right off, the others, I was impatient and used a knife to pry it off. They came off pretty easily that way. It does work, and the back of the legs are a little rough and discolored. All else is fine, the hips are bonded into the torso, and I haven't tried very hard to get those off. Good luck.