I've got about 250+ DC and Marvel figs and I haven't noticed any cracks on any of them yet. I keep them on display and the room is generally fairly cold and doesn't get much sunlight as I keep the blinds closed when it's not in use. I'll have another check later on tonight or in the morning but I was re-arranging them all over the weekend and didn't notice a thing.. baffling! Would hate for some of them to crack.

This is not a seamline. It has seen regular play a few times by my son after I put it away.

Look Lego's quality is still miles above most toys and they have great customer service to top that. But they need to figure out a solution for this problem especially now since a lot of figures are seen as (and sold!) collectibles. Imagine your SDCC Green Lantern cracking like that.

Edited April 25, 20168 yr by Cobb

That's the risk you take with any product. Nothing is guaranteed. SDCC comics can have creases, toys can have bad paint or other unseen damage, and products degrade over time.

You mention regular play and damaged minifigures. Most other people who have commented have indicated their minifigures stay on display with little or no play whatsoever. Scientifically, this makes for a trend - play with the minifigures and you risk damage. Keep them on display and not used and you reduce that damage.

Everything degrades over time.

Unfortunately, this is not a frequent enough issue that Lego is going to reinvent the minifigure over. Whether that means a redesign or more materials added.

Everything degrades over time.

Unfortunately, this is not a frequent enough issue that Lego is going to reinvent the minifigure over. Whether that means a redesign or more materials added.

I wouldn't say that. Let's not forget that the actual steel LEGO molds do wear out and have to be touched up and eventually replaced after frequent use. It's possible that these cracks might be a sign one or more of their molds is wearing out, and possibly that very slight changes could be made to the design of their replacements to prevent these issues from cropping up so soon.

Everyone just keep reporting these problems to the LEGO Group as you encounter them. They have the resources to decide if/when/how something can be done about them.

I think they should adress this. As was mentioned before older figs very very rarely had this problem. The newer figures much more.

A Lego minifigure is the new He-Man/Mask toy of this generation with their action based themes and marketing strategy. Just Imagine your He-Man figure cracking right through the middle after 2/3 months of normal play. I sometimes have to buy the more expensive sets so my son can have his Green Ninja or that one Boss Baddy or Donatello. He doesn't want 10.000 vehicles he want's a complete Ninjago team. If Skeletor lost and arm, my parents could just go out and buy a new figure. Now you would have to buy an entire 50/60 Euro set.

They should atleast make sure that those figures should be able to withstand average play. Afterall it's still a toy.

Edited April 25, 20168 yr by Cobb

While I've been lucky to not have any issues, but hearing this(again) makes me want to become one of those crazy germaphobes.

Wash wash wash wash wash! I don't eat while LEGO-ing, but I don't always wash up when I'm tinkering. New sets I would typically wash up prior to.

The paranoia is very strong with this topic. I always wash before touching any Lego whether it be brand new or some lot purchased off of eBay. For the really valuable stuff I usually use a towel to move the pieces because I don't even want to handle them. I'm not sure that this is a healthy fear

I think they should adress this. As was mentioned before older figs very very rarely had this problem. The newer figures much more.

A Lego minifigure is the new He-Man/Mask toy of this generation with their action based themes and marketing strategy. Just Imagine your He-Man figure cracking right through the middle after 2/3 months of normal play. I sometimes have to buy the more expensive sets so my son can have his Green Ninja or that one Boss Baddy or Donatello. He doesn't want 10.000 vehicles he want's a complete Ninjago team. If Skeletor lost and arm, my parents could just go out and buy a new figure. Now you would have to buy an entire 50/60 Euro set.

They should atleast make sure that those figures should be able to withstand average play. Afterall it's still a toy.

Did you get anywhere with Lego (if you contacted them)? I had a quick check on either side of about 70 odd last night and luckily didn't notice any cracks on them but it is a worry! Think I'm going to clean the glass tonight on my frames and put them all back together properly so I'll check each one for sure.

I think they should adress this. As was mentioned before older figs very very rarely had this problem. The newer figures much more.

A Lego minifigure is the new He-Man/Mask toy of this generation with their action based themes and marketing strategy. Just Imagine your He-Man figure cracking right through the middle after 2/3 months of normal play. I sometimes have to buy the more expensive sets so my son can have his Green Ninja or that one Boss Baddy or Donatello. He doesn't want 10.000 vehicles he want's a complete Ninjago team. If Skeletor lost and arm, my parents could just go out and buy a new figure. Now you would have to buy an entire 50/60 Euro set.

They should atleast make sure that those figures should be able to withstand average play. Afterall it's still a toy.

I'm not sure it's a big enough issue for them to look I to though. Had I been in your shoes, I'm sure I'd think differently, but it looks like posts here are leaning towards the "no cracks" side. Granted it's a low number of participants. It definitely sucks to be on the receiving end of a bad piece.

Resorted all of my Lego at the weekend including adding moving all the superhero figs back into number order and can confirm no cracks on any of mine, nor any of the Star Wars/scooby doo/ghostbusters/bttf/cmfs etc.

I've got about 250+ DC and Marvel figs and I haven't noticed any cracks on any of them yet. I keep them on display and the room is generally fairly cold and doesn't get much sunlight as I keep the blinds closed when it's not in use. I'll have another check later on tonight or in the morning but I was re-arranging them all over the weekend and didn't notice a thing.. baffling! Would hate for some of them to crack.

Have you checked the back of Iron Man's legs. If you stand him on the trans-colour cylinders, then the legs are likely to crack at some stage. I've seen quite a few reports of this and it also happened to one of mine.

Have you checked the back of Iron Man's legs. If you stand him on the trans-colour cylinders, then the legs are likely to crack at some stage. I've seen quite a few reports of this and it also happened to one of mine.

I almost want to test this on a pair of disposable legs.

Have you checked the back of Iron Man's legs. If you stand him on the trans-colour cylinders, then the legs are likely to crack at some stage. I've seen quite a few reports of this and it also happened to one of mine.

Luckily mine don't stand on any trans clear cylinders but they are secured from the back of the legs. That said I didn't notice any cracking on the legs either when I moved them all.

The cracks are real, this is not our imagination. I use a flashlight to check them, the arms crack from the wrist up. The plastic is clearly split apart. The torsos crack from the waist up. The plastic is clearly split apart. They are stored in individual plastic bags or displayed on the shelf. I have a running list of figures with cracked arms or torsos. A month ago, my Winston figure from the Ecto-1 was fine, today I looked at him and his left arm had a huge crack. I've lost count of how many cracks I've found. I ordered 8 replacement torsos today, I have 17 more as of right now that need to be replaced either because of arms or sides cracked. I wait at least a month between orders just in case. After sitting on the shelf for 1 whole week, the Teedo figure from the 75148 Encounter On Jakku set already has a cracked arm. It's either bad luck or I have oily fingers.

Edited July 2, 20168 yr by JPN366

My wife had a theory that makes sense. Perhaps it is climate that determines whether or not you have lots of cracks or no cracks. I have lots of cracks, I live in probably one of the most humid climates in the United States. Cobb lives in the Netherlands, which has a steadily humid climate. He has lots of cracks. If you live in California, you probably wouldn't have a lot of cracks. I think it is a sound theory that would explain the discrepancy between people who have this problem in excess and people who don't have it at all.

HawkLord and Vindicare, I betting that you both live in drier, less humid areas of the USA.

Well, i live in a country where the temperature in summer reaches 50 C ( inside house geta warm and humid ) and humidity is high. So far didnt find any crack issue just the sets gets little warm but i believe it is normal since Lego also mentioned in their sites that Lego can be kept under maximum of 40 C

I set the A/C in the Lego room to open Automatically from 10 am till 4 p, doing this i will preserve the quality of bricks :-)..

All my Lego sets are either inside big plastic box or inside plastic nylon bag.

Checked them yesterday especially the vintage sets from 80s and 90s. Everything is in great shape.

But that's the thing. I mainly see this with the newer figures. The older 80/90's figures are much stronger. My guess is that either the torso's are very slighty thinner then they used to be or the leg pegs are thicker.

And Lego replaced the torso's, they have great service.

Edited July 2, 20168 yr by Cobb

My wife had a theory that makes sense. Perhaps it is climate that determines whether or not you have lots of cracks or no cracks. I have lots of cracks, I live in probably one of the most humid climates in the United States. Cobb lives in the Netherlands, which has a steadily humid climate. He has lots of cracks. If you live in California, you probably wouldn't have a lot of cracks. I think it is a sound theory that would explain the discrepancy between people who have this problem in excess and people who don't have it at all.

HawkLord and Vindicare, I betting that you both live in drier, less humid areas of the USA.

California here. Just checked all my Ghostbusters again, all fine. Your wife could be onto something.

Edited July 2, 20168 yr by Vindicare

Grease will affect and make cracks. My sets from 80s despite the hot weather, no any sign of cracks cos i remember i was never playing hardly nor my hand was greasy..

I'm in Arizona and I always have clean hands when handling my LEGO. It is my observation that the newer torsos are much more likely to break than the older ones. I have many Classic Space sets as well as mini figures from the 70's, 80's and on. The only ones that have cracked are from the 2010's. I never tried contacting LEGO, but will do it now. I agree that LEGO does have excellent customer service. Thanks for your comments.

@Arctic_Ace: Since you are in a dry climate, do you have a lot of cracks or just a few?

@JPN366: I have about 7 modern minifigures that are cracked and those are the only ones I know of in my collection

@JPN366: I have about 7 modern minifigures that are cracked and those are the only ones I know of in my collection

How long these minifigures have been in your collection?

I've only been collecting LEGO for a few years. Ironically, the cracked ones were all ones that I bought new. My classic ones are mostly purchased from ebay and bricklink. I also got a few from friends and trading at LEGOLAND. That's what leads me to the conclusion that the newer ones aren't as well made. Also, I live in northern Arizona and we get winter and summer here. It usually rains all month in July. So I'm not sure what effect, if any, the climate has on them.

I've only been collecting LEGO for a few years. Ironically, the cracked ones were all ones that I bought new. My classic ones are mostly purchased from ebay and bricklink. I also got a few from friends and trading at LEGOLAND. That's what leads me to the conclusion that the newer ones aren't as well made. Also, I live in northern Arizona and we get winter and summer here. It usually rains all month in July. So I'm not sure what effect, if any, the climate has on them.

It's a theory my wife suggested. Myself and Cobb live in humid climates and we have a lot cracked arms and torsos. Where I live has close to 100% humidity during the summer and is generally over 75% most of the year.

I bought a custom Daredevil and within 2 days of receiving it the head cracked! The seller let me keep the figure and gave me a full refund but I still want a good Daredevil custom!

(Keep in mind it was UV printed so any other head will look weird with the rest of the figure)

Edited January 23, 20178 yr by Barnes