Flashlight Keychain Removal

[HarrisonWells]

Hey, has anyone tried removing the keychain off of those flashlights? I got the batman one and I want to remove the keychain, but I don't want to damage the flashlight part. I'm just wondering if the same method used on the minifigure key chains works the same on the flashlight without damaging the flashlight part.

[AmperZand]

I haven't done it with the Batman one but did do it with one of the Ninjago ones (see picture of the oni below).

If the Batman one is similar, the best way to remove the keychain is to take off the head. It should pop off with a tug. Working from the neck opening of the head, insert a thin tool with a cutting edge along its side, such as a drill bit, and wear down the plastic grip that holds the keychain in place. You can do it without damaging the rest of the head.

As the torch is housed entirely in the body of the figure, it is unaffected by the keychain's removal. I didn't want to use the torch function so I removed the batteries located in the body's back. Tiny screws hold the back compartment in place requiring a proportionately small screwdriver.  

Hope that helps. Please take a picture and post below once you have removed the keychain!   

[HarrisonWells]

6 hours ago, AmperZand said:

I haven't done it with the Batman one but did do it with one of the Ninjago ones (see picture of the oni below).

If the Batman one is similar, the best way to remove the keychain is to take off the head. It should pop off with a tug. Working from the neck opening of the head, insert a thin tool with a cutting edge along its side, such as a drill bit, and wear down the plastic grip that holds the keychain in place. You can do it without damaging the rest of the head.

As the torch is housed entirely in the body of the figure, it is unaffected by the keychain's removal. I didn't want to use the torch function so I removed the batteries located in the body's back. Tiny screws hold the back compartment in place requiring a proportionately small screwdriver.  

Hope that helps. Please take a picture and post below once you have removed the keychain!   

Thanks, I removed the head and inside of it was a tiny hole, is that where I use the drill bit? And just out of curiosity but what are gramadon and that turtle guy supposed to represent?

[AmperZand]

18 hours ago, HarrisonWells said:

Thanks, I removed the head and inside of it was a tiny hole, is that where I use the drill bit? And just out of curiosity but what are gramadon and that turtle guy supposed to represent?

It's the hole that the neck connection goes in. You shouldn't use a carpentry drill bit: that would be much too big. You want a micro drill bit such as those used in modelling. It has to be narrow enough to fit in the aperture in the head with plenty of wriggle room but not so thin that it flexes. About 0.5mm to 1mm diameter should do it. You may want to use a pin vice to help you hold the drill bit. But remember not to use the drill bit as a drill. It's the side of the drill bit that you want to use to abrade the plastic grips holding the key chain in place inside the head.  

The bigger fig in the picture is a Japanese ogre called an oni and the regular minifig sized one is a water spirit from Japanese folklore called a kappa. There are more details if you scroll down this thread. 

 

[HarrisonWells]

7 hours ago, AmperZand said:

It's the hole that the neck connection goes in. You shouldn't use a carpentry drill bit: that would be much too big. You want a micro drill bit such as those used in modelling. It has to be narrow enough to fit in the aperture in the head with plenty of wriggle room but not so thin that it flexes. About 0.5mm to 1mm diameter should do it. You may want to use a pin vice to help you hold the drill bit. But remember not to use the drill bit as a drill. It's the side of the drill bit that you want to use to abrade the plastic grips holding the key chain in place inside the head.  

The bigger fig in the picture is a Japanese ogre called an oni and the regular minifig sized one is a water spirit from Japanese folklore called a kappa. There are more details if you scroll down this thread. 

 

Okay, used a small flathead screwdriver instead of a drill bit, but either way it worked well. I would post a picture but it doesn't seem to be working for me. Thanks for all your help.

[MAB]

You can also push the little bit of plastic to one side and give it a tug. Video here ...

 

 

The soldering iron trick also works (heat up the pin from the top) but for these large ones you have to be very carefully to pull straight or the hole can get significantly bigger.