WALL•E head mount modification kit
Posted by Huw,
Fed up with WALL•E's head drooping but don't have the parts to fix it? Constructibles LLC has put together a kit containing the 21 parts needed to implement Chris McVeigh's fix, for the very reasonable price of $3.99.
Head on over to the Constructibles website to place your order.
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28 comments on this article
Does anyone know if Lego will send out better parts to fix the issue or are those that bought the set stuck with it?
To be honest I don't think it has even acknowledged that it's a problem that needs fixing.
Constructibles also have 1,000,000+ parts on BrickLink as well! 3.99 is a great price to fix this. Too bad lego hasn't stated that it is an issue. Everyone notices it's not in their retail stores and they still say nothing's wrong.
I contacted customer services via the lego shop website, and they gave me a full explanation and are sending out 2 parts to fix the issue. Here is what they said and are sending. Hope it helps.
I’m sorry you’re having problems with the neck of your LEGO® Ideas set 21303 WALL·E. I know how worrisome it can be when WALL-E™ is staring at the ground as he adventures through the world.
We’ve found that two pieces in the neck don’t have the right amount of clutch power. The combination of these pieces is causing WALL·E’s head to fall down instead of staying where it should.
Below is a list of what pages that these parts are for.
4211695 the grey piece is placed in set on page 34.
4265484 the black piece is placed in set on page 29.
These pieces will get Wall-E™ all fixed up so he'll be able to see the world with his head held high.
I love free markets and free trade.
@westgate40 Is that the head support problem or the head spinning problem? Sounds like the former. This article is about the fix or the latter. (TLG acknowledges the former but not the latter.)
Fascinating. Now if WALL-E himself wasn't $60...
Just ordered 5 sets of the kits, plus some other mini builds after browsing the site :)
Also waiting for TLG to send me parts for the supposed fix which I think will not address the neck spinning issue.
Oh dear! OOS already!
@PicnicBasketSam $150 from one very optimistic BrickLink scalper - I mean seller....
Unavailable already!?! Darn you Brickset effect!!!
It's become available again :)
Has anyone modified it with the official Lego recommendations? Just wondering how effective that is.
Lego is shipping the necessary pieces to me as I type this, but I still ordered two sets of Chris McVeigh's fix.
The LEGO fix addresses apparently faulty hinges in the neck itself in US versions of the set, not the rotating floppy head which as I say above has not been acknowledged as a fault.
Thanks Huw. So it sounds like I should probably go with McVeigh's fix instead.
Hi can I say that this simple fix on YouTube does the trick perfectly http://youtu.be/iHUOMCkQJGs all you need is a simple bit of scotch tape
Since ours are non-US sets, does that mean even if we received the 2 parts it wouldn't have any improvements on our current sets?
thats correct
^^^^^ They definitely don't acknowledge it as a fault, this is what they replied to me with:
Like you, we’re big fans of this courageous little robot and we’ve designed LEGO WALL·E to be as close to the movie character as possible. As you may know WALL·E can turn his head 360 degrees and swivel quickly and easily – that’s why he’s so good at whizzing around the planet and spotting rubbish to collect.
When you build LEGO WALL·E, you’ll find that the bricks we’ve chosen let him turn his head 360 degrees. This does mean that his head moves quite freely and you might not be able to duplicate all of the poses from the film. We’ve found that two pieces in the neck didn't have the right amount of clutch power. The combination of these pieces meant WALL·E’s head sometimes falls down instead of staying where it should. However the lack of friction with his head was designed so the head may turn quickly and very freely.
I posted that in the forum thread: http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/20247/lego-ideas-wall-e/p3
So basically, the head is supposed to move 360 freely. So it sounds like they made it exactly how they wanted.
^^ Thanks for that, sounds a bit of a cop-out. The 'McVeigh fix' doesn't restrict head movement, it just stiffens it.
I have emailed customer service now also to get the neck fix parts, I used the tape fix for the spinning head (As thats what I would have done to fix it anyhow) but I def have an issue with his head falling forward with full extension on an angle. so I definitely can recommend the simple tape fix, you do have to be exact with the thickness and the width of the tape, it can NOT be on any of the flared end of the pin, it must still be able to click in to be secure.
If anybody in the UK would like the parts for this fix I have checked my stock and have enough for several sets.
I am in the UK and can offer the parts at £3.00 UK First Class Post Paid or £5.00 Europe Air Mail Post Paid. These are priced at normal Bricklink average prices.
PM me if you are interested and I can get some sets together.
Calvin
Shipping to Canada from Constructables costs nearly twice as much as the parts themselves. No thanks.
So i went out and bought Wall-E today as i wanted one regardless of any fault.
The neck joints that click up and down are very strong but the head is so loose it cannot be posed (as all of you have found). I don't know why any of us should now have to go out and buy replacement parts for this as £40 for Wall-E is a fair chunk of money to pay in the first place, let alone spending more of repairs.
One other thing i've noticed is that the advertised pictures of Wall-E are a little misleading as to me it looks like his head not only looks up, down, left and right but can also be rotated. As far as i can tell you can only tilt either side of his eye unit and it doesn't look like a convincing tilt.
I think it's a great looking build but let down by some glaring issues.
If Lego won't admit there is a problem that is pretty sad. To have to buy parts as a fix, not cool.
Well at least this looks like one less set to buy. Too bad as I was looking forward to it.
@Calv I sent you a message mate :)
Does anyone know how to contact the people at constructibles? Tried emailing them several times over the past week and a half with a simple question about another item and no response. Was going to get a few Wall•e kits and some other items but starting to have concerns about the site.