How to Fix Anime Figures

A growing number of our anime figures were in need of a hospital visit, from falling off shelves and being accidentally knocked over, oops! As a lot of you are anime and manga fans, I wanted to share with you how to fix your anime figures. I hope you find it helpful!

Which Type of Glue to Use

Having heard horror stories about glue guns melting legs etc, I headed to a local model shop, where they sell Airfix kits, remote control helicopters, Warhammer figures and suchlike. The guys in there were really helpful, and gave a big speech about different types of plastic and glue.

The figures that I needed to mend were mostly anime figures from claw machines in Tokyo (I wasn’t skillful enough to win them – they were from a shop round the corner!) and also a couple of smaller figures, a nendoroid and a plastic dinosaur whose tail had snapped off! Poor Akemi Homura, from Puella Magi Madoka Magica had a snapped bow, an extremely small area to glue:

The shop assistant advised me that some glues will melt the plastic and bond it together, and others will stick them together. I have no idea what type of plastic they’re made of, so he recommended a multi-purpose sticking type glue called Zap-a-Gap.

It cost about £4 and did a fantastic job of fixing all the figures, anime and non-anime. You apply the glue with the thin nozzle, hold the two pieces together for a few seconds, then leave to dry. The join is very strong – the dinosaur can even be picked up by the end of his tail (and he’s a diplodocus).

Even Mio from K-On’s broken ankle is fixed – a join that has a lot of pressure as she’s joined to her base by only one foot – a rather impractical design (but she looks good!). (This one looks a little bit messy from previous attempts at fixing her).

I hope you find this helpful for fixing anime figures – please share with the buttons below if your friends’ figures are also in need of a hospital visit.

Buying Figures in Akihabara

Many of my figures are from Akihabara in Tokyo. Here are my tips for anime figure hunting – if you’re interested in Japan there are lots more Tokyo vlogs and travel guides on my YouTube channel.