Answers.Body: <h1>Don't fix it</h1>
  
  <p>I sympathize with the desire to fix it, but on closer consideration it doesn't seem easy or worth it.  Getting the hand out would probably damage the arm even if you manage to do it.</p>
  
  <h1>Replace it</h1>
  
  <p>The entire torso is available for less than $1 on <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=973pb0204c01#T=S&amp;C=1&amp;O=%7B%22color%22:1,%22iconly%22:0%7D" rel="noreferrer">BrickLink</a>.  This is the easiest path forward.  Some similar torsos are half as much if you don't need an exact match.</p>
  
  <p>There are replacement arms for many colors and color combinations on BrickLink, but not a plain blue arm like this that I could find.</p>
  
  <h1>If you get lucky.</h1>
  
  <p>Apparently you can <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?id=1761#T=S&amp;O=%7B&quot;iconly&quot;:0%7D" rel="noreferrer">buy just the hands</a> as <a href="https://bricks.stackexchange.com/users/52/mr-shiny-and-new-%E5%AE%89%E5%AE%87">Mr. Shiny and New 安宇</a> pointed out.  So if you manage to get the hand out without damaging the arm you can solve your problem for a few cents plus postage.</p>
  
  <h1>Or re-purpose it</h1>
  
  <p>As with all of LEGO the possibilities are limited to your imagination:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>maybe this soldier had his hand cut off and he's too poor to get a  prosthetic.</li>
  <li>maybe this guy is holding a tray of drinks on his right arm during a battle.  I don't have an arm with a missing hand to test this, but I hope something could be attached to it.</li>
  <li>maybe he had a tragic shaving accident and you can make a bloody scene about it.</li>
  <li>maybe this soldier put on the wrong uniform and you can live with 2 new matching arms from BrickLink that aren't entirely blue.</li>
  <li>maybe he's sticking his arm into a bee's nest or a hole in a dike.</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>So I hope you can see some way to get more value out of your "broken" torso than just tossing it.  But sometimes we've gotten all of the life out of a piece and it is time to let it go.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-05-11T15:26:39.017Z
Answers.Text: Love the wacky re-purposes!
Answers.UserDisplayName: Mark Stewart
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-05-21T14:18:42.913Z
Answers.Text: [Hands are available for sale](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?id=1761#T=S&O={"iconly":0})
Answers.UserDisplayName: Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-05-21T16:43:14.250Z
Answers.Text: I looked and looked and did not see that.  Kudos and thanks for finding what i could not.  I corrected my answer.
Answers.UserDisplayName: chicks
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-04-30T12:40:57.193Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-05-22T12:24:37.190Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2018-05-22T12:24:37.190Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: chicks
Answers.Body: <p>I've had this problem several times before. There are two general ways to solve this issue.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Brute Force Needle</strong>
  Stick several needles into the arm area at an angle. Then simultaneously push down on all the other ends of the needles to unstick the needle</p>
  
  <p><strong>Hot Paperclip</strong>
  This is excessive but effective.
  I wore gloves and used my kitchen stove to heat up a paperclip and stuck it at an angle into the plastic. It melted the plastic and stuck really well and after the plastic solidified again (in a literally a minute) I pulled the entire stuck arm out. </p>
  
  <p>Good luck!</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-05-22T02:12:57.927Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-05-22T02:12:57.927Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rohan D'Souza
Answers.Body: <p>The tiny screw method works. We dipped it in dish soap, made a tiny groove with a thumb tack and then threaded a very small screw. Used two pairs of plyers, one on the arm and one on the screw, and pulled the broken hand out with no issue.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-02-03T18:37:06.643Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-02-04T09:50:43.853Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2019-02-04T09:50:43.853Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Julie
Answers.Body: <p>I extracted two broken hand stumps with a hot needle and replaced them with unbroken hands from less important or otherwise broken figures.</p>
  
  <p>Procedure:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Position the figure's arm pointing straight out and remove accessories that might fall off.</li>
  <li>Hold sewing needle with pliers over stove until glowing hot.</li>
  <li>Plunge hot needle into hand stump at an angle.</li>
  <li>Quench with water.</li>
  <li>Pry the hand stump out with the needle.
  
  <ul>
  <li>The needle will not have enough friction with the plastic to pull the stump straight out unless it's really lose, so the direction of pulling/prying must be at an angle from the needle.</li>
  </ul></li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Of the two figures I used this technique on, it worked on the first try for one and took two or three attempts (at different angles) for the other. The hand stumps were recessed to different depths.</p>
  
  <p>The hot needle caused minimal distortion to the inside edge of the hand socket and did not interfere with the ability to install a new hand. With enough skill, I think you could avoid touching the arm socket at all, but I nicked mine a little tiny bit. Of course, this minifig has seen worse, so I'm not too concerned.</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/r7CnA.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/r7CnA.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>The king is all better now, with a new hand. The stub of an old one is on the table next to him.</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/0hQjk.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/0hQjk.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-03-10T00:30:53.867Z
Answers.Text: Welcome to Bricks.SE! Great answer!
Answers.UserDisplayName: jncraton
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-03-09T22:29:10.143Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-03-10T05:24:07.573Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2019-03-10T05:24:07.573Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: EL_DON
Answers.Body: <p>I just got one out using a very small drill bit and twisting it with my fingers. Took about a minute of twisting to make a hole in the hand piece. Then pressed the drill bit to the side of the hole I made and pulled it out.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2022-03-07T03:57:49.157Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2022-03-07T12:06:44.747Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2022-03-07T12:06:44.747Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Kevin
Answers.Body: <p>If you have a tiny screw, it might be possible to screw it into the inner part and then pull on the screw to remove.</p>
  
  <p>Almost like opening a bottle of wine with a corkscrew, except in this case the "cork" is set into the bottle a little.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-05-19T04:21:48.590Z
Answers.Text: Unless you had a super tough screw, you can't push it through the plastic. It could be melted though, to make it softer.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Samuel L.
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-05-07T15:51:37.160Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-05-07T15:51:37.160Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: John Bubriski
Body: <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ZPPSO.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3hhiW.jpg" alt="Minifig Picture"></a></p>
  
  <p>A friend of mine gave me some of his old minifigures. As you guys can see, the hand of one of the figures is broken and a part of the hand is stuck in the arm.</p>
  
  <p>Do you have any ideas how to remove the broken part? </p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-04-28T22:54:36.863Z
Comments.Text: I think you would have to drill it out somehow, but that seems difficult. Might be easier to just replace the whole arm with some cheap blue-armed minifig from BrickLink.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Alexander O'Mara
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-04-30T00:01:02.263Z
Comments.Text: I wonder if you could heat up a sewing pin with a lighter and stick it in and wait until it cools / solidifies.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Aaron D. Marasco
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-05-11T10:38:53.200Z
Comments.Text: That is no soldier, that is now a pirate Arrrggghh! who's hook, hat and parrot have been lost during a daring raid!
Comments.UserDisplayName: nickjb
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2019-03-10T15:21:30.353Z
Comments.Text: been sucessful with Aarons method twice, works fine!
Comments.UserDisplayName: fabian
Tags: <minifigures><repair>
Title: Minifigure Hand broken and stuck in arm
UserDisplayName: Lukas B
ThreadText: # Minifigure Hand broken and stuck in arm
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-04-28)
  
  [![Minifig Picture](https://i.sstatic.net/3hhiW.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/ZPPSO.jpg)
  
  A friend of mine gave me some of his old minifigures. As you guys can see, the hand of one of the figures is broken and a part of the hand is stuck in the arm.
  
  Do you have any ideas how to remove the broken part?
  
  **Tags:** minifigures, repair
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: I think you would have to drill it out somehow, but that seems difficult. Might be easier to just replace the whole arm with some cheap blue-armed minifig from BrickLink.  
  > **username_2**: I wonder if you could heat up a sewing pin with a lighter and stick it in and wait until it cools / solidifies.  
  > **username_3**: That is no soldier, that is now a pirate Arrrggghh! who's hook, hat and parrot have been lost during a daring raid!  
  > **username_4**: been sucessful with Aarons method twice, works fine!  
  
  ---
  
  ## 6 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2018-04-30. Score: 13
  
  # Don't fix it
  
  I sympathize with the desire to fix it, but on closer consideration it doesn't seem easy or worth it. Getting the hand out would probably damage the arm even if you manage to do it.
  
  # Replace it
  
  The entire torso is available for less than $1 on [BrickLink](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=973pb0204c01#T=S&C=1&O=%7B%22color%22:1,%22iconly%22:0%7D). This is the easiest path forward. Some similar torsos are half as much if you don't need an exact match.
  
  There are replacement arms for many colors and color combinations on BrickLink, but not a plain blue arm like this that I could find.
  
  # If you get lucky.
  
  Apparently you can [buy just the hands](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?id=1761#T=S&O=%7B) as [Mr. Shiny and New 安宇](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/users/52/mr-shiny-and-new-%E5%AE%89%E5%AE%87) pointed out. So if you manage to get the hand out without damaging the arm you can solve your problem for a few cents plus postage.
  
  # Or re-purpose it
  
  As with all of LEGO the possibilities are limited to your imagination:
  
  * maybe this soldier had his hand cut off and he's too poor to get a prosthetic.
  * maybe this guy is holding a tray of drinks on his right arm during a battle. I don't have an arm with a missing hand to test this, but I hope something could be attached to it.
  * maybe he had a tragic shaving accident and you can make a bloody scene about it.
  * maybe this soldier put on the wrong uniform and you can live with 2 new matching arms from BrickLink that aren't entirely blue.
  * maybe he's sticking his arm into a bee's nest or a hole in a dike.
  
  So I hope you can see some way to get more value out of your "broken" torso than just tossing it. But sometimes we've gotten all of the life out of a piece and it is time to let it go.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_6**: Love the wacky re-purposes!  
  > **username_7**: [Hands are available for sale](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?id=1761#T=S&O={"iconly":0})  
  > **username_5**: I looked and looked and did not see that.  Kudos and thanks for finding what i could not.  I corrected my answer.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_8 on 2018-05-22. Score: 9
  
  I've had this problem several times before. There are two general ways to solve this issue.
  
  **Brute Force Needle**
  Stick several needles into the arm area at an angle. Then simultaneously push down on all the other ends of the needles to unstick the needle
  
  **Hot Paperclip**
  This is excessive but effective.
  I wore gloves and used my kitchen stove to heat up a paperclip and stuck it at an angle into the plastic. It melted the plastic and stuck really well and after the plastic solidified again (in a literally a minute) I pulled the entire stuck arm out.
  
  Good luck!
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_9 on 2019-02-03. Score: 5
  
  The tiny screw method works. We dipped it in dish soap, made a tiny groove with a thumb tack and then threaded a very small screw. Used two pairs of plyers, one on the arm and one on the screw, and pulled the broken hand out with no issue.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_10 on 2019-03-09. Score: 4
  
  I extracted two broken hand stumps with a hot needle and replaced them with unbroken hands from less important or otherwise broken figures.
  
  Procedure:
  
  1. Position the figure's arm pointing straight out and remove accessories that might fall off.
  2. Hold sewing needle with pliers over stove until glowing hot.
  3. Plunge hot needle into hand stump at an angle.
  4. Quench with water.
  5. Pry the hand stump out with the needle.
     * The needle will not have enough friction with the plastic to pull the stump straight out unless it's really lose, so the direction of pulling/prying must be at an angle from the needle.
  
  Of the two figures I used this technique on, it worked on the first try for one and took two or three attempts (at different angles) for the other. The hand stumps were recessed to different depths.
  
  The hot needle caused minimal distortion to the inside edge of the hand socket and did not interfere with the ability to install a new hand. With enough skill, I think you could avoid touching the arm socket at all, but I nicked mine a little tiny bit. Of course, this minifig has seen worse, so I'm not too concerned.
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/r7CnA.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/r7CnA.png)
  
  The king is all better now, with a new hand. The stub of an old one is on the table next to him.
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/0hQjk.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/0hQjk.png)
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_11**: Welcome to Bricks.SE! Great answer!  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_12 on 2022-03-07. Score: 3
  
  I just got one out using a very small drill bit and twisting it with my fingers. Took about a minute of twisting to make a hole in the hand piece. Then pressed the drill bit to the side of the hole I made and pulled it out.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_13 on 2018-05-07. Score: 1
  
  If you have a tiny screw, it might be possible to screw it into the inner part and then pull on the screw to remove.
  
  Almost like opening a bottle of wine with a corkscrew, except in this case the "cork" is set into the bottle a little.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_14**: Unless you had a super tough screw, you can't push it through the plastic. It could be melted though, to make it softer.  
  
  ---
  
  