Every 12" Buzz Lightyear figure has rotating wrists, rather than bi-directional wrists like he does in the film. Is it possible to modify his wrists so they can bend both ways? -Omar
Yes, it looks like it is possible. Why it’s never been done before, we may never know. I can’t really tell, but from what I see, it looks like a ball joint. Though, it might be a hinge as well.
I believe its a rotating hinge joint- so while the joint itself is only unidirectional, the joint itself spins in the wrist well, allowing the joint to rotate and pivot.
A ball joint would’ve been easy too. -Omar
Can you find a picture of Buzz’s wrists bending both ways?
That’s what I believed at first, but some of the poses Andy puts him in suggest otherwise (having his hand angled upwards). If it was just a hinge, though, it would probably be constructed something like this:
And for that matter, that’s also how his thumb’s jointed.
Dinoco, your drawing is exactly what I thought the joint design is.
In Strange Things, you can kind of see the joint better when Andy poses Buzz to shoot the laser at Woody
Although in the video camera flashback in 3, we see his wrist angled sideways
-Omar
I guess his hand might just be turned and tilted to give it that effect.
Thanks Dinoco; but is there a way to modify Buzz’s wrists.
Another thing I noticed is that the Disney Store Buzz’s arms aren’t held together by screws- they’re just apparently glued together, so I’m not sure how to open them to do the modifications. Every other Buzz I had (and dismembered like Sid) had two or three screws holding the forearms together. -Omar
Well, I meant that it might just be an illusion that his hand can move sidewways in the movie. There’s definately a hinge.
And there’s no easy way to take apart the glued hand (it’s made that way because of the electronics, or the fact that the wrist communicator side is shorter and can’t fit a screw). I guess you could carefully pry it open to work on it, as superglue would just put it back into place. But if I were you, I’d start experimenting with some kind of sculpting material and making a joint before you disassemble it.
Actually, it just occured to me that you wouldn’t have to take the wrist apart at all, if done correctly. You could cut the hand off at the wrist, and from there, sculpt a joint onto each plastic component, and secure it with a small rod. The problem there is that the part connected to the arm might be a bit weak, anad finding a sculpting material that matches the rest of the plastic would be hard.
I don’t think so.
Yeah. His hand must be able to rotate. Unless he’s only able to do that in toy mode, then again. His arm is dismembered and out of his control.
Wow, you’re right. I guess there must be a ball-joint connected to the hinge… but that begs the question of why there’s a hinge there in the first place if a ball-joint would allow it the same motions.
BTW, welcome to the forums, and nice avatar.
Ditto. Welcome, JPaulie!! 
You’ll love it here.
Hmm. Is it possible that within the 3 movies, they altered his wrist, like with his face?
I think its meant to look like a hinge in the movie, but animated as if it were a ball joint. they also cheat, Ive noticed plenty of times where the ball goes through the wrist in an impossible way to give him more articulation.
His right arm also stretches heck of long when he uses him laser. Most notably in the bed scene.
Also. Why is Buzz’ right eye so misaligned in the laser shooting image?
Sorry. Back to the hand topic.
Yes, it is a hinge but acts as a ball joint. His hand clips through the cuff plenty of times in the first and second films.
Thanks guys! It is a hinge that functions as a ball joint. I could just cut off the hand at the wrist, screw on a ball - like from a Knex, and drill out a hole inside the hand itself for the ball jiont. In theory.
Regarding a hinge connection, Dinoco, how would I sculpt the hinge? What parts could I pick up from the hardware store to work correctly? Thanks! -Omar
Well, I’m not really sophisticated when it comes to that, so my approach would just be to make it with Sculptey or something like that, and get a lot of sanding to get good edges. Then paint the finished part to make it match. I’d then secure it with a very thin nail, and clip off the end. I can’t guarantee results, though, since this has never been attempted before, but it seems like the only way you’ll get it to work.
And I can confirm that that diagram accurately represents Buzz’s wrist. I have an original G.I. Joe, and his wrist joints were the same as Buzz’s, which goes along with how John Lasseter says he was an inspiration for Buzz.
Dinoco, I have 40 Joes and their contemporaties, past, and present. Thanks for the help with the design. I know the joint design I need, I just want to figure out how to get it there. How can I change a simple rotating joint into one that pivots as well. The schematic drawing you (or someone else) did of the proposed wrist joint is spot on- my only problem is how to get my Buzz’s wrists to be able to do that. -Omar