Loose Screws: Official LEGO Parts Hiding Behind Metal Screws

LEGO is continuously creating new parts for builders to experiment with, but did you ever wonder if there are older pieces already created that are still waiting to be discovered?

My screwdriver and multi tool screwdriver

Look no further than the handy, dandy multitool screwdriver to help satisfy your curiosity. With its help, we can dive deep into disassembling some LEGO parts that are held together with screws to see what kind of official LEGO parts may be trapped inside.

Ninjago’s Rings

The first part I knew I had to include is a Ninjago Spinner. This part may be the most popular one to take apart because of the unique metal ring on the inside. The ring is so well known, in fact, that it has its own BrickLink listing. It has been used as a counterweight, wheels, engines, and body parts on robots.

this BUild by Redverse uses both the spinner ring and the small Light bluish gray plastic ring

Not only is the ring useful, but the light bluish gray ring and the shell pieces have seen use in multiple builds. Uses range from greebling on robots, to windscreens for spaceships; these parts truly know no bounds.

 

My own spaceship build uses 14 of the spinner rings. Can you find them all?

Constraction Heads

The second part of this screwy article is more of an assortment of similar parts. Large buildable figures have heads with screws that hold their socket pieces in place, and in some cases, hold the whole head together.

heads like these can have their sockets unscrewed

The sockets have a hole slightly smaller than a 3.18mm bar which make them tricky to use. Finding heads that come apart is really where the fun begins, allowing for more customizable heads while still retaining that premolded and detailed shell.

View fullsize
View fullsize

I have used two of these head pieces by screwing a stud with a through hole onto the head, creating a stud connection to work with. And with a single stud, you can then add more connections or eve change the colors of the eues.

View fullsize
View fullsize

For example, here is a head design I created using parts from a Chima mammoth head, using a single connection point to alter the eyes, add white tusks and trunk made from a palm tree trunk element and bendable hose. A truck for a trunk!

Galidor’s Insides

Being the only part on this list with triangle head screws, this Galidor torso was a little bit harder to get apart—but I think it yields some useful parts so it’s worth the trouble. I was able to get the screws out using a flathead screwdriver. I have not seen a McDonalds’ Galidor Euripides torso taken apart before and was surprised by what it looked like. The rubber axle piece, small arms, and ratchet socket are all cool and make me want to get the other torso pieces to play with. Of everything I took apart, I set this one aside because it piqued my interest the most.

Keeping with the theme of Galidor, I found this spring-loaded “blast fist” also had screws that could be taken out. The ratchet joint is interesting to me but has a pretty out-of-system connection in the arm, so it’s proved quite hard to use. It is very cool to see the spring-loaded action inside, and as you can see, it can be unscrewed too, but I didn’t for fear of not being able to get it all back in place. 

View fullsize
View fullsize

Another piece that lights up is the Bionicle Ignika sword. It does not come apart simply by changing the batteries, but instead by unclipping the battery holder which allows for full disassembly. The clear prism piece is quite cool and unique with its narrow cone shape.

View fullsize
View fullsize

Smart Hubs Brains

Something with a lot more than just lights is the Mindstorms NXT brain. The only piece that comes off is the white shell to cover the electronics. You may be able to remove the screen, but I didn’t want to risk damaging the wiring for it trying to disconnect it.

View fullsize
View fullsize

Another programmable piece is the Spybotics brain module which already has a very visible inside. The large transparent piece looks very useful as a spaceship windscreen especially because it comes in trans purple, trans green, and trans blue as well. The other pieces look neat and have actual in-system connection points on them already, which adds to their usefulness.

View fullsize
View fullsize

Controller Internals

What are motorized electronics without remotes? The Power Functions train remote came apart very easily and has some neat buttons that pop right out. There may be more to get out of this piece but for fear of damaging my only copy I decided not to dig any further.

View fullsize
View fullsize

The second remote on the list is from the old Manas Bionicle set. Similarly, it also has fun button pieces that fall right out, as well as the IR cover which is a very cool dark trans-black kind of color. 

View fullsize
View fullsize

Insectoid Sounds

And to finish it off we have a pre-programmed electronic. This old Incectoid stinger is a light and sound block and has some very fun trans-neon green pieces I was very curious about. I could not get them off without unscrewing it all, but the pieces proved to be exactly what I was hoping for because you can place them back to back to create a tall crystal structure.

View fullsize
View fullsize

The Loose Screws of LEGO

This is by no means a comprehensive list but rather what I had access to. The simple light brick has a screw so batteries can be changed. The new Harry Potter Sorting Hat has a sound brick that comes pre-assembled. There is even a Duplo light brick that comes assembled from different parts. It is interesting to note that it seems like parts that are screwed together seem to be getting rarer, whether that is because dual and overmolding have become more advanced, to avoid additional labor costs of assembling the items, or avoiding potential safety issues with the screws.

Speaking of loose screws, while I did not discuss it much throughout the article, I know what you are thinking. Do the screws count as official LEGO parts? While some of the plastic parts have part IDs and such, stuff like metal screws and circuit boards do not. I think it is up to personal preference, but I treat everything inside as official LEGO. For me, if it comes in a LEGO product, it’s LEGO no matter what, and I think this opens up a lot of creative possibilities while still remaining purist to LEGO—so don’t get screwy in the comments!

What other LEGO pieces can you take apart? Let us know in the comments below.

Do you want to help BrickNerd continue publishing articles like this one? Become a top patron like Charlie Stephens, Marc & Liz Puleo, Paige Mueller, Rob Klingberg from Brickstuff, John & Joshua Hanlon from Beyond the Brick, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Lukas Kurth from StoneWars, Wayne Tyler, LeAnna Taylor, Monica Innis, Dan Church, and Roxanne Baxter to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.