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Are there any differences in the components or construction of keychain minifigs compared with regular minifigs from sets?

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A minifig on a keychain and a regular minifig are essentially the same. They are made of the same components. A couple of additional procedures turn regular minifigs into keychain minifigs.

1.) There is a long screw inserted through the head and neck-post of the minifig to be able to attach the keychain to the loop at the end of the screw. If you remove the screw, there will be a small hole left inside the stud on the head, and on the neck-post.

2.) The leg assembly is fused to the torso assembly to make sure they don't separate during use as a keychain.

In addition, keychain minifigs are made in China, so there is a slight difference in how they look. The plastic has a duller and sometimes a bit more opaque appearance compared to regular minifigs. The printing, however, is the same quality, which is what most people focus on. The difference in the shine/opaqueness is usually only noticed when the keychain minifigs is placed next to an identical regular minifig.

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    Do we know if the legs are glued on or if the plastic is molded differently to make it more resilient?
    – chicks
    Commented Feb 1, 2019 at 17:26
  • pretty interesting. Does the slight difference of China figs also apply to figs from the 90ties?
    – fabian
    Commented Feb 1, 2019 at 17:27
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    The plastic pieces for the torso and legs are exactly the same as regular minifigs. They are not glued, but the legs are fused to the torso with a solvent, that actually loosens the surface of the ABS plastic and allows the molecules to combine. Once the solvent evaporates, it leaves behind a cleanly fused surface with no residue at all.
    – TheBrickBlogger
    Commented Feb 1, 2019 at 18:12
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    LEGO has been using two types of solvents through the years to "glue" minifigs, sculptures, etc. One is called MEK (methyl-ethyl-ketone) and at some point they switched to GBL (gamma-butyrolactone).
    – TheBrickBlogger
    Commented Feb 1, 2019 at 18:14
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    @Fabian, the collectible minifig series didn't start until 2010. At that time, LEGO didn't have their own factory in China, but worked with a partner. Now they have their own factory and are more in control of the quality. According to the official LEGO history site, lego.com/en-us/themes/lego-history LEGO didn't start working with Chinese partners until the 2000s, although it is possible that some of their non-brick items were made there even before (stationary, school-supplies, home décor, etc.)
    – TheBrickBlogger
    Commented Feb 1, 2019 at 18:20

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