G.I. Joe 12": removing heads and hands

[Action Martin]

I have a G.I. Joe from the "Search for the Yeti" set with the cool "chin strap" beard. The problem is that his blue hands are so freaking huge compared to other AT Joes. Is is possible for me to switch his head onto a 2006 AT body or another body? Or would it be easier for me to remove his blue hands and replace them with hands from Cotswolds? And how do you remove the hands and head without causing damage?

[ThatBatmanGuy]

Boiling water. and I mean HOT. Dip the figures hand or head into the water for a few seconds. You should be able to "pop" the hands or head right off. If you don't want to use water, try a hairdryer. Warm the parts up and "pop" 'em off. It may take alittle longer with the hairdryer.

Bob

[misterdroid]

If the joe is structured like the modern Classic Collection joes, you will have a couple problems switching bodies/ hands. The modern joe hands are on a thin peg with a wide disc in the center, while the old style hands have a thick ridged peg. You may need to drill out the wrist holes (or just stuff them in to a well warmed wrist, but I don't know how well they'll turn). Second, the newer style heads have a pronounced lip and a small hole, while old style heads are entirely open in the neck. With CC style head swaps I have had to xacto out the lip of the neck hole to get them to fit.
I would personally lean towards cutting ou the extra neck plastic and fixing the head to vintage style body (cotswold elite is a nice alternative), but that's just my 2 cents.