Do you have action figures or other legged toys that don't like to stand up on their own? Well here's how you snap those lazy G.I. Joes into shape! Not only that you can actually get some use out of those annoying subscription slips from the magazines on your coffee table.

Step 1: What You Need Before You Start.

To make one of these the way I do, you'll need the pictured items.
1 action figure with a peg hole in at least 1 of its feet
1 piece of scrap paper
1 magazine subscription slip
1 bottle of white glue
1 hot glue gun with hot glue sticks
1 pair of sharp scissors
Not pictured, but useful, a pencil or pen.

Step 2: Size Your Base

If you want the base to have a flat bottom and not warp when the hot glue dries, you're going to want it to be 4 layers thick. Cut 4 pieces of the magazine subscription slip of roughly the same size. If you have a really big figure, you might need to use 4 whole slips!

Step 3: Assemble Your Base

Put a thin layer of white glue on 3 of the cut slip portions. Sandwich them all together, push and rub on them to make sure the glue gets all over their inner surfaces. I suggest putting this under a lamp somewhere to accelerate drying.

Step 4: Eyeball Your Potential Peg

These figures typically have a peg hole in their foot for just such a stand. Sometimes you're lucky and it's skinny enough for a toothpick to be a snug fit. In this case it's quite wide. Good luck finding a dowel to fit the diameter of a minimate foot. If you need an oddly sized peg, I can think of one easy and cheap solution. Cut a strip of paper and roll it into a tight, hard tube and glue it shut. Look at the hole in your toy's foot and try to imagine how wide the peg has to be.

Step 5: Make the Peg

Cut a long strip of paper. Don't worry about the length of the short side. We're gonna cut it shorter later. I suggest cutting it into quarters to begin with. That way you can start add a little more width gradually so it'll fit the foot snuggly.

Put a little glue on the tip and start rolling it inward. If you like, put some glue in the middle of the strip halfway. Then put some glue on the end and hold it shut while the glue sets a little.

Step 6: Adjust the Peg

Stick the peg in the toy's foot to see if it's the right size yet. Hopefully it will be either the right size or too small. If it's too small, add another strip of paper.
Try again with the extra width and stop once it fits snuggly.

Step 7: Cut the Peg

The puddle of hot glue we're going to stick the peg in (oops, spoiler alert!) isn't very deep. Put the peg as it is into the toy's foot and then mark a line about 5mm away from the foot. It doesn't have to be very accurate. Take the peg out and then cut where the line marks.

Step 8: Hot Glue Time!

Plug in your hot glue gun and let it warm up. Dig up your 4 card-thick base. Hopefully you haven't lost it while making the peg. If it's curved at all (it shouldn't, that's part of the reason you do 4 layers) lay it down on your work area so it curves downward.

Now, make make a thin layer of hot glue across the top of the card. don't go all the way to the edge, just get close. I suggest doing parallel lines of hot glue and letting them ooze together. Take the time to do it right, but remember, hot glue sets pretty fast.

When you've got a nice layer of wet hot glue on the card, stick the piece of peg you cut in the middle of the puddle. If you want, you can place the peg at an angle so the figure can be posed running or jumping.

Step 9: Time Enough for Vanity

Let the glue dry for a while. It doesn't have to be completely set, but it should be relatively cool to the touch before you do this. Either cut around the edges of the hot glue shape, or just cut the outer edge of the glue off to make it straight. It's purely an aesthetic choice.

Step 10: Enjoy

make sure the glue is set enough that it won't damage your figure or take any paint off if they touch. Otherwise, enjoy your now stable and pose-able action figure!