Small Scale Military Headquarters

I've tried hot water, I've tried the freezer, I've tried the blow dryer, nothing works so far. I suspect that the sockets are too small for the over-sized pegs the factory workers jammed in there and now the friction is so great that they can't be moved or removed. How screwed am I?

I purchase many of those sets and most of the figures have the same stiky joint problem.What i do is pull (carefully and slowly)the part in the exact opposite direction that it was assemble at the factory. then push back in.And try moving the joint.If it is still stiky,then repeat the same thing but pull a little more each time you try.I do this to all my new figures.Specially the ones with the swivel joints(wave one ultimate soldiers) and it always work.I called it "stretching the new joints" I don't use hot water,but rarely there is a stubborn figure that i have to use the hot water to stretch the joint at the same time.

thanks for the advice man, it took a few minutes but it worked really well.

Heat with warm water, pull apart, put back together. That usually fixes everything, but the way sometimes the "wash" on the figures is a bit tacky means that joints will stiffen up again. It happens on lots of figures from various lines.