Another material used by Hausser was porcelain. Some personality figures made after 1937 are fitted with porcelain heads to give them a more realistic look. But in all cases the bodies are pure composition. Most figures have been stabilized by pieces of wire, which serve a similar purpose to the bones in a human body. Quite often you hear collectors saying that they x-rayed their figures to make the wires visible. However, if you are trying to buy a figure at a collector's fair, there are usually not many x-ray machines available for public use. Also this technique is expensive and probably only worthwhile if you are examining an extremely scare figure.

There is a simpler technique, if you want to find out about the wire frame. The wire is made out of iron, so you can simply use a magnet and feel if the wire is responding. This works quite well, but some of the reproductions nowadays have a wire frame too, even

they are made out of plastic. Also, not all of the old figures had wire in them. Therefore, this test is only a first indicator.
Elastolin portrait figures of the GFM Göring fitted with (right) and without (left) a porcelain head.