Again, click the images for larger viewsOver the Thanksgiving weekend and in-between eating & watching The Gauntlet, I was able to construct a fully operational Netflix Crow arm! I’ll post about the entire arm (parts & sizes) later on once I get a few more photos, but for now I’d like to address the
MUCH BETTER shoulder joint connection I discovered!
Yet BEFORE that… I think we need to chat about the variations of shoulder joints that have appeared. Yep, that’s right, we already get a bevy of conflicting source material to work with that’s going to force us replica builders to start making choices based on what we think we like best.
First up, is what I’m going to call “Promo Crow”Promo Crow primarily comes from the promotional images they took of him with Hampton Yont for Season 11. His distinctions include...

-A classic, string operated jaw. This can be seen in several of the photos- Both under the jaw heading to the neck hole and with the old, BBI-style metal ring hanging out from the bottom of his PVC pipe; As opposed to the “string-less” servo-controlled jaw mechanism that’s used in the new on-screen puppet.
-He also is clearly lacking the puppet arm-control-rods that run up the forearms and attach to the wrist joint.

-His shoulders are also clearly seen to feature the lamp joints sandwiched between two thinner spacers and bridged in-between by one wider spacer.
-The number of ribs on the black, ribbed rubber tubing is seven.
Yet, when we look at “Season 11 On-Screen Crow”
-We find the spacer in between those same lamp joints are no longer broken up, but contain a single 1”-to-1.25” black nylon spacer- just like the rest of the spacers that appear throughout his arm structure.
This much larger width between the lamp joints made me believe that the ribbed rubber tubing used in Season 11 had to have a much larger inner diameter than the black, ribbed breathing tube we’ve all been using over the years, as you can see that the upper half of the lamp joints are tucked into the black tube. I can tell you the length between a fully spaced pair of those joints is 1.25” and the traditional black tubing is only 1.5” outer diameter with a 7/8” inner diameter. I did my best with the photos to determine if the S11 black tubing had a larger OD but it if that is the case, then it could only be less than a quarter inch larger. The black tubing would very noticeably protrude beyond the edge of the black shoulder block any larger than that- and it doesn't. Thus, the inner diameter must have been wider for this version.
-The number of ribs present on the black tubing is seven. The same number that are consistently on his neck in every variant.
With the pictures I took myself during the VIP photo session I noticed yet another variation in what shall henceforth be called, “Tour Crow”
-Just want to point out that Tour Crow has the coolest control-mechanics of any version but we’re focused on the shoulders for now… Which have the same seven ribs on the black tubing.
-The “Promo Crow” spacer style is now back! The lamp joints are braced by two thin, outer spacers and one wide inner spacer.
And finally, while watching The Gauntlet I noticed a whole new change-up with, “Season 12 On-Screen Crow”
-This one features a reduced black tubing that’s only five ribs high.
-The lamp joints are now spaced out in reverse: Two wider spacers on the sides and one thinner spacer in the middle! This makes the lamps joints slant into a distinctive “V” shape.
(Bonus: Sorry for having to take the screencap directly off the TV, but check out the giant washer/flat-metal-disc in Crow’s mouth attached to the servo-controlled jaw mech.)
So those are the variants I’ve spotted that everyone will want to consider when choosing what version of Netflix Crow they want to make. I’m sure more will appear as time goes on.
What that brings us to once more is how the black resin shoulder block is connected to the rest of the arm. I previously posted my quickie idea of using a zip-tie. That proved functional but not the most favorable as it could wear away at the resin over time. Something new started to consistently appear to me though in photos of all the different versions Crow…

We see in photos that allow us to view the connection point at just the right angle, that there are protruding from the bottom of the black tubing, what I’ll simply call, “two bumps.” They appear between the upper lamp joints and seem to not be related to the straight, black spacers that horizontally span those joints everywhere else.
It hit me…
Rubber O-Rings!!! Check it out:

A good, sturdy, large rubber O-Ring (I used a #49 1 7/8” OD) slips right into the hole that already is present in the resin shoulder blocks we’ve all been using since Bob made them available. The fit is tight, and the rubber O-ring is hard to stretch past the ribbed rubber tubing, but with a little help from a bent paper clip you pull it out…
…To then loop both ends over the inner spacer of the lamp joints. I then used a standard nut to secure the bolt in place since the acorn nuts used on the rest of the arm would be too large to slide back up into the black tubing...
...And there you have it! Not only is it the perfect connection point which allows complete freedom of movement, it’s sturdier and softer than the zip-tie. PLUS, you can see the two loops made by the ring now give us those “two bumps” seen in the photos of the real Crow puppet!
So is that method confirmed? We still won’t know 100% until one of the team tells us. But I think this is a completely functional and (for what it’s worth) screen-accurate approach. I’m going to go with “Extremely Plausible.”