It's the PVC breaking down - it's called 'plasticizer migration'. I've never managed to cure it. The PVC will go sticky, and an acrid, vinegar smell will be present, in the worst cases. It can spread to other PVC items, too. My original Palitoy Star Wars figures succumbed to it, fusing together in a horrid mass. They went in the bin. Modern PVC formulation is completely different, so this is a rare occurrence, these days. I did have to bin the rubber capes of my 'Battle Of The Planets' figures, though, as they were attacking the hard plastic of the bodies.
i have some gachapon figures, they turned sticky. no matter what i tried the stickiness doesnt go away. i end up spraying acrylic flat, works, figure became non sticky and flat. but only for a month. it starts sweating again from within causing the flat coat to come off and made it even stickier and shinnier. decided to bin them. tried lighter fluid, soap + hot water, detergent, even contact cleaner which suppose to clean everything. did not use brake fluid or engine degreaser as i believe they wont survive the ordeal.
Hi Dave. You really ought to buy the part B of the B Blonde peroxide. The way you're using it is like only having one part of Milliput or Araldite - it needs both A+B components mixed to work properly. On the front of the bottle it says to use with BBlonde high lift powder bleach. You wouldn't need the sun - the powder bleach would create the necessary chemical reaction. On a collecting note - sold all my vintage figures in the 90's, started buying the jumbo's from GGLTD in 2010 - then sold all those in 2016 to go back and start collecting vintage all over again this year, 2018. You can't beat the originals! Kenner really knew what they were doing with the sculpts and paints. Really nice to see them again. Only got 34 right now, but will try to get everything over time. Your videos are very helpful. Thanks for all the tips and tricks for restoring.
Hi, your videos are awesome. I am in Canada and thought it was strange that the two figures you are restoring came from a Canadian source. I also have a few vintage Star Wars figures with these spots. Strange that they all seem to come from Canada.
I think you misread the label. It looks like to me as "30ml volume" for the whole bottle. And at the bottom of the label it reads "30 volume at 9% Peroxide". Just a thought.
you are correct! He's using 9% But 30 VOL means "30 volume" which supposedly also means 9% and must be some kind of chemist measurement or a beauty measurement.
I have had some success by placing figures on a sheet of aluminium foil, covering them with baking soda, and pouring almost boiling water over them. The aluminum reacts mildly with the baking soda and it will bubble and fizz. This process works very well on toys with metal parts. The other thing that works extremely well on plastic is a Magic Sponge.
Interesting test results you got there. Have you ever tried "re-flowing" the plastic? It probably wouldn't work on these pieces, but seeing as they're knackered anyway, it couldn't hurt to try it. It's simply a matter of taking a heat gun and waving it over the piece until the plastic starts to warm up... this works especially well with sun damaged plastic items that have been left outside, you do this and the colour is restored before your eyes. Just be careful not to actually melt it in the process.
I'm interested to see if this works. Another idea is to possible drop the figures in boiling water for a minute or two to see if that kind of heat treatment has any effect.
I have a Bossk figure that had white spots on one leg, so I tried the boiling water thing. No change, I'm sad to report. Don't want to try the re-flowing thing on this figure though. It's otherwise in top shape.
Hi there! I restore girls toys for many similar issues. I am of the same opinion that it is more likely to be a problem with the plastic mixing and "regrind" or recycled scrap material not coagulating well enough. I have discovered that creme developer is extremely risky on any plastics with color. It's designed to strip the natural pigment from hair afterall. :) I have yet to find a solution to this problem either. Sometimes improved, but not corrected. Thank you for giving me info to compare notes with. :)
I am pretty sure hydrogen peroxide degrades quickly in sunlight and heat. If you add in the used to the in-used it will weaken the concentration over time. Might not make a difference but thought I would pass it along. By the way, this is why it’s stored in a brown bottle.
I have a Hong Kong COO storm trooper that was brought in California around 1980 his arms went pink and became covered with brown spots and his torso and head went a dark yellow colour so I think it's to do with the COO on the figures because from what I've seen figures made in Hong Kong seem to get it the worst. Anyway great video toy-polloi.
Love the videos keep up the great work. On the peroxide bit at the end for the hair stuff, Its 30 volume not 30%, The actual peroxide content is 9%. it says it right on the front of the bottle too.
I agree with the post about using heat to reflow the plastic. I've used that technique several times on Transformers when they would get a stress crease. But use caution as it will melt the plastic. Great video Dave!
Fantastic tip. I actually have two R2s with this exact problem. I’m going to give this repair suggestion a go. Thanks for your help. I’ll let you know how mine turn out.
If the Ben figure is a lost cause would you cut the plastic for a cross section of the dots to see how deep they go? I can’t tell if they’re just on the surface or if they go all the way through the limbs.
Blurillaz Ooh! I can asist on this one. The specs are not a complete saturation, but are usually about as deep as they are wide. The only success I've seen in removing them is when they occur at the very edge of a joint and I have been able to "pick them off". I also believe it to be deterioration and not biological. However the spots seem to be their own type of compound and will never reaffuse (my own word LOL) with the surrounding area. It's similar to the bleaching spots that occur on old vinyl dolls and barbies.
"If the Ben figure is a lost cause would you cut the plastic for a cross section of the dots to see how deep they go? I can’t tell if they’re just on the surface or if they go all the way through the limbs." If we're going to CUT Ben, let's do it in the spirit of the original Star Wars movie with either a heat gun OR a laser if someone has access to a research lab! It's such a Bart Simpson thing to do but some of us (NOT ME!) did torture our toys after all! Oh, oh! Maybe Retroblasting could lend Broken Vader for this task. He has an axe to grind and I'm sure he's the kind of bully who wouldn't mind cutting down his "tiny (former) Master."
I have some Hasbro WWF figures and I lightly sanded some spots and that works. Oddly enough, Clearasil acne cream takes spots off. So now I call the spots plastic acne.
this method works on white plastic but the spots will still be noticeable as they were alot darker to begin with seems this isnt just normal mold but reaction from within. try carving out the spots see how deep the spots went.
Just to add to the research, I have an old Silverhawks Monstar action figure that has black spots all over his lower legs and arms (the rubbery parts of the figure, none on the hard plastic). I thought it was some sort of mold when I bought it, but it did not come off in soap and water. So I tried using a fiberglass brush, which is good for surface cleaning, but can alter the very top layer of a figures finish if you aren't careful (certainly removes paint from the figure). The brush didn't do anything. Then I tried a doll cleaning product called Remove-Zit, but that didn't remove any of the spots either. I have also tried ultrasonic cleaning, thinking if it was some mold that somehow got down into the structure of the plastic, that the soundwaves and cleaning solution might break it apart as the microscopic bubbles explode. But that didn't do anything either. So I am starting to think they are just some irreparable defect in the plastic.
It's the plastic breaking down. There is no fixing it. If a toy has these spots, it is ruined forever. I have a Real Ghostbusters Egon figure that has these spots, and it has actually gotten worse over the course of a year, and the plastic arms, legs, and head are really sticky now. I've tried everything to stop it, with no luck. It's impossible to fix this problem.
We come back to the plasicide transpiring from the plastic, many vintage and new figures/toys suffer from this. But I think you are the only one has come up closer to solving this problem, I’ve asked lots of collectors and none have an answer 😕 I wish I could know, currently I have four action figures still in package that are suffering from this and I don’t know what to do 😢 I like them in the box wouldn’t want to open them but if I must to safe the figure, I won’t have a choice 😓 Anyway, great video, as always 👍🏽✌🏽
I love the A-Team intro! Your video's are amazing! I've learned SOOOO much from you. I live in the US and I've ordered the products that you use from Amazon. All great stuff! I was wondering which paint jar(s) would you use to paint the legs of General Lando?
Thanks. Glad they have helped you. I use Hunbrol paints, so check the colour chart on their website to see what they have. You will have to mix to get an exact match. But they should have a good starting point. Cheers
I agree about the plastic degradation rather than mold. I have seen multiple Kenobis with that exact same mottling (always the arms and legs). These were almost always stored with other figures under the same conditions with no ill effects presenting on the others. I wonder if there are carded Kenobis out there with the same issue.
I use cream peroxide for all my de-yellowing. Instead of sunlight I have a box laced with tinfoil and a blue light lamp. Works much better than anything else I tried and also much faster. Never had any issues and it even removes extreme yellowing in about 2 days to a point where it's almost like new.
Also I think that this other plastic used for the figures is, as you said, degrading, as well as a kind that is not really compatible with Retro-Brighting. It will still work on white stuff since it's bleaching it. But compatible materials will not be bleached by the process whatsoever, it will just remove the yellow.
I had the same spotty "mold" on my old Hasbro Big Trak and GI Joe yellow helicopter. I took them apart and washed them up in the kitchen sink with a strong dose of dishwashing soap and an old toothbrush. All the "mold" washed off and they look great! No staining or marks left after. Maybe a different plastic?
Star Wars Superbeaters on Facebook would love that Obi Wan. I've always wondered what soaking in propylene glycol would do. If it's a surface issue restore "sheen" to the finish and in this case turn the legs more brown again...
An abrasive cream cleaner might help or a fine automotive rubbing compound, depending on how deep the Plastic has degraded? Never actually tried but just a thought.
I did a video of a hoth Han that had lost pigment from bleaching. I restored it by polishing with flitz polish. Another thought on restoring Ben's color would be to try the same method as you use on grey mego heads. Unfortunately I have no thoughts on removing the spots themselves but agree it is not mold. If it is mold, chlorine bleach would help.
Interesting experiment, I did something similar with two Skeletor who had the yellow torzo, the one from Taiwan turned blue again, but as the obi wan the blue became clearer, and with the Argentine from top toys the blue did not become clearer, imagine that the types of plastics makes the result change, greetings and very good video (sorry my bad English)
i have an Obi Wan that has dots all over him too. i stuck it in hydrogen peroxide and it turned the dots grey just like this..they go back to black over a bit of time but a tad lighter.. at least i saw someone else try! :)
I love the new intro,. Too funny I think you should try the 30% peroxide on the other R2 leg and see its results. Off the cuff, I feel the negative results on the Konobi figure is due not to the plastic itself but the color IN the plastic. Very interesting
I guess the peroxide just makes the spots go lighter, so if the plastic is white anyway (like with R2D2) it makes them less noticeable. With dark plastic it makes them more noticeable. It looks to me like they go quite deep, if so I doubt you can remove them.
It's a bit hopeless getting mold out of plastics because the live mycelium lives in the plastic. I'm trying to save some dolls by washing with something like peroxide, then spraying with Concrobium mold killer to inhibit future mold growth. I'm concerned though that the mold will ultimately spread to other belongings so these dolls may be headed for the bin.
There's no fixing it. I have the same problem, and my Egon has gotten worse over time. It's a wrap for any toy that has these spots. It's the plastic breaking down. Might as well just throw them in the trash.
Ive seen so many figures with this problem over the last 10 years, although i read in the comments here they have sealed toys that have had this problem. I personally have always found that the figures ive come across with this problem have not been very well cared for in 1 form or another, either stuck in a loft or shed or maybe just left out in the garden or a sand pit! The 3 main figures ive found it on is Star Wars, He-Man & Thunder cats and just recently the 2003 released Geyper Men, what was interesting about the Geyper Men was 3 of the had been through the wars through play and were covered in it but 1 was in excellent shape with all his clothes in excellent condition too, this figure had no sign of it! P.S Dave, i don't know if you noticed but at least 1 of those Panthro figures i sent you has this problem!
Toy Polloi I know Dave, i could tell by the way you were talking about the weather, obviously unaware of the incoming relentless heat wave! A Bison Skeleton with a vulture picking the last scraps of meat off the bone wouldn't look out of place in my garden right now! lol
Real Ghostbusters figures are notorious for this problem, too. MOC figures can get them as well. It's the plastic breaking down. There is no way to fix it. Once these spots start, that's a wrap.
Just throwing out an idea but with how you restore "ghost mego heads" with that plastic dip is there any chance that might work for the spotting? I have a ThunderCats Bengali with the spotting on the legs and arms thats just started.
Try soaking them in fresh clean motor oil or synthetic oil......like 5W-30 or 10W-40.....since the old plastic is a petroleum product the oil will refresh the plastic after some time soaking.....you don’t need sunlight for this one.....afterwards wipe the figure down with WD/40 or some similar spray can oil.
Given how uniform the dot sizes are, they could be a poorly blended plastic. Most plastic for injection molding comes in beads, and those look a lot like bead-sized dots. Maybe they didn't get things hot enough and they were just semi-blended in that factory. In any case, I don't think you can remove the dots here, if that's what they are. I bet if you sliced through the leg, you'd find the dots are actually spheres.
One thing that might be telling would be to cut one of these arms or legs in half, and examine the cross-section. How deep do the spots go? Are there spots inside unexposed areas? Is there a uniform distribution pattern? Is it limited only to the surface? I'm also curious what effect sand paper would have? Could they be sanded off?
never cut them but i did try sanding the area down seems to go quite deep coz i cant remove them. the spots do become lighter probably due to less oxygen.
It must have to do with where there made. Ive never had spots just yellowing, & the peroxide work's well for me. I live in the U.S. but l think they were make in China, then again what isint, ☺ great video 👍👍
Just for the record, 30 Vol is not 30% Hydrogen Peroxide. And using 40 Vol. in the bleaching cream gives optimal results as far as de-yellowing stormtroopers, wampas and vehicles etc.
I think it's certainly a problem with the plastic beginning to deteriorate. I don't think that there's anything that can be done here, other than doing a repaint. I don't believe that it is actually mold on these figures, but in the event that it could be, I think the first thing that is necessary is to make sure that the mold is dead before you proceed further. The best way to kill mold is to dry it out. One trick that I do to kill mold and must growing in old comic books or magazines is to do the following: 1) Get a large tupperware type container (with a lid) that's much bigger than your comic book. 2) fill the box 2/3rds of the way full with unscented cat litter 3) get a small box that will fit within your container and place that inside the cat litter box, and place the cat litter around the box so that you have a little box island in the middle of your tupperware box. This box "island" is basically a table for you to lay your comic book on. 3) Place an old molding comic, book or magazine on the little island space. 4) Put the tupperware lid on the large tupperware box. If you did this right, you should end up with a comic book, book or magazine resting on a surface above the cat litter so that your book isn't damaged by making contact with the litter crystals. 5) Once you've sealed the box lid, leave the book in there for about a week. 6) After a week, open the lid and remove your book. The cat litter should cause all the mold inside the old paper of your book to dry up and thus die. After a week, with the mold dead, your book should actually smell a lot better! No more moldy musty smell (or at least much less or a smell)! Again, I am doubtful that those spots on those figures are any kind of mold, but if that's the case, you'd think that being doused in hydrogen peroxide for several days in sunlight would have killed it. That said, I've offered you one more step to try in your processes, and if nothing else, illustrated a way in which you and/or your viewers can get rid of mold growing in books. The mold doesn't disappear if it's on the paper, but it does dry out and die, and all the bad smell from the mold is eradicated. It isn't likely to help much with the appearance of mold on paper, or probably on action figures either, but it could prevent further mold spread and growth, and it will get rid of any nasty mold smells. Just throwing this out for what it's worth.
One thing to note....The 30 volume you are using is specifically designed to remove color from hair. If the spots are truly a degradation in the plastic, that would be the chemicals way 'in' to the plastic, which is why that was lighter in color than the rest of the legs on Obi. Also, it did what it was supposed to, in that it took the dye out of the plastic, which is why it impacted Obi's legs the way it did. (I should point out I'm a barber/stylist here in the US so I use this stuff all the time. It's whole purpose is to lighten and remove color and dyes. The dyes used in plastic, believe it or not, are not all that different from hair dye. Having said that, R2, because his legs are already white, shouldn't be impacted in this way. I think if you would try taking the control leg and rubbing it down with the 30 volume you'd actually get the result you are looking for.
I look everywhere... garage sales, flea markets, junk stores... and no one ever has Star Wars figures that are beat up enough to be extremely cheap. My childhood collection was stolen (while I was till a child lol) and I'm determined to get it back. I feel like restoring unwanted ones would make them feel as special as my original ones did. After 15 years of regular hunting I'm beginning to think that every SW toy in the state is either lost or already in the hands of collectors. I have to either give up or win the lottery, I guess.
you might be able to restore the Obi-Wan if you sand and polish the plastic. I had similar results trying to use a 40% cream on a transformer. similar over bleaching. but sanding away the surface revealed newer, fresher plastic
Have you tried the stuff you can buy for treating black mould spots on the bathroom grout? We get black spots in the sealer where the bath meets the tiles. It’s like a foam and you just leave it for a while.
I have a problem with a new figure. Two figures i kept standing together for a few weeks, one arm touched the other figure and now i have red dots on a few points that seem to be really deep in the plastic. its material is of this heavy slightly soft sort lot of newer action figures use. The affected figures parts are white so I wonder of any of those things work, since it looks as if it just soaked really far into it. How does this even happen? had many figures and this was never a problem before. I am seriously upset ,cause theyre my newest in collection and werent cheap either 😣 As a first try i went with baking soda but so far that doesnt help, didnt really expect it to anyway
Hey, man. I love watching your restoration videos of the vintage Kenner Star Wars toys. I own an original Jabba The Hutt but his right arm has snapped off and the arm peg has broken off clean inside the body of Jabba. I would really like to fix him and I was wondering if you could offer any advice on how i could go about it or perhaps do a video on how I could fix him. Thanks.
I have seen this issue a few times, but have yet to get a broken Jabba that I can take a look at and work out a fix. Once I find one, I will do a video. Cheers
Hi do you know if there is any way to remove degraded rubber bands in carded figures whereby the packaging and both the figure are mint except for the elastic bands which have degraded and fallen into pieces inside the bubble.?
Dave , do you know how to remove mold smell from action figures ? I recently acquired figures that were Moc but had water damage, I had to open them and remove the figures , but I noticed some smelled like mildew , I washed them in soap and water but the smell still remains , is there a way to get rid of it ?
It's definitely degradation. The plastic will eventually get sticky, and the spots will get worse. It's the plastic breaking down. It seems you might be able to slow the process, but it's impossible to fix it permanently. I have a Real Ghostbusters Egon figure that has these black dots all over it, and the plastic is very sticky. I've tried everything to fix it with no luck. I'm keeping it in a box on its own just to see what happens to it over time. It wasn't sticky when I got it, and it had some spots, and about a year later, there are many more spots, and it's very sticky.
It's American mold (it's SPECIAL!)* although with the rainy weather in the UK I hear about I wonder HOW the UK toys don't have mold. A requirement of mold is moisture. * = Yes, I'm being sarcastic although I am curious as to why HERE and NOT over THERE. Planet Earth is a freaky place still full of freaky mysteries, isn't it?
Looks like a problem in the manufacturing process. Original UK figures were made in Hong Kong if I remember correctly, where were the North American ones made? Or maybe its a climate/storage issue? A polymer chemist's analysis about the nature of what these spots are would be interesting to hear.
I've had white plastic go bad on action figures, large-scale figures, and videogame controllers. It yellows no matter how well you take care of it. Other white plastic doesn't yellow. With the Asian factories, it's a fifty-fifty proposition. Your alternatives are to live with the yellowing -- and hydrogen peroxide WON'T fix the problem; it WILL yellow again -- or sand and recoat the plastic with a layer of plastic paint and coat that with a flat or glassy coat once your color paint dries. Drying is key because some paints WILL react with the gloss coat and can actually melt the plastic! Of course, before you apply white paint or primer, you have to use an adhesion promoter because a lot of paint just won't stick well to plastic even if you lightly sand which you SHOULD do to get rid of the original glass coat which can itself interfere with the bonding between the plastic and paint. I found out these things years ago when I was doing experiments with coloring joystick controller casings. 1) always sand plastic lightly before painting, remove the gloss coat if there is one; 2) always use an adhesion promoter; 3) lightly coat the paint on, at least 2 layers, 3 max with drying times of at least 15 minutes, 25 max between painting but paint new layers while the underlying layers are still tacky; and 4) LET DRY for at least a full day IN STRONG HEAT before you coat with a flat or glossy clear coating. * White is one of the worst paint colors to work with and it sometimes hard to see the effectiveness of it depending on the color of the underlying plastic, especially if you're coating light grey plastic! There are rules to remember with plastic. It can be a real bitch to deal with and if you don't do it right you're just going to end up redoing your work sooner than you think!
My Capt. Jack Sparrows intire body & head is covered with green fuzzy mould. Under every part it can get under. Please Help Me & Jack..... I received him... [after 1 & 1/2 yrs] Wraped in plastic. No box. Still Green Mildew Smelling Fuzzy Mould. Helllp!
Twenty years ago my friends Rancor Keeper was already like this, we called him Freckles.
the only figures ive ever had this problem with have all been rancor keepers... weird
I don't think the OBI One is a failure...i think you just created the force ghost of Ben...you should do the whole figure...love the vids
Poor Obi Wan he was our only hope
No... there is another...
This made me chuckle
It's the PVC breaking down - it's called 'plasticizer migration'. I've never managed to cure it. The PVC will go sticky, and an acrid, vinegar smell will be present, in the worst cases. It can spread to other PVC items, too. My original Palitoy Star Wars figures succumbed to it, fusing together in a horrid mass. They went in the bin. Modern PVC formulation is completely different, so this is a rare occurrence, these days. I did have to bin the rubber capes of my 'Battle Of The Planets' figures, though, as they were attacking the hard plastic of the bodies.
i have some gachapon figures, they turned sticky. no matter what i tried the stickiness doesnt go away. i end up spraying acrylic flat, works, figure became non sticky and flat. but only for a month. it starts sweating again from within causing the flat coat to come off and made it even stickier and shinnier. decided to bin them.
tried lighter fluid, soap + hot water, detergent, even contact cleaner which suppose to clean everything. did not use brake fluid or engine degreaser as i believe they wont survive the ordeal.
Disco Kenobi! With his Star spangled Trooos!
Awesome stuff as always Mr. Polloi! Love seeing what you do to these toys, gives me inspirations and ideas for my own.
Hi Dave. You really ought to buy the part B of the B Blonde peroxide. The way you're using it is like only having one part of Milliput or Araldite - it needs both A+B components mixed to work properly.
On the front of the bottle it says to use with BBlonde high lift powder bleach.
You wouldn't need the sun - the powder bleach would create the necessary chemical reaction.
On a collecting note - sold all my vintage figures in the 90's, started buying the jumbo's from GGLTD in 2010 - then sold all those in 2016 to go back and start collecting vintage all over again this year, 2018.
You can't beat the originals! Kenner really knew what they were doing with the sculpts and paints. Really nice to see them again. Only got 34 right now, but will try to get everything over time.
Your videos are very helpful. Thanks for all the tips and tricks for restoring.
Hi, your videos are awesome. I am in Canada and thought it was strange that the two figures you are restoring came from a Canadian source. I also have a few vintage Star Wars figures with these spots. Strange that they all seem to come from Canada.
I think you misread the label. It looks like to me as "30ml volume" for the whole bottle. And at the bottom of the label it reads "30 volume at 9% Peroxide". Just a thought.
you are correct! He's using 9% But 30 VOL means "30 volume" which supposedly also means 9% and must be some kind of chemist measurement or a beauty measurement.
I have had some success by placing figures on a sheet of aluminium foil, covering them with baking soda, and pouring almost boiling water over them. The aluminum reacts mildly with the baking soda and it will bubble and fizz. This process works very well on toys with metal parts. The other thing that works extremely well on plastic is a Magic Sponge.
Interesting test results you got there. Have you ever tried "re-flowing" the plastic? It probably wouldn't work on these pieces, but seeing as they're knackered anyway, it couldn't hurt to try it. It's simply a matter of taking a heat gun and waving it over the piece until the plastic starts to warm up... this works especially well with sun damaged plastic items that have been left outside, you do this and the colour is restored before your eyes. Just be careful not to actually melt it in the process.
I've not. I will give that a go on the obi-wan and see what happens to him.
I'm interested to see if this works. Another idea is to possible drop the figures in boiling water for a minute or two to see if that kind of heat treatment has any effect.
I have a Bossk figure that had white spots on one leg, so I tried the boiling water thing. No change, I'm sad to report. Don't want to try the re-flowing thing on this figure though. It's otherwise in top shape.
Hi there! I restore girls toys for many similar issues. I am of the same opinion that it is more likely to be a problem with the plastic mixing and "regrind" or recycled scrap material not coagulating well enough. I have discovered that creme developer is extremely risky on any plastics with color. It's designed to strip the natural pigment from hair afterall. :) I have yet to find a solution to this problem either. Sometimes improved, but not corrected. Thank you for giving me info to compare notes with. :)
I am pretty sure hydrogen peroxide degrades quickly in sunlight and heat. If you add in the used to the in-used it will weaken the concentration over time. Might not make a difference but thought I would pass it along. By the way, this is why it’s stored in a brown bottle.
seconding this. I think hyd. peroxide should work better in the dark, not in the sun.
I have a Hong Kong COO storm trooper that was brought in California around 1980 his arms went pink and became covered with brown spots and his torso and head went a dark yellow colour so I think it's to do with the COO on the figures because from what I've seen figures made in Hong Kong seem to get it the worst. Anyway great video toy-polloi.
Love the videos keep up the great work.
On the peroxide bit at the end for the hair stuff, Its 30 volume not 30%, The actual peroxide content is 9%. it says it right on the front of the bottle too.
I agree with the post about using heat to reflow the plastic. I've used that technique several times on Transformers when they would get a stress crease. But use caution as it will melt the plastic. Great video Dave!
Fantastic tip. I actually have two R2s with this exact problem. I’m going to give this repair suggestion a go. Thanks for your help. I’ll let you know how mine turn out.
If the Ben figure is a lost cause would you cut the plastic for a cross section of the dots to see how deep they go? I can’t tell if they’re just on the surface or if they go all the way through the limbs.
Blurillaz Ooh! I can asist on this one. The specs are not a complete saturation, but are usually about as deep as they are wide. The only success I've seen in removing them is when they occur at the very edge of a joint and I have been able to "pick them off". I also believe it to be deterioration and not biological. However the spots seem to be their own type of compound and will never reaffuse (my own word LOL) with the surrounding area. It's similar to the bleaching spots that occur on old vinyl dolls and barbies.
"If the Ben figure is a lost cause would you cut the plastic for a cross section of the dots to see how deep they go? I can’t tell if they’re just on the surface or if they go all the way through the limbs."
If we're going to CUT Ben, let's do it in the spirit of the original Star Wars movie with either a heat gun OR a laser if someone has access to a research lab!
It's such a Bart Simpson thing to do but some of us (NOT ME!) did torture our toys after all!
Oh, oh! Maybe Retroblasting could lend Broken Vader for this task. He has an axe to grind and I'm sure he's the kind of bully who wouldn't mind cutting down his "tiny (former) Master."
I have some Hasbro WWF figures and I lightly sanded some spots and that works. Oddly enough, Clearasil acne cream takes spots off. So now I call the spots plastic acne.
this method works on white plastic but the spots will still be noticeable as they were alot darker to begin with seems this isnt just normal mold but reaction from within. try carving out the spots see how deep the spots went.
Just to add to the research, I have an old Silverhawks Monstar action figure that has black spots all over his lower legs and arms (the rubbery parts of the figure, none on the hard plastic). I thought it was some sort of mold when I bought it, but it did not come off in soap and water.
So I tried using a fiberglass brush, which is good for surface cleaning, but can alter the very top layer of a figures finish if you aren't careful (certainly removes paint from the figure). The brush didn't do anything.
Then I tried a doll cleaning product called Remove-Zit, but that didn't remove any of the spots either.
I have also tried ultrasonic cleaning, thinking if it was some mold that somehow got down into the structure of the plastic, that the soundwaves and cleaning solution might break it apart as the microscopic bubbles explode. But that didn't do anything either.
So I am starting to think they are just some irreparable defect in the plastic.
It's the plastic breaking down. There is no fixing it. If a toy has these spots, it is ruined forever. I have a Real Ghostbusters Egon figure that has these spots, and it has actually gotten worse over the course of a year, and the plastic arms, legs, and head are really sticky now. I've tried everything to stop it, with no luck. It's impossible to fix this problem.
We come back to the plasicide transpiring from the plastic, many vintage and new figures/toys suffer from this.
But I think you are the only one has come up closer to solving this problem, I’ve asked lots of collectors and none have an answer 😕
I wish I could know, currently I have four action figures still in package that are suffering from this and I don’t know what to do 😢 I like them in the box wouldn’t want to open them but if I must to safe the figure, I won’t have a choice 😓
Anyway, great video, as always 👍🏽✌🏽
Worth more in the package spotty than out and not. :)
I love the A-Team intro! Your video's are amazing! I've learned SOOOO much from you. I live in the US and I've ordered the products that you use from Amazon. All great stuff! I was wondering which paint jar(s) would you use to paint the legs of General Lando?
Thanks. Glad they have helped you. I use Hunbrol paints, so check the colour chart on their website to see what they have. You will have to mix to get an exact match. But they should have a good starting point. Cheers
Toy Polloi I’m getting some Hunbrol with my next paycheck. Any colors that everyone basically needs?
I agree about the plastic degradation rather than mold. I have seen multiple Kenobis with that exact same mottling (always the arms and legs). These were almost always stored with other figures under the same conditions with no ill effects presenting on the others. I wonder if there are carded Kenobis out there with the same issue.
BTW, loved the A-Team intro :)
I use cream peroxide for all my de-yellowing. Instead of sunlight I have a box laced with tinfoil and a blue light lamp. Works much better than anything else I tried and also much faster. Never had any issues and it even removes extreme yellowing in about 2 days to a point where it's almost like new.
Also I think that this other plastic used for the figures is, as you said, degrading, as well as a kind that is not really compatible with Retro-Brighting. It will still work on white stuff since it's bleaching it. But compatible materials will not be bleached by the process whatsoever, it will just remove the yellow.
i tried peroxide method and natural sunlight. but depend on plastic the yellowing can reappear within few months.
I had the same spotty "mold" on my old Hasbro Big Trak and GI Joe yellow helicopter. I took them apart and washed them up in the kitchen sink with a strong dose of dishwashing soap and an old toothbrush. All the "mold" washed off and they look great! No staining or marks left after. Maybe a different plastic?
Star Wars Superbeaters on Facebook would love that Obi Wan.
I've always wondered what soaking in propylene glycol would do. If it's a surface issue restore "sheen" to the finish and in this case turn the legs more brown again...
Had the spotting issue on my Artoo as well as the Snow trooper and Lobot. Very interesting to see that it appears to be from dodgy plastic.
An abrasive cream cleaner might help or a fine automotive rubbing compound, depending on how deep the Plastic has degraded? Never actually tried but just a thought.
It goes deep, not just on the surface. So doubt it would make much difference from my experience.
I did a video of a hoth Han that had lost pigment from bleaching. I restored it by polishing with flitz polish. Another thought on restoring Ben's color would be to try the same method as you use on grey mego heads. Unfortunately I have no thoughts on removing the spots themselves but agree it is not mold. If it is mold, chlorine bleach would help.
I have finally found a way to get rid of these spots!! It worked on my Real Ghostbusters Egon figure.
And? How...
HOOWWWWWW?!?!?!?!
Great Vid Dave keep em coming
I love you videos and this was an interesting experiment. I wish there was a solution to this issue. Just got MOTU Ram Man with the same problem.
Hasbro WWF figures mold in spots too. I used clearasil acne cream on some spots and it worked quite well.
Interesting experiment, I did something similar with two Skeletor who had the yellow torzo, the one from Taiwan turned blue again, but as the obi wan the blue became clearer, and with the Argentine from top toys the blue did not become clearer, imagine that the types of plastics makes the result change, greetings and very good video (sorry my bad English)
i have an Obi Wan that has dots all over him too. i stuck it in hydrogen peroxide and it turned the dots grey just like this..they go back to black over a bit of time but a tad lighter.. at least i saw someone else try! :)
I love the new intro,. Too funny I think you should try the 30% peroxide on the other R2 leg and see its results. Off the cuff, I feel the negative results on the Konobi figure is due not to the plastic itself but the color IN the plastic. Very interesting
I guess the peroxide just makes the spots go lighter, so if the plastic is white anyway (like with R2D2) it makes them less noticeable. With dark plastic it makes them more noticeable. It looks to me like they go quite deep, if so I doubt you can remove them.
It's a bit hopeless getting mold out of plastics because the live mycelium lives in the plastic. I'm trying to save some dolls by washing with something like peroxide, then spraying with Concrobium mold killer to inhibit future mold growth. I'm concerned though that the mold will ultimately spread to other belongings so these dolls may be headed for the bin.
On these I don't think it is mold. This is the plastic degrading. None of these toys were expected to last this long.
I recently acquired a Lando figure and just noticed last night it had spots on his leg.
I have several Ghostbusters that have these spots
Retrotoyuniverse me to, especially on my Egon fright feature figure. I don’t know if I should try anything or chalk it up as a loss.
There's no fixing it. I have the same problem, and my Egon has gotten worse over time. It's a wrap for any toy that has these spots. It's the plastic breaking down. Might as well just throw them in the trash.
Ive seen so many figures with this problem over the last 10 years, although i read in the comments here they have sealed toys that have had this problem. I personally have always found that the figures ive come across with this problem have not been very well cared for in 1 form or another, either stuck in a loft or shed or maybe just left out in the garden or a sand pit! The 3 main figures ive found it on is Star Wars, He-Man & Thunder cats and just recently the 2003 released Geyper Men, what was interesting about the Geyper Men was 3 of the had been through the wars through play and were covered in it but 1 was in excellent shape with all his clothes in excellent condition too, this figure had no sign of it! P.S Dave, i don't know if you noticed but at least 1 of those Panthro figures i sent you has this problem!
Yeah, I saw panthro had that issue. This was filmed before he arrived. I will use him in future tests.
Toy Polloi
I know Dave, i could tell by the way you were talking about the weather, obviously unaware of the incoming relentless heat wave! A Bison Skeleton with a vulture picking the last scraps of meat off the bone wouldn't look out of place in my garden right now! lol
Real Ghostbusters figures are notorious for this problem, too. MOC figures can get them as well. It's the plastic breaking down. There is no way to fix it. Once these spots start, that's a wrap.
Just throwing out an idea but with how you restore "ghost mego heads" with that plastic dip is there any chance that might work for the spotting? I have a ThunderCats Bengali with the spotting on the legs and arms thats just started.
I doubt it will work myself 🤔
So I have an old Weebles Tree House that has had these strange dark brown spots on it for years. Could they be mold?
If they don't wash off then I would guess it's the plastic degrading.
Try soaking them in fresh clean motor oil or synthetic oil......like 5W-30 or 10W-40.....since the old plastic is a petroleum product the oil will refresh the plastic after some time soaking.....you don’t need sunlight for this one.....afterwards wipe the figure down with WD/40 or some similar spray can oil.
Given how uniform the dot sizes are, they could be a poorly blended plastic. Most plastic for injection molding comes in beads, and those look a lot like bead-sized dots. Maybe they didn't get things hot enough and they were just semi-blended in that factory.
In any case, I don't think you can remove the dots here, if that's what they are. I bet if you sliced through the leg, you'd find the dots are actually spheres.
I think so as well.
One thing that might be telling would be to cut one of these arms or legs in half, and examine the cross-section. How deep do the spots go? Are there spots inside unexposed areas? Is there a uniform distribution pattern? Is it limited only to the surface? I'm also curious what effect sand paper would have? Could they be sanded off?
never cut them but i did try sanding the area down seems to go quite deep coz i cant remove them. the spots do become lighter probably due to less oxygen.
It must have to do with where there made. Ive never had spots just yellowing, & the peroxide work's well for me. I live in the U.S. but l think they were make in China, then again what isint, ☺ great video 👍👍
I have seen these spots before and have them on some older Nativity figurines. I don't think it is a Cheap China thing. Lol
Just for the record, 30 Vol is not 30% Hydrogen Peroxide. And using 40 Vol. in the bleaching cream gives optimal results as far as de-yellowing stormtroopers, wampas and vehicles etc.
I'll have to see if I can find my K.I.T.T. 2000 and Mike K. to restore.
I think it's certainly a problem with the plastic beginning to deteriorate. I don't think that there's anything that can be done here, other than doing a repaint. I don't believe that it is actually mold on these figures, but in the event that it could be, I think the first thing that is necessary is to make sure that the mold is dead before you proceed further. The best way to kill mold is to dry it out. One trick that I do to kill mold and must growing in old comic books or magazines is to do the following: 1) Get a large tupperware type container (with a lid) that's much bigger than your comic book. 2) fill the box 2/3rds of the way full with unscented cat litter 3) get a small box that will fit within your container and place that inside the cat litter box, and place the cat litter around the box so that you have a little box island in the middle of your tupperware box. This box "island" is basically a table for you to lay your comic book on. 3) Place an old molding comic, book or magazine on the little island space. 4) Put the tupperware lid on the large tupperware box. If you did this right, you should end up with a comic book, book or magazine resting on a surface above the cat litter so that your book isn't damaged by making contact with the litter crystals. 5) Once you've sealed the box lid, leave the book in there for about a week. 6) After a week, open the lid and remove your book. The cat litter should cause all the mold inside the old paper of your book to dry up and thus die. After a week, with the mold dead, your book should actually smell a lot better! No more moldy musty smell (or at least much less or a smell)! Again, I am doubtful that those spots on those figures are any kind of mold, but if that's the case, you'd think that being doused in hydrogen peroxide for several days in sunlight would have killed it. That said, I've offered you one more step to try in your processes, and if nothing else, illustrated a way in which you and/or your viewers can get rid of mold growing in books. The mold doesn't disappear if it's on the paper, but it does dry out and die, and all the bad smell from the mold is eradicated. It isn't likely to help much with the appearance of mold on paper, or probably on action figures either, but it could prevent further mold spread and growth, and it will get rid of any nasty mold smells. Just throwing this out for what it's worth.
One thing to note....The 30 volume you are using is specifically designed to remove color from hair. If the spots are truly a degradation in the plastic, that would be the chemicals way 'in' to the plastic, which is why that was lighter in color than the rest of the legs on Obi. Also, it did what it was supposed to, in that it took the dye out of the plastic, which is why it impacted Obi's legs the way it did. (I should point out I'm a barber/stylist here in the US so I use this stuff all the time. It's whole purpose is to lighten and remove color and dyes. The dyes used in plastic, believe it or not, are not all that different from hair dye. Having said that, R2, because his legs are already white, shouldn't be impacted in this way. I think if you would try taking the control leg and rubbing it down with the 30 volume you'd actually get the result you are looking for.
Try the 30 % on the R2 D2 leg Dave , maybe it reacts different on white plastic .
We see that problem on transformers to. Often on "rubber" parts like the head of Finback a pretenders head
I look everywhere... garage sales, flea markets, junk stores... and no one ever has Star Wars figures that are beat up enough to be extremely cheap. My childhood collection was stolen (while I was till a child lol) and I'm determined to get it back. I feel like restoring unwanted ones would make them feel as special as my original ones did. After 15 years of regular hunting I'm beginning to think that every SW toy in the state is either lost or already in the hands of collectors. I have to either give up or win the lottery, I guess.
I'd keep hunting. I'm sure there are plenty out there to be found.
you might be able to restore the Obi-Wan if you sand and polish the plastic. I had similar results trying to use a 40% cream on a transformer. similar over bleaching. but sanding away the surface revealed newer, fresher plastic
This is a different issue. The plastic has these spots right through.
2 days is a Bit long for the cream it's quite intense... I'd only put in on for a few hours max
Love the ateam spoof . It's great .
Have you tried the stuff you can buy for treating black mould spots on the bathroom grout? We get black spots in the sealer where the bath meets the tiles. It’s like a foam and you just leave it for a while.
it is called bleach or clorox. it works on black mold. but this might not be mold.
So you don’t think it’s mold? I have similar brown dots on a micro machines super Star destroyer but it was one released only a few years ago
On these old toys I don't think it's mold. It seems to be worse on figures made in certain countries, so could be down to materials used. Cheers
I have a problem with a new figure. Two figures i kept standing together for a few weeks, one arm touched the other figure and now i have red dots on a few points that seem to be really deep in the plastic. its material is of this heavy slightly soft sort lot of newer action figures use. The affected figures parts are white so I wonder of any of those things work, since it looks as if it just soaked really far into it. How does this even happen? had many figures and this was never a problem before. I am seriously upset ,cause theyre my newest in collection and werent cheap either 😣 As a first try i went with baking soda but so far that doesnt help, didnt really expect it to anyway
Hi, Could you not try the stronger peroxide cream on the untreated R2 leg? The spots on Obi Wan went quite white which is perfect for R2.
That obi wan is great for a head swap
I think boiling the parts with a bit of the hydrogen peroxide is supposed to "bleach" them white again?
Wonder if boiling water would remove the spots/whitening.
Hey, man. I love watching your restoration videos of the vintage Kenner Star Wars toys. I own an original Jabba The Hutt but his right arm has snapped off and the arm peg has broken off clean inside the body of Jabba. I would really like to fix him and I was wondering if you could offer any advice on how i could go about it or perhaps do a video on how I could fix him. Thanks.
I have seen this issue a few times, but have yet to get a broken Jabba that I can take a look at and work out a fix. Once I find one, I will do a video. Cheers
@@toypolloi Thanks, man! Much appreciated.
Did you ever revisit this and or work anything out? I have a Falcon from 79 thats has a bunch of spots.
i think this is the 1st time hydro peroxide didnt solve this kind of prob, hope u find a better solution
Perhaps, as you have nothing to lose, try Dremeling out the surface deep enough to remove those stubborn spots that remain.
Do I need sun light for this 2 work?
Great video! why didn't you try the 30% on R2?
Love the intro.
like ur new opening
I've still never messed with the cream peroxide
nice A-Team intro
If a figure has mildew and clean with baby wipes willl it still spread to other figures?
This is not mildew. This is the plastic degrading because it was badly made in the first place.
I need a 1/6 scale gorilla mask for a Magnum P.I. figure I'm working on, any ideas/suggestions?
Hi do you know if there is any way to remove degraded rubber bands in carded figures whereby the packaging and both the figure are mint except for the elastic bands which have degraded and fallen into pieces inside the bubble.?
Open them? Your asking an impossible question.
@@toypolloi of course.. Thank you
It helps if you boil the figure
Hey Dave , do you think this method would work on WWF ljns? they seem to get mold on the plastic and I have no clue if it could be removed.
I assume you would get the same results I did here. I don't think at the moment there is any way to fix this. I have yet to find anything. Cheers
@@toypolloi thanx for the quick response, guess I'll just leave it as is since there's nothing that can be done.
Is 6% hydrogen peroxide on found in the UK?
Here in America, I've only seen 3% hydrogen peroxide.
Does anyone know how I could get some worn/broken Star Wars figures for cheap? I’ve been looking, but they are a little hard to find
Watch my video on toy collecting tips. It's all in there.
Dave , do you know how to remove mold smell from action figures ? I recently acquired figures that were Moc but had water damage, I had to open them and remove the figures , but I noticed some smelled like mildew , I washed them in soap and water but the smell still remains , is there a way to get rid of it ?
Wash them a few times, and let them air. It will go it time. Cheers
@@toypolloi thanx man, I really appreciate all the advise you have given me through out the years , keep up the good work .
FYI: You should wear rubber gloves while using peroxide hair bleach cream. It can cause chemical burns.
Obi wan and his funky disco pants 😁
Try some black magic car restore spray it’s made for plastic
I like the video, just for the opening, the rest of it's not to bad either
I agree with the degradation theory. If that’s the case I recommend petroleum free plastic restorers. The peroxide only effects pigment.
I think it's the pigment that is the problem. Judging by what happened to Obi-wan.
It's definitely degradation. The plastic will eventually get sticky, and the spots will get worse. It's the plastic breaking down. It seems you might be able to slow the process, but it's impossible to fix it permanently. I have a Real Ghostbusters Egon figure that has these black dots all over it, and the plastic is very sticky. I've tried everything to fix it with no luck. I'm keeping it in a box on its own just to see what happens to it over time. It wasn't sticky when I got it, and it had some spots, and about a year later, there are many more spots, and it's very sticky.
It's American mold (it's SPECIAL!)* although with the rainy weather in the UK I hear about I wonder HOW the UK toys don't have mold. A requirement of mold is moisture.
* = Yes, I'm being sarcastic although I am curious as to why HERE and NOT over THERE.
Planet Earth is a freaky place still full of freaky mysteries, isn't it?
Anyone attempted this on king randors legs??
There is nothing you can do to stop it sadly.
Looks like a problem in the manufacturing process. Original UK figures were made in Hong Kong if I remember correctly, where were the North American ones made? Or maybe its a climate/storage issue? A polymer chemist's analysis about the nature of what these spots are would be interesting to hear.
I've had white plastic go bad on action figures, large-scale figures, and videogame controllers.
It yellows no matter how well you take care of it.
Other white plastic doesn't yellow.
With the Asian factories, it's a fifty-fifty proposition.
Your alternatives are to live with the yellowing -- and hydrogen peroxide WON'T fix the problem; it WILL yellow again -- or sand and recoat the plastic with a layer of plastic paint and coat that with a flat or glassy coat once your color paint dries. Drying is key because some paints WILL react with the gloss coat and can actually melt the plastic! Of course, before you apply white paint or primer, you have to use an adhesion promoter because a lot of paint just won't stick well to plastic even if you lightly sand which you SHOULD do to get rid of the original glass coat which can itself interfere with the bonding between the plastic and paint.
I found out these things years ago when I was doing experiments with coloring joystick controller casings. 1) always sand plastic lightly before painting, remove the gloss coat if there is one; 2) always use an adhesion promoter; 3) lightly coat the paint on, at least 2 layers, 3 max with drying times of at least 15 minutes, 25 max between painting but paint new layers while the underlying layers are still tacky; and 4) LET DRY for at least a full day IN STRONG HEAT before you coat with a flat or glossy clear coating.
* White is one of the worst paint colors to work with and it sometimes hard to see the effectiveness of it depending on the color of the underlying plastic, especially if you're coating light grey plastic!
There are rules to remember with plastic. It can be a real bitch to deal with and if you don't do it right you're just going to end up redoing your work sooner than you think!
It's heat, not sun that makes it work
radiation exposure' fluoride water mix to kill the radiation. than peroxide to clean up.
My Capt. Jack Sparrows intire body & head is covered with green fuzzy mould. Under every part it can get under. Please Help Me & Jack..... I received him... [after 1 & 1/2 yrs]
Wraped in plastic. No box. Still Green Mildew Smelling Fuzzy Mould. Helllp!
Give it a wash in some hot soapy water and see what happens.
@@toypolloi thankyou i will. Really hot? Does it matter? I have Dawn, do you think thats a good start? ♡☆
Concrobium will take away mold and mildew
@@Robert-nu4vc
Thankyou so much... ill give it a try.
happy holidays...
Drop that Obiwan into some Wesley's Bleach White car tire cleaner... should remover the spots and recondition the brown
It's not 30% but "30 Volume" which means 9%
Oxy 10: removes zits fast.
I’d be willing to send u some masters of the universe to do a demo with free of charge
Thanks. I don't think there is a way to remove these from any figures. It's the plastic degrading.
The oxy cream and sunlight removes ball point pen, though. Hmm...
Rubbing alcohol, but don’t apply to paint