So a friend of mine is a major MOC collector.
Everything has to be mint, sealed on nearly perfect cards. Slight bubble yellowing is all he could tolerate.
He recently bought a carded Dracula Remco Mini Monster, the same lot contained Phantom and Mummy. 3 hard to find figures on mint cards.
He thought he finally finished his set and got the others he already had out, and admired them as he watched tv.
As he lifted Dracula, he noticed a glossy run of "film" on the cape and legs. Therefore, he opened Dracula.
Apparently after 40 years in a plastic tomb, Drac had a reaction of some sort . The cape or figure had had (at some point) a chemical reaction of some sort with the packaging. He freaked. He decided to open another without a cape. Frankenstein. Same thing. Sticky, clear goo of some sort.
Bottom line: he opened them all. Each one had this residue. After washing them with warm soapy water, the goo was washed clean.
He now has a great set of loose monsters.
It makes me wonder how many folks think they have mint sets, only to have this film/goo on them unbeknownst to them.
It also makes me wonder what caused this. What an unhappy Halloween.
I have a loose set myself, so this isn't a worry for me. But it has put me off ever trying to get an MOC set.
This makes me sad. Carded figures. Ouch!
Yipe!!!
:o
That's terrible, Anton. I would not have opened the others that weren't visibly affected. Think of the Schrodinger's cat theory. The cat in the box is either dead or alive. You never know for sure if you don't open the box. The figures look fine in the package. The goo is removable when you take it out. Hence, they are mint on mint cards. Problem solved.
Quote from: Anton Phibes on October 02, 2019, 09:09:18 AM
He now has a great set of loose monsters.
Should have left them in the package.
I think his fear was they would continue to deteriorate. Then just be piles of goo,lol. They aren't mine...so I have no horse in the race. However, it does make me wonder what exactly was happening to them? They are petroleum based after all....maybe being sealed up like that was breaking them down? Only The Shadow Knows I guess. I sure hope my Sideshows don't do this,lol. Especially rubbery suit one like Creature and Mutant.
Quote from: Anton Phibes on October 02, 2019, 01:49:06 PM
I think his fear was they would continue to deteriorate. Then just be piles of goo,lol. They aren't mine...so I have no horse in the race. However, it does make me wonder what exactly was happening to them? They are petroleum based after all....maybe being sealed up like that was breaking them down? Only The Shadow Knows I guess. I sure hope my Sideshows don't do this,lol. Especially rubbery suit one like Creature and Mutant.
Could be just the enviromental conditions they were stored in. They seem similar to Star Wars figures from the same period. Not sure if that frequently happens to those.
Quote from: Gojirafan on October 02, 2019, 03:57:38 PM
Could be just the enviromental conditions they were stored in. They seem similar to Star Wars figures from the same period. Not sure if that frequently happens to those.
Well, they were in those bubbles for 40 years, and probably ran through various environmental conditions during that time. So you may be on to something.
Quote from: Anton Phibes on October 02, 2019, 04:41:14 PM
Well, they were in those bubbles for 40 years, and probably ran through various environmental conditions during that time. So you may be on to something.
If someone has carded remco or star wars figures they want me to watch for the next 40 years I would be happy to do so to test my theory. PM me :)
Could be a climate issue. Now I am concerned about my REMCOs and Metaluna Sideshow figure.
Quote from: marsattacks666 on October 02, 2019, 06:10:03 PM
Could be a climate issue. Now I am concerned about my REMCOs and Metaluna Sideshow figure.
My friend has two of each 12" Sideshow figure, one for display and one MIB. He's checked on the Creature and the Mutant, recently. There was zero sign of deterioration after all these years (about 15 ). I would just celebrate that you are one of the lucky ones to obtain them. Btw, his apartment is like an oven during the summer. Dont worry, be happy (to qoute an annoying pop song).
Quote from: Mord on October 02, 2019, 06:37:36 PM
My friend has two of each 12" Sideshow figure, one for display and one MIB. He's checked on the Creature and the Mutant, recently. There was zero sign of deterioration after all these years (about 15 ). I would just celebrate that you are one of the lucky ones to obtain them. Btw, his apartment is like an oven during the summer. Dont worry, be happy (to qoute an annoying pop song).
Thank you, Mord. Being most of my collection is in a climate controlled storage facility, I still worry. All of my Elusive Concept masks have deteriorated. I have actually done nothing to mitigate the situation
Quote from: marsattacks666 on October 02, 2019, 07:34:52 PM
Thank you, Mord. Being most of my collection is in a climate controlled storage facility, I still worry. All of my Elusive Concept masks have deteriorated. I have actually done nothing to mitigate the situation
Yeah, my friend had the same problem with masks. How old are yours? The only mask I own is that cool Creature one that came out a few years ago. So far, so good.
Quote from: marsattacks666 on October 02, 2019, 07:34:52 PM
All of my Elusive Concept masks have deteriorated. I have actually done nothing to mitigate the situation
Samesies. Loved these masks. Such a shame they rotted the way they did. The only one I have left is Dracula, and it's in a trunk, so I have no idea how bad it's gotten. Frankenstein was the first to go.
Yikes! This really is a horror story. I have a carded set of GITD figures on the glowburst cards and well as a regular Phantom. I'll have to take a closer look next chance I get.
Quote from: Anton Phibes on October 02, 2019, 01:49:06 PMHowever, it does make me wonder what exactly was happening to them? They are petroleum based after all....maybe being sealed up like that was breaking them down?
That's precisely what I think happened. Being sealed the fumes released slowly over time by a petroleum-based product could not vent so they ended up precipitating down to a gooey film.
:-\
This all sounds like the plastic breaking down and seeping out of the figures which happens slowly over time. It's quite common with vintage figures and if you listen to this restorer from just before the 10 minute mark on this video it's explained what's happening and more importantly how to restore figures that this is happening to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuFfzbvLH1Y (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuFfzbvLH1Y)
Obviously there isn't much you can do if the figure's sealed but maybe it will help with loose figures that are becoming sticky.
Ian
Star Wars MOC collectors call it frosting, and Doctor Who MOC collectors call it dusting. It has happened in both of those ranges to certain figures and some of the Who collectors claimed that leaving them in direct sunlight for an hour would fix the issue. I don't think I would ever try that with a high dollar figure but a $20 Clockwork Droid figure wouldn't be that big of a loss. I just used a mild dish soap and warm water to clean my open figures and the spores never returned.
This is super common in 70s plastic - Even a loose figure - if you put it in a sealed ziplock bag, will start to get sticky.
It is the plastic off-gassing. If the figure is loose, it just "evaporates" - But if contained say, in a bubble or bag, it has nowhere to go and can cause a film.
Doesnt happen to all - But it happens to a lot!
Quote from: John Pertwee on October 06, 2019, 11:05:57 AMStar Wars MOC collectors call it frosting, and Doctor Who MOC collectors call it dusting. It has happened in both of those ranges to certain figures....
Interesting that the phenomenon has been observed across many different collecting boundaries/classes but there's been so little leakage of info from one subset of collectors to the next that they each have their own unique terminology for the same phenomenon.
:-\
Allow me to chime in here...I'm an authority on opening vintage carded figures because I open them ALL.
I currently have two complete sets of Remco monsters, one non-glow and one glow. ALL of them were sticky when I opened them except for the Mummy and Creature in both sets. I should also note that they were all purchased over time from different sources, shipped from various parts of the country, so climate and storage conditions do not seem to have been a factor.
I carefully cleaned them using a cotton swab and some mild detergent in warm water.
The good news is once cleaned and exposed to the air, they have been displayed loose now for several years and the stickiness has never returned.
Leaving them in the package they WILL continue to deteriorate.
I have found the exact same issue with Mattel Flash Gordon figures from 1979, Galoob Blackstar and A-Team figures, and LJN Thundercats.
What puzzles me is that the petroleum derived fumes don't/can't vent through the card backs.
:-\
Have you ever encountered the same problem with styrene plastic model kits?
???
Sounds like some kind of plasticizer migration, which many years ago at HT someone who worked in the plastics industry said can happen when to different plastics are kept in contact with one another.
This is why figures are meant to be opened and played with!
Would not any old vinyl based products suffer from the same problem?
???
Quote from: Hepcat on May 10, 2021, 10:20:42 AM
Would not any old vinyl based products suffer from the same problem?
???
it's probably due to when/where they were made as you might find it's more common from different factories or at certain times when the plastics had more contaminates in them. Also if they are sealed with no air circulation and then what packaging they are sealed in. I'm sure all of these things have a factor in why this happens but it does seem to happen with some figures yet the same figure can still be perfect.
Luck of the draw a bit I guess.
Ian