MOC Collectors may be in for a shock: Remco Mini Monster Horror story

[Hepcat]

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?

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.

[Palifan]

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

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

[John Pertwee]

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.

[tylerh]

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!

[Hepcat]

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....

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.

[StyreneDude]

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.

[Hepcat]

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?

[Vandor_Zorkov]

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.

[cushing]

This is why figures are meant to be opened and played with!

[Hepcat]

Would not any old vinyl based products suffer from the same problem?

[Palifan]

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