JediDefender.com Forums
Collecting => Collector's Tips => Topic started by: Clone Commander on January 23, 2006, 06:42 PM
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What can I do to stop my nice white clone troopers white?
I heard light turns em' yellow.
So far I have put them all in they're own seperate plastic bags and put them in my republic gunship box.
And out of the light.
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You could buy a Ronco Foodsaver and vacuum seal the puppies.
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My older POTF2 Stormtrooper has yellowed quite a bit. I consider him my "dirty" stormtrooper though :P
All I can suggest is that if you want to display them, put them in some place where they won't get any direct sunlight. Shield them from it in the display or put the display in a place where the sun won't get.
Maybe you can put some kind of overhang on your display, something kind of like an awning on a building? Or maybe stick them underneath a hanging ship in a strategic position- with something big like a gunship or the Falcon it'd probably block the sunlight okay. Just make sure it doesn't fall or you'll get some pancake clones :)
If you want to keep them stored though, I imagine they'd be fine in baggies in a box or some such.
In the worst case scenario that they turn yellow, you could maybe paint them white if you had the skill. Or you could even do some customizing things, like make some into camoflauge Kashyyyk troops.
If you have a huge number of them, you might experiment with a few at a time- keep some out in a place and if over a period of waiting time they start turning yellow, try something else, and so on.
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Here are my solutions:
-Weather them, so that they look like they were supposed to be like that
-Do what JediJaybird said
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this happened to my 04 saga collection padme. her legs are yellow...and everything else is still white. kinda funny looking
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Wow, I know this has been over a year since the question was asked, but Clone commander, yo need to be careful of which kind of bag you put your figures in. The Acid in lunch bags will corrode our figures.
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All plastic sandwich and snack bags corrode figures?
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(20 minutes passes, Dressel checks some of his white troopers that were in snack bags)
Holy ****. Well, I just bought my first house this past October after living in about 7 different apartments through college and dental school and residency. Of all the army builders that I went ape**** on and bought 30 or more, I usually opened maybe 5-10 of them and left the rest carded in the package for someday when I had a house and had room to mount shelves and display everything.
Well, I think the mystery is solved as to why some of my white troopers are darker than they were when I got them. The loose ones that had found their way into plastic snack bags are definitely less white than others that are still in the package.
Why was I not informed about this before I ruined some of my army builders?!
:)
Thankfully most of them are not in snack bags and still carded to be opened. And most of the figures that were in snack bags were not white and have no visible damage.
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Just doing a little research here in other threads about storing loose figures, seems tons of us put them in ziploc bags:
All of my loose figs are in individual Ziploc bags and then placed in Rubbermaid containers (the shallow ones, about 12" deep) and then are stored in the closet in the spare bedroom. I have absolutely no room for any of my collection and most of it's packed away. This way they're out of light, smoke (wife smokes), and no weapons and accessories get lost.
I have a few of my loose figures in hard plastic boxes that are just the right size for 3 3/4" figures. I don't know what the boxes were made for, but my husband had a few and I put them to good use. :) The others are in snack sized Ziplock bags -- just the right size for a figure and weapon. Auriette
I used to just throw them into shoebox-sized palstic boxes and put the accessories in another box altogether. Now I'm in the process of putting them into Ziploc bags with their accessories, and putting them into some better storage. I have no room to display them all, so they spend a lot of time in storage.
my Action Fleet ships (I mainly collect Action Fleet) are stored in my room in the furniture drawers. They are protected from dust and sunlight. And i don't smoke. Each of them is protected by a bubble plastic bag I received with the CD's I have in my collection. My action figures are all in big bags, but each one is in separate bag and then put in bigger bags.
BTW - It’s always fun when you go to the grocery store and buy about 8 boxes of those little snack baggies. The looks you get are precious.
yeah, i actually did just that about 2 weeks ago. with a little bit of luck, and some free time, my loose figures will all be in their new homes by this weekend ;)
(pics are forthcoming)
Have any of you guys who use the tackle boxes ever found the plastic to interact with your figures? Has there ever been any discoloring or figs getting stuck to the case in heat, or anything?
I'm thinking of getting some of those for loose figs that I need to store. I used to keep a bunch of loose figs bagged in ziplocs and stored in a plastic container, but I'd like to go with something that has individual compartments. I have way too many figs now to be piling them on each other in a big box. That's a recipe for disaster with all those delicate guys like battle droids and whatnot.
I thought I'd ask about any problems because I've heard people complain about certain plastics. I know one guy posted about wrapping some of his 12" figs in bubble wrap and said it turned R2-D2 yellow! I about **** when I read that and started worrying about all the ones I had in ziplocs. So far I don't think I've had any problems, though. One or two figs from the mid '90s seem to be a bit sticky, but I don't know if it's enough to blame the baggies....
The list goes on.
But I definitely notice a BIG difference in VOTC stormtroopers I had in ziplocs compared to ones still in the package. None of these figures were ever in direct sunlight, I live like a vampire.
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Seems like this comes up every so often, and there's never a real solid answer.
I've heard people theorize that it's smoke, light, plastic bags, dust, heat, and on and on. Since it's chemical, probably any one of these could be a culprit.
I'll add this though - I have a small coin collection that led me to look into the best way to store coins. The one thing I found over and over again was coin collectors telling me NOT to put them in little plastic baggies. They all say that this will corrode the coin over time. Harder plastics are okay, but anything that's super flexible like ziplocks or sandwich bags seems to be a big no-no.
Or so I've been told.
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Oh man, this is BAD news. My vintage SW figures are all in Ziploc snack baggies. And alot of my other lines of figures are stored that way as well. Hmm, i'm going to have to look into something else for the future...
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Oh man, this is BAD news. My vintage SW figures are all in Ziploc snack baggies. And alot of my other lines of figures are stored that way as well. Hmm, i'm going to have to look into something else for the future...
I actually was aware of this before, but I figured short term storage would be ok. Then short term went to long term and Anthony's comments reminded me my stuff had been in the ziplocks for nearly a year. Time to get the vintage stuff out of storage at the very least and I did. No net negative effects during that time.
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I've considered trying bleach on a stormie or two to see what happens.
I've also noticed that my SAGA Snowtroopers have actually turned GREEN on their kamas and helmets.
(http://www.yakface.com/TGuide2004/ActionFigures/saga/0319snowtrooper/cf.jpg)
I have about 6 of them that have done this. They were in a diorama next to a few POTF2 Snowtroopers and other assorted Imperials, only this version turned green. Freaking lime green. Also my Trash Compactor Leia did the exact same thing on her skirt and sleeves.
I've since boiled and popped them to pieces for custom fodder. Damn things. I hope that my VOTC Stormies never do this.
I have a flourescent light in my Star Wars room, I wonder if that has anything to do with it.
:P
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I have a flourescent light in my Star Wars room, I wonder if that has anything to do with it.
I'd get rid of that light as soon as you can Justin. Fluorescent lights emit UV waves (although less than sunlight) which will cause fading over time.
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I have a flourescent light in my Star Wars room, I wonder if that has anything to do with it.
I'd get rid of that light as soon as you can Justin. Fluorescent lights emit UV waves (although less than sunlight) which will cause fading over time.
i use fluorescent lights. suddenly does sound like a good idea. no way to get it out though without taking down one of the walls :(.
how long of a time period would it take to fade?
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Maybe a couple months? Maybe a couple years - it's tough to say.
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Oh crap, it will fade figures? Son of a _____________!!!!
I've almost got the basement finished for my "ugraded" Star Wars room and put in fluorescent lights. Just great. I don't have time to take them out and redo my whole ceiling. I'll have to get a couple lava lamps I suppose. Thanks for the information though... much appreciated.
As for bleach, I tried it and it didn't seem to help. I diluted it with about 75% bleach, 25% water and it didn't seem to affect a Stormtrooper at all... my VOTC Stormies aren't yellow at all, just seems that Hasbro used a brighter white for the Evolution Stormies and I wanted to match them up a bit better.
:P
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well atleast my figures are not directly under the light and are in a shelf beside it. im just surprised my spiderman toys havent started yellowing because they are right under it :S
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well atleast my figures are not directly under the light and are in a shelf beside it. im just surprised my spiderman toys havent started yellowing because they are right under it :S
They would have to be white. So, it really comes as no surprise that they are safe.
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well atleast my figures are not directly under the light and are in a shelf beside it. im just surprised my spiderman toys havent started yellowing because they are right under it :S
They would have to be white. So, it really comes as no surprise that they are safe.
well chameleon and punisher(the logo) and i got a couple of other guys that have white on them. thats what i ment. not just the spidey figures.
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I did a run-through of my figures a few days ago and ran across a couple that had started to go green, and perhaps not surprisingly, they were both from 2002 and 2003: the aforementioned Saga '03 Snowtrooper, whose kama and helmet, like Chewie's, had turned lime green, and the 2002 electronic R2-D2 (the one that came with the Kouhuns), whose legs (but not body or feet) had turned the same green color. I was able to get the R2 green gunk off with Goo Gone, but the Snowtrooper has not been so lucky.
I keep my figures in Plano tackle boxes and out of light, and those were the only two figures that had shown any serious deterioration in white portions. The 2003 McQuarrie Stormtrooper was yellowing slightly, but not terribly bad, and definitely wasn't turning green. :-\
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Ever try using Armor All. ;)
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Spraying them down with chemicals like armor all can't possibly be a good idea for long term preservation - even if it's a nice way to bring back the shine in your dashboard.
Then again, I'm no chemist.
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Twas a joke, get it armor all. Its stormtrooper armor
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Rob makes a good point regardless. I've always wondered what Goo Gone will do to the plastic over time. :-\
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Twas a joke, get it armor all.
Sorry, don't get it.
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Twas a joke, get it armor all.
Sorry, don't get it.
In other words, he's got "armor". Like stormtrooper armor, to deflect blasts. "Armor All" cleans. Cleans stormtrooper armor.
Yeah.
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There we go, dressel got it.
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Try a product called "Novus", I would suggest the one with the red label. Novus is a plastic polish available in 2 grits and if you buy a set it will include a bottle of anti static liquid polish that will keep your yellowed trooper looking good for a long time. i have yet to try it, but i have polished scratches out of clear plastic with the stuff.
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Some dude on YouTube made a tutorial on how to keep your figs from yellowing. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Ub8hs6zMg) :D
Definitely worth a watch!
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Twas a joke, get it armor all.
Sorry, don't get it.
In other words, he's got "armor". Like stormtrooper armor, to deflect blasts. "Armor All" cleans. Cleans stormtrooper armor.
Yeah.
Ahhhhh, I get it now.
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I don't get it still?
(Well play Rob. :-* )
(**Sets calendar reminder to respond to this thread again in 2035**)