Vintage Carded Figure Restoration

[JediJman]

So my son went into my SW room last night to show the babysitter and this happened.



It's a signed POTF Vader, so not really something I can replace.  Luckily I bought it signed, so it doesn't have some amazing memory tied to it.  Any suggestions on what to do with it now?  I thought about just just taping it up, but not excited about how that will look.  I could open it, but I dont really display the cards ex figures or collect the loose coins.  I could try to sell it damaged, but not sure if it's worth anything at this point.  Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated in my time of mourning.

[Nicklab]

Oh, man.  That really sucks.  I dread the possibility of my daughter getting into my collection room. 

[Matt_Fury]

That is why all my carded figures are in protecto packs.

[Dave]

How did that happen?  Your wall of vintage figures are all in clamshells.  Did he drop the clamshell and the bubble still busted?

[P-Siddy]

How did that happen?  Your wall of vintage figures are all in clamshells.  Did he drop the clamshell and the bubble still busted?

I think the most important question is: Is you son still alive? 

Bummer, man.  I'm speechless.

[JediJman]

How did that happen?  Your wall of vintage figures are all in clamshells.  Did he drop the clamshell and the bubble still busted?

I store all my vintage figures in UV protected acrylic cases.  There's no air, dust, or bugs getting to these and they could probably withstand being manhandled or stepped on.  That said, Vader was about 5ft up on the shelf and I'm guessing that he opened or closed the door too quickly and caused it to fall.  I even have carpet on the floor, which protected the acrylic case, but the force of Vader slamming into a 35 year old yellowing bubble was just too much.     I was pretty grumpy all weekend.

I looked at replacement POTF Vaders and they are crazy expensive.  I think I've sold myself on getting a replacement bubble, trying to remove the old one and "re-card" it.  It's the cheapest solution and the only one that let's me keep this signed card on display.  Sam felt terrible and apologized throughout the weekend.  He wrote me a really nice apology about what he did wrong and what he should have done differently, and then tossed in $5 to help me buy a new one.  Pretty sweet for a 9 year old, and honestly I think any of us could have knocked the figure down.  He's grounded from video games for a week for going in without permission and not telling me right away, but not for breaking the figure. 

[Matt_Fury]

Dude, you should've been there when my 5 year old accidentally yanked my Endor shelf off the wall!  Luckily, he wasn't hurt and nothing was broken...it only cost me about a half hour to move and remount the shelf.

[solrac]

Tape it, that's what the store would of done. There is some very thin packaging tape you can use. Make sure it's not perfectly taped, like you were getting minimum wage. If you don't like it displayed like that you could always remove the hole bubble and re card  it.

[GrandMoffNick]

Yeah I'd try the tape first. Having the original bubble still appeals to me

[JediJman]

Well, unfortunately there are additional little yellow pieces not included in my picture.  Even with the tape, there will be chunks of plastic missing from the bubble, which has me feeling like it's really going to look like crap trying to piece it back together.  I am leaning towards the bubble replacement.  Anyone have any tips on how to get the rest of the bubble that is still attached to the card peeled off without further damaging the card?  I thought about just throwing the card on the ground several more times, but that probably wouldn't end well.  I ordered a replacement bubble and have some good glue to use if I can get the old one off. 

[solrac]

Try selling it and see if it will get you about 50% of the cost to replace it.