InArt - The Batman 1/6th Figure

Wor-Gar said:

Oh... well, then you likely have nothing to worry about. That's like two years or less.

I thought you had a DX09 packed away or something like that.

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Darth Meda said:

Sorry I didn’t edit my post in time. I bought a sealed Hot Toys Captain Rex and Jango Fett maybe a year ago so I think they are the oldest figure I have all NIB

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0tigadark0 said:

Yeah, I think you have nothing to worry about. I've seen someone post a while back opening up a sealed in box DX02 (which is like a 10 year old figure now), still in great conditon.

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Darth Meda said:

That’s a relief honestly the place they are all stored now too is the perfect environment so I think I should be good for now at least

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potato said:

Depends what materials are involved, you might wanna open it up & throw a couple of desiccant bags inside, even though Hot Toys does include 1 bag.

You might wanna be extra careful on Black Fabrics as they stain, leathers might get fused together with the plastic trays, rubbers might sweat and cause mold to grow due to increase in humidity, if it's just basic plastic + fabric should be no problem.

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0tigadark0 said:

Here is an old thread that might be helpful, Cheers dude!

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0tigadark0 said:

Many collectors have mentioned that their pleather materials have degraded after period of time (opened and out of the box, on shelf display)

So, do you mean that keeping it in box is bad? Instead, you should wrap them in non-acidic paper?
After you wrapped them in these kinds of papers, do you still put them back into the box?

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Solidus said:

No, I keep them out of the boxes and never put them back in. Preservation isn't an exact science, and some figures can hold up better while remaining sealed than others. But, it's a chance I never want to take. Generally speaking, pleather and soft vinyl needs to be exposed to air in non-humid environments to prevent dry rotting and mold. So, keeping your rubber figures in the boxes for long term storage is never a good idea (even worse if the figures were "sealed" with trapped moisture from the factory). The materials just weren't made to be MISB.

That said, I'm not too sure about InArt, but the plasticizers used by Hot Toys are not robust at all. You've mentioned the DX02 before, and it's telling that some have remained relatively unscathed, while others have just liquefied. It's sometimes hard to tell which figures will have a better chance of standing the test of time, and it might just comes down to luck. There's a lot that you can do yourself to preserve the materials, but even the best of these 1/6 Batmen will eventually degrade.

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Studio49 said:

This is going to make some of you upset, and for that I apologize in advance. But you need to know the hard truth now.

If it bothers you that your figures may not last a lifetime, sell them right now.

There is no spray, powder, humidity level, light level or temperature that will stop the breakdown of rubber, plastic, wood, metal or cloth. It doesn't exist. I will repeat that for those of you who didn't hear me. YOU CANNOT STOP THE DETERIORATION OF PLASTIC AND RUBBER WITH ANY KNOWN PROCESS OR ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION. You can possibly slow down the process, but probably not unless you have a museum type budget for a custom display case. All the tape and cups of water in the world won't solve your problem.

I worked for ten years in a museum, curating and cataloging a collection of rare documents and artifacts. I have been involved in climate control conferences, talks on molecular stability of chemical compounds and all sorts of other yawn-inducing topics. Paper stored in absolutely ideal temperature and humidity controlled vaults still continues to turn yellow. Time marches on for all things.

Even museums have a hard time keeping stuff from rotting away. Take a look...

https://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/08/24/pvc.toy.danger/

https://www.sciencenews.org/pages/pdfs/data/2000/158-24/15824-19.pdf

For those of you too lazy to click, check out this snippet: "Some of the most vulnerable new materials are plastics. Museums display them as toys, medical equipment, footwear, inflatable furniture, and more, says Yvonne Shashoua of the National Museum of Denmark. “They’re found in every museum in the world,” she says. Yet many plastics exhibited in museums can change so much chemically that within a decade they start to feel tacky. Many such objects must be taken out of a collection after just 20 years, says Shashoua."

So, what choices do we have?

1. Enjoy the figures. Take them out of the box, look at them, pose them and put them on a shelf where you can see them. Show them to your friends. If you are not to hot, or cold, or humid or dry then your figures are not as well. When they really start to melt, leak, crack and peel don't be shocked.

2. Sell them.

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Solidus said:

No, I keep them out of the boxes and never put them back in. Preservation isn't an exact science, and some figures can hold up better while remaining sealed than others. But, it's a chance I never want to take. Generally speaking, pleather and soft vinyl needs to be exposed to air in non-humid environments to prevent dry rotting and mold. So, keeping your rubber figures in the boxes for long term storage is never a good idea (even worse if the figures were "sealed" with trapped moisture from the factory). The materials just weren't made to be MISB.

That said, I'm not too sure about InArt, but the plasticizers used by Hot Toys are not robust at all. You've mentioned the DX02 before, and it's telling that some have remained relatively unscathed, while others have just liquefied. It's sometimes hard to tell which figures will have a better chance of standing the test of time, and it might just comes down to luck. There's a lot that you can do yourself to preserve the materials, but even the best of these 1/6 Batmen will eventually degrade.

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Brett Banner said:

To chime in on the “don’t keep your figures sealed in their boxes” thing—there is some legit science involved and it is definitely the quickest way to have your figures deteriorate, though how rapidly also depends on your general humidity level and environment. But essentially the plastic bodies leach out chemicals over time and keeping them sealed in their packaging creates a miniature green house environment that will degrade glue, pleather, etc. The included silica packs help to some degree and I would expect DX figures in foam are less risky since they should have more ventilation than your typical clamshell box.

I dug out some of my original TMNT figures recently and they were all sticky/oily from the plastic aging and need a thorough cleaning, it is essentially the same process happening. And who knows if the quality/longevity of plastic has actually improved or gotten cheaper over the past few decades. I know in the LEGO community lots of people swear that modern bricks weigh less and seem to be made from a cheaper plastic than bricks made in the 80s/90s.

I’m sure there are others who understand and can explain it much better, but I think that’s a good gist of it.

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potatocorner4life said:

Still working on my seamless cowl. Cant wait to test it when my inart arrives.

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Luisenigma1 said:

Sucks My Batman hasn't shipped from Kit yet. Idk when the next batch will be but if I get Aragorn before Batman I'm going to be pissed. Lol

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Scout Trooper said:

I was wondering about that earlier today

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Scout Trooper said:

Half my collection is in storage at the moment.

Stop stressing me out..

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Wor-Gar said:

At least you know HALF your collection is safe.

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potatocorner4life said:

Yeah man It’s been months of revising and revising. Thats been helping me cope with the millennia long wait for this figure. Each company does certain things while missed on others. Great news so far is I’m able to put Hot toys eyes on it. Do you happen to know if inarts eyes look removable? If not that’s a bummer, I would probably just snag Ht eyes if that’s the case. ( I also don’t want anyone to break their headsculpt trying this)

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