1/6 Hot Toys MMS699 & MMS700 ROTJ Darth Vader

[Wor-Gar]

I really hope that's the case going forward. The pleather HT (and SSC, and others) uses is such a curse/risk for collectors, a ticking time bomb that can halve the value of a fig with significant pleather parts several years down the track.

I bought a spare DX13 Terminator jacket when that first became available. I opened it up about a year ago to see if it work work for a Mad Max custom, and it fell apart in my hands. Strangely, the DX13 I have in display is fine. But now I dare not handle it too much.

 

[Gipetto0812]

It’s really strange how some pleather seems to deteriorate (even if it’s the same item) and others don’t. Only pleather I’ve had issues with are the belts/straps on second hand DX05 and DX06 figures and ANH Han Solo’s boots. Idk how my ANH Vader suit is though it could be a similar situation to your DX13 jacket that once I take it out of the bag it’s in it starts to deteriorate.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I had a Sandtrooper ammo holster also come apart.

 

[Gipetto0812]

I had a Sandtrooper ammo holster also come apart.

I think Old Traveler Workshop makes real leather replacements for those ammo pouches and pauldrons if you need replacements

 

[Wor-Gar]

I'm going to wait for an InArt Sandtrooper. Can you imagine...?

 

[Nick D]

I bought a spare DX13 Terminator jacket when that first became available. I opened it up about a year ago to see if it work work for a Mad Max custom, and it fell apart in my hands. Strangely, the DX13 I have in display is fine. But now I dare not handle it too much.

The materials need to breathe but not be handled, oily hands and humidity also help degrade it but being closed up for a long time is the worst option.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Yep... I found out the hard way.

 

[Felinx]

Worst one was the HT Indy accessories - pretty much everyone's holster/belt and shoulder bag strap went bad/crumbly 7-10 years from release. Yet for some reason I've only rarely seen the HT Indy jacket go bad - despite being right alongside the accessories that went off.

The materials need to breathe but not be handled, oily hands and humidity also help degrade it but being closed up for a long time is the worst option.

Yet I've had a Blue Box/BBI black pleather jumpsuit in a plastic baggie for 10+ years and its perfect. There's pleather on 1970s toys (e.g. 12" Kenner Han) that is still prefect today. It must vary by materials as well as storage conditions.

Seems weird that a low-end $ Han's pleather is perfect 45 years later while a high-end $$$$ Han's pleather goes off in 5-7 years.

 

[rayeknor]

The materials need to breathe but not be handled, oily hands and humidity also help degrade it but being closed up for a long time is the worst option.

Had an ESB Vader boxed up pretty much since release and it looks pristine still, granted did very little posing and when in storage I added extra silica bags.

 

[Nick D]

Seems weird that a low-end $ Han's pleather is perfect 45 years later while a high-end $$$$ Han's pleather goes off in 5-7 years.

You have to keep in mind that these materials are coated, treated, dyed, and are synthetic, not a good combination. The process and synthetics chosen today are guaranteed to be vastly different to materials of yesterday. These materials are chosen because they are cost efficient, can be dyed easily and can stand up to the window these companies allow a release to have until it gets remade.

Why go through the hassle of r&d on a genuine leather jacket for a Terminator figure that’s just going to be outdated in a few years, give them a reason to re purchase the same character over and over again. All of these HT Vaders over the years and not a single one made with proper materials.

Corners get cut to maximize the yield, they know a 2.0 Terminator is selling regardless of pleather or not. The cost required to implement a full scale production run of a completely genuine leather Terminator isn’t worth it to them when those numbers don’t even come close to Marvel and Star Wars.

The amount of collectors that only focus on a sculpts likeness is staggering, the truth is most don’t futz, they don’t even think about it, they just swap out the sculpt and accessories and move on to the next release, so giving collectors like that a genuine leather jacket doesn’t do anything for them.

 

[Nick D]

Had an ESB Vader boxed up pretty much since release and it looks pristine still, granted did very little posing and when in storage I added extra silica bags.

Those silica bags help a lot, that’s why these companies always use them. If a figure sits at sideshow for years before someone buys it, the materials won’t be completely shot. They don’t want product rotting before it sells.

 

[rayeknor]

Exactly. Not just for soft materials like pleather, any synthetic that you plan to store for a while, toss silica in there with it.

 

[Felinx]

I have all my figs in Besta cabinets that I keep doors closed on, only opened viewing/showing, and have a moisture absorber (6"X4"X2" size) in each, and the room itself I keep on "dry" air-con mode for Spring/Summer/Fall. I've actually had very few problems.

I do often wonder if any pleather I have that goes off (or rubber like on the HT ED-209 or Batman or seamless bodies) is due to heat/humidity exposure before I got the fig or accessory. Like it sits for a month or two in a somewhat elevated room temp and 70+% humidity then I buy it and a few years later that chemical change manifests.

The issue is especially bad on accessories you buy a year - or years - after the fig's original release. Buying a new fig is probably safer - buying parts off ebay you never know how it's been stored, for months or even years. Both Indy jackets I had go off were bought loose over ebay or elsewhere years after release.

I did think the Present Toys Indy was funny how they stated the jacket was "genuine leather" and when I excitedly got it I instantly saw that it was in fact bonded leather. Which is as "genuine leather" as particle board is "genuine wood."

 

[Wor-Gar]

Yeah, regardless what HT tells us, I never really believe them. Nylon, pleather, whatever... will it last? Who the hell knows?

If you get 5-7 years out of it, that's pretty good in today's "obsolescence built" consumer goods.