If what people were saying was true, someone should call the oil companies and tell them to stop drilling for oil. All they need to do is making rubber/plastic Batman figures...
It's not motor oil . . . it's two different polymer chains (the rubber of the bodysuit and the plastic of the belt) coming into contact and causing a chemical reaction.
A plasticizer is a liquid that dissolves into a solid, helping it to be flexible instead of brittle. Plasticizers for polystyrene tend to dissolve most plastics and even rubber-like compounds, such as isoprene or even neoprene. As plasticizer liquid leaks out and away, the isoprene shrinks and hardens.
De-polymerization occurs due to poor materials science. HT should have chosen a more stable material for the rubber bodysuit (such as neoprene). I'm not a chemist, but I'd wager that the DX09 suit is an isoprene, which is more prone to de-polymerization.
If this problem turns out to be widespread, then Hot Toys
really crapped the bed on this one.
One of their most impressive figures ever will be marred by poor material sourcing and incompatible chemistry.
Given the exorbitant cost, that's pretty damn pathetic.
And a definite blow to their reputation.
After all, these figs shouldn't just look great for an extensive period of time, but hold up to repeated posing and futzing as well. Otherwise, what's the point of an articulated true-type?
Why not just buy a figure encased in lucite?
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