DX09 KEATON BATMAN: residue in abdominal area, has yours shown signs of it?

[DiFabio]

I guess it's too early to say that the suit on this figure isn't nearly as bad as the DX 02 and Comedian?

I know Comedian took awhile to have problems but if my memory is correct, the DX 02 oil/issues showed up damn near instantly, straight out of the box and the torso was saturated. The gloss in those pics was unbelievable.

Not saying that this isn't a problem for the 6-7 collectors with an issue or that I'm even right, just doesn't appear to be this horrible, disgusting mess. I personally think it might be a different issue entirely, not curing, not deterioration. Not that it can't/won't possibly happen to the extent of previous figures, just that the situation so far isn't nearly as bad as it seemed to have been when this issue popped up a few weeks ago.

 

[betomatali]

HI, not shure if you know i not only make custom figures, I have a brand of vinyl toys here in mexico: https://alimana.com.mx/inddx.html I have experience whit soft vinyl and other plastics, I still not have my Batman in hand but this dripping problem sounds very familiar to me, I have same problem whit some figures we make in the past, I think the batman body suit is in fact soft vinyl, I have in hand mars attacks figures and some muscle bodies and im pretty shure is vinyl, give me some time to write an explanation in English

 

[toylion]

So I finally got some info from my chemical engineer friend. I explained to him all about whats going on with this Batman and DX02. This is what he told me. Now remember, he is a chemical engineer for Stanley / Dewalt. So he is use to dealing rubber and production issues.

First, it should have nothing to do with the plastic/belt. The only way direct contact with hands, plastic, etc, would leave any residual on the rubber is if the rubber was breaking down from age.
Second, manufacturing could be an issue if the rubber didn't set properly. But in his opinion, there is no way a large company like HT would allow this. Remember, he is looking at this from a scientific point of view only. HE NO EMOTIONAL TIES TO HOT TOYS LIKE WE DO.

Finally, he said with 95% certainty, it is the lubricant that is causing this leakage. He uses the same process to fit rubber onto tools and such. And they too experience leakage.

He said that he was surprised the whatever lubricant they use to put the suit on would cause any deterioration of the rubber. If that were the case, the entire suit would break down from the moment the made contact with each other. He added that exposure to extreme tempuratures would more likely be the cause of the rubber breaking down. And that once the extreme tempuratures cause the breakdown to start, the residue or leakage wouldn't help the situation.


Thats it. It makes sense to me since its only a minority of pieces this happens to.

I hope this helps some. My friend said Many Bothans died to bring us this information!

The 1960's Captain Action is notorious for having problems with plastic touching rubber.
Michael Eury - 2002 - Antiques & Collectibles - 160 pages
Melting: Melts are the bane of the Captain Action collector's existence. A "melt" is a dip, gash, or knick on a hard-plastic weapon created by a chemical reaction.
https://books.google.com/books?id=e...AA#v=onepage&q=captain action Melting&f=false

 

[jye4ever]

This is a test. For the next thirty seconds, this thread will conduct a test of the Emergency Batman Leaking System by posting panicking emoticons.



If this had been an actual Batman Leaking Emergency, you would have been instructed to immediately post panicking emoticons to one of the Batman threads in your area.

 

[Maglor]

Also:

 

[EVILFACE]

I showed my Batman figure to my neighbor. He knows nothing about chemical engineering, but says my figure looks fine.

 

[Maglor]

^^^Case closed.

 

[mikericm]

Excess lubricant wouldn't return once wiped away. The figures leak consistently and continually even after wiping.

Is it possible that some of the lubricant was captured inside the body through the joints and openings? That could account for additional leakage after wiping.

The 1960's Captain Action is notorious for having problems with plastic touching rubber.
Michael Eury - 2002 - Antiques & Collectibles - 160 pages
Melting: Melts are the bane of the Captain Action collector's existence. A "melt" is a dip, gash, or knick on a hard-plastic weapon created by a chemical reaction.
https://books.google.com/books?id=e...AA#v=onepage&q=captain action Melting&f=false

Age is a totally different story. I didn't post it because it doesn't apply to either batman, but He said that rubber will naturally break down with age. And if you're comparing this to a 40-50 year old toy, than I think age would definitely come into play. In addition to the fact that they may have used different materials and processes to make the toys.

 

[Maglor]

Is it possible that some of the lubricant was captured inside the body through the joints and openings? That could account for additional leakage after wiping.

There are no openings that would put residue near the abdomen.

With the exception of the wrists, ankles, and neck, the suit is one solid hole-less piece of rubber.

 

[Gully Foyle]

First, it should have nothing to do with the plastic/belt. The only way direct contact with hands, plastic, etc, would leave any residual on the rubber is if the rubber was breaking down from age.

That's not true. Isoprenes can break down from exposure to lots of things. Age isn't the only factor.

Sounds like this "problem" is occurring in a minority of figures. Probably a bad batch of product, as opposed to the entire production run.
Hot Toys made a lot of these.

I had to repair the knee on my Tereus figure and in removing the rubber pants found no oil (lubricating or otherwise) on the figure.

 

[mikericm]

There are no openings that would put residue near the abdomen.

With the exception of the wrists, ankles, and neck, the suit is one solid hole-less piece of rubber.

Rubber is pourous. It could seep through without there being any holes.

That's not true. Isoprenes can break down from exposure to lots of things. Age isn't the only factor.

Sounds like this "problem" is occurring in a minority of figures. Probably a bad batch of product, as opposed to the entire production run.
Hot Toys made a lot of these.

I had to repair the knee on my Tereus figure and in removing the rubber pants found no oil (lubricating or otherwise) on the figure.

I was stating that contact with plastic would not cause this problem by itself. And no age isn't the only factor. As I stated later in my post, He added that exposure to extreme tempuratures would more likely be the cause of the rubber breaking down.


I hope everyone keeps in mind that this info is not coming from me. I am just passing it along from someone with a little knowledge.

 

[DiFabio]

I don't want to sound like those people from the DX 02 or Comedian threads who wouldn't believe the folks who had to suffer from the oil incidents (and I believed every last collector who had a problem with those two experiences and felt sympathy for every last one of them) but . . . I'm not buying the oil issue on this one until it's more widespread. Not yet anyway.

DISCLAIMER:

Not saying that the 6-7 collectors who have claimed to have had signs of oil are "lying", nope, NOTHING like that. I just don't think this is the same problem as Comedian or the DX 02. I really don't think it's deteriorating. I think we all panicked and over an exaggeration of some sort and I can't blame people who had to deal with the oil problems with the DX 02 and/or Comedian. If I had experienced those problems with both of my DX 02 figures, I'd be pissed.




Now, I'm willing to eat a big heap o' helping of CROW if my Batman starts to leak, show oil, melt, deteriorate, or whatever. I won't whine, I won't _____, I won't cry, I'll publicly admit that I was wrong and show pics. For now though, I'm not sure what to think. There have been members here that received these when they first came out, NO OIL. They were even the first to review and photograph them. Not ONE soul on facebook has claimed to have had any issues, US, UK, Asia, Canada, etc. A good amount of collectors who have bought from sideshow haven't complained about oil, just tape and glue. I've seen some complaints about residue tape and problems with glue, but nothing about rubber problems.



COME AT ME BROS!

 

[toylion]

I don't want to sound like those people from the DX 02 or Comedian threads who wouldn't believe the folks who had to suffer from the oil incidents but, I'm not buying the oil issue on this one until it's more widespread.

DISCLAIMER:

Not saying that the 6-7 collectors who have claimed to have had signs of oil are "lying", nope, NOTHING like that. I just don't think this is the same problem as Comedian or the DX 02. I really don't think it's deteriorating. I think we all panicked and over an exaggeration of some sort and I can't blame people who had to deal with the oil problems with the DX 02 and/or Comedian. If I had experienced those problems with both of my DX 02 figures, I'd be pissed.




Now, I'm willing to eat a big heap o' helping of CROW if my Batman starts to leak, show oil, melt, deteriorate, or whatever. I won't whine, I won't _____, I won't cry, I'll publicly admit that I was wrong and show pics. For now though, I'm not sure what to think. There have been members here that received these when they first came out, NO OIL. They were even the first to review and photograph them. Not ONE soul on facebook has claimed to have had any issues, US, UK, Asia, Canada, etc. A good amount of collectors who have bought from sideshow haven't complained about oil, just tape and glue. I've seen some complaints about residue tape and problems with glue, but nothing about rubber problems.



COME AT ME BROS!

I for one hope you're right. And have been thinking the same thing.

 

[sprig0701]

I was able to scrape the oil from mine to have enough to lube my wife's chasi. Epic, bro.

 

[Maglor]

I'm pretty much with DiFabio on this one.

I don't doubt there are members that have had some sort of oily residue on their figures, but I think we need to hear more. I would like more photographic evidence. I think those with oil need to speak up more about whether the oil comes back after wiping it off, how often they wipe it, etc.


Is it possible that we will see pics of hideously melted abdomens like there was with the DX02? Yes, of course it is, but it seems a little presumptuous to assume it will be that bad or as wide-spread.

Although, Hot Toys has a record of taking short-cuts (in addition to other questionable business practices) I would be surprised if they took a step back from where they were at with the DCD batch of the DX02. As has been said, even that batch leaked to some extent, but it was greatly improved. In my case, I had a little darkening of the bi-cep armor and that's it. To go from that, back to a deteriorating melted mess seems very unlikely to me.

 

[Vortex]

Myself along with another poster just discovered our sealed dcd dx02's to be leaking in the abdomen, this problem can obviously happen at any point in the figures life cycle. It truly is a "time will tell" situation.

 

[thenammagazine]

I guess it's too early to say that the suit on this figure isn't nearly as bad as the DX 02 and Comedian?

I know Comedian took awhile to have problems but if my memory is correct, the DX 02 oil/issues showed up damn near instantly, straight out of the box and the torso was saturated. The gloss in those pics was unbelievable.

Not saying that this isn't a problem for the 6-7 collectors with an issue or that I'm even right, just doesn't appear to be this horrible, disgusting mess. I personally think it might be a different issue entirely, not curing, not deterioration. Not that it can't/won't possibly happen to the extent of previous figures, just that the situation so far isn't nearly as bad as it seemed to have been when this issue popped up a few weeks ago.

DX02 was vastly varied. Some leaked right out of the box and some didn't leak until a year or more later.

Rubber is pourous. It could seep through without there being any holes.

I was stating that contact with plastic would not cause this problem by itself. And no age isn't the only factor. As I stated later in my post, He added that exposure to extreme tempuratures would more likely be the cause of the rubber breaking down.

I hope everyone keeps in mind that this info is not coming from me. I am just passing it along from someone with a little knowledge.

I really appreciate the effort of contacting your friend but we've been through all of this already in the DX02 thread. Extreme temperature variations were debunked, and it's not the oil used to put on the body suits. It's actually the suit proper breaking down. The curing process was the only variable that couldn't be ruled out.

 

[DiFabio]

DX02 was vastly varied. Some leaked right out of the box and some didn't leak until a year or more later.

Yeah, that's evident in the post above of collectors cracking open MIB figures and discovering signs of oil.

This Batman, so far, seems different though. I have yet to see a picture of the abs drenched in this disgusting mess. The worst picture I've seen is Rory's, the picture in the very first post of this thread. I've followed the DX 02 and Comedian incident and that pic seems TAME compared to what other people have experienced. I recall collectors receiving the very first batch of brand new, DX 02 Batmans and expressing much dismay when they found it leaking uncontrollably. It wasn't a little leak, it was saturated. I know reports varied but this was literally minutes out of the box. Not the case here.

Perhaps it's the start of something worse to come? Maybe. I know you seem to think so, and I sort of believed the same until today. I've seen many people in this thread suggest as much well. However there only seems to be a small sprinkle of people experiencing these little leaks across the board, and some of them aren't even sure if it really is oil. A majority of people that first got it in January haven't experienced a problem. Asian collectors haven't posted on the Hot Toys facebook, ranting and raving like they did with the DX 02 and all of it's QC problems. Then there's the collectors that just got theirs last month from Sideshow. Only a handful have described oil that may very well be the residue from the belt/magnet/glue.

If there is a problem it certainly isn't widespread. Sure not yet, but this is the worst I've seen so far.

I think Rory said he wiped it and it came back, but he's the only one I believe that that's happened to so far.

If '89 Batman's abs were drenched like this, I'd keep my mouth shut. Believe me.

Like I said Nam, if I'm far off with my line of thinking and mine leaks, or worse, more and more reports come in and the figures are starting to leak like a faucet, I'll eat crow. So much crow. I'll feel like a fool and I won't complain at all that mine has become goop.

 

[intothevoid]

I hope for everyone's sake that your right, for me though, will wait and see. If all is fine and dandy in 6-12 months, I'll pick one of these guys up

 

[DiFabio]

That's the best option for those that don't have it yet or aren't obligated through a pre-order of some sort. Wait and see.

If you got it though, I wouldn't be all doom and gloom yet. You've got to have some hope or else you'll drive yourself nuts. I'm going through the DX 02 thread now, around December 09/January 2010 when these first started to show and it was a mess from the beginning. You have warped, misshapen heads, peeling suits and the oil problems in the very beginning. OMG even comes in a couple of times, representing the Asian collectors stating how many returns and complaints there has been.