Hot Toys rubber deterioration

[chengda85]

how do I know if something painted or unpainted? my hot toys rubber products include:

jill valentine battlesuit (suit is rubber)
albert wesker midnight (vest and boots are rubber)
jill valentine BSAA (body and boots are rubber)
abigail whistler (body is rubber)
black widow (suit is rubber?)

 

[batsheva]

I don't have any Jills, but I'm sure the body is rubber, I also don't have Wesker, but I have Abby and Widow. Abby's body is a rubber, but not painted, and Widow's suit is not a rubber. You can relax about Widow's suit.

For the bodies, I don't know if that's the original color of the rubber or if they add the flesh color to it. But one thing for sure, it's not painted.

You can find out if something is painted, by looking at it's cut section (usually at wrists or at any point of articulations that's hidden by other parts) like on abe Sapien, when you take the arm off, you can see on the arm's point (the one that's close to the shoulder) that the rubber's actually whitish, and that they applied a blue paint on it.

CMIIW.

 

[The Batman Professor]

The Batman Professor has been doing it since 2005 on his Batman. What more do you need?

I've used 303 on each of the following HT figures/vehicles since purchase:

BATMAN BEGINS
TDK BEGINS SUIT
TDK SUIT first release
BEGINS DEMON
BATPOD
TUMBLER

On each piece, the rubber components are as supple as the day they were taken out of the box.

I have a friend in San Francisco who collects masks. He has rubber masks that are almost 50 years old that he used to treat with a product called Blue Coral, but now he uses 303. Rubber can be preserved if proper steps are taken.

 

[c3r1h5]

I've used 303 on each of the following HT figures/vehicles since purchase:

BATMAN BEGINS
TDK BEGINS SUIT
TDK SUIT first release
TDK DEMON
BATPOD
TUMBLER

On each piece, the rubber components are as supple as the day they were taken out of the box.

I have a friend in San Francisco who collects masks. He has rubber masks that are almost 50 years old that he used to treat with a product called Blue Coral, but now he uses 303. Rubber can be preserved if proper steps are taken.

Which 303 product do you use? The Aerospace Protectant?

 

[The Batman Professor]

That's the one.

 

[c3r1h5]

Thanks. I've used their products on my vehicles, seem to work well.

 

[shadowfla]

has someone Aerospace 303 on leonidas body used..?

 

[joshh]

Alright i'm new here as I just recently started collecting HOT and SIDE figures.
I am freaking out a little bit because I have seen in my Alice and my Superman (CR) that the neck area where the rubber is most visible, there are small red dots? is this normal to imitate the blood vessels and skin texture or is this a rubber issue?
Also, I am not new to collecting expensive figures, so instead of you guys be thinking on stuff that I am like wtf when I first read the first foru pages (anti UV, concrete, nuclear bunker? glass of water etc etc etc) This are my tips.

1. remove all batteries from HT figures.
2. BUY DAMPRID. this is by far the best anti moisture method. not those crappy little bags that comes with the figures. you buy 1 damprid refill bag and like 4 small containers. you fill them up and put one in or under each window. it will absorb all the moisture that comes in and eventually the white stuff (damprid) will turn in to water crystals or in other words it absorbs the water from the air and disolves, then you just refill. it works wonders.
why in the windows? it is always good for a little air and moisture to enter the room, to prevent dryness, specially with rubber which cracks if too dry.
3. and this is golden for all those who are worried about the rubber cracking or drying etc. get Vaseline. I think that is the same name in English? it is like a well like Vicks vaporub but it is pretty much like fat lol. when you buy a refrigerator, the cold of the freezer and heat tend to dry or deteriorate the rubber, so technicians usually apply a small amount of vaseline and rub it to keep the rubber moistured and healthy. Apply a tiny bit on dry areas and on the articulation areas. this should pretty much help a lot to preserve the rubber.
4. Keep them in their detolfs or other cabinets to prevent any type of anything to touch them. Dust is NOT know to damage things, in fact you can have a die cast figure (metal) and leave it in a place free of moisture but full of dust and in ten years the dust has NOT eaten the metal nor the paint. contrary to popular myth, your figures will not sacrifice paint because of dust on it. moisture however can damage.
5. The sun is a friendly foe. it can harm the paint but certain materials benefit from uv rays. it is always good to have at least a little bit of sunlight in the room to avoid too cold temperatures or any damages that could occur from total avoidance of light in the figures, their clothing, materials etc.
I keep my figures in their detolf with LED lights (no heat) and I minimize the damage that could occur from moisture (specially in FL which is super humid) with damprids.
here and then I let some sun touch the detolf when there is only clarity outside but not direct sun rays lol.
anyways please answer my question and this was my little piece of advice.

 

[Grosby]

1. remove all batteries from HT figures.

I just did this yesterday. I heard it recommended long before but even though I never use the light-up features I'd put it off, I wasn't eager to go through the trouble (like removing all the buckles on Alien Dallas, for one). Then a couple of days ago I was re-positioning my figures and found a battery in the base of the Michael Jackson 'Bad' figure had blown. The whole underside of the base was covered in flaky white crap. After finding that, I was motivated and so went through all the others and removed all the batteries. I found that three others had blown batteries but not as bad.

 

[joshh]

I just did this yesterday. I heard it recommended long before but even though I never use the light-up features I'd put it off, I wasn't eager to go through the trouble (like removing all the buckles on Alien Dallas, for one). Then a couple of days ago I was re-positioning my figures and found a battery in the base of the Michael Jackson 'Bad' figure had blown. The whole underside of the base was covered in flaky white crap. After finding that, I was motivated and so went through all the others and removed all the batteries. I found that three others had blown batteries but not as bad.

When you checked the figures where the batteries blown, any damage or leakage?

 

[jkno]

Did anyone else try vaseline? I heard about this regarding rubber but not sure about HT figures.

Also did anyone try silicone spray you use on car dashboard?

 

[the angry orc]

man, all these issues are crazy. i only have one hot toys 'rubber' body and it is the Vietnam SEAL shorty gunner that i picked up when it was released way back when. it has no issues and still looks brand new.

 

[jkno]

I have no issues with my Appleseed trio either (the only rubber suits I have), but I'd like to know how to preserve their suits for long time.

 

[Gully Foyle]

Yeah, the Appleseed suits seem to hold up really well . . . I think they are manufactured from a silicon rubber, which is more stable and thus has a longer shelf life.

(Unfortunately, the knee joints on their black TT bodies are garbage!) :

 

[jkno]

So did anyone try vaseline as Joshh said or dashboard silicone spray?

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Saw this on facebook

 

[a-dev]

I can't see how that would have happened except in a long-term extreme pose with some extreme room temperature.

 

[Lejuan]

I can't see how that would have happened except in a long-term extreme pose with some extreme room temperature.

Agreed, the owner was probably going for this:

...but it's a sign of where the whole figure is headed imo. Last week I boxed my Leo up 'cause I thought I might offload it, but this seals the deal.

 

[Wanderer]

Yeah, the Appleseed suits seem to hold up really well . . . I think they are manufactured from a silicon rubber, which is more stable and thus has a longer shelf life.

(Unfortunately, the knee joints on their black TT bodies are garbage!) :

Haha true! Coincidentally I put them together just the other day after about 3yrs in storage. The main 2 were perfect but Terius is crap. Couldn't put his boots on and snapped the ankle after hours of trying to get that ball joint in the hole. Ended up smashing the figure on the floor and binned it.
Luckily I calmed down the following morning and rescued it. The right leg is goosed but the figure is now together and good to know the rubber held up to the abuse!!

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

If his figure was in this pose then all it proves is Hot Toys mis-represented the figures posability in their sales information