Hot Toys Sandtrooper MMS 295

[jkno]

All three pauldron colors, but OT Sandtroopers only, no SE:

 

[Chainedstream]

Okay then, I stand corrected. But the special edition adds a few more troopers and dewbacks, of whom all are troopers in ROTJ armor.

EDIT: Now I see that “SE” is an acronym for “Special Edition”. Oh well, thank you for highlighting the original unaltered scene jkno!

 

[TaliBane]

All three pauldron colors, but OT Sandtroopers only, no SE:

View attachment 514673

Awesome image. Would love to find that one in ultra hi-res.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

is it tacky? Concerned about the rub off on the white armor... though I guess with a sandy shoudn't be too big of a deal as he's dirty anyways.... but curious, did it dry soft to the touch, or tacky? Cheers

Nope. I just checked, and it's still dry as a bone. And it shouldn't rub off on the trooper, as I only painted the orange part of the pauldron.

 

[MyenShi]

PSA

It’s been long enough since this figure has been released that the glue may be wearing off for the small buttons on the pauldron.

Be careful when handling the figure, or purchasing one second hand. I have several Sandtroopers and a couple of extra pauldrons. I didn’t check all of them, but some buttons just slid off very easily.

I don’t think the buttons will fall right off just standing on a shelf, but any sort of light touch might loosen them. All it took for one was to graze it with a nail. Just be mindful when handling the figure near the pauldron. Same goes for any glued on buttons and details on figures in general.

At least they tend to come off cleanly and can be re-affixed with clear drying craft glue made for textiles, although it’s a bit of a pain because they’re so small.

I’ve noticed the strap on these pauldrons doesn’t seem to take glue as well as other surfaces. I’ve had a strap come off the pauldron with minimal contact.

The buttons on the pouches seem to be pretty secure, though the glue holding the pouches to the backer was giving out. I was worried the material was peeling, but luckily it was just the glue.

Unfortunately, a lot of Star Wars belts, pouches, and accessories have these tiny buttons. I’ve seen it happen on a DX Luke belt as well.

Hot Toys anticipates some of these buttons to get lost, so they include replacements with some of their figures. Check your boxes for spares.

Another common occurrence seems to be with the tiny magnets on holsters, which can also be a bit of a pain to fix since it’s very fiddly.

They could stand to use stronger glue, as they’ve notoriously used pretty weak glue in the past. Hopefully they’ve improved over the years. Though things can wear with age so it partially can’t be helped.

 

[Dave_W]

The flaps on the ammo pouches on mine have started to separate. The pauldron is ok for now.

 

[TaliBane]

The flaps on the ammo pouches on mine have started to separate. The pauldron is ok for now.

You mean the pleather is de-laminating from its fabric backer (ie pleather is breaking down) or the glue holding the flaps to the pouch has let go? If the pleather is breaking down that's a pretty short lifespan.

If this pleather is breaking down I may try to cast mine and just paint the resin cast to look like leather.

 

[Dave_W]

Looks like it's just the glue has let go, 2 pieces of pleather glued back to back I think. The shoulder pouch glue has also given up.

 

[Chainedstream]

Same issue applies to all glued pleather goods with Hot Toys. Some of the holsters on my ANH stormtroopers are starting to wear off. Magnets are very bad too, I would recommend buying spare magnets on Amazon, they cost like $5 for 10.

Over to sandtrooper pauldrons, think you could reattach the strap with a small drop of super glue, like Revel contacta pro.

Wonder what glue HT use, must be the lowest quality glue on the market. Doesn’t take too long till it starts to lose its abilities.

 

[Chainedstream]

Oh no, that doesn’t look good at all, especially that shoulder pouch @Dave_W

 

[Dave_W]

I think it's because of the elastic going around the shoulder pulling on the back piece and the pouches are so firm that they won't bend so the glue just can't hold it together with the tension.

Anakin's boots have gone too.

 

[Chainedstream]

Pleather. A ticking time-bomb. In coming years, all my Terminator jackets and pants have flaked into dust, all leather holsters gone, boots of Ben, Anakin and Tarkin, gone. Same goes with the notorious Vader suit. I don’t even want to think about it. Sideshow pleather seems to hold up much better than the sh*t HT use.

Edit: Hahaha! My s**t was automatically turned into “poo”. Lol.

 

[Asta]

On mine it's just one corner of the shoulder ammo pouches that's pulling away from the backing. The glue isn't as dried out, but there's a clump of it stretched between the pouches and the back.

I squeezed some Bostik in and clamped it together with a clothes peg.

All the other pouches and the pauldron button are as good as when new.

 

[Futurion]

The glue on mine disintegrated a long time ago. I just carefully scrapped the rest and applied new glue for leather. It's something you need to do and count on it. The glue dries over time.

Still better than the situation on my Death Troopers. Their blaster holsters felt apart, glue, pleather, magnet, all of it. I had to make my own new ones from the scratch.

 

[sithocan]

Any recommended glue? And how do you apply it? With a thin stick?

 

[Asta]

Any recommended glue? And how do you apply it? With a thin stick?

I used Bostik All Purpose Clear Glue.

It's the stringy kind you have to be careful with, but it looked like the type that was originally used by the way the old glue was strung between the pouches and the back.

 

[MyenShi]

Looks like it's just the glue has let go, 2 pieces of pleather glued back to back I think. The shoulder pouch glue has also given up.

Same has happened to my pouch, due to the tension from the band as mentioned. Luckily not as huge of a deal as the pleather is intact so it can be reglued.

Oh no, that doesn’t look good at all, especially that shoulder pouch @Dave_W

Pleather. A ticking time-bomb. In coming years, all my Terminator jackets and pants have flaked into dust, all leather holsters gone, boots of Ben, Anakin and Tarkin, gone. Same goes with the notorious Vader suit. I don’t even want to think about it. Sideshow pleather seems to hold up much better than the poo HT use.

Edit: Hahaha! My s**t was automatically turned into “poo”. Lol.

@Chainedstream - It’s not as bad as it looks. It’s just from the glue weakening and the crusty stuff is old glue, not the pleather. The pleather is intact on Dave’s and mine.

With maintenance (apply 303 Aerospace to them) and displayed properly, a lot of the pleather on the more solid pieces will be okay for the long term. The glue may give out on some pieces but that’s not a difficult fix.

Any recommended glue? And how do you apply it? With a thin stick?

@sithocan - Aleene’s is a good brand. They specialize in glue for textiles so they are good for fabrics, pleather, etc. They have multiple types that are waterproof, dry clear, flexible, semi-permanent, and meant to be used to repair 1:1 scale clothes and vinyl and leather goods.

 

[Jmek]

I just don't get the issue with Hot Toys pleather rotting so quickly. I've got a French Connection pleather jacket that's 17 years old now, and it's fine. I've worn it in the rain, spilled beer on it, fallen on my arse wearing it and not a scratch.

 

[Asta]

I've never had any HT pleather rot, or from any company for that matter apart from a few cheap bits that I never bothered to store or display correctly in my early days of being committed to 1/6.

 

[ProtocolD]

Shoulder strap glue gave out on mine, had to superglue it back on. Same for the flaps on the waist pouches.

First HT figure I ever bought, and let me tell you - all things considered - it’s holding up much, much better, physically, than I am.

Somtimes I think the people who are bothered about such issues the most are younger people, the ones not old enough to realise just how impermanent physical things are.