vintage figure restoration- whiten your whites without fading your colors

My love for vintage toys and other collectibles has forced me to purchase some pieces most people wouldn't touch. I look at a yellowed Stormtrooper or a box of unstrung GI Joes as an opportunity, there's a story behind that toy discarded in that box. Someone loved it greatly and forgot about it in a flash. Recently at the Tampa Comic Con I ran across a table with a vintage 12 inch Stormtrooper standing at attention on a table, but it was already noon.

"Why is it there?" I wondered as I neared the table.
"They probably want a ton for it, might as well keep walking. I might miss out on something cool if I stop and ask about it, besides I already own two of them. What the Hell am I going to do with three? Oh look, it's mustard yellow. That is some serious sun damage, I wonder how much they want for it?"
                                               
The booth was run by Kensho Comics out of the bay area, nice bunch of people that were really enjoying the show and had very reasonable prices on everything on the table. Much to my surprise the trooper was only $5, I think they were equally shocked that I didn't dicker with them over the price. As we introduced ourselves, I mentioned my Facebook group (Raging Nerdgasm) and the fact I consider myself a toy historian and restoration buff. Discussing my techniques, we exchanged business information and I left with the figure tucked under my arm and my mind racing with what I needed to do to bring this figure back from almost 35 years of neglect.
                                    
Getting the figure home, I assembled my list of supplies. A gallon tub, two bottles of hydrogen peroxide, an oven bag ( newly introduced to me by my loving wife) and a paste of my own concoction. Putting the figure in the bag, I added both bottles of hydrogen peroxide until the figure was fully submerged. After the figure is fully submerged, I pushed all the air I could out of the bag, tied it off and placed it in the gallon tub. Next is the most important thing, a sunny spot to put it in for 12 or more hours. The heat isn't the important thing, it's the sunlight. The peroxide and sunlight is important in reversing the yellow "aged" look.
                                 
Roughly two days later (it's Florida here, so most sunny days are soon followed by rain....even in the middle of November) I pulled the figure from it's basting bag and give it a rinse. The Stormtrooper now looks surprisingly clean, not mint by any means but certainly not the mess it was when I bought it. A few treatments with the homemade paste (don't mix chemicals boys and girls unless you are a professional and don't get this stuff on colors because it will fade the crap out of them) and I feel I've done everything that can be done to this figure without damaging it. I've gone from a junk piece that a collector wouldn't look twice at, to a piece that is suitable for even some of the pickiest Star Wars fans. The white is fresher looking, there is absolutely no fading on the black paint or the fabric string to hold the trooper's gun and a little Mop & Glow Future polish in a pinpoint dispenser to tighten the wrist joints and it's ready for display or to be sold somewhere down the line.

Some things to remember-
Don't mix chemicals, it's seriously dangerous if you don't know what you are doing.
Always work in well ventilated areas, fumes get overwhelming quick.
Use the simplest techniques first, once you've gone to far you can't reverse your results.
and most importantly
These are old toys, anything that's too white or clean is going to get some weird looks or a lot of questions.

Toy Grading and why it's not worth your time or money

Anyone who's been into toy collecting remembers the whole toy grading scale that was in place for decades. Whether it was loose or in the package, there was a sliding scale from 1-10 called the “C” scale. The “C” scale started at C10 which usually stood for dead mint in package, like you had freshly pulled it from a factory case, and the scale slid down from there in increments of .5 to (for lack of better terms) accurately describe the condition of a figure. The same scale starting at C10 is used for loose toys. C10 is used for toys that have the appearance that they were just pulled off of a sealed card, complete with all weapons and free of any dirt or stray markings. The scale slides down in the same manner depending on loose joints, missing pieces or paint missing/stray marks.

                                        (This would be pretty darn mint C9 or so)

                                       (this would not be mint. and the accessory is missing)

This scale was literally useless since everyone has different ideas of mint on card or loose/complete or card fresh. From years of working in the toy field, from sales to stocking to eventually becoming a well trusted expert in the field; I've seen people who will sit with a box of 12 case fresh figures and look them over. Front and back, all five sides of the blister and even the edges of the card to find the mint-est figure there was and wouldn't touch anything that didn't pass the test. I've sold at comic book shows and had people meticulously inspect a loose toy to figure if the price marked was a fair price for the condition. Then you have the people who live by the code and will try to barter their way down trying to quote “C” scale to you, I unfortunately don't speak these folk's language because my product is always priced to sell (way below book price and so-called book price is something I will discuss later).

                                   (I swear those bozos are just this bad if not worse)

Then came AFA, the Action Figure Authority. AFA took the “C” scale and made it something more understandable. They started the scale at AFA 100 (speaking of which, I've never seen anything get the AFA 100 seal of approval.) and go down in increments of 5 to describe a toy's mint condition. This of course is an exclusive right of passage only given out by the AFA. For a varying price (solely dependent of the scale of the figure) you can have any toy in your collection, loose or carded, “professionally graded” by the crew at AFA. Part of your price pays for an acrylic case and the certification sticker from AFA which for some reason makes your figure worth more. How is it worth more? Just because some 3^rd party who deemed themselves the authority on professionally grading figures makes their word the same as God's word? This seems like an unnecessary hoop to jump through, and believe me people line up for the right. (Oh, by the way shipping is a separate charge.)

                                          ("professionally graded" and it's only an AFA80)

                                        (better grade on a loose figure, but it's pretty clean)

A little show in Orlando called FX was my first experience with the AFA. This was back in the early part of the last decade. Not only was I shocked at the price per toy, but the line at the booth! Not just figures, vehicles, playsets and more. The largest thing I saw at the table was the Kenner Ghostbuster's firehouse playset and they'd “professionally grade” it as long as he paid whatever exorbitant price they quoted. Unfortunately they didn't have an acrylic case big enough but they'd ship it back to their home office (at his cost) and have it sealed in a new large case. Are these cases magical? Do rainbow spew from them? The answer is no, all they do is allegedly protect your figure from dust and UV damage. That's it, that and a sticker and your figure is worth up to 40% more than book price.

                                         (that's a big fucking case for a big fucking toy)

Eventually, this crazy fell off like most and as far as I know no one uses either scale. And you know what kind of dealer you are dealing with if you ever hear AFA or “C” scale quoted in an auction, show or flea market. Nowadays most of us use mint, near mint, flawless, loose, played with, 3/$5 or dollar bin. All of which are very visual terms that significantly describe the condition of what you are buying.

                                      (this is what a real price guide looked like, circa 1990's)

Book price was always the bane of most toy collector's existence. If you ran across something at a show and you thought the price was too much, the dealer would often claim “book price” is around (insert price here). First of all, book price doesn't exist in today's collecting world. I haven't seen an official price guide issued since 2006 and the days of toy collecting magazines (ToyFare, Lee's) are a thing of the past too. The toy field is a liquid market, which means the price is often dependent on current demand for the product. Someone may not think their Bucky O'Hare figures are worth anything but something as simple as a blog in high rotation, re-issue the cartoon series on DVD or even being mentioned in a movie/TV show can up desirability of any line in a matter of hours. Figures and vehicles that wouldn't sell for .99 cents and free shipping start closing out at five times over what they originally cost at retail. Even blogs, like the one you are reading, have had an effect on the desirability of a figure line.

                                                        (all extinct, circa 2011)

There is no book anymore and eBay is good to use as a barometer but it's not the book. Just because it's listed for BUY IT NOW (insert price here) doesn't mean it goes for that. That's just some poor fool with delusions of grandeur, thinking a closet full of toys is going to bring him into early retirement just that much sooner. That man hasn't quit his day job and neither should you.

           (either still has a day job or my tax dollars are keeping them flush with Steel Reserve)

Masterpiece Collection 1940's era Batman 8 inch doll by Hasbro

Nanananananananana Bat-find!

This is what I was seriously interested in at the 3 for $10 bin when I visited the Yancy Street Comic Con, a Batman doll from the Masterpiece edition book from roughly 2003. Even at $5 for him, he would have been a total steal considering how long I looked for it. I grabbed him and 2 carded figures and went about my business at the show, not even 5 minutes in the building and I'm already out $10 and have a bag full of toys. This definitely set the pace for the rest of the show.

The Masterpiece edition sets were popular but comic book nerds with the deepest pockets deemed the sets too expensive and they ended up on clearance shelves within a year. Each Masterpiece was impressively packaged in a sturdy, heavy gauge cardboard box trimmed in glossy read and yellow with a picture of the character in their golden age outfit; lifted right out of the comic book's pages. They made 3 masterpiece edition books; Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Each book was a kind of chronicle of the character since their creation to current canon. Each book came with a keepsake piece; Superman came with a statue of him in his golden age outfit, Wonder Woman came with a barely poseable doll clothed in her golden age attire and Batman came with a really neat and sought after doll that was fully poseable in a cloth outfit with a cape that could hold any shape you bent it into.

(mine came without the book, just for reference only)

The figure is very well done with a nice range of articulation, similar to a Mego doll. The outfit is not removable. The figure is actually sewn into the costume, so be careful not to spill anything on him (if you are prone to having Cheeto fingers, you might want to invest in a Tide detergent stick). The  boots are actually part of the body, along with the cowl and gloves. The belt is a really strong yellow but feels a little too big compared to the scale of the figure, same goes with the batarang (which confuses me because it's not a toy meant for children, but I could see it eventually getting into a child's hands. But still, give the collectors what they want.). Best aspect of the figure is the ribbed cape. Each rib is bendable and holds whatever pose you give it so your Batman can be frozen in whatever cool action shot you'd like.

I also really dig the clear plastic cocoon it came in.