Ep 2 Phase 1 Clone bodysuit discolouration

Hey fellow Freaks! I just wanted to share this discovery. THANKS to Toy Anxiety, I managed to get some of the newer, more accurate fabric ribbed bodysuits SS has been using of late for my earlier release clones to replace the vinyl body suits they came with. All of my clones were fine but when I performed the process of stripping my Ep 2 Phase 1 Clone Trooper, I noticed right away that his suit seemed to be marbling. The colour of the suit has turned red in spots, as you can see here. Note his left leg and body:




And upon inspecting my Clone armour, I do notice some reddish staining. Thankfully none of the stains can be seen on the outside of the armour, but you can see the staining inside:



I do notice some blackish staining showing through on the backs of the knees though:


I hope this staining doesn't show through in the years to come. If it does I guess I can just paint up the Clone to cover it. Just wanted my fellow SS Freaks to know. Keep an eye on your clones and switch out the vinyl bodysuit when you can!

But like I said, out of four clones, this was the first to show any signs of discolouration like this. Maybe I bought an 'off' figure? Or maybe all of the bodysuits will do this at some point and I got to them just in time?

Looks lie SS once again tried going the cheap way out. It's fixed now with the new under suit, but for those who bought the first phase 1 clones, sadly you have to upgrade..

In a difference thread I expresssed interest for Sideshow to sell the new suits for upgrading, perhaps packing them into bundles.

The red cleans off the undersuit really easily - but not off the armour plates (stains) unfortunately

Yes Puay! I too expressed my need for SS to sell these new fabric ribbed bodysuits to SS, but so far, nothing. Toy Anxiety was my only option and I got lucky after so many misses.

Rik_Biel, have you seen this discolouration happen on your own clones? I forgot to mention my figures are displayed on my open-faced basement shelves, without any direct sunlight under dehumidified conditions in a cool, well-ventilated room. Out of 6 vinyl suited clones, I have only seen this happen to this one only. I still have one Ep 2 Phase 1 Clone to mod, and then I am going to mod Clone Wars General Obi-Wan. If I see this happen to those last two figures I will update this thread.

Thanks Brinn 71, will be monitoring this thread.

First thing I get home is to check on my troopers.

Yeah I cant understand why SS wouldn't atleast try this out...selling the body suits. I'm sure there are plenty of fans who would buy em to do the upgrade.

I have no intentions on cracking open the abdomen & chest armor for my clones. But to do this upgrade, hello cracked open armor

Well, wouldn't you know... I stripped my other Ep 2 Phase 1 Clone Trooper and his vinyl body suit is starting to go as well. Not as bad as my other Trooper, and no staining is on the armour this time, but the body of the body suit is showing the marbling:




DANG these look way better with the ribbed suits!

Looks like mold to me, Brinn 71.

But if it were mold why would it only affect only two Ep 2 clones and not the other 4 vinyl bodysuit clones? There is no smell of mildew either.

It seems whatever this run was made from, or where this batch was made, made the suits out of different materials?

I've seen Hasbro Vinyl Vader and GI Joe suits break down, so I am wondering if this is what is happening here?

Mold has no set pattern (as far as where the colonies start) and may not have a noticeable odor untill the colonies are larger. Red is not the most common color for it, either, but by no means is it unusual. The circular spots that your pictures show are very characteristic of mold colonies starting. Mold also stains horribly.

I could easily be wrong (I have never heard of any action figures getting moldy, before). But it does seem like it to me. I had a leather bomber jacket a long time ago that I left hanging in my wall locker in Okinawa and a very similar pattern of (grey) mold grew on it.

I might take a whirl at making some of these suits. My grandmother has a sewing machine and the fabric shouldn't be too tough to find. Looks like a pretty simple pattern (front, back, sleeves).

Has anyone checked their Clone-Obi Brown bodysuit.... I wonder if it is doing the same thing? I can't tell on mine!!!!

Darth Cruel said:

Mold has no set pattern (as far as where the colonies start) and may not have a noticeable odor untill the colonies are larger. Red is not the most common color for it, either, but by no means is it unusual. The circular spots that your pictures show are very characteristic of mold colonies starting. Mold also stains horribly.

I could easily be wrong (I have never heard of any action figures getting moldy, before). But it does seem like it to me. I had a leather bomber jacket a long time ago that I left hanging in my wall locker in Okinawa and a very similar pattern of (grey) mold grew on it.

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Could the mold be brushed off or cleaned off your jacket? On the body suits there is nothing on the surface to clean, the suit is turning that reddish colour in spots. Very odd its only happening to my two Ep 2 Clones. I will strip down Obi-Wan tonight and see JIMT1677.

Brinn 71 said:

Could the mold be brushed off or cleaned off your jacket? On the body suits there is nothing on the surface to clean, the suit is turning that reddish colour in spots. Very odd its only happening to my two Ep 2 Clones. I will strip down Obi-Wan tonight and see JIMT1677.

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I did clean it off and had the jacket treated. But the spots could never be completely cleaned off. Fortunately for me, the weathered finish of the material hid what remained very effectively.

If I were you, I would look in to trying to find out if it is mold for sure. If it is, just throw away those suits and start looking for replacements.

JIMT1677 said:

Has anyone checked their Clone-Obi Brown bodysuit.... I wonder if it is doing the same thing? I can't tell on mine!!!!

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Just did and...... nothing. WHEW! I'll be switching out his vinyl suit for the ribbed one now. I bleached it a little and turned it brown, so it should look sweet.

Anyone else see this happen to their vinyl clone suits?

Germs......they're everywhere.....

I only cracked open 1 clone and turned it into a green stripe sergeant (weeks before SSC announced their own...do'h) and it had it.

Not sure about he others as they are still sealed up

So whats the best way to crack the armor open to check for the red stuff, is there a tutorial or pics? I did a google search and came up with nothing.

highlanderpdx said:

So whats the best way to crack the armor open to check for the red stuff, is there a tutorial or pics? I did a google search and came up with nothing.

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Squeeze the sides of it gently until it pops open. It will take a little time but don't rush it or you'll risk breaking it.

If I can get the fabric bodysuit right, I'll make sure to post pics and make them available for you guys as I plan to replace all of my vinyl suits as well. It should be cheaper than what those things are being sold for right now. I'll update as soon as I get it worked out.