The foam/latex debate

Hi all,

There has been some fantastic items coming out and previewed recently, which are either entirely made out of or heavily built with, foam and latex.

These include ET, Slimer, Turtles, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man etc etc.

I've been put off purchasing any owing to the concerns of the latex and foam deteriorating over time.

Just how worried should we be about this and how rapidly are things meant to happen?

I'm really tempted by so many of these products but the potential issues has put me off.

BHG738 said:

Hi all,

There has been some fantastic items coming out and previewed recently, which are either entirely made out of or heavily built with, foam and latex.

These include ET, Slimer, Turtles, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man etc etc.

I've been put off purchasing any owing to the concerns of the latex and foam deteriorating over time.

Just how worried should we be about this and how rapidly are things meant to happen?

I'm really tempted by so many of these products but the potential issues has put me off.

Click to expand...

Hello,
I don't have much experience with items that are made from this material but I do have the E.T. that you mentioned, while I haven't had him long I am already having some issues with the material. Not sure if it's just mine but I'm seeing some weird deterioration around the back of the neck (the joint between the head and neck) and his famous index finger has a tear in it from touching the ground, but I think that is from how it was made; the index finger drags on the floor and is slightly longer than the figure itself causing the finger to be forced pushed up that caused the tear. Anyway, just saying that it is a delicate material and not so durable as I thought it would be.

All in all for the money I still think it was a great buy, however, with my experience with E.T. I will not be buying the latex/rubber Slimer version instead I will go with HCG's fiberglass/resin one; I just have to make sure I don't drop him but won't have to be concern over latex/rubber deterioration like my E.T. Furthermore, the craftsmanship will be better than what Neca can do as my E.T.has a lot of ugly visible seams. Oh, I also use to own their rubber/latex Gremlins too but sold them and they too had unsightly ugly seams although I did not keep the long enough to witness any deterioration of the material.

I do have a YouTube review on E.T. In which I show the anomalies of deterioration which you may check out that I will post here.

Good luck with whichever you go with both are great but just want to chime in on what you may expect going forward with a latex/rubber product.

https://youtu.be/0Qmw9I4ozEI

If this link doesn't work look up my review under Max Power

Cheers!

Max Power

I know a bit about latex from owning a couple pieces. Most of my knowledge comes second hand from friends who make masks. From what I understand latex pieces last around ten years on average. You can add a couple years to this with less handling, a temperature controlled room, and dust free display case.

On the opposite end of that I've seen really well made pieces begin to discolor and deteriorate within two year because they weren't taken care of.

RiggsMcClane said:

I know a bit about latex from owning a couple pieces. Most of my knowledge comes second hand from friends who make masks. From what I understand latex pieces last around ten years on average. You can add a couple years to this with less handling, a temperature controlled room, and dust free display case.

On the opposite end of that I've seen really well made pieces begin to discolor and deteriorate within two year because they weren't taken care of.

Click to expand...

I heard about that that's why I figured my E.T. Would last a while but I've had him for less than 2 years an well I doubt he will last that many years, probably his head will fall off first, I'm thinking Neca probably used cheap latex/rubber or something-I mean for the price I wasn't expecting much.
Again, it's nice but had I had a choice like I do with Slimer and seeing what I got for my money from Neca I'm definitely going the fiberglass/resin HCG route this time and paying a little more. Check out the my video review its likely what your going to see on the Slimer one from Neca. As far as my care I think I do a pretty good job, I even have an air cleaner in my room to help with dust and my windows stay closed during the day to keep the sun out but I guess that was still not enough for my E.T.

Good luck!

Max Power




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Sorry to see you're having issues with your ET. At a glance he looks great. Sadly, quality of rubber, seams, and thickness all factor in. I'd say the thickness of the latex is really the issue here. You can see just how thin it is at the neck seam where the foam core is exposed. If the seams were better and the materials thickness was around an eight inch thick you probably wouldn't be having these issues so early on.

I learned my lesson pretty quickly with my own stuff. I've now moved onto longer lasting materials like silicone or resin.

RiggsMcClane said:

Sorry to see you're having issues with your ET. At a glance he looks great. Sadly, quality of rubber, seams, and thickness all factor in. I'd say the thickness of the latex is really the issue here. You can see just how thin it is at the neck seam where the foam core is exposed. If the seams were better and the materials thickness was around an eight inch thick you probably wouldn't be having these issues so early on.

I learned my lesson pretty quickly with my own stuff. I've now moved onto longer lasting materials like silicone or resin.

Click to expand...

So material quality is the problem,again, doesn't surprise me with Neca so that's why I'm didn't consider their Slimer offering.

Thanks for the info!

Max Power


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