1/6 Hot toys mark 27 disco mms371 question regarding paintwork possible problem

Hi, i received my mark 27 disco around 7 months ago new & sealed i thought the hands felt slightly tacky,its been standing with all the other figures & there all fine. this week i picked it up and the paintwork is tacky almost like tape residue the fisted hands which never left the box are the worst. my thought is that this model was never sealed & perhaps the new colours & humidity/change of temperature from china to usa to uk has degraded the paint. even warm water applied with cotton wool removes a slight blush of paint of either colour so i cleaned the whole thing then gave it 3 coats of matt clear varnish to hopefully stave off more colour loss. has anyone else had a problem?

IANR said:

Hi, i received my mark 27 disco around 7 months ago new & sealed i thought the hands felt slightly tacky,its been standing with all the other figures & there all fine. this week i picked it up and the paintwork is tacky almost like tape residue the fisted hands which never left the box are the worst. my thought is that this model was never sealed & perhaps the new colours & humidity/change of temperature from china to usa to uk has degraded the paint. even warm water applied with cotton wool removes a slight blush of paint of either colour so i cleaned the whole thing then gave it 3 coats of matt clear varnish to hopefully stave off more colour loss. has anyone else had a problem?

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Are the hands plastic/rubber? To me this sounded more like plastic degrading e.g. the chemicals in the plastic degrade and it feels greasy/oily?

hi, dont know the material but its soft enough to push a fingernail into & leave a dent in the cuff area & tackiness is worse on the blue areas than the orange.

IANR said:

hi, dont know the material but its soft enough to push a fingernail into & leave a dent in the cuff area & tackiness is worse on the blue areas than the orange.

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I'm guessing you may be seeing the dreaded rubber or plastic deterioration or oiling e.g. the paint gets affected because as the rubber/plastic itself gets greasy it would affect the paint. Especially since you say the material is soft enough to leave a dent.

If you look around the 'net and YT u can find different ways people have tackled the problem. Don't wanna bum you out but far as I can tell it's a chemical thing - you can slow it, maybe, not stop it really. In general seems like people (esp. w. Batman DX oiling) wipe and seal, same as you did.

Here's some older posts about that kind of thing:

https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/general-collectibles-action-figures/82683-hot-toys-rubber-deterioration.html

https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-71433-p-2.html

Always the question why rubber toys from the '60s that were thrown into toy boxes and abused are still in good condition but at least some HTs have peeling pleather, cracking, oiling rubber, paint changes.

Far as I can tell as a side effect of collecting, collectors need to gather a repair kit together and have a list of favorite part sellers on the 'bay.
And favorite YT links of how-tos.

Edit - OK - looking at pics of the Disco - I'd still guess what you are seeing is plastic degrading. Either that or the paint itself is just *&^ like some bad paint that never fully cures.

Hope some others weigh in as just don't know enough - for me I guess I'd try just what you did. Or do a lot of research and see if there is a "drier" - a chemical that I know oil painters use - that maybe could "stiffen" the paint.

Sorry it happened, probably lots more info online if u look around.

Toys in the 60s probably had lead based paint. I have no idea what hot toys uses, probably something highly toxic. (jk...hopefully)

medicomsucks said:

Toys in the 60s probably had lead based paint. I have no idea what hot toys uses, probably something highly toxic. (jk...hopefully)

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Probably why I am so happy when I open a new fig box just from fumes. The best is an older sealed fig that coming out of a nice warm box

Sassafras said:

Probably why I am so happy when I open a new fig box just from fumes. The best is an older sealed fig that coming out of a nice warm box

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I know what you mean. Its like toy coke, you buy a few figures, next thing you know you're tony montana with sealed toys all around your den and you have huge guns with grenade launchers attached.

medicomsucks said:

I know what you mean. Its like toy coke, you buy a few figures, next thing you know you're tony montana with sealed toys all around your den and you have huge guns with grenade launchers attached.

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The best was a NIB Winter Soldier I picked a few years ago - *sniiiiiiiifff*

My new TFA Cap has been real good too. What - 6, 7 years sealed will do it.

Srsly sorry the OP is dealing w. issues tho. So far I haven't run into oiling/peeling. I guess w. something like WS I'd try to seal down if he started peeling the pleather. With my CW diecast Iron Man - I dunno. At least there are some good tips from painters. Every now and then I stare at my figs in suspicion but so far so good.

This sounds a bit like the diecast Robocops with the chair.
Lots of people reported that the paint was soft.
For me, Robocop's hands that were left inside HT's original foam box started to stick to them but no paint coming off last I checked.
Try rubbing some Honda rubber grease onto it. See if that will preserve it.