This Week In Your Plastic Crack, Action Figures and Toy Collection 26 26

[followtheleader]

2 hours ago, Parabellum said:

I was wondering if anyone has heard or seen the rubber band on GI Joe action figure dry rot while still sealed?  I’m asking because I was thinking about purchasing a 1982 snake eyes and 1984 storm shadow MOC at some point.  Thx

The rubber bands definitely can.  Seen them personally.  

Had one shipped a few years back and it arrived in a pile of figure rubble. 

Patrick

[Parabellum]

7 hours ago, followtheleader said:

The rubber bands definitely can.  Seen them personally.  

Had one shipped a few years back and it arrived in a pile of figure rubble. 

Patrick

Oh man, hopefully it wasn’t a high dollar one.  Thanks for the info!

[comicwiz]

11 hours ago, Parabellum said:

I was wondering if anyone has heard or seen the rubber band on GI Joe action figure dry rot while still sealed?  I’m asking because I was thinking about purchasing a 1982 snake eyes and 1984 storm shadow MOC at some point.  Thx

I don't collect G.I. Joe's due to the o-ring problem. And like others have said, it's a known issue for them to break apart in their MOC's. A lot of the decisions behind collecting sealed figures is how they stand-up to shipping, and if you can source one locally to bypass transit, it might last longer for you if you absolutely must have them, and don't care you ever have to sell them. I sold all my Star Wars POTF (last 17) MOC's, avoided ROTJ, certain character/wave combinations because of how common blister yellowing is, and the likelihood of them breaching during transit or shipping.

[fantastic_four]

Do action figures still use the rubber bands?

[NoMan]

On 5/5/2016 at 9:32 PM, Chip Cataldo said:

I can post more of my old collection if you guys want. At one point I probably had the largest Super Powers collection in the world.

Those are toys for the 70s or 80s? I remember working as a teenager in a department store in the 80s in the  toy department and the “Marvel Secret Wars” toy line had come out. I grabbed a couple w/employee discount. I have no idea where they are today but wished I had persevered and gotten ‘em all and saved ‘em. 

Blah, blah blah. Same old story. 

Edited May 29, 2018 by NoMan

[Parabellum]

1 hour ago, comicwiz said:

I don't collect G.I. Joe's due to the o-ring problem. And like others have said, it's a known issue for them to break apart in their MOC's. A lot of the decisions behind collecting sealed figures is how they stand-up to shipping, and if you can source one locally to bypass transit, it might last longer for you if you absolutely must have them, and don't care you ever have to sell them. I sold all my Star Wars POTF (last 17) MOC's, avoided ROTJ, certain character/wave combinations because of how common blister yellowing is, and the likelihood of them breaching during transit or shipping.

Thx for the info comicwiz.  I’m not gonna spend 2k on something that could break in the package.  Much appreciated.  I think im gonna stick to Hot Toys or solid figures, lol.

[comicwiz]

2 hours ago, fantastic_four said:

Do action figures still use the rubber bands?

Not that I'm aware of, but I don't collect anything new. By the late 80's, figures started becoming more articulated, so they began using metal pins on knees, elbows, and the socket format joining the arms and legs to the torso became pretty much a standard after the successful application and use in the late 70's and 80's.

The O-rings were mostly in use with large action figure formats, so it's use in the 4" format was a bit unusual. Mego 8" and larger figures unfortunately run into this issue as well, but so too do the vintage large Star Wars action figures. You can start to see it with limbs that aren't seating properly in their socket, they almost look to be dangling. I have a Mego Hulk MOC where this is happening.

There's quite a few video's showing how to fix them when they are loose, but unfortunately when they are sealed, it can cause a significant value impact.

[fantastic_four]

3 minutes ago, comicwiz said:

By the late 80's, figures started becoming more articulated, so they began using metal pins on knees, elbows, and the socket format joining the arms and legs to the torso became pretty much a standard after the successful application and use in the late 70's and 80's.

That's what I figured.  All the 2017 figures I just bought for my kids appear to have pins in the joints.  I hope they're plastic and not metal though because they insist on taking them into the bathtub.  

[F For Fake]

1 hour ago, Parabellum said:

Thx for the info comicwiz.  I’m not gonna spend 2k on something that could break in the package.  Much appreciated.  I think im gonna stick to Hot Toys or solid figures, lol.

This is why, with only a couple of exceptions that I couldn't pass up, I collect loose Joes. You can swap out O-rings, rusted screws, etc and they display so nicely. Plus, these are toys that are just dying to be played with. So, you don't have to give up on Joes entirely, but I would hesitate to drop a lot of money on carded figs, unless, as was mentioned above, you can get them locally and not have to worry about them getting violently jostled. I have two carded Joes that I had AFA graded, and while they made it home safe and sound, I don't think I'd put myself through the anxiety again!

[F For Fake]

Some pick-ups from the 20% off sale at my LCS this weekend. I've been looking for the JLI Fire at a decent price for years now. I missed her the first time around, and prices have just gotten goofy since then. Plus, loose, those corners on her shoulders have a bad habit of getting broken. So, I have been looking for a carded one at a fair price to complete my JLI set, and I couldn't pass this one up. The BL Bats was a nice price as well.

As for the Aliens figures, I bought all of these when they were initially released, as I was a rabid Aliens fan. However, I never really liked the Kenner designs (I like movie accurate stuff, I don't really go for the goofier toys) so I eventually sold the entire collection. Fast forward to now, if I can find them at a decent price, the completist in me makes me pick them up again. So, even though I recall picking these guys up at KB Toys in a 3 for $10 bin way back when, in the meantime they've gotten pretty tough to find, and pricey. So since the LCS had them for under $10, I decided I'd better go ahead and grab them.

[Parabellum]

7 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

This is why, with only a couple of exceptions that I couldn't pass up, I collect loose Joes. You can swap out O-rings, rusted screws, etc and they display so nicely. Plus, these are toys that are just dying to be played with. So, you don't have to give up on Joes entirely, but I would hesitate to drop a lot of money on carded figs, unless, as was mentioned above, you can get them locally and not have to worry about them getting violently jostled. I have two carded Joes that I had AFA graded, and while they made it home safe and sound, I don't think I'd put myself through the anxiety again!

I was thinking about getting the figures loose.

[F For Fake]

1 minute ago, Parabellum said:

I was thinking about getting the figures loose.

You should give it a try! For one they're a lot cheaper than carded figs, but there are still some very pricey loose examples if you dig the thrill of the hunt!  And depending on if you want complete figures, figures with perfect paint, or whatever, you can make it as easy or as tough as you want to collect them. I have a close friend who put together a complete loose collection of figures, including rare imports, variants, etc. Took him forever, but it's an awesome collection. Whereas I just pick up the stuff I had when I was a kid, or always WANTED when I was a kid, and I'm not quite as OCD/completist as him in that regard. So however you want to approach it, there are lots of fun ways to collect Joes. Good luck! 

[Parabellum]

9 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

You should give it a try! For one they're a lot cheaper than carded figs, but there are still some very pricey loose examples if you dig the thrill of the hunt!  And depending on if you want complete figures, figures with perfect paint, or whatever, you can make it as easy or as tough as you want to collect them. I have a close friend who put together a complete loose collection of figures, including rare imports, variants, etc. Took him forever, but it's an awesome collection. Whereas I just pick up the stuff I had when I was a kid, or always WANTED when I was a kid, and I'm not quite as OCD/completist as him in that regard. So however you want to approach it, there are lots of fun ways to collect Joes. Good luck! 

Yes!  They’re considerably cheaper.  I will def want them complete.  Like you I would want the whole series just the ones I had as a kid.  Thanks man!  Found another way to feed my OCD, lol.

[F For Fake]

1 minute ago, Parabellum said:

Yes!  They’re considerably cheaper.  I will def want them complete.  Like you I would want the whole series just the ones I had as a kid.  Thanks man!  Found another way to feed my OCD, lol.

Always happy to enable another addict! 

[Yorick]

I just bought a pack of five o-rings, hooks and screws to fix several of my band-broken Joe's.  I think the breaking is primarily due to storage temperature (being to hot).

I worry about how those 1/6 scale seamless figures will look in ten years...

[F For Fake]

49 minutes ago, Yorick said:

I just bought a pack of five o-rings, hooks and screws to fix several of my band-broken Joe's.  I think the breaking is primarily due to storage temperature (being to hot).

I worry about how those 1/6 scale seamless figures will look in ten years...

Heck, some of them are already "melting"! HT used some terrible rubber on some of those figs, like the Big Chap and other Aliens figs. 

[Yorick]

35 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

Heck, some of them are already "melting"! HT used some terrible rubber on some of those figs, like the Big Chap and other Aliens figs. 

I just bought a Hot Toys seamless body (silicon with plastic skeleton).  Probably the best body sculpt I've seen so far, but YES; the body will melt away over time.  Hopefully not next week....  I just need to keep it stored in corn starch!

[Yorick]

I got a question: when does a customizer graduate to bootlegger?

[followtheleader]

14 hours ago, fantastic_four said:

Do action figures still use the rubber bands?

The Joes don't.  They abandoned it quite some time ago. 

I'm sure many have heard of the "Major" figures.  Like Black Major.  It's the exact same figures from the past with a custom paint job (like Steel Brigade).  Apparently, Hasbro doesn't have a real problem with them as they no longer us the rubber band configuration, do not contain the names of the originals, and do not contain the Cobra/Joe sigils.  You can find a whole ton on E-bay. 

Patrick

[GeneticNinja]

I'm glad I never felt the need to collect vintage carded figures. I have my vintage G.I. Joe figures loose and I always liked them in battle situations. I would be sick if I had a vintage carded figure and the rubber band snapped in the packaging. I wouldn't know what to do. I would probably have to open it, fix the figure, and glue it closed again or something.

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by GeneticNinja