As a rule of thumb: ALWAYS use heat when assembling/disassembling soft vinyl toys. If not, you run the risk of cracking the vinyl and will have a more unfortunate situation on-hand to deal with. Heat gun is preferable, but a hair dryer will work. Just be sure a decent amount of flexibility has been reached before working with the joints.
With newer unpainted toys that I am cleaning you can place them in hot water. They will soften and you can take them apart. Perform at your own risk with painted figures...
The discoloration looks like it is in the vinyl itself, so I didn't bother trying to clean it. A lot of the figure is painted over, so it doesn't look that bad on display. Given that the spotting is only on certain vinyl pieces, my thought is that those may have been from the 'bad' batch and may have been pulled separately from the other pieces. If it was an environmental issue, I would imagine the entire figure would be discolored to the same degree.
Just to clarify – vinyl spore would be a fungal issue then? Would that mean there's any risk of it spreading to other pieces, or affecting paintwork if I get it painted?
General question in regards to controlling humidity – is it a good idea to store your toys with silica gel packets? Would there be any issue with reactivity?
The smell will fade with time, but if you're in a hurry, placing it in a plastic bag with baking soda should absorb the odor.
Much appreciated! That baking soda is such a life saver, I use it for everything, yet I keep forgetting about it.