Corrosion on brass/copper hedo eyes

I've got a hedo with metal eyes that have suffered a bit of corrosion around the edges. Does anyone have ideas on how to clean this up without harming the vinyl?

 

I am not sure of a safe way to clean rust without damaging the vinyl, even worse is that the rust will cause discoloration too. You could try marine jelly as it is somewhat viscous and will stay where you put it and you can wipe it off easily after its eaten the rust but most likely it will come back later, and marine jelly is some nasty stuff. This is just a really shitty sounding problem.

 

Maybe remove them and put them in something like CLR or some other rust remover before reattaching them? I have never done it before personally but it seems sound in theory...

 

Also, before reattachement, maybe a coat of good quality laquer or something similar?

 

I'm curious. Is it only one Hedoran but others are okay?
Do you think weather or humidity played a role?

I've never seen this before but it makes me worry about my pieces.

 

i have one hedo with duller eyes than the others.
bought it like that from an sb member.
another hedo bought from that same member had perfect eyes.
not sure what causes them to do that.

 

dunk it in a jar of fish oil

 

I wonder if any of the vintage hedorans have this problem. I've had one and held others and all seemed fine.

 

Maybe that Hedoran lived near the beach???

 

I've owned two of the standard Hedorans with brass eyes.

One (T/O 2nd Anniversary ver.) was bought unopened and never developed this problem. The other (clear green) was bought loose from another board member and developed noticeable corrosion/patination on the brass eyes (do not recall if this was apparent when I bought it).

Both were stored and displayed under similar conditions.

My conclusion is that the clear green Hedoran was subject to some condition prior to my ownership that caused this corrosion/patination. In that case, I don't know what the source was. Another possibility is that the problem was due to some environmental condition when the clear green Hedoran was shipped overseas to my current residence (heat, humidity, sea air). However, it was shipped bagged in a sealed plastic tub, which was placed inside an enclosed wooden crate, so this seems unlikely (excepting, possibly, heat). I had other toys with metal parts in the same crate, and none have had similar issues.

I don't think I can draw any solid conclusions, but maybe it will help to narrow down the possible sources of the problem.

EDIT: As an afterthought, it would help if we knew the composition of the eye metal.

 

Makes me wonder if there might be a way to get replacement eyes. Seems strange that IKB would produce the metal disks just for bootleg kaiju eyes, maybe they're a standard part that we can find elsewhere?

 

I did just recently pick this Bwana Eriagun up second hand, and I have no other problems with any other pieces purchased new or used. The vinyl also appears to have suffered as there are tiny granules all over the thing. I figured before that it was bits of vinyl worn off from moving the joints, but it might be salt. Which makes me think this guy paid a trip to the beach or someone's fish tank.

It would be nice to get replacement eyes. Can I just email the Gargamel guys? I imagine I can clean the vinyl with water without damaging the paint.

The other option that occured to me was to just add some googly eyes, which would be a very Bwana touch

 

thats sucky, but the googly eyes or even something else could be fun.

 

Ahh. Mystery solved. Sea water!

Just to be clear, I'm quite happy with my new fried knowing how well-travelled he is. I'll prob. leave the eyes as they are.

 

Those pics at the beach are great! I like the one with the kelp and rushing tide.

 

Pics were taken by the previous owner of Eriagun. And I agree, the pics are awesome!

 

I have a set of disks that I removed from an old custom. If you change your mind and want them just PM me and you can have them.

 

Thanks for the offer!

 

This is really interesting Daniel because I had a clear green Hedo that I got in trade from another member here a long time ago and it too had this problem. It's the only one that I've ever seen this happen to though. This being the case, maybe it was indeed something about that specific vinyl or run of figures?

 

There is a metal cleaning product called brasso. You can find it at target or walmart in the cleaning area usually with the stove cleaners. It is meant for cleaning stainless steel, brass, crome etc. I had a crome amp that had surface rust all over it and this stuff cleaned it up perfectly. Now the downside is that it is a fairly strong cleaner that smells really strong so I wouldn't want to get it on the vinyl. Maybe if you just used alittle on a q-tip or something you could clean up the eyes or take them out and clean them up.

 

Hey I forgot to post that I emailed Gargamel, and they were willing to send me a fresh pair of metal eyes for super duper cheap. Which I think would be a better solution ultimately than cleaning, because the metal was corroded enough to have lost some of the pattern or ridges.

Thanks for everyone who offered suggestions!

However, I still plan on leaving his eyes the way they are. They are eyes that have seen the world. I plan on taking this guy on trips with me and taking pix of his adventures just like the previous owner did. I figure that I should have at least one toy that I'm willing to play with!

 

hgnarly.
Nice to see the big bugger is getting around though.