to clean or not to clean?

So this removes the gloriously organic vintage vinyl smell I love so much? I think I’ll keep my beat up junkers the way that they are.

Wabi sabi, bro

 

Thanks for the nice comments. The first batch of vintage Standard Bullmark toys I cleaned, was back on June 27, 2017 (almost 7 months ago). I initially thought that one of my toys developed a crack, but after I looked at the original auction photos more closely, I found that the crack had already existed (King Zaurus horn). Since then, the toys are still fine, and still very clean. No change in color or shine, no clouding on the vinyl (I was worried about this, if the oxidation activity continued, but no, everything seems stable), no warping, no cracking. So far so good. Although I took a big risk on that big batch of Bullmarks, I won't risk it on my precious Tiger 7's! You can see the June 27, 2017 toys here...

http://skullbrain.org/bb/index.php?threads/vintage-mail-day.44137/page-57 (describes cleaning method)
http://skullbrain.org/bb/index.php?threads/vintage-mail-day.44137/page-60 (the whole gang, all cleaned)





*Normally, I wouldn't have taken such a big risk, and oxidized all eleven toys at once, but this herd came from a single seller, and they were super filthy when they arrived. Some had sticky brown goo embedded into the vinyl, greasy black dirt patches, etc... so I decided to clean them all at one go.

I must admit, because the soap and brush method takes sooooo long, and I'm an impatient person, I'm pretty much using the OXI Soft Scrub/Dawn liquid dish soap to clean my vintages now. Except for worrying about the effects of the oxidation action during cleaning (and possible on-going effects as the toy "ages"), I think on the whole, it's much gentler than the toothbrush method, because toothbrushes can scratch vinyl! The Soft Scrub does not seem to remove any shine from silver/metallic paint. It's still an abrasive, but the nice thing is, if you are gentle with the cleaning process (i.e. apply light pressure to the cleaning rag/sponge), no scraches or scuffs are seen afterward. If you are willing to risk applying more pressure to remove black marks, then you can decide what you're willing to risk, as you're cleaning the toy.

And yes! It does remove ALL smells, including that distinctive "vintage connoisseur funk" aroma. But on the other hand, it also seems to vanquish tobacco smoke smell too!

 

It seems that this Goji needed a good bath, had something green and sticky(I do not know if it was some kind of mold) attached to the extremities, the chest, the head and spine of the back. I just use dish soap and a little chlorine gel and scrub with the dish sponge and a toothbrush to clean the cavities of the mouth, feet and between the spines on the back.

 

@Alebrije - is that a Bullmark with some dark green sprays? If so, the few I have touched all have sticky green residue where the green paint has failed. Your clean-up job looks great. Beautiful green goji!

 

Thanks Mark, I could not find traces of green paint on the figure. In general it is very similar to the other dark Goji I have, the obvious differences is the amount of silver paint on the body and the blue paint on the spine is also darker. The difference of color in the vinyl between both figures is very subtle, the vinyl of this last Goji is greener and the other more blue and also when you put the feet of the figure against the light the vinyl looks translucent.

 

@Alebrije this goji looks amazing, I have to say I do take a lot of pleasure cleaning my toys....I did a mayor marusan goji clean once and sense then that marusan goji has a special place in my heart....wish i could find more.

 

Thank you @fosa comun, I also enjoy cleaning the vintage figures, for some strange reason I find it relaxing. If you could share later a picture of your Marusan Goji it would be nice.

 

Not sure whats on his legs and shoulders but having a hard time cleaning... any tips?Ive used hot water dish soap and a tooth brush no luck =(

 

@Johnny Black - looks like epoxy resin? Hope not.

 

closer pics looks like its creating little holes in the vinyl or something?

 

Are those heat blisters? I wonder if certain parts came into contact with something really hot, to blister the vinyl? Or are the holes found throughout the toy? Almost looks like a swirl pattern on his poor leg.

 

@Johnny Black - The standard size Bandai Gekko Kamen figures are notorious for this, its poor quality vinyl causing air bubbles at production you can see alot of them sitting just beneath the surface and of course breaking out on his shoulder. I have had a couple like this over the years.

 

@scobot youre right just noticed on this guys shoulder

 

OK, so I have a question for those of you how have managed to clean very texture vintage toys, like the popy giant goji or the giant bullmark goji. everytime I clean it ( I use dish detergent and warm water and i add a little doll cleaner) what ends up happening, once it dries, the dirt ends up concentrating on crevasses of the texture parts and it leaves a dull residue that drives me nuts. Any suggestions as to how do a better cleaning job? has any body tried soaking the toy for a while? if so how long?

 

@fosa comun - Different sized toothbrushes along with some cotton swabs (e.g. q-tips). Gotta get in there, and it takes quite a lot of time.

 

I use the soak method in warm(not hot just warm)soapy water then as soon as I wipe the toy down and it's fairly dry I use canned air to blow the joints and crevices totally dry and clean. Canned air is really useful for toys because you can control the air pressure. Works on dusty toys too without washing if they aren't sticky/gummy at all. Great for drying the inside of toys as well.

 

@fosa comun Sometimes also use the dish soap with chlorine gel and worked very well for deep stains. I have also used the degreaser for those sticky spots, I try to wash them also with an old sponge for the dishes but only for the soft side.

 

@deafmetal ; @Waterbear ; @Alebrije thank guys I will give a try see what happens will keep u guys posted. I know I own folks some pics. Will try to have some before and after.

 

Not sure about cleaning, but a lovely floral bath should help ease the stress, wrinkles, cracks and general sadness of aging.

 

Possibly it is one of the pieces in which I have invested the most time to clean, first, like all the vintage figures that arrive dirty, I gave him a bath with warm water and soap to wash the dishes. But now came the difficult part what chemical or solution to use to try to eliminate marker scratches and color ransfer marks on the top of the head and on the back, unfortunately do not take pictures of the marks on the head and the back. Unlike other figures in which I have used liquid degreasers, chlorine or even got to use thiner applied with a swab, in this particular figure I did not have the courage to use any of that for fear of damaging it. I think that when my wife saw my frustration she started to investigate and soon after she told me that she had read an article in which they recommended using toothpaste to eliminate the marks of ink on the plastic and that if the problem persisted it could be combined with bicarbonate to obtain better results. What was my surprise that worked perfectly, I could remove the ink streaks and the marks by transferring on the head, the clothes and the back. I hope the tip can be useful for you, I left a photo to compare the before and after.

 

@ultrakaiju Thank you Steve, at the beginning I also had my doubts about using the toothpaste for fear that it was very abrasive for the vinyl, what I did was put a good amount of paste in the stains and the ink marks then with a clean towel I started to carve until I saw how the marks was disappearing, the only bad thing It's that the figure smelling like mint for a few hours, hahaha.
I hope that soon you can add a King Flasher to your collection, it is a figure that always caught my attention but I did not think I could catch one, I had seen only a couple of figures for sale, I think I had a lot of luck with this piece, first the auction it only lasted 2 days, also the base price was a high compared to other auctions which I think helped discourage other potential buyers and the fact that the auction lasted a short time I think it also helped the auction pass off the radar of others Collectors.
Again, thank you very much for your nice comments.

 

Roger- wow that came out great. Thats an amazing figure. I have used toothpaste before and it worked ok. For me the order of cleaning goes: dish soap - toothpaste- magic eraser - paint thinner. The last you really want to stay away from unless its really trashed.

 

Wow Roger! What a stunning transformation, I will have to try out your method! Wonderful toy, congratulations, and thanks for sharing the before and after photo!

 

@XVivaHateX, @Mr. Humphreys Thank you guys, I think that in general this cleaning method gives very good results. But my biggest fear was the photos of the seller, he only put three photos; one from the front, another from the back and from the feet, but taken in a very bad angle, but the one that worried me the most was the front photo in which a very thin line could be seen on the figure's clothes, I was afraid it was a cut made superficially by some very sharp object. But in the end everything turned out well.