I am sure this has been thoroughly explored in other threads previous to this one, but...

Does clear vinyl ALWAYS yellow or discolor within a couple years? I just noticed that my skullpirate/captains are no longer truly clear... and they have been in the bag since I got them, when they originally shipped. I am wondering if this effect will continue... and they will go from a slightly yellow-orange tinted clear to a darker tint over time? (They were not exposed to sun or smoke and are in an air conditioned environment, not in an attic in Florida...) I have a clear Radd somewhere... I suppose I should check that one for reference.

It really depends on the quality of the plastic being used. The yellowing, while generally very strong in the sunlight, can still occur with ambient light, as most sources will still emit light in the wavelengths that can cause this damage. As an example, think of some of the original Star Wars action figures (or something similar). Many, many of vintage blister packs suffer from similar yellowing, which is also accompanied by even worse brittleness (both are due to oxidation of the plastic). I have seen plenty of yellow Stormtroopers in my day, and I am sure they weren't all spending time on the beach. Unfortunately, the process is irreversible, and is just something I am afraid we have to live with.

the yellowing doesn't bother me.
what annoys me is that the softness of the clear vinyl causes my S7 halloween cumberlain's head to sink in and makes him look weird next to the other cumberlain's, with their battle stance of having the heads proudly held high.

Yea sometimes it's soo squidgy. My clear blue steven is so much shorter than the rest But then again for some reason my clear pink steven is extremely tall like he got stretched getting pulled from the mold.

Cool. It does not really bother me either, but I figured I would ask. At the rate it's yellowing, they will be light orange-yellow in 5 years, haha! Brown in 10? Ha.

i think they just kind of go to a smokey-yellow color: