So I don't think these were here before..I kept him in my pocket and left him on my friends desk. The next morning I noticed (and I feel I noticed atleast one of these on him before but it may have been something else)

Anyway, what's this :

I can't get good photos using my phone around the waist connection point but there are lots of little holes along the back and going down the scales area (much smaller around that area)

There's kind of loose plastic looking stuff around where some of the bubbles are?

Ahh I'm scared, sorry. Any info would be nice , if more photos are needed do tell!

This is strange, I have never seen it before on new figures. Sometimes on vintage figures you can see this, especially where they used cheaper plastics, like in bootlegs. Generally it is just bubbling from the solvents or trapped air. There is also the dreaded kalbi, though I have never really seen a case of it severely eating away vinyl, and certainly not in that kind of short term, let alone a new figure. What kind of environment did you have him in? The fact that you see bits of plastic is very unusual.

Maybe letting it in the car with the Hot Sun?

Yeah in the rush to type this out of fear I forgot to mention he may have been subjected to heat, though for the car it wasn't very long.. And water!!


To be honest I'm not really bothered that they are there as I had a lot of fun bringing him around (it sure made work better) and kind of figured there were risks.. but would like to prevent it from happening for other toys in the future. If I have to have a double of something to keep in my pocket ill do it but yeah.

Also thanks for the input ultra, what is kalbi? I was wondering if it did happen to older vintage stuff but wasn't sure..so it could be basically an accelerated deterioration process because of how I've been treating him? Haha.

Learn from others mistakes, right? But I've seen mention of people carrying micros and whatever in their pockets around here (it was basically second nature for me since I have a sketchpad and pens with me always anyway) but never mention of something like this happening..

Little bubbles like that are pretty common. They happen most of the time on part of the toy that extend outward where it's harder to get the vinyl into the area, just like resin. That's why you most often see them around the neck joint, where the vinyl extends out around the pour area and it's harder to get the vinyl into. You'll also find them places like the tops of feet or tails, It has nothing to do with the heat. You probably just noticed it but it was always there.

Yep, most figures dont have them . . . some do. Luck of the draw.

Like JoeMan says, most of the bubbles i've seen on my sofubi are around the neck joint.

Thanks for all the replies guys! I figured it might have something to do with casting (especially since it's at the very tip of the tail basically) but swear I didn't see them before. It's no big deal if it wasn't my fault, haha.

Well, is there anything I should add to the thread title so that this might come up in searches later on down the line? I didn't see anything when I searched before (although it was a mobile search), so maybe this will come in handy later.

Mmm, kalbi. I need to get some Korean BBQ soon, hehe. Actually, the term is 'kabi' [mold]. This might look similar to the vinyl bubbling, but usually it is concentrated in one area and the holes are dark/black. I've only seen kabi on vintage figures so far. It's been suggested that this is similar to the mold that affects and rots vinyl pieces on boats, but I don't think we really know what causes it.

We also don't know definitively whether it can be spread to other toys, but some of the vintage collectors seem to believe that's a risk.

Maybe we should create a thread to discuss materials issues with vinyl toys. I was thinking about starting one to note long-term discoloration/sweating issues specific to certain toys.

Don't worry about the bubbles, it's not contagious and it's not your fault. It has to do with air in the vinyl when poured into the mold and air trapped in the mold by the pouring process. When the mold in spun or put into vacuum it draws the air to the joint area to pull it out, sometimes there is so much air that when you stop spinning or the vacuum the vinyl material falls back into the mold and still has enough bubbles that it will be part of the toy once the flash is cut off. Flat areas near the joint are most susceptible to this happening. If its at the end of a hand or spike or something thin it was probably spun as a vacuum will most likely pull that air out where spinning doesnt have the same ability. The old toys were all spun as far as I know and intended for kids so there wasn't a whole lot of quality control and that's why bubbles are so common. For new toys if you find bubbles it's probably a difficult toy to pull and get 100% no bubbles every time so some get through. And the loose material, that's probably the very thin material covering the bubble that was broken with handling.

Yeah, kabi is scary in vintage. I try to clean if off as I worry about it spreading too, and with Japan being so wet it makes me crazy. So far I've never seen it spread but who knows, better safe than sorry.

Doesn't "kabi" just mean mold or mildew in Japan. Japan is a humid and rainy country, hence lots of mold problems. This vinyl toy eating killer mold is a bit of a myth. More often than not it's just air bubbles with dirt trapped in them. I'm sure if you live in Japan and have boxes of old toys in a damp basement it might fuck them up. Can mold get on your toys? Sure if you keep them as wet as say a shower curtain all the time, yeah they'll get pretty moldy. Seeing tiny black spots and putting a dry toy in a dry case isn't going to lead to waking up with black spotted ruined toys even on the off chance it was mold. You can take what I say with a grain of salt but I am a science major.

True, "kabi" is "mold", or should that be "mould"? The black spots I've seen are usually that, dirt in bubble holes. The mold I've seen can be wiped off but sometimes it stains the vinyl with a kind of shadow, especially some GID but not all, it depends on the maker of the vinyl material and it's composition. It's probably the roots of the mold that are still in the material like when you try to clean it off tile grout.

As Lixx and Brian mentions, those bubbles were left over from the toy casting process--air bubbles in the vinyl just bubbles out and leaves small holes. In vintage figures, the holes get filled with dirt, which is nearly impossible to remove . You can see this in one of my poor Tiger 7 figures...

Here's the poor tiger-still very handsome though!


The bubbles with dirt, are very prominent on his shoulders (no, head and shoulders shampoo won't work )


And finally, a closeup...


He was a great friend of the late Mr. Humphreys...


They would often stay up late into the night and plan their foodie raids in the fridge

Tiger 7 had opposable thumbs, which were very useful

Just curious if anyone ever tried Oxyclean? I read that this stuff does miracles with removing discoloration. I actually just used it to remove years-old shirt stains that I thought would never come off. I would avoid the painted head, but maybe it might work on the body.

Have you tried a Biore pore strip?

I'm generally quite a chicken with my vintage toys. I usually give them a warm sudsy bath with mild dish soap, nothing abrasive or caustic. Mr. Humphreys did suggest they all try a round of cleansing yoga though...

I don't think it made them any cleaner

poor tiger 7, with his ashy shoulders...


bumping this because its important for everyone.


and thanks again!

So can anyone provide a shot of what kabi looks like?
The air bubbles photo of Mr. Humprey's Tiger 7 were what I was assuming is vinyl mold all along.
In the past I've seen plenty figures with dirty air bubbles and passed on them thinking they were contaminated

Although people kick up a fuss about kabi from time to time, I have yet to see anyone produce anything beyond anecdotal evidence of its existence and ability to be transmitted between toys.

That said, I still shy away from vinyls with dirty air bubbles out of sheer paranoia.

^^ Yep. Exactly. I don't think I have had personal experience with it, though I have seen questionable times come up for auction before, and have obviously seen mold. More often than not though, what I have seen is just air bubbles, which, due to their tight size and high surface, are prone to more discolouration and dirt. It is really too bad, I know I stupidly passed up on some toys because of this - which I now regret. Actual collecting danger, or toy fiend's urban myth, you have to decide. But I think it is overblown in any case.