Yellowed figures!!
 

I have heard this is a big problem, action figures in white or light colors turning yellow. The only one that has done that to me is the 1980's Stormtrooper but many other non-figures have yellowed. From the 90's Star Trek shuttlecraft, the electronic R2-D2, the early 2000's Millennium Falcon, lightsaber blades (some have even shattered from this), etc. Is there a way to remove the yellowing from the plastic?

Also is there a way to stop it from happening to newer stuff? Like if it was left in a dark closet would that help or is more the air then the light? But since that's no fun as you can't see them is there a way to have them in a glass case/shelf and have them last?

And are there any really good UV (or air tight if its the air) cases for individual carded figures? I have one that is worth too much to let anything happen to it!

Unless you plan on displaying them while inside of a case, you really just need something air (odor) & water tight that isn't going to be exposed to sunlight.

There is a good web resource for (out-of-sight) figure storage here: Virtual Toy Chest

if you want to display them while inside of a protective case, I too am interested in what folks have to say. :)

Yeah, once a figure has yellowed, there's precious little you can do. You can't remove it, because it's a chemical reaction inside the plastic itself.

I've restored vintage Transformers (Metroplex, Ramjet, Ratchet) by giving them a hydrogen peroxide bath in a clear glass jar, sat in a place thay gets sunlight.

Here's a helpful link, worth thr read:

keep in mind TFs are hard plastic.

Heroic Decepticon: Whitening yellowed Transformers toys with Hydrogen Peroxide

I like them visible so that wont work. Thanks for the link though.
Something that a museum would use would likely work since they don't want air or sunlight messing up some of the old stuff. But anything like that is going to be expensive.

So all these people here with the pictures of figure collections on open shelves or in glass display cases are just asking for wreaked figures later on?

EDIT:
Some of the custom size cases sold at the Collectible Grading Authority appear to have a UV case upgrade when you purchase them. But then is it the air or light? And they are good for one very collectible figure but if you have a huge collection like me that's going to be expensive for each figure.

Sounds like it could work! Just not all of my stuff is hard plastic and some can't be submerged in anything. But then some of it can.
Thanks for the link though. :D

I would suggest don't display them in rooms with lots of sunlight. I have an almost vampire like aversion to sunlight (I fuggin' hate Texas with a passion. The sun is the source of EVIL here. Evil evil heat.)
So I never open up blinds, to keep heat out. None of my stuff has ever yellowed.

Well my "collectibles" room is the side room of a basement. The room just has one small basement window that never gets much light and is easy to cover. So would you say its more the light then air?

And I am using florescent lights in the room, would that cause any damage?

I'm pretty sure those factors accelerate the yellowing, but if the plastic is going to yellow and degrade it's going to do it regardless of where it is you might as well enjoy it in view.

I'm not really knowledgeable on florescent lighting enough to comment or offer opinions or advice, but it's certainly not as bad as black lighting. Black lighting is one of the worst things you can do to a collection.
I've never heard of air causing plastic discoloring, unless there was some element constantly in it (Like cigerette smoke), so I'm at a loss there.
I know my house is 25% window, and just keeping the shades closed, and my stuff away from the windows stops it for me. By all rights I should be having the issues, not you.
So I'm at a loss. I'm sorry.

No black lights or smoking here. The air seems clean to me, after all I am out in the country. I do have a wood stove in the winter but all that does is make things dusty. :p So it sounds like just putting them in a glass case should be good then. Just want to look into florescent lighting a bit first.

And even though you can't see it, what does light do to plastic in colors other than white?

Mostly it will just fade out the pigment in the dye used to color the plastic, making them look dull and pale. But it happens over years of exposure, so the less they are in contact with direct sunlight, the better. Soft-light bulbs are best for display lighting (and not shining them directly on figures helps too).

Smoke of any kind (cigarettes, fireplaces, etc) will basically stain the figure. There are some remedies to fix it, but it's rather laborious to do that and it's just easier to do preventative maintenance then attempt to restore them down the road.

This. I agree with this , got two friends who are both collectors one has his collection in a bedroom , the other in the family room where in the winter they used the fireplace and I notice that my friend whose collection is on the bedroom has the figures more vibrant colors than the other.

Well all I ever saw was a lot of ash dust but the stuff I display in that room is dull grey (think The Enterprise). But the smoke goes out the chimney, very little ever blows back into the room. Its not like its an open campfire or anything. And this room is a good distance from the woodstove (which is a closed in iron box). Not coming into direct contact with the smoke should be fine then?

And when you say soft-light bulbs do you mean soft light compact florescent or is this something else?

when i was a kid i didnt know about the reactions to plastic, so my star wars stuff was displayed in my room in direct sunlight for years. Needless to say m x-wing is all yellowed on one side.

I've seen this happen more with packaging then figures itself. I've bought MOC figures off ebay and got them cheap because the packaging was all yellowed and card was bent, upon opening the figure and inspecting it was fine. Direct sunlight eats anything from artwork, pictures, painting and yes toys. I used to collect Hockey Cards and had some rare autographs turn to shit because the signaure got slightly faded. Best thing is to keep sunlight out of the direction of your collectables. For me that means, majority of my collection is in a display case, protected by glass, and the windows around it have blind and curtains.

I have never heard of soft light, so you mean soft white? And what about using LED bulbs? They wouldn't cause yellowing, would they?

In the mean time I read where you could use walmart (3%?) peroxide to fix the yellowing and the decals didn't have to be removed! Just stick it in a jar, submerge it with peroxide (some say add some oxi-clean), put it in a sunny window, and it works! But from the sounds of it you cant leave stuff too long or it will bleach and painted areas will fade. But they say you can use tape over the painted areas and it should work.

Does anyone think that would make the plastic brittle? It shouldn't since it's just fixing the surface, not going right to the core.

One of my Scout Troopers had turned yellowed and he wasn't exposed to smoke or sunlight. He had been sitting a large plastic bag with all of my other star wars figures and the rest of them are fine. No rhyme or reason why this one figured has yellowed.

If you can smell the fireplace in your collection room, a small amount is getting in there. It may not be "open campfire"-level, but any amount will cause damage eventually if given enough time. Nature of the beast, I'm afraid.

When I was a kid, I had my collection in my room out of direct sunlight (totally by accident) and my father smoked in the house. He never smoked in my room yet my figures still yellowed due to the smoke damage. We were even on different floors: I was in the basement and he was on the first floor.

Soft light = soft white. The terms are interchangeable, depending on who you talk to. Basically, stay away from bright white bulbs and especially CFL's. Stick to soft white and incandescents, if possible. And as I said, regardless of what kind of bulb/light source you use, make sure it's not directly aimed at your figures. Ambient light is the best.

Hard to say. I don't have any personal experience with LED's used as a light source for a room, nor have I read anything good or bad in that regard.

Depends on the quality and type of plastic used. If it's cheap and/or thin, it could break it down and make it more brittle. And when I say cheap plastic, think dollar store Transformer knock-offs.

Some plastics, especially ones used with older toys, would simply turn yellow due to years of exposure to the air. It's rare these days, but I've heard/read about it still happening from time to time.

So the soft white being the dim yellow ones? I have just the bright white so I better switch!

What would be the best way to help stop something like the really big Millennium Falcon (or even a USS Flagg) from yellowing? I was thinking of sticking it in a large wooden box with a removable lid just so the light cant get at it. Sure that's bad for display, but I am willing to give that up to keep it looking the best it can.
Also I have the one from the early 2000's and its yellow but I left it in a window. :( But then the 80's one I have is still light grey like the day it was made.

As I said, some plastics yellow with age no matter what you do.

As for your wooden box idea, that would help. You could also use plastic tubs like those sold at Walmart.