Mego Star Trek Phasers

[Mego Monster]

Been coming across a few vintage phasers that are discolored and yellowed. Is there a way to restore these to their original color?

[Liu Bei]

Put them in a small, clear jar of hydrogen peroxide and let them sit in the sun all day.

It can be done with just sunlight, but the peroxide makes the process work faster. The stronger the peroxide, the faster the results.

It works on all plastics.

[Mego Monster]

Thanks!

[TrekStar]

That’s some interesting information, I have a few discolored vintage phasers so I’ll have to try this.
I had painted over a couple with the exact same color, it worked but it’s been awhile since, and I have a couple more that are discolored so I’ll try the hydrogen peroxide trick, thanks.

[Liu Bei]

Good luck with it, guys. Let me know how it turns out. I’ve done this to de-yellow video game consoles and cartridges, vintage Star Wars stormtroopers, and so on.

Solid colored plastics work best. I don’t recommend it on any plastics that have been painted.

[PNGwynne]

I read of a related method using peroxide paste from beauty suppliers. I was thinking of trying it on my Clash of the Titans Pegasus.

[Liu Bei]

I read of a related method using peroxide paste from beauty suppliers. I was thinking of trying it on my Clash of the Titans Pegasus.

I think you’re referring to Salon Care 40, which is a higher concentration of peroxide. If you do it, use the liquid form not the cream/paste. The cream has to be applied with a paint brush and the the item wrapped in Saran Wrap. The problem is you risk streaks and blotches where the cream was thicker/thinner in certain areas. You get perfect results every time if you just use the liquid.

That said, pure UV sunlight will also usually do the trick, it just takes longer.

[Shermanator]

I used the "retrobrite" process using Salon Care 40 plus cling wrap plus sunlight on the interior of a Tonka Hummer scaled for 12 inch figures Here are before & after pics:

Before:



After:



Steve

[PNGwynne]

Nice, considering how difficult & expensive it would be to immerse larger pieces.

How long did that take?

[Liu Bei]

I used the "retrobrite" process using Salon Care 40 plus cling wrap plus sunlight on the interior of a Tonka Hummer scaled for 12 inch figures Here are before & after pics:

Before:



After:



Steve

It looks splotchy from the pics, but that may be the lighting. How did it look in person? Were you happy with the results?

I’ve retrobrited a ton of stuff over the years, and never had the same success with the cream as the liquid. I got lucky using the cream on a Real Ghostbusters Ecto-1, but had disappointing results on everything else I’ve tried it with.

I’d recommend anyone wanting to try this stuff out run some experiments with old toys or electronics you don’t care much about to figure out a process you’re happy with before using it on something more important.