Ok To Display Plastic on Plastic?

[UOBob]

If I display some of my AJs with their hats on, or say Conan with his wristbands and belts on, am I just asking for a bad case of Mego Melt?

What about my Trek guys with their phasers and communicators in their belts? Should I be seperating all this stuff? Man I hope not... that wouldn't look nearly as cool. :(

[cjefferys]

It really depends on the types of plastic/vinyl/rubber, etc that are touching each other. Some combinations seem ok, some seem to cause a bad reaction. From personal experience, the only problems I've had is some melt in some of the female 12" bodies (rubber arms and legs reacting with plastic torso) and my Conan sword seems to have reacted a bit with the plastic in the scabbard, so I now keep it unsheathed. I've never had problems with the Trek weapons in their belts with my collection for example (but I have heard that it can happen). So far, such problems seem much more documented with vintage Captain Action stuff and large size Star Wars figures.

[UOBob]

You've made me cautiously optimistic... thanks! Although Conan's sword will be unsheathed from hence forward!

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

I have had no problems with either of the examples you mentioned...knock on wood.

[ctc]

Hmmm....

The REAL problems come from the softer plastics, which'll leech plasticizer over time. Trek belts will leave greenish stains on uniforms, hats might stain heads, and AJ pistols left in holsters will eventually melt. The harder plastics are usually pretty safe.

Don C.

[MegoNinja]

Hmmm....

The REAL problems come from the softer plastics, which'll leech plasticizer over time. Trek belts will leave greenish stains on uniforms, hats might stain heads, and AJ pistols left in holsters will eventually melt. The harder plastics are usually pretty safe.

Don C.

essentially the softer that plastic #1 is and the harder that plastic #2 is the more of a reaction you will get.
I have a 12 inch SW Jawa and have had enough trouble with him, if you are worried about your mego then seperate the accessories from time to time. By keeping an eye on them you can be sure that nothing will happen, if you suspect change take action.
good luck with your stuff.

[cjefferys]

Trek belts will leave greenish stains on uniforms

I forgot to mention that. That's why I always put the belt on below the shirt. It looks better there anyway.

I have a 12 inch SW Jawa and have had enough trouble with him,

Oh yeah, the Jawa is one of those large SW figures I was talking about. I've heard cases of the rubber bandolier reacting with the plastic body, melting right through the fabric robe that separates the two and fusing to it. His rubber hands can react with the plastic wrists too (Stormtrooper and Boba Fett can have the same problem). That's even scarier because there isn't much you can do about that (except try to keep things in a darker, cool, dry environment), it's not like you can store the hands away from their own wrists.

[ABMAC]

Conan's sword and scabbard are both made from the same type of plastic, so there shouldn't be a reaction between them. The same type of plastic is used for the Trek belts. It doesn't leech plasticizer, but the black dye will leech from it into whatever it's touching.

Two common occurrences of melting that I've noticed on AJ accessories are the pistols melting in the Air Force shoulder holsters and the rubber straps melting into the plastic scuba tanks.

[cjefferys]

Conan's sword and scabbard are both made from the same type of plastic, so there shouldn't be a reaction between them.

Yes, I thought so too, that's why I was surprised to see something different. It isn't the typical melt marks you normally see, but rather some light coloured areas on the sword that I didn't notice when I first purchased the figure about 15 years ago. On retrospect, I suppose it's possible that I just didn't notice the marks back then and they were caused by something else. At any rate, now I think Conan looks better holding the sword anyway.

[UOBob]

Two common occurrences of melting that I've noticed on AJ accessories are the pistols melting in the Air Force shoulder holsters and the rubber straps melting into the plastic scuba tanks.

You can go ahead and add the cowboy pistol/holster to that list also. I got an airforce set that I took off a damaged card, and sure enough, the tip of the .45 is a little melty. Same deal when I opened a cowboy set and took the 6 shooter out of the holster. Thanks to everyone for the good info... although it scares the crap outta me!

[fallensaviour]

I know I've had a few Trek belts that bled out black die onto the tunics.As mentioned above;simple fix was to place belts under the tunic over black pants and presto problem solved.(well not really solved but now un-noticable)