Condensation? Oil? Something inside plastic window of Retro-Heroes

[mitchedwards]

I check the figures my wife set aside for my Birthday. Superman was OK. Sinestro was the worst with oil runns onthe card, followed by Lex and Green Lantern. So I get to open my presents early to free them from the oil cocoon

[noelani72]

I didn't snap pics of mine when I received em. Normally I do, but since every tom-dick-and-harry was already doing so....there was no point. :-)

I can guarantee my GA and Sinestro weren't like this upon arrival. I sat and stared at them...GA more than others. I held him side-by-side as I compared him to my vintage Mego on my repro card.

Plus, with my attention to detail (OCD) had this film been as visible on Day #1, "I" would have been the first to report (complain).

I am going to remove my Sinestro from his card, and probably the GL and GA. I REALLY REALLY hate to do this, especially since I had to pay a premium to obtain GA, but I am not going to have this stuff get on the figs. Hopefully, I can snag at least GA while at MegoMeet at MSRP to have one MOC.

I had posted a seperate thread about the clamshells I've seen here before and their dimensions....not one person measured em to see if these Mattel cards fit inside. Silly me, had forgot the Indy I got from Dave at the last MegoMeet and did a quick comparison last night. The Castaway Toys clamshells are different dimensions than the Mattel cards....by at least an entire inch in both directions...no way will the cards fit. Guess I can brush off the old toolkit and make some repro Mattel cards and go clamshell route...

[trekman101]

Our contact at Mattel got the answer.

The first batch of figures had paint migration onto the card, so the factory
spritzed the heads with silicone based oil that will NOT stain the costumes.

I noticed this on some of the GL's at TRU...thanks Doc

[noelani72]

I re-read what Doc related to us from Mattel....has anyone here tried blowing a hairdryer in thru those hole to dry this stuff up? Cool, no heat obviously or lay em down in front of a box fan for a day or so.

[Captain]

I hate to add fuel to the fire here, but silicone doesnt evaporate. The carrier substance used in the spray might, but the silicone itself doesnt...thats why its used in lubricants and sealants.

I wonder if the Mattel rep may be mixing it up with a silicone release agent they might use to get the heads out of the molds during manufacturing or something?

[Agent of SHIELD]

Is there a common store chain I can walk into to buy the long cotton swabs (mentioned a few pages ago) or do I need to order them online? (I tried a couple of drug stores, but they just had the little, double-tipped kind.)

[bizzaro megomauler]

I hate to add fuel to the fire here, but silicone doesnt evaporate. The carrier substance used in the spray might, but the silicone itself doesnt...thats why its used in lubricants and sealants.

I wonder if the Mattel rep may be mixing it up with a silicone release agent they might use to get the heads out of the molds during manufacturing or something?

Great point, I think it may be the way the oil behaves, Silicone would probably clump as the agent disappeared. this would most likely account for why they seem to appear overnight, and why my blisters have developed this without figs in them. It has probably been there all along.

[gummi]

I've waited until now to look for these figures at TRU in hopes that Mattel would get this issue handled. Unfortunately the two figures that my local TRU had in stock, Lex and Sinestro, both had the residue dripping down the bubble and Lex's nose was flat. Needless to say I passed. I guess for now I'll just cross my fingers and hope that Mattel gets this issue resolved on later shipments.

[geoffdude]

I've waited until now to look for these figures at TRU in hopes that Mattel would get this issue handled. Unfortunately the two figures that my local TRU had in stock, Lex and Sinestro, both had the residue dripping down the bubble and Lex's nose was flat. Needless to say I passed. I guess for now I'll just cross my fingers and hope that Mattel gets this issue resolved on later shipments.

"IF" Mattel even cares enough to resolve this issue.. it would take at least 5-6 months to see any change with the product/packaging manifest.

Regards,

g.

[gummi]

"IF" Mattel even cares enough to resolve this issue.. it would take at least 5-6 months to see any change with the product/packaging manifest.

Regards,

g.

Hopefully they'll have it taken care of by Wave 2. Does anyone know how long each wave will be offered? I'd hate to miss out on the set altogether while waiting for the problem to be resolved. As much as I hate to do it, I may end up picking up the set and removing them from the cards.

[scott metzger]

Not sure what it means, but I did keep the bubbles from the packages (back in the old days, I found loads of uses for them), and I checked last night. They've just been laying out, and there was, indeed, little droplets all over the inside. It did feel a little oily/viscous, not watery. It is defintely something on the inside of the bubbles, and it seemed too uniform all the way down the length of the bubble to have come from just spraying the head with something.

I've seen some really odd stuff from Mattel, but this one is a new one.