Stickiness?

[ZapAppleMedia]

Some of my G4 ponies are sticky and it won't go away, I've washed them and washed them and they are still sticky. They are not in a tight space,so it's not plastic sweat, but can plasticizer leaking happen with any generations? I know it can happen on G3, especially on Divine Shine. Hope it's not plasticizer leaking 

[Baby Sugarberry]

All plastics can, and will, degrade - it's just a matter of time.  Given how shoddy G4's QC has been, I'd not be surprised if they're disintegrating faster than any previous generation.    If you washed them off and the stickiness is coming back, it's most likely plasticizer leakage / breakdown.

[hathorcat]

Unfortunately whether or not they are in a tight space will not always be the only reason the plastic will sweat. It can simply be the environment they are exposed to.

Also, do you play with them or hold them a lot? Our hands are very oily and they will leave an oily residue on plastic no matter what we do and if the plastic is handled a lot and you get dirt and oil build up it can be hard to shift it.

I would try perhaps a degreasing agent of some kind - that can be anything from dish soap to eye make up remover to see if you can cut through the stickiness. If you have no luck with that then it probably is some kind of plastic break down. As Baby Sugarberry says its going to happen to all plastics and cheaply made toys will be prone to it early on in their existence as they are not really designed to be long lasting. Once you have most of the stickiness removed, before it comes back, dust them down with baby powder. However if they are going to be handled or played with a lot, you should be prepared for it coming back and you needing to repeat the process.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I would not be surprised if the G4s started having plasticizer breakdown sooner than the other generations.  As has been said, their quality control seems to be ensuring that nothing of quality ever leaves the factory, hahaha. 

[reanna-mator]

Oh man, G4s are breaking down already? That's really disappointing. Every once in a while I take out and play with one of my G4s and I haven't noticed anything yet,

I would not be surprised if the G4s started having plasticizer breakdown sooner than the other generations.  As has been said, their quality control seems to be ensuring that nothing of quality ever leaves the factory, hahaha. 

Oh... oh, gods. Yeah, as much as I don't like to gripe too much, that seems to increasingly be the case.

[Baby Sugarberry]

I don't particularly care for ragging on Hasbro either, but the general body of evidence and simple economics - a pony costs the same amount today as it did thirty years ago and the buying power of a dollar has fallen dramatically, means that costs had to be cut somewhere. 

Making smaller toys was certainly one part, less hair, less plastic, less paint,  but forsaking quality control and possibly lower quality materials would also be logical (from a business point of view) choices.  Hasbro doesn't care if their toys last a long time, in fact one could argue it's advantageous to them if they don't. The consumer market of today is far more geared to disposable everything than ever before.