Horse of a different color - why are my two Nappers such different shades?

[Purpleglasses]

Good news for you, Ponyrama, MLPs are made from vinyl! I think mainly the plastics people are worried about weakening tend to be ones that are prone to being more brittle, or plastics that start out hard. Good rule of thumb with toys, if the plastic feels squishy it’s probably vinyl, if it feels more hard it’s likely to be something called ABS plastic. Think the texture of a pony vs that of a Dream Castle!

Another fun science fact that might ease your mind - hydrogen peroxide is also the active ingredient in Oxy Clean, which is widely recommended as safe for giving ponies a good deep clean, and, as far as I know, has been for quite some time.

I find it FUN how much science goes into toy restoration myself! Sometimes it feels very mad scientist. Only the creature on the slab is very cute and rainbow.

[The_Loner]

Good news for you, Ponyrama, MLPs are made from vinyl! I think mainly the plastics people are worried about weakening tend to be ones that are prone to being more brittle, or plastics that start out hard. Good rule of thumb with toys, if the plastic feels squishy it’s probably vinyl, if it feels more hard it’s likely to be something called ABS plastic. Think the texture of a pony vs that of a Dream Castle!

Another fun science fact that might ease your mind - hydrogen peroxide is also the active ingredient in Oxy Clean, which is widely recommended as safe for giving ponies a good deep clean, and, as far as I know, has been for quite some time.

I find it FUN how much science goes into toy restoration myself! Sometimes it feels very mad scientist. Only the creature on the slab is very cute and rainbow.

Thank you very much for that info! It is indeed very interesting with all the science that actually goes into all this. This is something I want to look deeper into when I have the time! One thing I was wondering, though, is if it would bleech the original color of the pony - I mean not just remove the discoloring but also bleech the original color of the plastic? I remember back in the day a method for removing marker stains was using acne cream. That was only good for white ponies, though, as it would bleech the color of colored ponies (and it can also make yellow stains on white ponies so this is not a recommended method!)

[Purpleglasses]

There’s an older thread on here with some info on the effects of hydrogen peroxide vs benzoyl peroxide. As I understand it, benzoyl bleaches dyes (like the ones used to tint pony plastic! So it should NEVER be used on ponies) but hydrogen peroxide does not. I found Far Dreamer’s comments in this thread especially helpful. She runs the My Little Pony Preservation Project and from what I’ve seen goes out of her way to be very thorough in her research on pony restoration methods.

Here’s the thread! http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,396568.msg1787905.html#msg1787905

[The_Loner]

Thank you very much! That website looks extensive and very helpful! I'm feeling much more at ease now and am excited to look more into this.

[Purpleglasses]

 You’re most welcome! Glad I can help.

[Twizel]

Whoa, that's kinda cool. I don't have this issue with my Nappers, but my MO Star Hopper has a body/head mismatch because of the same issue. I don't have doubles of any other sparkle ponies, so I can't compare easily.