Head/Body color mismatch

[Lucky_Ladybug]

I know this topic has been had before, but I never paid attention because I never wanted to buy a mismatch. But now the situation has come up, so I'm wondering exactly what causes the head and body of a Pony or figure or whatnot to be different colors? Is it a factory thing, or does it happen with age? If the head is much darker than the body, and it's definitely the head that's the wrong color, has the head aged badly and will deteriorate quicker?

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I know it's rampant in G4, especially with the earlier brushables, because the head and body were either different batches or the differing plastics take dye differently. I don't see these getting worse or better with age.
I think most of the other gens just get it through age via yellowing and general breakdown.
Wasn't alive for G1 though, I'm sure many who were can chime in as to it being age or something.

[Lucky_Ladybug]

Yeah, that's my concern, that it's a plastic breakdown and the figure might wear out sooner than it would otherwise. It's a G.I. Joe from the early 00s, I think. Hasbro made those as well as the Ponies, so I thought maybe the explanation would be the same for both. I've seen pictures of the figure mint and there is little to no discolorization, but this used one has it very badly.

[SunPony]

Is it a factory thing, or does it happen with age?

I think it is both. If I understand correctly, it comes from different batches of plastic being used for the head and the body. At first they look the same, but over time they age differently resulting in mismatched colors.

You may be able to sunfade the head, I think it depends on the exact pony you have.  I was able to do so successfully with a white pony who had a darker head.

I'm sure others with more substantial knowledge will chime in!

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I would imagine that the heads and body age differently color-wise if they're different materials, in addition to any initial divergence caused by the differing plastics. Is the body made of hard plastic while the head is more rubbery?

[Lucky_Ladybug]

Yes, they are. It's a frustrating situation, because it's in a lot of two, and both are ones I really want for a project, and with one of them it's either get this lot, or wait a week on an auction I might not be able to win anyway, or buy something way more expensive than I wanted to pay. I was all set to get these and then noticed the mismatch on the other one in the lot. So now I'm not sure what to do!

[LadyAmalthea]

I've always been curious about this too...especially since it seems to be the same ponies (or other toys) that it consistently happens to. Majesty, for instance. I'm currently in the process of sun-fading a Majesty head in hopes of it matching the body eventually. Also a lot of purple ponies seem to have this problem.

[dragonfly]

This drives me craaaazy. It happens on G1s as well. Then you get the ponies with regrind on their bodies but not their heads and vice versa.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

At least with G1s the bodies and heads are the same kind of plastic.

Yes, they are. It's a frustrating situation, because it's in a lot of two, and both are ones I really want for a project, and with one of them it's either get this lot, or wait a week on an auction I might not be able to win anyway, or buy something way more expensive than I wanted to pay. I was all set to get these and then noticed the mismatch on the other one in the lot. So now I'm not sure what to do!

I would go for it. You should be able to either use sunfade tricks, or correct it via the appropriate kind of paint.