Pony care advice: Bad mane day and stains

[lordalexander74]

Howdy everyone, just looking for some brief advice on how to touch up a couple of my ponies.

First victim: Blossomforth

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See that yellow streak on her leg? Looks like highlighter, but even acetone wouldn't get rid of it. Any other ideas?


Second victim: Miss Pommel

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Think a conditioner treatment would straighten out her mane? Or something a little stronger?

Thank you

[lovesbabysquirmy]

If you can't sunfade the yellow mark away, then it's an age mark for the G4 as the plastic breaks down. 

Coco's hair looks like it was at a very high tension when it was cut.  I'd try conditioner in wet hair and wrap the curl around a marker or something (with end papers!) and leave it for a week or so....

[lordalexander74]

Yeah, Coco's definitely got issues. I combed her hair a bit, and there's a section of her bangs that's at least 3 times as long as the rest. Is this a factory defect or something? The photos of the FS Coco toy on Mlpmerch show her with straight even bangs.

Not gonna cut it off in case I decide to resell her several years down the road, but I'm gonna try neatening up those bangs a bit. Conditioner + hair clips should work.

[Shaiyeh]

LBS - wait, do g4s already have that kind of plastic breakdown? O:

I agree with the tips you've gotten though, just ahd to ask regarding the plstic. :S

[lovesbabysquirmy]

LBS - wait, do g4s already have that kind of plastic breakdown? O:

Yeah.... yeah they do.  The head/body mismatch is already happening - even to people who keep their ponies in boxes away from sunlight!  Pink and purple seem to be the worst.  And a number of white ponies have already had white regrind turn to yellow or a slightly more transparent color.

[lordalexander74]

I'm not surprised about that plastic breakdown issue, considering I bought that Blossomforth used. Some of the earlier G4 toys I've found at flea markets have had that head/body mismatch as well.

Regarding conditioner treatments, is it a good idea to leave conditioner in a toys hair, or rinse it? I've had to use straw pieces and hair clips to hold Cocos mane in place.

[FantasticFirefly]

LBS - wait, do g4s already have that kind of plastic breakdown? O:

Yeah.... yeah they do.  The head/body mismatch is already happening - even to people who keep their ponies in boxes away from sunlight!  Pink and purple seem to be the worst.  And a number of white ponies have already had white regrind turn to yellow or a slightly more transparent color.

I hunt for fun ones for myself, and of course my friend's loose collection. I have seen some shocking breakdown, lots of yellowing from handling and play, of course some marks and stains (then again, all plasticized vinyl soaks in stains easily).
I notice modern toys are FAR more susceptible to breakdown in poor storage- especially heat. Anything my buddy has bought and opened has held up well. she keeps her room quiet cool. and I haven't really noticed my personal ones degrading. although many were mismatched new in the store. it's stable though. So the biggest thing is keeping a collection room dark when not in use (use LED lighting, no sunlight/florescent) and COOL & stable. Never higher then 20°C or  68°F.  Watch getting oils on them, which can discolour and yellow as well.

I do notice this with newer toys. lead and cadmium cannot be used in pigments/vinyl, and some phalates are also no longer used in toys (now banned) as they are endocrine disruptors. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=5474936&page=1

My personal theory is while the older toys are not exactly kid safe (from what we know now ) the recipes used allowed most of them to hold up for longer. The kid/eco friendly toys WAY less so, and they seem to really need careful storage.

[Shaiyeh]

really! wow.
But I think what you're saying might be right, FantasticFirefly. It's a pity though.I'm not a g4 collector myself, but I want some of them. it's disheartening to know they're breaking down like this only a few years after they were made. :/

[FantasticFirefly]

I wouldn't consider myself a G4 collector either. I mean, I have zero desire to catch them all like the epic G4 collections I see. Like you, some strike my fancy so I will buy them new (rarely am I lucky with mint ones second hand- but anything of play quality is handy to have around to gift to kidlets. ) and I do love the ones I do own. (those little blindbags are so addictive!).

So, this is how I am keeping mine, and I will enjoy them on display. and my buddy has almost bought everything released and the only ones that look like they're going a little funny (beyond store present head/body mismatch) were found that way second hand. She tends to find nicer condition stuff then me. But where she is central AC is very common in houses (hot humid summers), here most people forgo air conditioning except a window unit somewhere for when it gets really hot. (my toys are protected by AC. as for me,I find it's easy to keep me cool enough with a breeze or a fan) so toys in most houses (where crazy collectors don't live) are likely going through a lot of heating and cooling cycles, and of course exposed to light and handling from play as well.

[Elfpony]

I'm not surprised about that plastic breakdown issue, considering I bought that Blossomforth used. Some of the earlier G4 toys I've found at flea markets have had that head/body mismatch as well.

Regarding conditioner treatments, is it a good idea to leave conditioner in a toys hair, or rinse it? I've had to use straw pieces and hair clips to hold Cocos mane in place.

You can leave the conditioner in for a while to help tame the hair (I've gone up to two weeks with really bad hair), but you do need to rinse it out eventually.

Elf

[lordalexander74]

So if I researched this right, some plastic toys get yellowed due to exposure to UV light. I just replaced a handful of CFL bulbs in my room with some LED lights, gonna see how they work out. Gonna grab a dimmer bulb next time, I have metal recessed fixtures in my ceiling, with these bulbs looking up at them is like looking at the sun. A couple notches too bright.

My pony collection only gets a couple hours of direct sunlight in the morning, and is relatively cool all year. Only time it gets toasty is whenever my parents have the woodstove/furnace running in the middle of winter.