Gray Hoth Trooper facts and not fiction

[Lee Bullock]

Hi guys,

I have two grey limbed troopers in hand now after FF5. I do have some ideas what to look for - but I am going to talk to a surface scientist at work who actually is also a comic book and TV toy collector - so he will understand the context of this work too and not just look at me like a saddo!

Paint is the first thing to consider as is dye or ink - and once we can rule out any tampering my feeling would be UV inhibitors in the PVC. Again I need some discussions here (remember I am a physicist and not really a chemist - and not a polymer chemist) - but I am confident that I may have somewhere to go with this. It may cost some money and will need booking in properly to the company I work for. On a related note - does anybody have a normal white YPS/scarred COO snowtrooper they can donate to do comparatives on? I can't guarantee that it will comeback in one piece so a junker is preferred. Any questions, enquiries, or donations of said white trooper - just PM me.

In closing I can do some standard investigations after hours, but more indepth analysis like for instance FTIR will have to go on the books.

Cheers fellas

Lee

 

[itfciain]

I have a scarred trooper with floppy limbs that I can donate Lee - PM me your address and I'll post him out

 

[Lee Bullock]

Excellent thanks mate!

 

[Richard_H]

Are you needing monetary donations? It's a bit difficult to work it out. Randall. Lee. Whatever you are. :lol:

 

[Lee Bullock]

Not after monetary donations - I have already spoken to Jason about some tests will cost and I need to consult others colleagues about what would be the appropriate investigation if we went that route but that's really a discussion for me and him. The only donation I was referring to was a junker YPS trooper for comparison. Which of course Iain has kindly volunteered.

Lee

 

[batman]

Hi Lee,
i've been reading up on yellowing ABS http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12610895/index.pdf

1.2.2 Discoloration
Discoloration,
which is caused by various factors such as light, heat, moisture,
γ-rays, pH extremes, contaminants, is one of the most important problems for
commercial polymers. Discoloration is usually due to combination
of two or more factors so it is difficult to assign which one is the base reason
for discoloration and discoloration is often related to the coupling of radicals with degradation peroxy
radicals [5]. Although most discoloration shows itself as yellowing, pink and grey
discoloration are also possible .

I'm not a chemist but his last sentence got me thinking, could this grey disclorisation be cured with simple retrobright ?

 

[Lee Bullock]

I have the comparison trooper now from Iain. I am writing up a game plan on what I need to look at and possibly what I may be able to access at work if need be. I am not rushing this and I shall write up a full report that I shall communicate to Jason first then communicate to the community after (for the record my interaction with any individual parties shall not influence my findings either - what I find as an impartial party is what I shall write).

Many thanks to Matt, Jason and Iain for allowing their pieces to be used in this.

Lee

 

[SublevelStudios]

Looking forward to seeing the outcome on this - wouldn't mind finding one myself now.

 

[flycasual]

 

[aussiejames]

Only just missed that one (thanks for the heads up) That to me is conclusive- white plastic turning grey. Unusual but seems to be nothing more than degredation & certainly not factory moulded in grey.

 

[walkie]

Nice find Greg

 

[kingshearer]

This discussion ended abruptly a few months ago.
Is there any official conclusion on these grey limbed snows?
Was this degradation from white to grey speeded up for that batch of snows in the 80's?
or are these factory grey?

 

[Mr-shifter]

I don't think this has stopped but there is some ongoing research being done by Lee Bulloch, who has 2 of these and a YPS hothtrooper that he is doing some experiments on.

One of the grey hothtroopers came from jason joiner, the other came from another source. Lee is a scientist by trade (I believe) and has access to equipment and expertise that the normal person wouldn't. Hopefully he will be able to update us soon with some of his findings.

 

[Lee Bullock]

Sorry for the delay guys - the kit I wanted to use - I cant get on as its now in a different location. I have spoken to a guy in surface science and he rates using this technique that we may be able to tell if these is a difference in the plastics, but it will have to be all official and booked in - and the minimum charge for testing at the lab I work at is £1000 per order. There are other things I can do not quite so wizz-bang as FTIR but its will be objective and I will document everything. Just bare with me guys - things are pretty hectic here at the moment with divorce and work load (as some of my closer friends here will attest to).

Thanks

Lee

 

[kingshearer]

Cheers for the update lads - just read this whole thread this morning and it stopped with the post showing the figure which has turned grey due to apparent sun degradation .Perhaps these snows which popped up in the 80's and 90's shows had a faulty paint on them which meant this reaction with the sun occurred more quickly or they were booked into a local stand and tan for a few days

 

[ace]

that is an amazing image , if that is how it looks in the flesh then i think it gos to explaining a lot , i have never seen one of these figures half and half like this if i had it would have made me think it is down to an exposure to something ? heat or light etc

i would love to see this one in the flesh and if it looks like it dose in the photo then i am convinced it is not a factory thing but a chemical thing that happens over time after they have left the factory .

i did say front he start that these figures have gotten darker over the years i have owned the two i have and the others i saw in collections also became darker , so something is changing them

there could also be the possibility that they are still test figures ? the people at palitoy may have none that that they would change in colour as there seems to be only a few that seem to change one the years and these are made up of parts at that less common like the capes having the small round holes in them ?

still some things to find out on these little beggars but i think we are getting closer to the true story .

thanks to "flycasual" of that photo , are you located in the UK ? if so can we get to see this figure in the flesh at one of the meet ups ?

jason

 

[ldr]

Would someone be willing to cut a limb in half on one of these figures?

I know plastics from the 1940s which were white, have changed to orange or red over time...but only on the outside.

When these 1940s plastics are cut open you can see the inside is white...with a graduation to orange/red...as if effected by the sunlight.

 

[SublevelStudios]

These have never shown up on cards - as yet, to my knowledge.

I believe these were a batch from Palitoy that were found to be faulty, ie; limbs changing colour, and promptly stuck in a box in the factory until they found their way to the Palitoy factory shop where they were sold to employees for a few pence.

I've seen one in the flesh now and absolutely believe they're a chemical reaction - not a prototype as such, or first shot. Just a batch that used a certain plastic for the limbs that proved to be problematic and then discarded. For whatever reason they found their way onto the open market.

I'd class them as an oddity rather than a variant.

Cool though!

 

[ldr]

That sounds believable.

They do seem to pop up in childhood collections.

 

[edd_jedi]

Oxygen causes the reaction, which is why the plastic is usually the original colour just below the surface. I agree, making a small cut/scratch should answer the question.