Moc Klaatu damage spotted.

Folks i was just checking my figures and have now spotted this slight damage. Has anyone else ever come across anything like this before? I am not sure what has caused it or if it will continue to deteriorate further. It has been stored out of direct sunlight and in darkness mostly.

Could just be a bit of excess material thats been cut worked itself out over the years.

The thinner Klaatu skirts like your one are actually quite delicate and made up of two layers of material bonded together. I suspect this may be the reason why Kenner also made a thicker material version of the skirt; because it was stronger. The thinner skirts on a great many loose Klaatus are simply pulling, if not outright falling apart these days, but I always assumed that was due to play / handling, probably combined with a failure of whatever glue was used to hold the two material layers together. However, I have never heard of or seen this in a carded Klaatu before, where a piece of the top layer of the material has visibly detached itself without the figure being handled! :shock:

Perhaps the skirt glue is also failing on the MOC examples now, but for a piece to apparently fall away like yours has done seems very strange indeed. Maybe you've been really, really unlucky, or maybe this is the fate awaiting all thin skirt Klaatus eventually :-(. I hope not as I have a fair few of them! ;-) (http://starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34008)

That's so true. I've seen a lot of Klaatu thin skirts that look like they're disintegrating. Buy the skiff version instead

Thanks for the input guys that is interesting reading. I have looked closer and the small piece seems to be Fused to the staff for some reason??? Could it be possible the the staff has been against the skirt for so long it's somehow stuck to it??? Possibly caused by sunlight at some stage?? I am now wondering as the moc has been moved around over the years between different owners did the staff move and pull a piece of the skirt off as it moved?? I have shaken the moc slightly and the small bit of cloth seems stuck fast on the staff. I hope this doesn't happen other figures but I find it puzzling how this happened. Could it be possible glue was on the staff while being packaged?? Would any glue have been needed or used to fit the skirt in the beginning??

yoda said:

I am now wondering as the moc has been moved around over the years between different owners did the staff move and pull a piece of the skirt off as it moved??

Click to expand...

I think that's a credible theory. It's very interesting to hear that the cloth piece is stuck to the staff. Looking at the picture again, it's easy to imagine that the staff has rotated in the bubble at some point over the years, and that the area with the piece of cloth stuck to it was indeed originally facing and touching the skirt. We all know these plastics can leach sticky residue over time, making some figures and weapons tacky to the touch. Given how pathetically delicate the thin skirt is at the best of times, it's very easy to imagine the staff becoming tacky over the years, sticking to the skirt, and then subsequent knocks and bumps to the card eventually tore off the cloth piece as the staff rotated in the bubble. We can't know for certain that this is what happened, but it's certainly my best guess based on the evidence.

Snaketibe said:

yoda said:

I am now wondering as the moc has been moved around over the years between different owners did the staff move and pull a piece of the skirt off as it moved??

Click to expand...

I think that's a credible theory. It's very interesting to hear that the cloth piece is stuck to the staff. Looking at the picture again, it's easy to imagine that the staff has rotated in the bubble at some point over the years, and that the area with the piece of cloth stuck to it was indeed originally facing and touching the skirt. We all know these plastics can leach sticky residue over time, making some figures and weapons tacky to the touch. Given how pathetically delicate the thin skirt is at the best of times, it's very easy to imagine the staff becoming tacky over the years, sticking to the skirt, and then subsequent knocks and bumps to the card eventually tore off the cloth piece as the staff rotated in the bubble. We can't know for certain that this is what happened, but it's certainly my best guess based on the evidence.

Click to expand...

Yes it's starting to seem likely that's what has happened over time. :shock: I have just looked at the link you provided. That is a really an amazing collection well done! I might now ask your opinion or anyone elses that reads this. Below are 2 Klaatu moc one is the figure with the damaged skirt and the other has slight bubble crushing on the top right. If you were to pick one which would you prefer to keep in your collection? The damaged skirt figure has a perfect bubble.

Well of course, with decisions like this opinions are entirely subjective, however since you kindly asked for mine, I will happily give it. Assuming the crushed bubble cannot be improved by any of the techniques available for trying such things, personally I prefer the one with the perfect bubble and the skirt damage. IMHO the crushed bubble is more noticeable than the skirt damage, and so since in all other respects the cards look to be pretty equal in condition, I would prefer to keep the one with the better bubble. However, I would certainly investigate and consider whether any of the crush damage could be improved. I know it's not always easy or even possible, but great improvements are possible sometimes

Good luck, and let us know what you decide!

I personally would keep the one on the right, for the following reasons:
The card is better, the bubble is perfect and the figure is in the bubble facing forward.
Also the piece of loose skirt is a talking point.
Again this is only my opinion, all opinions are subjective :wink:

Could be the only MOC one in existence with a ripped skirt inside the bubble 8)

subzero said:

Could be the only MOC one in existence with a ripped skirt inside the bubble 8)

Click to expand...

That's one positive from it

And thanks for the opinion on both cards Mini99 and Snaketibe. As was said there is no right or wrong answer. But I think what you guys have said makes more sense. Keep the perfect bubble it's the best out of both cards. The damage on the other bubble catches the eye more when up on display. To be honest I think only collectors would catch the rip. I think a non collector just browsing probably wouldn't even notice what we can see when on display.