As I have been away from the hobby for a while this is the first such thread I have read & I have found it rather an eye opener in terms of more things to watch out for when buying 2nd hand figures :?
I am undecided as to weather this is a good or bad thing for beater figure in the long run but as a quick fix for some that only want "average" figures for a diorama or say army building I can indeed see the point, not like its for the best of the best that would be on display with you main collection, one major concern I do have which from what I can see of the thread so far has not been talked about is the possible interaction/chemical reaction that "may/could" become an issue from the process - other figures & other plastics have know to react to one another from factory made vintage original figures, what's not to say that the alteration of these figures from yellowed to white state via chemical means may not indeed have a knock on effect to other figures they are stored wit??, I am admittedly no chemist, but the point is worth consideration.
The thing that interests me with this post/process, which has also from what I can tell not been discussed, that being would this process be a solution for figures with the dreaded mould/mould spotting??, if so the process would have a whole new direction in which to be regarded as a good thing for the future of the figures & the hobby in general, I have never had a figure with mould spotting just the usual mould (frosting effect) which can be reversed with some UV/sunlight exposure, but I do not think the same is possible with the spotting fungus type issue, I ask as I have just had my first figure turn up for my collection that is affected by this condition, the figure has been isolated from the rest & I would like to experiment with the process to see if it would rectify the problem - Thoughts? - anyone else tried it?.
I for think that without experimentation in to restoration on SW collectables that the distant future of the hobby may be fraught with problems in terms of mould/degradation/fading & fungal issues, so why not get the ball rolling now - why wait till the problems are right on your doorstep & panic sets in?, I can see both sides for sure but if we only have the odd beater to loose I say go for it, as we all have a few bin fodder beaters!.