Question on tacky paint

meepmuppaphones

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How do you get rid of tacky paint? Plus, is it so tacky it'll rub off?:concern:
 

Dearth

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Sad to report, I have yet to find a cure for this problem. It's a chemical glitch with those figures during the manufacturing. The plastic and the paint react in a weird way.

Don't wash the figure or the paint may come right off. Happened to me on a white-shirt Lips for which I had paid a LOT of money. I then tried two kinds of sealant and it just made it worse.

Best advice, all the figures with tacky paint should be put in a glassed-in display shelf so they don't get a lot of dust, and should be handled as little as possible.

Alex
 

Dearth

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Or leave them in the package, but unless you already know which ones tend to stay tacky, you don't know until after they're opened. Sort of a Catch-22.

Alex
 

meepmuppaphones

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Well is it so tacky it'll come off if I even touch it? (Besides Lips)
 

Dearth

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You'll be leaving smeared fingerprints in it.

Alex
 

Dearth

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Yes to the first question. No to the second.

Alex
 

meepmuppaphones

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NNNNNOOOOOO!!!!! Well does tacky paint dry? I have a Regular Sam and he's not tacky at all.
 

Dearth

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Think about how old these figures are. If the paint is still tacky so many years later, it's not GOING to dry. It's a chemical problem, a glitch in the manufacturing process. Somewhere I have an email from Ken Lilly that explains what happened, I don't remember all of the technical terms. Browse around here, there are probably already a couple of threads devoted to the problem that go into the causes in more detail.

It depends on what figures, from what series. The wave with Lips is one of the worst. I also had a problem with the shoes on Dr. Phil Van Neuter. Sometimes it's a mild case of tackiness, so you may not have quite the degree of problems I've been describing on Lips.

Another tip for the most severe cases would be to keep them in climate control. Always make sure the temperature and humidity are constant, and try to keep them protected from dust accumulation. Maybe a glass case with doors, or a simple glass dome to go over individual figures. I've seen those at Hobby Lobby in the dollhouse section.

Alex
 

Hubert

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It's been a while since I've gotten any new figures (I pretty much have them all), but I think I remember some that I had (mostly the Series 9 I believe) had a little bit of a tacky paint issue. These were nothing super major, just minor, after letting them sit out for a few days, the problem seemed to be solved. That's what I remember at least. I know none are like that now.
 
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