PVC figures and their lifespans

[Suudonym]

Hoping this is about the right place to post this; not sure where else it would go.

Five years ago at an anime convention I bought a PVC figure of one of my favorite characters; through recent research I've determined that the maker was One Coin, but it could very well be a bootleg figure because I didn't know anything about that at the time. Well I was 15 or 16 at the time and didn't even think that figures might require any kind of care besides obvious things like not leaving them in the sun or dunking them in water, so I took him out of his box and put him on my shelf and there he sat for years to come.

Well I've reconnected with the character recently and wanted to bring him back to school with me, but when I touched him to pack him up he was all oily and sticky and gross. I did some reading and found out that this isn't uncommon in PVC figures and that the plasticizers will activate and migrate to the surface in hot or humid conditions (and I live in coastal Virginia, so there's that condition met), giving the surface that oily film. I read that this could be reversed by putting the figure in the freezer for half an hour to an hour, so I gave that a shot. No luck. I wanted to at least get all the dust stuck in the film off of him and I figured I couldn't ruin him any more than he already was, so I took a hand wipe and rubbed the surface down gently. I managed to clean him up pretty well, so I stuck him back in the freezer overnight to see if it would help.

I took him out this morning and he was significantly less sticky after spending eight hours on ice, but it's still pretty bad in places, and if I touch him for longer than a couple seconds it starts to get bad again. There's also some discoloration in places, but I'm not terribly worried about that; I just don't want him to be all slick and oily. Is there anything that can be done to save my figure, or am I just going to have to live with this from now on?


TL;DR version: My five-year-old PVC figure has apparently been producing plasticine oils for up to a few years. How do I fix him?

[The Amazing Flying Circus]

I have never heard of that, but I hope someone who knows what they're talking about will be able to answer you. Good luck! [/friendly bump]

[Suudonym]

Giving this one more bump in hopes someone-anyone knows something about this. o3o

[TenkaOsaki]

You need to find a cooler place for him unfortunately. The fact that putting him in a freezer making him less sticky is probably an indication that the temperature that you put your figure in is quite high or not the perfect place for him to be in. Or age could have been a factor, if you don't place him in a freezer once every few months, then he couldn't last the unsuitable temperatures for a long duration of time.

I don't think the A/M/C is a great place to ask though. Ask one of the guys on /a/ (don't mention you come from Gaia and don't use emoticons there), they know a lot about PVC figures and nendoroids more than any of us here will know. There's also a figurine community on a dedicated figurine website as well, so you could ask them too if you don't like to post anonymously on /a/.

[Sleepy Snake]

Does it happen to be a Tales of the Abyss One Coin figure?

[Pahsmina]

I've never heard of this problem, now I get scared for my figurines. ;_;
Anyway, I think this is something that can happen to cheaper one coin and price figures, or at least that it's a higher chance or anything like that. Maybe because they use cheaper paint then they do for the bigger scale figures.
Sadly I don't have a clue how to fix this but this forum might help you out. (: