Hi first post here.

I collect marvel Universe, and have most of my figures off of the card and displayed in some IKEA detolf display cabinets. I have some duplicate figures and rare figures that I have kept MOC and I was thinking of building a display case out of peg board and acrylic so that I could hang them up and also keep them protected. I have seen some carded figure displays and i like the way the carded figures look side by side, especially when variants are there.

However my main concern is how storing them inside the plastic case from the factory will affect the condition of the figure over the long term..like say 20 or 30 years from now.

I have heard that the plastic factory cardboard and plastic case can break down and create an acidic environment inside the package causing figure damage. It was recommended to drill little holes in the side of the plastic to allow the package to "breathe".

Anyone in the know have any thing to add to this? Is this acid risk for real? I would hate to go through all the trouble to build and display carded figures just to have them eat them selves up inside the package. I know this has been a concern of comic book collectors since the decaying nature of paper literally eats itself up over time, and they are required to change out their bags and boards every 7 or 10 years

GG

Paper from cards is going to degrade over time regardless and acrylic cases like any other type of plastic will out-gas over time as well depending on temperature and the type of plastics used in the manufacturing process.

Out-gasing can definitely have an effect on things such as the card and the bubble but honestly the greatest threat to the figure is the bubble itself because the types of plastic they use for those is generally the lowest quality and breaks down faster than anything else. If you are planning on buying acrylic figure cases it actually isn't a bad idea to drill some holes in them to help alleviate trapped gases inside the sealed cases.

If you've been to a toy show or have old toys on cards and you notice the clear plastic bubbles turning yellow, that is a result of the low quality material breaking down.

Honestly there is really no way of knowing what is going to do what to what. Meaning, the quality of the plastic in bubbles is sporadic at best and the quality of the paper and any acid content is has is also a best guess scenario. If you want to preserve carded figures in acrylic cases there are different grades and types of acrylic but the expense of such things is well beyond the value of anything made today honestly unless you have an endless supply of money. Quality archival acrylics are not cheap.

Thanks for the input! That's good info.

I was actually thinking of drilling little holes in the side of the carded bubble. I'm guessing that, that would reduce the value, but if I'm planning to keep them for a long time it doesn't matter, I guess except for my Children who would inherit them.


GG

Its kinda funny you bring that up because Mattel started doing that in the later rounds of JLU figure releases. I cant confirm this mind you but its kinda odd that they started doing that when they started using lower quality plastics in the figures which are far more prone to breaking down then the earlier stuff they used which was better quality.

I think it might have something to do with out-gassing and the fact that Mattel knew is the cards were sealed they would fog up and start looking chalky and discolored over time because they dont have vents in them.