Photodegradation

Once you go yellow, you never go back.

Guess what mode this toy was left in!

Photodegradation, more commonly referred to by toy collectors as "yellowing", is the phenomenon by which the plastics in a Transformers toy grow discolored over time. The process is generally started by exposure to ultraviolet light, whether from natural sunlight or fluorescent lighting. Photodegradation is most noticeable on figures with bright white or light grey plastics, although it actually happens to virtually all colors (when blue plastics photodegrade, it is often referred to as "greening" since that's generally the end result).

There is no hard and fast way to determine which individual figures will be more susceptible to it. A Jetfire opened once, then left in a closet for 20 years seems just as likely to be affected as one left sitting on a shelf for the same amount of time. Since yellowing is a function of the plastic itself decomposing with age, it can still strike toys that have been kept in complete darkness for prolonged periods of time. Furthermore, different pieces of identically-colored plastic on the same toy can photodegrade differently, resulting in a Nightbeat with a normally colored canopy and discolored legs. Areas covered by decals are typically unaffected. As manufacturing changes over the years, the time for onset of photodegradation can also change, as discussed further below.

Photodegradation is not to be confused with cigarette smoke residue, which also leaves a yellowish cast on plastic (and can be removed with toothpaste or other products designed to remove cigarette stains) or sun damage, a bleaching effect caused by exposure to direct sunlight (which more commonly affects packaging materials).

Treatment Options

The Transformers fandom has struggled with this issue for ages, and despite having the answer for some time, fans still often tinker with various concoctions hoping to reverse this scourge. Simply put, if a liberal amount of denture cream/household cleanser/virgin blood gets the toy white again, it wasn't photodegradation, it was your common everyday grime that you removed. Some people have experimented with physically removing layers of plastic from toys (via fine-grit sandpaper) to remove photodegradation, but this seems like a temporary fix at best (and one that actually may damage the toy more).

However, a much more promising technique surfaced on discussion boards in December 2008. This method consists of immersing the yellowed figures in a clear container (plastic or glass) full of a hydrogen peroxide solution, then leaving it exposed to direct sunlight for varying lengths of time. Test runs have indeed shown that figures displaying substantial photodegradation were largely or entirely restored to their original pigments. Though the technique has not yet been evaluated by professional chemists, the Decepticons are already plotting to steal the miracle cure for themselves.

Note that even these dramatic results are more of a treatment than a cure: even plastic that is treated, then kept in darkness with an airtight surface cover (such as a coat of varnish) will eventually turn yellow again. C'est la vie.

A few caveats

• As of June 2016, there have been no reports that the hydrogen peroxide technique causes embrittlement or any other collateral damage to the toys. What has been confirmed is that the yellowing will eventually and inevitably return. The TFWiki will not be held responsible for any damage your toys may incur from trying this technique.
• Strong solutions of hydrogen peroxide are very nasty business, requiring proper safety precautions: thick gloves, goggles, and ample ventilation. The TFWiki will not be held responsible if you turbo-revvin' young punks mishandle the stuff and require hospitalization and skin grafts.

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Recent developments

Unpaintable plastics

For reasons not fully explained, very rapid photodegradation has become more common since approximately the advent of the War for Cybertron: Siege and Studio Series toylines in 2018 and thereafter. Where the plastic decay would once have taken years or even decades to become noticeable, there have now been widespread reports of figures such as Cyberverse Deluxe Class Arcee, War for Cybertron: Kingdom Grimlock, and many, many others yellowing in just a matter of months — as well as sightings of Studio Series Bumblebee Ratchet visibly yellowed while still packaged and newly-arrived on store shelves, having decayed in just the time it took to ship from Asia! Another toy that frequently displayed photodegradation straight out of the box was Legacy Motormaster, which many collectors found particularly displeasing as it was a Commander Class toy with an MSRP of $90. Notably, this issue seems to be affecting unpaintable plastics specifically.

Hasbro has attributed this issue to the worldwide [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}COVID-19|{{#if:||COVID-19}}]] pandemic, making it difficult for them to send dedicated quality control agents to their factories in Vietnam…<ref>Yellowing on recent figures – Aware, researching the issue. Has been seen by Mark and the team, and forwarded to engineering for research. Feedback and specifics are always welcome to help narrow down the problem. The Pandemic restricted traveling to Asia for quality checks. — TFW2005 summary of Transformers Fan Roundtable on April 20, 2022</ref> however, as stated above, this problem was first noticed a few years before the pandemic travel disruptions began. A common theory among the fandom is that a fire retardant within the nylon chemical buildup is the cause of this phenomenon and reacts to heat or humidity, causing the plastic to yellow. There was even one case in TFWiki.net's community Discord server where—what is believed to be—the yellowy-colored fire retardant chemical seeped out of a seam in an individual's War for Cybertron Trilogy Soundwave's knee! Gross. This was most notable as their figure never suffered the same fate of the rapid yellowing that just about everyone else had endured, likely due to the cause seeping out of the plastic instead.

Well-documented victims include:

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• Almost every version of the War for Cybertron: Siege Megatron mold released from 2020-onwards that uses gray or silvery unpaintable plastic
• War for Cybertron: Siege Optimus Prime, though only applied to the early-to-mid 2020s reruns
• War for Cybertron: Siege Jetfire
• War for Cybertron: Siege Seeker Acid Storm / Seeker Ion Storm / Seeker Nova Storm
• Studio Series Megatron (Revenge of the Fallen)
• Cyberverse Warrior Class Hammerbyte
• Cyberverse Deluxe Class Arcee
• Cyberverse Deluxe Class Bumblebee
• R.E.D. [Robot Enhanced Design] Megatron (G1)
• Collaborative Maverick
• War for Cybertron Trilogy Soundwave
• War for Cybertron Trilogy Nemesis Prime
• Generations Selects Decepticon Sandstorm
• Studio Series '86 Autobot Jazz (2025 reissue may not be as severely affected)
• War for Cybertron: Kingdom Warpath
• War for Cybertron: Kingdom Cyclonus
• War for Cybertron: Kingdom Dinobot
• War for Cybertron: Kingdom Maximal Grimlock
• Generations Selects Ramjet (G2)
• Generations Selects Artfire
• Shattered Glass Collection Starscream
• War for Cybertron: Kingdom Tigatron
• War for Cybertron: Kingdom Mutant Tigatron
• War for Cybertron: Kingdom Blaster
• Buzzworthy Bumblebee Origin Bumblebee
• Studio Series Autobot Ratchet (Bumblebee)
• Studio Series '86 Coronation Starscream
• Premium Finish Starscream (War for Cybertron Trilogy)
• Legacy Decepticon Motormaster
• Generation Selects Cyclonus
• Studio Series 86 Autobot Ratchet (Core Class)
• Buzzworthy Bumblebee Heroic Maximal Dinobot
• Legacy Voyager Class Soundwave
• Legacy Voyager Class Bulkhead
• Shattered Glass Collection Soundwave

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This list is not definitive; discoloration of varying degrees—from small spots to fully discolored parts—has been seen on various other figures since 2020, just less consistently. It should also be noted that sometimes, unpaintable plastic is simply a few shades different from similarly colored plastics and is not always an immediate sign of yellowing.

Paint operations

Also among the aforementioned developments is an odd phenomenon involving white and off-white paint applications yellowing. Prior to the War for Cybertron Trilogy-era of Generations toys, white paint was typically the only thing to last on an all-white figure, with notable examples being Generation 1 toys like Jetfire and Ratchet (and his reissues), having unchanged, pure white-painted die-cast parts, even after the white plastics have long since yellowed… or even oranged in some extreme cases. Figures from other toylines such as Energon Jetfire, who use white paint for accents on other colored plastics, tend to stay unchanged, while the molded white plastic parts around them have yellowed to all hell.

So far there are only a few minor cases of this happening, notably Studio Series '86 Jazz and War for Cybertron: Earthrise Wheeljack, where their other colored plastic parts (both opaque and translucent), have had the white paint applications yellow very lightly over just a short period of time. This would seem to suggest that a new paint mixture is being used when compared to the figures of prior toylines. The reason for the yellowing is—much like the issue above—unknown, but the theory is that it is some form of photodegradation.

Fiction

Ask Vector Prime

In Primax 185.0 Beta, the S.T.A.R.S. weaponized Gold Plastic Syndrome and invented the Photo Degradation Protocol in a failed attempt to fight off Galvatron's mindless hordes of Decepto-Pack-enhanced human slaves. Ask Vector Prime

References

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External links

• Safety data for hydrogen peroxide, 20%-40%
• Peroxide whitening guide at JoeCustoms