Gold Plastic Syndrome

File:GPSSlingshot.jpg

Emoformer: He breaks himself.

Gold Plastic Syndrome (commonly shorthanded to GPS) is fandom terminology used to describe the phenomenon of a toy's plastic decomposing and becoming brittle to the point of shattering or crumbling under minimal-stress conditions. In the most extreme cases, toys have been reported to spontaneously crumble to small bits without any applied force at all, even if they're fresh out of their unopened package.

This breakage is different from the relatively more common stress-fracture type of plastic breakage that can occur in some Transformers toys. All noted instances of GPS have occurred in hard, glossy gold-colored plastics that appear to have a "swirl" to their coloration.

Notability

GPS is notably widespread among toys made in the tail-end of Generation 1, typically the second year of Pretenders and even some European-market exclusives, but examples have surfaced from lines as recent as Generation 2 and the Beast Wars series. Transformers toys are not the only ones to suffer from this; there have been reports of G.I. Joe and Visionaries toys' gold plastics also crumbling seemingly of their own accord.

Cause of GPS

“

The problem likely arises, as with many composites, when the bonding between the polymer and the dye/particles breaks down. This could occur do to a natural chemical/phase change of the plastic, due to oxidation, for example, or by another mechanism, say the forces incurred by the toy being played with, or more likely, due to some combination thereof. In any case, when the bonds between the particles and the polymers break down, you would get small voids in the plastic structure. If this occurs frequently enough, the structure would become effectively porous (that is, it would be filled with lots of tiny voids/cracks where the polymers and particles have come apart). With even a slight amount of force, some of these cracks/voids could expand, even slightly, to the point where they intersect another void and join, making an even bigger crack. Once a critical crack length is reached, the sample fractures. So effectively, the plastic becomes more brittle, and this would also explain it "crumbling" as well as cracking.

”

-Aernaroth suggests a cause for GPS on the Allspark

GPS misconceptions

The one image for the wiki you don't want to be able to make.

The most common misconception about GPS is that all gold-colored plastic can suffer from this rot. Only certain plastic grades (described above) have been noted to be susceptible to GPS crumbling; in the past few years, more durable, pliable plastics have become the norm for toy construction, so the gold plastic on more recent toys like Cannonball are highly unlikely to have the flaw.

Also, not every type of plastic breakage is the kind caused by GPS. In most instances of broken toys, visible stress marks appear long before any breakage in the form of discoloration (since these plastics have a bit more "give" to them), and are typically very clean "snaps" due to excess pressure. Even if not subject to "true" GPS breakage, older gold plastics tend to be rather brittle and more likely than most to snap under relatively light stresses. But "true" GPS breakages seemingly come from simple decomposition of the plastic without any form of excess force at all, and the breaks tend to leave shards of plastic and dust, appearing similar to dry Play-Doh crumbling.

Additionally, it is not limited to gold plastic. Some other older metally-swirled plastics may also suffer. However, it is far less common and is possibly related, though it is just as likely (such as Transmetal Megatron) that it is simply cast out of more easily broken plastic.

Toys commonly associated with Gold Plastic Syndrome

Generation 1

• BlackZarak
• Bristleback
• Roadblock
• Skyhammer
• Slog
• Killbison

Generation 1-2 Transitional Phase

• Pyro

Generation 2

• Electro
• Slingshot

(Slingshot is infamous for being made almost entirely of gold plastic, and has been reported to come apart straight out of the package [1].)

Beast Wars

• Grimlock
• Randy
• Silverbolt
• Torca - His legs, tail hinge and sides are prone to Gold Plastic Syndrome.
• NOT Transmetal Megatron. He suffers from something different entirely: Brown Plastic Syndrome.

Other notable instances

• Predator missile launchers
• Serpentor, while not a Transformer, is also known to suffer from this problem.

Clear Plastic Syndrome

There is a similar condition in figures made with translucent and transparent colored plastics. Though it doesn't seem anywhere near as bad as Gold Plastic Syndrome (which can affect ANY part of a figure), it seems to affect mostly the joints, either pivot or ball versions. The main cause of this is the higher friction ratio the plastic has (pin joints seem to be more susceptible) and the lower flexibility of the plastic. Some toys were made entirely of clear plastic and didn't fare much better than ones made entirely of gold plastic. Sorry, Starscream.

Etymology

The earliest use of the term that can be found in the alt.toys.transformers archives dates to September 2002 in a post by user Sky Shadow [2], though it is unclear from his usage of the term whether or not it was already in use. A post by Dave "Zobovor" Edwards, meanwhile, made in June of the previous year,[3], is the earliest identifiable acknowledgment of the widespread nature of the phenomenon within the Transformers fan community.