Restoring White Color to a Kenner Ecto-1 questions

Posted in Custom Workstation

Okay, as the title says, I picked up a Kenner Ecto-1 from The Real Ghostbusters line (it's actually the Ector-1A reprint that was done as a promotion for Ghostbusters II, which is the same body, just different stickers). Now, the Ecto-1 that I found had some stickers on it that came off really easy (almost as if they were barely hanging on). As a result, I came to realize that the body, as well as some of the windshield, has yellowed. At first I thought it may have been due to being in a house that belonged to a smoker, but I came to discover after some scrubbing the body clean a bit that it wasn't the case. So, the body has a bit of yellow and white spots where the stickers used to be.

So, I'm trying to find out if there's any way to restore the original color of the body without having to paint it (painting the actual body white will be my last resort method). Now, here are my questions:
1. Has anyone heard of Retrobright? And if so, has anyone used this method on a toy that was white like the Ecto-1 and what was the end result?
2. Is there any other methods of restoring color to a toy, other than painting, that anyone knows about? If so, what's their recommendations and how well does the end result come out?
3. Which method is best recommended?

Posted by CB2001

on Friday, February 24, 2012

User Comments

Write a new Comment

CB2001 -

Friday, April 13, 2012

Thanks for the heads up on that. May have to try that too.

My dad has also suggested the possibility of using headlight polish from automotive stores to see if that could have any affect on it.

wallywest1980 -

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Try Mothers aluminum mag polish, you can buy at VIP, and a soft cloth. It'll also take the yellow fog out of the head lights on your car.

CB2001 -

Friday, March 30, 2012

New update: After over 12 applications of the RetroBright mixture my dad and I used, the Ecto-1 has brightened up a bit. It's a cream color now instead of the yellowish/brown with white splotches where stickers were. Still got a ways to go to reach the original color, but it's getting there. I've also started one of my Ghostbuster figures on the RetroBright regimen to see if it'll not only restore his body's color, but to remove some brown spots that have formed on his face. Still getting it done.

CB2001 -

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

For the RetroBright formulas, Oxi Clean or any kind of Oxi-boost product is a part of the formula. My dad started out trying just the Oxi-Clean gel on one of the mice, but didn't get any noticeable results. But after mixing it with hydrogen peroxide and some of the powdered Oxi-Clean (that's right, two times of Oxi-Clean), after setting the mice out and the Ecto-1 out in the sun for a few hours we noticed a dramatic difference. Basically, the combo of hydrogen peroxide and the oxi-boosting materials, in addition to UV light from the sun, helps sort of "bleaching" the plastic's color back to its original look.

barefootabe -

Monday, March 19, 2012

I've never tried it..but I've heard great things of using oxi clean too.

CB2001 -

Monday, March 19, 2012

I've got some good news about the Ecto-1 I made mention of in my last post. My dad and I have managed to get the right mixture for an interesting RetroBright mixture. My dad made some to clean up a couple of mice for the Super NES system (there was a mouse accessory produced for a game called Mario Paint). He had enough left over for me to brush onto the Ecto-1 body and doors. After a few hours, we were both surprised that the brown had gone away completely on the SNES mice and that the Ecto-1 had brightened up a bit to where it looked like it needed another round of RetroBright to get it back to its full on White color. So, soon, Ecto-1 will be back to its old bright self. I forgot to take a picture of it before we began working on it, but I'll definitely see if I can get a shot of it in progress before brushing on the next application tomorrow.

However, instead of the recipe in on the site, my dad used a mix of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and Oxi Clean Gel Max Force Pre-Treater Gel Stick mixed together to do the job (I don't have the portions memorized, but I'll see if I can figure them out and post them if anyone wants them).

CB2001 -

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Yeah, I've actually found out a bit about it from other users at a Ghostbusters fan forum (where they've done customs) where many have had similar issues. Most of them paint them, but I'm trying to keep the car as original as possible (if possible). That's why I'm asking for methods such as the peroxide, Retrobright and Mr. Clean scrubbing pad (the methods covered thus far), to see if there's any that work.

somebody1 -

Sunday, February 26, 2012

I've seen the yellowing on a lot of vintage Transformers too. Sometimes it has to do with just aging as the plastic wasn't that great back then, there is also if it was in sunlight and heat too. I've never tried to clean anything up though.

CB2001 -

Sunday, February 26, 2012

I don't know if there's any beauty supply stores in my hometown (I live in a small town in Florida), but I know I may be able to get the peroxide at CVS (I planned on snagging some for attempting the Retrobright method to test out on one of the doors, and testing out other methods on the other two doors as well). Thanks for the heads up.

CAb00se -

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Containers of peroxide (large enough) can be bought from beauty supply stores. People have also used this method on vintage gi Joe snow cats as well. It takes a few days of soaking and peroxide use doesn't classify you as a terrorist, a beautician maybe....

CB2001 -

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Thanks. I'll try them out on the doors first before attempting them on the full body of the car.

If there's any other methods that also come up, feel free to continue to post them. I'm trying to keep the car as much original as possible without going the paint method (again, painting is the last resort for me).

leafman343 -

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Someone, I can't remember who, on here tried Mr. Clean Magic Erasers on their Ecto-1. I can't remember how it turned out. A quick forum search might do the trick.

Edit: Top Notch Comix got mixed results when he used a knock-off brand, it took away the shine, but watshisface (formerly pock63) said he's never had that problem with the Mr. Clean brand.
Sounds like it's worth a shot, at the very least it won't put you on a government watchlist like buying enough hydrogen peroxide to soak the Ecto-1 would.

CAb00se -

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Try soaking in peroxide. There are threads on Hisstank that show people have done this with yellowed storm shadow figs. Makes them look brand new...

Write a new Comment

New Comment...