Broken o-rings...urban legend or truth?

[tres_juplo]

well, some get mummified, some don't.

[zark1976]

I think calling it an Urban Myth is probably an incorrect labeling. Because an Urban myth is something with no documented evidence, just word of mouth. Many people have evidence that it has happened. They have pictures, there are current auctions with broken O-Rings in package.

This denial is like standing next to the Grand Canyon and saying that water and time can't dig a giant Crevasse, because it doen't happen everywhere, Arizona must have just mishandled the Colorado River.

It's just wishful thinking that rubber under tension won't degrade. Sure bubbles and figures will change color over time, there's proof that they have, bubbles will detach from the cards, also backed up by proof, cards will degrade/warp/fade. Some environments may be better for these toys than others. I am willing to bet that minnesota is a much better environment for preventing the ravages of aging than say Arizona or Louisiana.

[Urban Saboteur]

Now for a science lesson..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber#Properties

Reading on about the properties of rubber it is said that it is made through the polymerization of a variety of monomers to produce polymers.

Further reading would go onto explain..

At very cold temperatures rubber is actually rather brittle; it will break into shards when struck. This critical temperature is the reason that winter tires use a softer version of rubber than normal tires. The failing rubber o-ring seals that contributed to the cause of the Challenger disaster were thought to have cooled below their critical temperature. The disaster happened on an unusually cold day.

Okay.. so we are clear that environmental changes will degrade rubber over time.. no matter what you do or how you store those MOC figures.. their O-ring eventually will break.. its a FACT. Abusing or playing and opening a MOC will obviously speed up this process...

So the mutants opinion is that at some point any MOC/Sealed figure will deteriorate eventually.. its FACT.

[green firefly]

Now for a science lesson..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber#Properties

...................


So the mutants opinion is that at some point any MOC/Sealed figure will deteriorate eventually.. its FACT.

Gotta agree with that. I know that people with a lot of money invested in MOC's will not like it, and people who want cheaper MOC's will love it - but they are all going to break. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them lasted 100 years. The "carded figures/repaired carded figures" will still always have added value.

[r07a23c]

I never "abused" my figures, and I certainly never pulled the legs and torso in opposite directions, but just tonight I replaced the O-Rings on a 1987 Leatherneck, a 1985 Crimson Guard and a 1988 Iron Grenadier. As soon as the O-Rings I ordered come in, I'll be replacing them in Lady Jaye and Zanzibar, too.

Different things can affect the durability of the rubber; Time, climate (pretty humid here in South Kahkalaki), and yes, the stress put on them. It doesn't suprise me a bit to hear of them snapping in MOC figures, as I recently purchased an Ace (v.6), and as soon as I took him out of the package, he couldn't stand up straight. I'm thinking that o-ring is gonna snap any day now.

[The Mad Bubbler]

Yes, I do think that, unfortunately, the o-rings of even moc figures will deteriorate over time. Storing them properly will delay this process, but sometime, maybe decades from now, they will all deteriorate. I have a 1993 Law that is in 3 pieces on the card. There definitely are some more moc figures out there with broken o-rings, if not a ton yet.

[Abomb]

The only break I ever had was with a corps figure several years ago, me and my brother and one of my freinds were in the back of a car trying to catapult him and hit my sisters, but the ring snapped after only two tries.

Honestly though, sure rubber will degrade over time, but even when I pull the orings a bit to insert swords in the belly, they never break, i think that the Joes were, genere=ally, very well made and will last for quite a bit. Those who claim they will hold them until the day they die and hope their grandkids will play with them may be suffering from wishful thinking, but after 20 odd years 98% of all Joes are still intact. IMHO, the worst threat to Joes is not rubber degredation, but kids having fun.

[Viper Commander]

I just had my first ever broken O-ring the other day, this happened on one of my '98 Cobra Officers. I wanted to move him a little from where he was standing, and his upper body just fell off his waist!