My Playmobil Collection

[austinf4564]

Hi all! I have created this thread to start sharing pictures of my collection. It is pretty small at the moment. You have to start somewhere though!

I thought I'd start off with the newest arrival, the 3019 Fairy Tale Castle I purchased for just $19 (USD)! I couldn't pass it up. It is missing a few things, but I've already ordered some replacement parts and they are on the way. Overall I'd say it's over 90% complete. I can't seem to find the King and Queen, though, so I'll have to keep searching.

The castle is severely sun damaged (the listing said it was in a store window for many years), so it's going to need some TLC. I purchased some spray paint today and am going to try to fix it up this weekend.

Now onto the pictures!



I love the intricate details:







You can really see the discoloration of the parts in these photos:





I plan on matching the original colors as close as possible, but changing a few things. Since the transparent window lattices are highly discolored and there's no way to reverse it and keep the transparency, I am going to spray paint them a gold/bronze similar to the sconces and bronze gate. I purchased a lilac color for the floor pieces, white for the white pieces, and there are a few pieces (like the columns) that are supposed to be this orange color, which I don't care for, so they are going to be painted a stone gray.

Sorry for the long post! I am excited to be a part of the forum and continue to share my collection with everyone.

[tahra]

That was a great purchase..

Have you consider this: Cleaning playmobil with hydrogen peroxide [H2O2] ?

[austinf4564]

That was a great purchase..

Have you consider this: Cleaning playmobil with hydrogen peroxide [H2O2] ?

Thank you! I am excited to add it to my collection.

Do you think the peroxide would work on the purple and blue pieces?

[tahra]

Do you think the peroxide would work on the purple and blue pieces?

I am not sure - a LOT of collectors have tried this method, but I am almost ashamed to say I 'm yet to do it 

[GrahamB]

I had a castle just like yours, austinf4564, very yellowed and neglected. I soaked all the parts in hydrogen peroxide (in sunlight, because UV is needed!) and got quite a good result. But some traces of yellowing remained. Spray painting sounds like an interesting alternative. It will be interesting to see the results!

[flatcat]

We had a similar discussion a few years ago, using bleach and white washing powder tablets:

https://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=4865.0

As an update, I can say that I have recently (a couple of months ago) got the ambulance station set out of my loft, and it had started to turn slightly yellow again. Not as bad as it was originally though, but then that was a good few years ago that I did it.

[austinf4564]

Thank you everyone for the kind words and advice! I tried a peroxide bath today and unfortunately didn’t get any results. There were patches of clouds in the sky, however, so I’m sure that is why I didn’t get any good results. I am going to wait for another day when it is sunny with no clouds and try again. Unfortunately it looks like it’s going to be cloudy and rainy all week, so it will be a while  I would prefer to be able to restore the castle rather than paint it, so let’s hope I can get it to work!

[GrahamB]

You probably need to wait 3-4 days. Some UV reaches ground level through light clouds, so direct sunlight is not essential!

[austinf4564]

You probably need to wait 3-4 days. Some UV reaches ground level through light clouds, so direct sunlight is not essential!

So should I let the pieces soak for 3-4 days and up them in the sun every day while they are soaking? I just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing 

[Tiermann]

I've had good results on white and light grey with hydrogen peroxide. I haven't tried it on the lavender.
You put the plastic items in a bath of the peroxide in direct sun light. It needs to be in the sun in the peroxide bath for the chemical thingy to happen. Works quickest in full sunlight but cloudy days can still have an effect. I tried the bleach thing previously and found it less successful and risks etching the plastic.