10/21/99: Denture Whitener!
For a while now, I've been hearing about the virtues of denture whitener for restoring yellowed toys, most notably in Eugene Son's FRIDGE FAQ. Some folks have been amazed at the success with whitening parts of old 3 3/4" G.I. Joes. Personally, after testing it out on a half-dozen old Stormtroopers, I've never had any success. Maybe it was the plastic, maybe it was the brand of whitener I purchased. Regardless, here's what you do: get some effervescent denture whitener and dunk your yellowed toy parts in it. Be sure to TEST it on something you can sacrifice first, though, like a sprue part or spare missile. I've never heard about problems with it wrecking plastics, but you never know. By the way, the FRIDGE FAQ is also an excellent source of info for Microman collectors, as the construction of Microman and 3 3/4" G.I. Joes are very similar. Enjoy! - Roger Harkavy

Bonus Werkshop: Parisian Patch-Up
Roger's 1993 Bandai Jet Jaguar. A vinyl snapped in half by an overzealous roommate. We can rebuild him. We have the technology. Better than he was before. Better . . . stronger . . . HEAVIER.

This figure has sat on my shelf for over five years in this condition. Would it have killed Bandai to sink an extra 2 yen of vinyl into this to prevent such mishaps? But let's let bygones be bygones. After trying half a dozen different types of glue with no success. I decided to go the SOLID route.

Inspired by CW Louis Law, who told me how he filled his Marmit Gaiking up with plaster of paris, I threw the following recipe together:

	Model-grade Plaster of Paris Mix (you'll be mixing two batches at separate times)
	2 Chopsticks, snapped in half
	1 Jet Jaguar, snapped in half

1. Take "fat" halves of chopsticks and slide them down JJ's legs, with the broken tips residing in the feet and the rounded square ends sticking out of the top making an "X".

2. Fill the leg section with PoP. Let dry 12 hours or so.

3. After the leg section is reasonably stable, fill the upper body with PoP and sink that "X" into it. Prop it up somehow and keep it straight. I used a beer mug.

4. Wait a day or so. 5.Voila! Jet Jaguar is whole again, but he's now about ten times heavier than he originally was. Use a toothbrush to get off any extra PoP that may be caked on it. It was a low-tech solution, but I'm pretty happy with the results. The only problem? What to do with Jet Jaguar's "foreskin". - Roger Harkavy

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