While looking through auctions for SSC, I noticed VDS mentioned a few times. From what I gathered, it's like spotting on the plastic? Could someone please clarify this for me? I'd appreciate it.

:hkhappy

VDS = vinyl deterioration syndrome. It is commonly thought of as a mold that develops on dolls when the conditions are right (high humidity, plastizer in the plastic acts as "food" for the mold).

Ahh, thanks Lambie!

So can you get rid of it? And does it spread? I'm guessing that it's what most of these "dark spots" on the SSC dolls are.

Thanks!

We pony collectors call it "smooze". At least, I think SSC dolls and ponies get the same type of pin dot size mold growing on them.

http://www.jcracek.com/ponyplayhouse/smooze.html

As far as I know you can make it better in certain ways but there is no real cure.

The vds marks on SSC and the smooze on MLPs are a little different in appearance for the most part. I do know that SSC doll's vds can be extreme and far from the pin sized dots of smooze. There is some ways of treating vds with a solution sold by Twin Pines called RemoveZit but be advised that it can take months and months of applying and re-applying to the doll/toy.
http://www.twinpines.com/
And... It can spread because it IS mold unfortunately. :(

Thanks everyone for your replies! I feel better now knowing what this stuff is, and I can avoid it when adding dolls to my collection. None of my dolls here have it. Thank goodness! Probably because there isn't much humidity (or moisture that sticks around) often here in AZ.

You are all so berry smart! :ssc

I thought I'd attach some pics for you and others out there who are curious as to what VDS looks like:
They can be faint marks or quite severe... You have to really look closely.

And another...

Wow..they have a bad case of Epizooda....My barbies have had the awful disease as well...

Oooh, we call that "pony cancer" I think. In ponies what you do is take off their heads, clean them out, and then boil them with bleach..It does'nt get rid of it, but it 'kills' it for a time...

Gross!! Do the twin pine products help ponies? or can't you use them on them because it bleaches out their bodies?

I've heard the the Twin Pines things work wonders on all sorts of toys as well as ponies. I've never used it, but I think I should get some just in case..

I have used remove zit on SSC and ponies. It slightly lightened the colour on the pony so you should try to put the RZ right on the spot only, like with a pin. I have been trying for a couple of months to get the VDS off my ssc's and it's coming along. You have to reapply it very often. Thank God there's only a tiny bit on 2 dolls! My Angelcake had some red spot on her face and the RZ is slowly but surely fading that away.

It's the only hope for some poor dolls.

I think RemoveZit works also. I apply it to the VDS spots and leave it for weeks at a time, then remove it and reapply. It does take awhile to completely get rid of it, but it does work!

It's humid here in Kansas and I think some of my dolls developed VDS last summer while just being displayed on my shelves. I had my desk right under the air conditioning vent and since I can not stand to have cold air blowing on me, I closed it for nearly the whole of summer. I left my two blow kiss dolls out in the garage when I first moved here and they got VDS pox!

I have a Baby Glory with crayon on her forehead. Since she is a white unicorn I guess fading won't be an issue wihe her and this stuff:).

It's so sad to see this poor dolls/ponies that have these marks on them.
It's also interesting to hear the different lingo among SSC, MLP, Barbies, and other toy collectors in reference to certain marks, etc... We all have our own names for everything! lol :D

Thanks for the pictures and all of the wonderful tips! This board just gets better every day! :hkhappy

Yeah... in Cabbage Patch land, VDS is called "pox"!

Mel... I had all my dollies get pox from being at the BF's humid house (they had mold growing even on the wall)... when I went to visit him and notice this, I 'rescued' them from his place! Luckily, the VDS was mostly "new" so it kind of wiped right off. And there wasn't any of their face!

Orangedancer, have you tried using a Mr. Clean magic eraser to get the crayon off your MLP? I know that product works wonders for all sorts of dirt and marks on SS dolls. I still have my Strawberry Swirl to try it out on, but I forgot/didn't get around to it and all my toys are in boxes at the moment.

Joyce, I'm glad that you were able to rescue your toys. My dolls still have the pox. I did use some RemoveZit on them, but I only let it sit for a couple of days. Even that helped tremendously, but they are technically Taigan's dolls and she wanted them back. LOL I think I saw one outside yesterday!

Kalei, no problem! I am so happy that I/we, as a board, can help :D

YIKES! Joyce, it sounds like you saved your CPKs just in time! That could've been ugly (or uglier) lol

And yes, what a great idea, Melanie. Magic Eraser is so great for taking crayon and surface dirt marks off MLPs (and other toys and dolls). :D

This thread is great everyone! If we get lots of tips and things we could actually sticky up this thread or pieces of this thread for future reference. :music