With ebays unfriendly policy towards sellers I,d be a veritable village fool if I omitted such details. Anyways if I ever do sell this guy i could actually use these photos on ebay to show the condition.
I'm rather new to selling on ebay but sold just 2 weeks ago a custom painted tf which had a broken waist. I obviously stated it the description and haven't received a complaint. Regardless, I'd be more careful about dodgy ebayer accounts than established sellers whom, as far as I've seen, often do more than necessary to insure a good review, affirming the importance buyers give to rep nowadays. As to lots I'm afraid thats a risk that comes with the game, not that I wouldn't mention it in the description at the very least and show the figure without the arm in the pic, but considering bb lots are often below the market price of each figure summed I can't honestly say that I'd give a negative review to the seller just because of it. I'm not saying in any way that i would btw (I'm not even selling it ) rather that the issue is rather peripheral to the restoration. What i mean is that the ethics of the seller shouldn't determine the work of the restorer. Ofc they can be the same person but the restoration technique isn't responsible for the seller being.. Well, a dick!
I don't disagree with you as to the risks of ebay (well maybe the scope) but Aside from architectonic Restoration where showing a visible difference between the 2k old wall and the new part is essential, restoration must have as an established aim a closest possible representation to the original. What 'restorer' would begin any venture with such standards as aim? And how would you be able to show the original dmg and not further deteriorate the figure? Besides restoration that preserves damage is.. Well not restoration. Like palaces in London that maintain WW2 bomb scars.
Also using this technique prevents from further damaging the figure and leaves all the original material available for the future while glue might (or might not) have some long term effect on the plastic. I have no knowledge on chemical reactions to plastic (or chemistry in general) and or gum but i'd wager glue has a high acidity, that might corrode with time ( lots). There is extensive research from vintage collectors on techniques to remove/repair 'browning' from old plastic toys, however it seems that this often accelerates the plastics deterioration. I'm aware that plastic/gum should behave differently but removing something from an old object (any) often results in a weakening of its structure and faster deterioration and when adding something one should always be cautious if they're not fully aware of the chemical reactions.
Moreover the pin is easily removable and not permanent and makes the arm fully articulable (within its orig. parameters)
Not too shabby don't u think?
Edited by susha, 24 May 2016 - 08:43 AM.