Dusting is like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a never ending process.

Thanks for putting out videos about the practicalities of collecting. Useful, relevant and much appreciated.

All great techniques for cleaning.... Uncle Bobby always looking out for us and sharing that knowledge Mac....

Thanks Bobby for the advice!

A small air compressor with a blow gun adapter works great. No worries about liquids or freezing up. Be cautious on the type of baby wipe, I've had personal experience with the wipes taking paint off of brand new figures and my radio controls of my vehicle.

Just sharing 🙂 I use a model kit anti-static brush. It has a fat side for broad strokes and a thin side for all the detailing. It’s super fast to dust my figures now. I keep a vacuum running near the figure to suck in all the dust kicked up in the air, but on super low and not too close (to avoid any small accessories getting sucked in 😂). If there’s chrome, I use one of those micro fiber clothes (like the ones we use for sunglasses). It shines the chrome up. Best thing is, it’s all reusable - good for the wallet and environment.

From my personal experience, baby wipes tend to leave this sort of "greasy" feel to the figure that eventually makes it collect more dust. By the time that stuff dries up, it'll already dust itself back up.

the canned air almost sounds like a transformer transforming with the short controlled bursts hahahahhaha

Thanks for the video. You gave me some great ideas. I never would have thought to use makeup brushes.

I never would of thought to try make up brushes...awesome idea!

I just use a couple different sizes of make-up brushes as well. They are really soft so they don't scratch anything and they can get into small places. I have found that the brushes do collect the dust so at some point you have to blow out the brushes with an air compressor or the reverse end of a shop-vac. Air cans can leave aerosol (or whatever it is) residue on the plastic.

Warm soapy water, a rag and a toothbrush. Never had a problem.

I need a better duster. Swiffer material is bad for catching on points and snapping things. Compressed air would be great. Thought about using my little airbrush compressor and nozzle. But I'll definitely snag some makeup brushes.

Never would have thought to use make up brushes, seems to work extremely well.

thank u sir... this is good for the collector soul.. not bad.. not bad at all

So I started using an air compressor instead of the cans of air. It lasts way longer and refillable. I currently have my collection in open displays. Tons of dust and spider webs. I am considering bookshelves with a glass front to protect things better. Maybe use the insulation foam strips for doors and windows to give a better seal. All things I'm considering after I move to a new house.

One thing that I do when dusting is remove any accessories on the figure so I can clear out the areas of dust that they block. I then clean the accessories and attach them back on afterwards.

Thumbs up, Mr. Skullface. Unfortunately I live in a mining town, so needless to say I have to dust often. My methods are the same, but I do this about every month to two months. Kept my collection in a closet for a short time, which obviously didn't stop the dust, but since moved them out to the open, due to its growing size. Luckily it's still relatively small enough, that it's not a big chore lol.

Good topic. As I live on a farm ...things tend to be dusty NO MATTER HOW vigilant we are here... it's everywhere. So, to keep my figs clean I use a duster, a few brushes, Warm water, and terry cloth, and finish with a microfiber cloth like you would use for polishing your car. I buy a brand called "Mothers" Ultrasoft, which is the best in my opinion, you can buy in in auto shops like Autozone or whatnot. I also recommend clear coating your figures once you unbox them, I only recommend Tamiya products for this as everything else is subpar, they shine more (depends on paint types) and will be far easier to maintain for that extra mile of protection from the elements, such as sun, dust, dirt, etc.

I use cyber clean, which is a sticky gum that you rub to your figures and the dust is adhered to the gum. So far it haven't damaged any finish and it is good removing dust from your figures. I haven't used the canned duster, but I will give it a try. I do it once a while, but definitely more than once a year. Specially the ones that are on a shelf. Very useful topic!

I use a make-brush the fine bristle captures the dust but won't damage a figure of paint.

I use soft bristle tooth brushes. Works great. Get's into the small places, leaves no marks.

Thanks for the video! Merry Christmas!

I use a keyboard rechargeable air blower once a week every Sunday to prevent dust build up. Been working out great. Just blow air on my figures and I'm good to go. Although I only have one bookcase and 5 floating shelves to deal with lol

I dust mine every 3 to 4 months. It takes a few days to get it all done but my collections are smaller than what you have. Makeup brushes are great. I haven't tried the compressed air yet. Next cleaning I'll give it a go. Happy holidays to you and your family!!

I have a baby in diapers at the moment. Take a diaper wipe. Any brand (I’ve tested this with Huggies, Kirkland and Luvs) take one and wipe your phone screen down with it. Wait 5 minutes and go look at your phone screen. There’s definitely a residue leftover on the screen. And it’s not just dried water. It looks and feels different and has to be cleaned off. Wipes ain’t touching my figures, mac!

I use this little blue duster with a retractable head available on Amazon and ebay for about $8us. Works pretty good.

As you already have compressor for airbrushing, you can use it for dusting as well, maybe at higher psi if necessary + you don't have the cooling issue :) With collection the size of yours compressed air bill will quickly pile up.

I use my vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attachment. It gets the small areas just fine. I have asthma so the Hepa filter is a plus. Keeps the airborne dust low for me.

Merry Christmas to you and yr family Bobby thanks for cleaning tip ..

I use a combination of a duster for the shelf itself, make up brushes and paint brushes for dust that has found it's way into crevest or any other detail and for things that are LED panels i use and other things like wind shields or other plastics microfiber cloth. That combination is quite cheap and hasn't failed me or scratched up the paint on my figures. I highly recommend no demand that you do not use wipes like baby wipes or electronic screens as they leave a chemical residue on the figure that makes it feel greasy and unpleasant to touch the figure as well as possible harm to the plastic and or paint.

Thank you very much for making this video. This confirms that my method is pretty on point. You and I have 2 main differences though. 1. I use paint brushes instead of makeup brushes, but I think makeup brushes will be cheaper and more versatile. 2. I use compressed air with my airbrush attached so I can control the flow of air. Plus canned air gets expensive and a compressor is $100 one time buy. One note for everyone using the canned air, cut the red tube in half. You will have more air velocity and it wont bend the tube as much if at all. Thanks again for the video Bobby.

Huge difference with just the feather duster, and to your point, a great time to reunite with your figures. My wife came in and watched with me for a few minutes and suggested using these good ideas to help dust the rest of the house! But she did donate some make up brushes to the cause! Great video sir!

Merry Christmas Bobby. Stay safe maaaack

I use a Dremel with a very soft special brush to clean detailed object, it works very well, but you must be carefull, in case you get it too near that the metal part of the dremel can touch the figure, It chipped a bit of paint of Delta Magnus only, but all my other figures are not damaged at all, I only made a mistake with Delta., Also it makes the cleaning task a lot faster too

You're 100% accurate about the TFC figure, plain and simple. Great tips on dusting, I've always been a fan of the makeup brushes. Thanks for taking the time.

This is a PSA for keeping everything in sealed cabinets. ;)

Im taking my 25yr old daughter to sephora or some shit.. for her birthday.. but NOW i have reason to go too.. POINT ME TO THE BRUSHES!

Remember, short controlled bursts. Nine meters. Seven. Six. That can't be. That's inside the room!

I had my bots exposed on the shelf untouched other than occasionally adding a retail figure every few weeks (I have 2 transformers collections 3rd party mp & official retail). Here's a kicker. I have a furry cat, I smoke out the back kitchen door (harsh winters with no covered porch), my neighbor smokes green (house turned into apartment with shared ventilation) & a furnace & I do not vacuume enough (😁) - I have very little dust. I inspected after seeing this vid & saw only a few spects of lint on the top surfaces of the boys 😶. My only explanation of this has got to be the water traps about my apartment the suck away some of the particals, the location/layout of my collector room & my habit keeping windows closed. In the summer I use window A.C. units. I lived in Florida (12 minutes from the beach & surrounded by the intercoastal water) & had central air & changed filters routinely & had nightmare dust issues. Humidity, forest fire dust & metropolitan air pollution caused mud dust 😲. I countered it by covering my main shelf unit with a huge fabric sheet. I peeled it back when I wanted to inspect, play & share with others - promptly closing the curtain when finished. If you think plastic & metal figures are hard to maintain, try upkeep on hot toy type 1/6 figures with layered clothing & highly detailed break down rifles with optional accesories (my main love). I've considered getting a small compressed air machine. Edit : I wash my hands regularly & especially when handling my figures, so not to transfer hand oil & other substance to them. I now lived 2 years far north of Florida & have less a issue with dust.

Those air cans, some say they eventually cost too much if you use them regularly. For computers I have seen people highly recommend the Datavac duster which is specifically designed for electronics. It might be expensive but it might be worth it in the long run. The only question I have before I invest in one in my unfavorable local currency is if they are powerful enough (or too powerful) to clean toys as well.

I put draft excluder tape around the edges of my detolfs. Being white it it matches the top and bottom and really isn't obtrusive. It made a MASSIVE difference to the dust situation.

Thanks Skully. Been needing to clean up some of my guys and wasn't sure how. Now I do know. Thanks.

You know you watched too much transformers when all you can hear when he’s dusting it the transforming jingle

One piece a day with 400 pulse figures. It will get done just have to start from the beginning after you get the last one done the following day. Lol. Good video I’m still looking into a clean room for my figures but my wife is against it. Ha ha ha.

I use a paintbrush to dust my figures, maybe next time I'll try using compressed air. I have an air compressor I use to clean my computer twice a year.

Thanks for tips Bubbeh but it feels to labor intensive. I usually just throw all my figures in the washer on a Delicate Cycle and instead of detergent/soap,I use Armor All to give it that shine. Afterwards they go in the Dryer for about 45min on Medium High heat. Works like a charm but if I had the funds I would get all my figures dry cleaned.

Good pointers. Going back to last week's video, I keep my boxes so that I can rotate things in & out without too much accumulation. Small wipe down and back to the box. With Legends figures, I store them side on in a shelf, sorta like a bookshelf so people can't least glimpse the figure and art.

I don’t like using that compressed air, simply because I feel like all I am doing is shooting all the dust off my figures and right back into the air where it will just end up back on the figures. But that’s me. I use a keyboard vacuum. Gets almost 100%. And it’s taken out of the room. And it’s fast. You have to clean the filter pretty regularly though. I suck the dust off the filter with my shop vac.

Something I use for my vintage game consoles is Armor All wipes after dusting to bring some luster to the plastic. I’ve had no problems so far and these plastics are decades old.

different makeup brushes work great for Lego. and Motuc figures. offcourse...it takes Patience !

I like to keep rotating our collection so when I do a new display I'll have a good dust.

Great video, thanks! Never thought about using the makeup brushes before, will give it a shot. Happy holidays to you and the family!

I dust my figures every month last day of the month lol. I know this might be a little much but I want to keep the figures in great condition.

With a very large collection, I'd consider a small air compressor like one made for airbrushing. With what those cans of air cost, the compressor would pay for itself over time.

Bro, love your videos and reviews! I was contemplating about cleaning my collection earlier but now that I'm up pretty early gonna sip a huge cup of coffee, get the cleaning done and go see Star Wars! Happy Holidays to you & your loved ones! Hope 2020 is a kick ass start to a new decade!

Great vid, brilliant tips. Merry Christmas and all that. Peace...

When I dust my collection, I use a water vac or a battery operated dust vac. I use them both for getting too hard to reach places as long as you remove the accessories off the figures. Mostly I keep mine in boxes/carded. Also, every 90 days or 6 months, I change my air filter in my air conditioner. That way it keeps more dust from piling on my collection.

Best way to keep dust off your figures? Keep'em in the box.

Interesting vid. Merry Christmas to all!

Holy cow, I did not expect that you dusted and cleaned one figure at a time. Your collection is massive! All those Marvel Legends and transformers and hot toys. Good grief!

Great vid! Hadn’t thought of using makeup brushes. I use Q-Tips.

squirt gun fulla rubbing alcohol and goo gone is much easier i say go with it

GCreation is not gone; they're coming out with a movie Grimlock next year.

A couple more tips that I found help: 1. If you have an air compressor, don't use it. It will spray a fine mist of compressor oil on your figures and glue future dust to them. 2. Keyboard cleaning vacuum kits are good too. I prefer a vacuum since imho dusting just moves dust around.

speaking of dust, i was wondering if you ever thought about doing an episode on the condition of collector's items? i remember a while back, i was ordering from tfsource's "vintage" section and attempted to buy a bunch of products they described as "mint" only to have them arrive with open packaging. this was made even worse by all the dust that had accrued on the figures, i can only assume due to improper storage. this has also happened a couple times from ebay sellers, and it feels like if people are going to describe open items as "new" or "mint" these classifications lose their meaning. unless you've already made this episode and i can't find it, it would be nice to have some clarification on the subject.

I thought this was gonna be about Eddie...aight im gonna head out.

I take a t-shirt and wipe all my figures down really well and I use compressed air from my mouth to blow out the nooks and crannies and a Q-tip is also good for those hard to get spots

Sorry bobby, I normally don't dislike your videos, but I had to here. Dusting once a year? Those particles you speak of that can break down materials most definitely will do that, if left on figures for an entire year. It's already prevalent on both figures you used for the video. I dust once or every other week, but not necessarily the entire collection. I do sections each weekend. I use a soft paint brush and a low pressure battery operated air duster. I have neglected figures in the past and it definitely shows. My recent displays that span better than 4 years still look like the were just removed from the boxes.

I just got a bunch of second hand transformers some of which are pretty caked with all manner of crud and I was wondering what would be the best way to go about cleaning them up without completing stripping the paint or stickers off.

Merry Christmas and the like to you and yours, Uncle Skully. I havent had 'babies' for like 12-13 years now, but still keep wipes around because they are the #1 little quick cleaning device. Never thought of using them on the TF stuff, but have used them on the kids toys many times in the past with no issues. Not going to fault you for being skeptical on their use on your collection though, that is very different stakes than a shape sorter.

Baby wipes have moisture and moisturisers in them, I would sooner use industrial wipes even if they contain stronger chemicals.

Short, controlled bursts... I see what you did there. ;)

While I was watching this video on mute, I noticed the way Bobby uses his hands so emphatically, it sometimes looks just like the videos of the dogs with the human hands eating at the table. Maybe it’s just me

💡SAY ... did Bobby CUSTOM paint back of Sound Wave. ????

I have dust on my dust. Cat hair and a can of tuna.

where can i find those paint brushes used for dusting? and if you say wal mart......this is another one of those tough searches again both that and a bigger air purifier

You must have a crystal ball on your desk I did this today 😂

I'd watch a weekly dust segment if Bobby did one maybe Wipe-down Wednesday

Those compress air almost sounds like the transformation in the cartoon

Datavac along with fine artist brushes works well. The vac is pretty damn loud though. Cost of doing business I suppose.

I avoid all kinds of wipes as when they dry they leave a chemical residue all over the figure. you have to hold it in the sunlight to really see it, but it's there. I use a plain non-marking cloth and water, (like those ones a on a big roll, no sponges, they leave fragments and possible mold) its wipes the dust off easy and sometimes needs a second round its been sitting a while. For short term dust I use the make up applier/ duster thing also which is always on my PC desk in a mug of pens.

I play an optibottomus video and hold the figure up to the phone so the hot air blows them off lol jk

Cleaning dust is like hunting xenomorphs, who knew. Most of my detolfs are now dust proofed, but the big stuff has to be dusted every month or so, I live in a dusty area sadly. Edit, a big no to the baby wipes, they leave a residue and usually have moisturisers in them

I had make up brushes for cleaning my stuff. My daughter stole them lol

PV=nRT

Recommended figures for Japanese continuity?

Dude!!! I got an MP Grimlock for dirt cheap from a guy getting rid of his collection. Long story short it was dirty AF I still haven't gotten it clean, its caked up there. How do I fix that? Air and brushes aren't doing anything

You wouldn't have to do this much dusting if you kept it in the box. LOL

Dustwave

it makes me laugh that people spend thousands on figures yet most have really cheap or cost saving display fixtures. usually 8/10 will go to ikea and fucking waste their money on detolfs and billys -- none of which can control dust lol. all i collect are 1/6, transformers g1 mp's, pka ffvii, and neca horror -- yet in my 900 sqft temperature-controlled display room/den/office, i spent upwards of 4K of custom shelving including custom-fit acrylic sliding covers, lighting, and vents to allow controlled air flow to minimize dust - i dust probably every 8 months and there's barely anything on the surface.

*@**11:39* RELAX MAC.!.!!

Lmfao

Im having trouble picking out a tf for my imaginary son's christmas.

Encase it in glass so you don't have to dust it. Rushing to post figures right out in the open without protective measures seems amateurish. And I don't want to be that hobbyist.

Dust racist.