Any success getting the smell out?
I bought the Hasbro Whirl last spring and noticed the weapons stunk something fierce. I figured they'd fade in time...and put them in a container where I was stocking some of my other TF accessories....
Wow was that a mistake. BE WARNED: That odor will seep into ANY plastic that's nearby. I had to throw the container out and have spent the last 3-4 weeks airing out the other accessories in the container. I've gotten the smell knocked back a lot, but it is still present and it sadly has permeated through a bunch of my combiner wars weapons and my entire set of FOC data discs that were in the container
As for Whirl himself, I left one of the weapons on his hand and that odor transferred to him. Its been a couple weeks but I haven't been able to get rid of the smell where the weapon was attached. I've left him outside in the hopes it'll air out.
I had a few of the TFs that were next to Whirl pick up the odor too, but thankfully most of those I've been able to air out successfully. No luck getting the odor off Generations Wheeljack and Nightbeat though.
Regarding cleaning most of the weapons, I've had some success with soaking them in 1 part distilled white vinegar and 3 parts water for a week, week and a half. Some of the plastics seem to hang onto the odor more than most. Have to be careful with the vinegar though as it'll corrode any metal. It'll take a day or two for the vinegar smell to fade, but the odor is nearly undetectable afterward. This hasn't been a success for all the weapons, though. Streetwise and Quickslinger's weapons come to mind, but I'm going to let them soak for longer as they only soaked for a few days.
As for Whirl's weapons? I soaked them for two weeks and knocked the smell back in about 3 of them, but none of them went away completely. I took some mesh and hung them up on a clothesline outside for the last few days. No idea if it'll work, but I've resigned myself to the fact I'll be tossing them out and Whirl too if I can't get the odor out by spring time.
Sigh.
I guess the lesson in all this is to be careful of where and how you store your TFs. Thankfully Superion, Menasor and Defensor were kept away from this and so don't have the odor. Just their weapons.
*EDIT* Wanted to add one other thing. I'm not sure if the vinegar is a permanent solution to the problem either. I had one weapon that I thought I had completely eliminated the odor from and it came back within hours when I had put it with a TF I had on display at work. I'm not sure if the trigger was the flourescent light, the reduced humidity, or the warmer temperature of the room, but I ended up taking it home again and soaking it for two weeks. It corroded the metal pin, but I think it worked this time. I haven't taken it back to work yet....so I'm still not sure.
