Help! - I finally found some Black Starbursts but... (3 Viewers)

[DZPoker]

The good news:
I finally found some Black Starbursts!

The bad news:
70% have some major man-made damage. I’ve tried brushes and a magic eraser...did nothing.

Here’s where we’re at:

Anyone ever see damage like this? Any ideas?
-DZ

 

[Statesvegas]

Wow...

 

[Pinkdan]

Black sharpie

 

[chkmte]

maybe airbrush them?

 

[Sprouty]

Is it residue from a bad label job?

 

[mtl mile end]

Just oil them. They'll appear more even in colour, and if the discoloration is caused by an adhesive, the oil will dissolve it - eventually.

 

[DZPoker]

Just oil them. They'll appear more even in colour, and if the discoloration is caused by an adhesive, the oil will dissolve it - eventually.

So I did think about this path. I may try with a few to see what happens!

The “square” around the starburst seems to be the legit color...but I can’t get the rest to come off. I assumed it was adhesive but would have thought a magic eraser would at least put a dent it it but got nowhere!

 

[abby99]

Pure speculation: chips were subjected to a lot of sunlight or other UV rays that faded everything but what was under the label. No clue on the label.

 

[Ben8257]

Tea spoon of oxiclean in about 6 cups of warm water and liberal amount of dish soap. Let them soak about 10 - 15 minutes... go at them with the magic eraser! The oxi will breakdown the residue. See how they clean up, if its decent oil heavily and let them sit 48 hrs before wiping them back off.

Should not damage the starburst and probably the best chance of reversing that mess!

Ben

 

[DZPoker]

Pure speculation: chips were subjected to a lot of sunlight or other UV rays that faded everything but what was under the label. No clue on the label.

Given how it doesn’t seem to react to scrubbing, maybe you’re right?

Tea spoon of oxiclean in about 6 cups of warm water and liberal amount of dish soap. Let them soak about 10 - 15 minutes... go at them with the magic eraser! The oxi will breakdown the residue. See how they clean up, if its decent oil heavily and let them sit 48 hrs before wiping them back off.

Should not damage the starburst and probably the best chance of reversing that mess!

Ben

My next shot at them! Thanks for the recommendation...these are going to be a marathon not a sprint!!!

 

[Josh Kifer]

Fire. That'll fix it.

 

[DZPoker]

 

[Colquhoun]

In my experience, OxyClean removes the shiny part of hotstamps... leaving a dull, brown color behind.
Proceed with caution.

 

[DZPoker]

In my experience, OxyClean removes the shiny part of hotstamps... leaving a dull, brown color behind.
Proceed with caution.

Will proceed one chip at a time. If I destroy a few in the quest to save the rest, I’ll be ecstatic!! Thanks for the additional info!!

 

[Ben8257]

In my experience, OxyClean removes the shiny part of hotstamps... leaving a dull, brown color behind.
Proceed with caution.

TSP will removed the gold foil quickly, usually when cleaning hot stamps I only use soap and water but in bad situations if you are careful oxi will not remove the gold foil.

 

[upNdown]

In my experience, OxyClean removes the shiny part of hotstamps... leaving a dull, brown color behind.
Proceed with caution.

This is true in my esperience as well. I wouldn't use oxy on hot stampts at all.

Are they all discolored is that same square pattern?
I have some black paulsons that have some similar discolorations, though far less severe. I've washed with tsp and oiled, all with little effect.
Please keep us updated

 

[DZPoker]

This is true in my esperience as well. I wouldn't use oxy on hot stampts at all.

Are they all discolored is that same square pattern?
I have some black paulsons that have some similar discolorations, though far less severe. I've washed with tsp and oiled, all with little effect.
Please keep us updated

All have the exact same discoloration...to a T

 

[upNdown]

All have the exact same discoloration...to a T

Which leads us to believe they had some kind of bizarre square label on them, which prevented the center from picking up that discoloration. But does noting to explain the discoloration itself.

 

[ekricket]

Looks like an artifact from the hot stamp cancellation, something on the hs press

 

[upNdown]

These chips seem to have the same kind of discoloration, though less severe. Cleaning with dawn and TSP substitute did nothing, nor did oiling.
Following

 

[DZPoker]

Which leads us to believe they had some kind of bizarre square label on them, which prevented the center from picking up that discoloration. But does noting to explain the discoloration itself.

yep - seems like it’s not adhesive...though I may try to scrape with a razor blade in the interest of science!

 

[DZPoker]

These chips seem to have the same kind of discoloration, though less severe. Cleaning with dawn and TSP substitute did nothing, nor did oiling.
Following
View attachment 606016

Do you have a face pic?

I was going to scrape with an exacto too to see what happened.

The other 30% look like they may have had the damage but were cured with scraping or sanding or?

I will save these!!!!!!

 

[DZPoker]

Looks like an artifact from the hot stamp cancellation, something on the hs press

Except many many have been cancelled with said stamp and no weird square discoloration??

 

[Johnblue]

My guess is they were used to prop up a table.

Lots of tables.

 

[DZPoker]

My guess is they were used to prop up a table.

Lots of tables.

What happens on your tables that would leave a square shaped stain?

 

[upNdown]

Do you have a face pic?

I'll take one soon

 

[Colquhoun]

What happens on your tables that would leave a square shaped stain?

Looks like the dark square is the unaffected area and the outer section is faded. I could actually see a table leg covering the square and the outer section getting a fair bit of floor cleaner, sunlight, etc.
Ok, maybe not a table, but possibly used as a spacer or prop for SOMETHING.

 

[DZPoker]

Looks like the dark square is the unaffected area and the outer section is faded. I could actually see a table leg covering the square and the outer section getting a fair bit of floor cleaner, sunlight, etc.
Ok, maybe not a table, but possibly used as a spacer or prop for SOMETHING.

Ok, now I see where you’re going with this. It definitely looks like ‘inside’ of the square was protected and the ‘outside’ took on some damage. The shapes of the squares are not all exactly the same though (close but not exactly).

 

[JustDave]

I wonder if this is similar to what happens to old toys where they oxidize and change colors. IIRC they use a combination of peroxide and UV lights to remove what is effectively oxidation but I could be completely wrong.

 

[allforcharity]

Yikes. If this is some sort of chemical damage/oxidation, I think you might be SOL. Obviously some sort of physical barrier prevented the rectangular area from being affected. You might have to settle for cleaning as best you can and then *gasp* paint over it.