Melting/Dissolving Cels (aka &*%&(* Vinegar Syndrome)

[Charon]

So today I was in the midst of rebagging cels when I came across two of them from my collection that had half liquified. Yes, it was the cataclysmic conclusion to Vinegar Syndrome.

Both of these are from the 1980s American cartoon She-ra and they look far worse in person than in the photos I snapped. Last time I had checked up on them was a couple months ago during another rebagging session and they were both pristine -- no warping, discoloration, spots etc. I didn't notice then any of the vinegar smell that is now suffocating the room either.

The cels also looked better in their half-liquified state as once I pulled the layers free of the cel bags, the acetate clouded over and curled up with parts of it looking as if its eaten away entirely. The paint itself still looks pretty good once it dried out again (too bad it requires an an actual cel to display said paint).

I went around sniffing and rebagging all my other cels to find another She-ra cel also distinctly smelling of vinegar (somewhat oddly, it's coming from the layer with correction lines not the ones with actual paint) and yet another She-ra cel whose sides have started warping. All of these cels were from separate celbooks, so it really looks like a problem with that series, so She-ra is now being quarantined to its own celbook.

On one hand, its good that these are not from one of my more expensive series. On the other hand this is completely horrifying those were my best cels of Swiftwind and the Unicorn King.

In conclusion She-ra collectors... eyeball those cels good.

[Rekka Alexiel]

....My worst nightmare.... So sorry that happened to you and your pretty cels!!

[Drac of the Sharp Smiles]

I feel so badly for anyone I hear about finding this. I've been amazingly free of any of my own cels falling to this fate, but I fear it greatly.... and fear it's only a matter of time before a piece I love is effected. O.o

Though it's no consolation, there's one thing you might consider doing with these. I know there are Disney setups (the name given them - begins with a "C"? - is escaping me) that are cutout cel images placed onto backgrounds. As in, the entirety of the cel material is cut away except for the part with paint/lines on it. Since the cel material on these is so heavily damaged, you could consider carefully doing the same thing.... Cut out the images at the edges of the lines, keeping only a tiny margin around the parts with the paint, and preserve them that way. Removing the extra blank portions of the heavily warped cel material might allow the painted parts - the actual image - to lay more flat and be more enjoyable for you to view, even in it's deteriorated state.

Just a thought.... However, this might start a conversation on if this would be considered only further damage to the pieces. That said, in your position, it's what I would probably do.

Lots of comfort sent your way.... ;_;

[sensei]

That's awful news, and especially when it happens to cherished images without warning. About all that can be done is to isolate the remains and put them in cold storage, which slows (but sadly cannot reverse) the chemical reaction. My sincere regrets, Charon. At least you have a scan of the image when it was still in pristine shape -- cold comfort but at least something is never lost.

[teggacat]

oh man, what a cel collector nightmare... I am so sorry to hear about [and see] those pictures, but alas,
it is really an eye opener for as collectors to actually see those images, and for that I am thanking you
for posting the pics....I have experienced some mild vinegar syndrome, usually from just one series that I attempted to
collect from, and I will no longer even consider buying cels from that series ever again. That's certainly not to say
any of my other cels are safe but certain studios appear to be more prone to extreme cases of this syndrome.
I must say I did find Drac's comment/suggestion a rather interesting option tho.....
I did want to mention that I havent seen you around here much before hence your gallery was new to me,
and I did enjoy spending some time wandering around your collection!

[zerospace]

Like most people who have heard of vinegar syndrome, I too fear its eventual effect on my/my hubby's collections, given that we have a pretty big collection of 1980s transformers cels. Whenever I do any re-organization or general maintenance work in our cel books, I find myself sniffing cels (especially the older ones) in the collection looking for hints of a vinegar smell. So far, I have been lucky.

What happened to your She-ra cels is so sad, Charon. I would say the same as sensei, though -- at the very least, you do have good scans of them when they were still pristine. Like he said, though, it is not much comfort given the circumstances.

[Charon]

Thanks for the commiseration everyone. This is one of the few places where my screeching about cels melting wouldn't just get blank looks. (Ands if this happened to my Evangelion or My Little Pony cels you'd probably hear my screaming through the computer screen)

After the cels finish airing out (and I get in my orders of new cel bags & microchamber paper) I'm probably going to take Drac's suggestion about the cut-out cels. The Unicorn King set-up is 7 layers and is currently taking up over 6 inches of vertical space due to all the warping. Alas, I can't seem to find the scan of that particular cel, but since it was the key master set-up, I can just look at a screencap of the episode. And this would be a good reminder to update the cel gallery more often than once every three years.

The only cold storage I have access to is the freezer/fridge which is probably not going to be that helpful (although it's hard to think of anything being more harmful besides outright setting the cels on fire)

I don't know if I'll be trying to replace these cels. I'm certainly never buying another expensive She-ra cel again. I also have some She-ra cels matted and framed, so I'm debating taking them down (and sniffing them) now.

[Mackettric]

Thanks for the info. I'm definitely going to keep a better eye on my He-man & She-ra cels. I've seen that a few times w/ He-man cels but I suspected improper storage considering where they came from.

[lunacels]

This is awful! I don't know how I never heard about this before, but I was panicked enough after reading your post that I went through every cel in my books. Thankfully they appear to be in working order. I suppose I should check them now more frequently than once every...oh...ten years.

That's so sad that it happened to your She-Ra cels. They were (are still!) beautiful! Hopefully Drac's suggestion will work. It's a brilliant idea.