Back in the day when I was studying at art college I developed a fundness for painting with acrylics and was encouraged to become a colourist. Suffice to say that is were it ended and my working life has been mostly in retail and management to date...
I start by gluing any split or ripped parts of the boxes back together and/or (if possible) fill any missing box areas in/up. Next I very carefully clean the boxes up to get rid of dirt and dust. Lastly, (the bit I enjoy) I touch up the worn box areas with acrylic paints, making sure the colours/shades bend with the unworn areas as I go by using a pre-mixed palette.
Two years at art college finally of use, albeit only on Transformer boxes.   LOL.

 

What did you do to clean the box. I have a white lucky draw box that needs to be cleaned and I don't want to lose the gloss on the box or create any water damage. I remember people back in the day used to use a little bit of rubbing alcohol since it would evaporate.

 

It’s tough finding a Hook with both legs intact much less all three of those for such a great price. Good job!

 

I haven't had to use rubbing alcohol though I would consider it but only after testing it first. I have only used an ever-so-slightly (luke warm water) dampened kitchen roll (soft paper towel) followed by a very soft and dry cloth. The type of soft fleece cloths often used to remove make up: Technic Make Up Remover Cloth Ultra Soft Reusable Magic Face Eraser Towel 5021769272137 | eBay It sometimes requires patience and repeating the process but the box should be totally dry before repeating and a gentle touch is needed, no heavy handed cleaning and certainly no scrubbing type movements when cleaning.

 

I've seen people use lighter fluid to clean up boxes before. If you search on youtube for packaging restoration, there's a video of a guy cleaning and restoring a vintage star wars snow speeder box.

 

I have never heard of lighter fluid being used but have just taken a look on YouTube using packaging restoration and caught a couple of great videos already, thanks. I have a spare, extremely battered and filthy G1 Jetfire box in storage that I would love to repair then touch up with acrylic paint but before that it needs a clean to try and bring back to life and it will need much more than a dampened paper towel, makeup remover cloth and patience.

 

Love these old toy adverts on the back covers of the UK comics.

 

^  I love Grimmy in semi-Dino mode firing Bombshell's gun.

When I get home I'll see if I can find a direct link to the video I referenced.

 

Decepticon Rocket Base



All the best
Maz

 

Well spotted, I had never clocked the gun error before. Jazz in car mode with two humans (tiny drawing) sporting number 1 on his door. So cool LOL

 

That’s the set I had an opportunity to buy years ago. Back at Botcon ‘99 or 2000 (I forget which) there was a table with 3 Japanese guys selling JP TFs, and they had that set MIB for $50. I didn’t go for it  

I wish I had the Monsterbots when I was younger. They’re a really cool set.

Hey Maz, good to see you on here again  

 

Those colors!!! Soooooo sexy!

 

Here's the video I referenced where he used lighter fluid:

 

Looks beautiful - nicely done!

Not gonna lie, I enjoyed the hell out of opening this today. Anyone know why Hasbro gave regular missiles to Platinum Seeker Squadron Thrust but none of the other seeker reissues?

 

I imagine it’s because the molds for Thrust were never altered for Western release like the original Seekers were so when it came time to reissue them for Platinum Edition the budget wasn’t there to add the extended missiles to the Thrust mold.

 

The mythical Maz is back  
Are you not nervous inserting that GPS gun into Stalker's fist?

 

Happy with how this turned out. Getting better with each box. This one was much harder than the Magnus box I did previously. It's much harder matching Decepticon purple than it is Autobot red. The most damaged part was the 'door' on the left. The rest was just standard wear and tear and corners that needed re-gluing. Two before and five after pictures below in no particular order.

 

Thank you. That is brilliant, I will check it out.

 

Yours is its own kind of talent. Most people would just repro a box and call it good enough, you actually brought the original back. Amazing restoration!