My orange rubber divesuit still hanging on but barely...lol

I bought this orange rubber divesuit about 6 years ago brand new...
Its been slowly going down hill for probably 2 years now...

I did find a pair of vintage orange divesuit PANTS on ebay so ordered them...Pants look in good shape... Now gotta find a decent vintage orange top for my Gi joe...

This is my childhood Gijoe and accessories..Figured its about time I get him another vintage wetsuit....Instead of the repro ones..
This was a shark surprise set I got back in late 1970...
He's going be naked before too long...

Looks like he has been more than a little surprised by a shark at present!
Wonderful to still have your childhood Joe!
Good luck in your quest to re-suit him.

LeStryge wrote:

Looks like he has been more than a little surprised by a shark at present!
Wonderful to still have your childhood Joe!
Good luck in your quest to re-suit him.

...Thanks

Is there a difference in the durability between vintage dive suits and reproduction suits?

Your diver actually looks pretty cool at the moment, but it sounds like the rate of deterioration is accelerating. And you probably can't actually touch him at the moment without causing additional damage.

SCU_HQ wrote:

Is there a difference in the durability between vintage dive suits and reproduction suits?

Your diver actually looks pretty cool at the moment, but it sounds like the rate of deterioration is accelerating. And you probably can't actually touch him at the moment without causing additional damage.

The orange wetsuit he has on was brand new 6-7 years ago...The guy from Brazil had a mold
and it was fresh made right before I bought it...Even had that new rubber smell....lol

BUT with that said, I've seen 50 year old vintage ORANGE wetsuits in better shape! Not many mind you but there are still some out there...
MIGHT be that my house could dry them out quicker than where they came from??? I do not know but will find out...lol

NOW I have a thick black reproduction wetsuit that just keeps going and going! Bought that one used like 14 years ago...It was made in 2003 I think...

Not really sure how other reroduction wetsuits hold up other than what I bought????

Materials may have improved.
When Joe was originally released I think no one ever considered them becoming a collector's item, just a child's plaything, and therefore long-term durability probably wasn't of concern. Manufacturers thought it would be played out long before the rubber had time too deteriorate.
New stuff is made for the serious collectors.
I do have an original release James Bond "Thunderball" figure with the orange wetsuit still in perfect condition, but it's been removed from the box, kept in the open air and I never touch it.
Skin oils will definitely rot the old wetsuit material.

I very much covert that speargun!
You could just leave him as he is, ....add a few bloody wounds to his skin and have him holding a dead shark?
The aftermath of an underwater struggle?

LeStryge wrote:

Materials may have improved.
When Joe was originally released I think no one ever considered them becoming a collector's item, just a child's plaything, and therefore long-term durability probably wasn't of concern. Manufacturers thought it would be played out long before the rubber had time too deteriorate.
New stuff is made for the serious collectors.
I do have an original release James Bond "Thunderball" figure with the orange wetsuit still in perfect condition, but it's been removed from the box, kept in the open air and I never touch it.
Skin oils will definitely rot the old wetsuit material.

I very much covert that speargun!
You could just leave him as he is, ....add a few bloody wounds to his skin and have him holding a dead shark?
The aftermath of an underwater struggle?

Sadly the rubber suit wants to melt to Joes plastic body...I have to keep putting powder on Joes body...That
keeps the rubber from fusing to Joes plastic for little while anyhow...
I ordered a vintage pair of rubber PANTS that are still supple the guy says... ALSO just ordered a vintage rubber orange TOP.. (Its stained and beat up alittle but it will do until I find a better one...) Guy said its still supple though...
The wetsuit I have on him now crumbles when you touch it...lol

Great idea about the wounds and Joe holding a dead shark though...

Well it WOULD have been a good idea had the wetsuit NOT been adhering to your precious childhood Joe!
I don't think a Joe with leprositic attachments would be such a good look!

I contacted 3 ebay sellers that are also Gijoe collectors...
One guy said, the VINTAGE rubber wetsuits are getting harder and harder to find
in decent shape...Reason being as more time goes by they are becoming more rare to find in good shape...
He said, he has collected a pile of orange wetsuits over the years probably 50+ of them
but none are in good condition...He keeps them for the zippers...

inntruderr61 wrote:

I contacted 3 ebay sellers that are also Gijoe collectors...
One guy said, the VINTAGE rubber wetsuits are getting harder and harder to find
in decent shape...Reason being as more time goes by they are becoming more rare to find in good shape...
He said, he has collected a pile of orange wetsuits over the years probably 50+ of them
but none are in good condition...He keeps them for the zippers...

I was just about to say make sure you harvest the zipper off yours. Very handy if and when you need one.

It's difficult to know how long any of these last isn't it?
I know some of the 40th Action Man versions have suffered similar fates and some are fine so it seems to be a bit of a lottery I guess.

I have a 50th anniversary frogman with a black rubber wetsuit.







At the moment the suit looks great, but I wonder will that be so in a few years time ...?

Dreadnought wrote:

inntruderr61 wrote:

I contacted 3 ebay sellers that are also Gijoe collectors...
One guy said, the VINTAGE rubber wetsuits are getting harder and harder to find
in decent shape...Reason being as more time goes by they are becoming more rare to find in good shape...
He said, he has collected a pile of orange wetsuits over the years probably 50+ of them
but none are in good condition...He keeps them for the zippers...

I was just about to say make sure you harvest the zipper off yours. Very handy if and when you need one.

It's difficult to know how long any of these last isn't it?
I know some of the 40th Action Man versions have suffered similar fates and some are fine so it seems to be a bit of a lottery I guess.

I have a 50th anniversary frogman with a black rubber wetsuit.







At the moment the suit looks great, but I wonder will that be so in a few years time ...?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your frogman looks great! But yes sadly who knows how long it will last...

Good luck Jim!

The 40th Anniv Joe series was slated to release the Orange wet suit set. It was to be one of the last 4 boxed sets of the entire 40th series...they didn't make it. Actually it was one of the last two sets. they were also to be released by the GIJCC club. The club released 2 of the last 4 sets, but never the last two which included the orange wet suit.

The 40th Action Man series I believe did issue the orange wet suit, but I have heard they didn't hold up well.

Prior to any of the 40th sets, Hasbro released the Timeless series of reproduction sets. One of these was a black wet suit. It is apparently bulletproof. I have one, over 10 years old now and still very nice-like new. And the rubber is so thick the figure won't hold a pose.

I have a black wetsuit similar Bri! Yep had it 14 years and its still going..
Yes thick rubber and hard to pose Joe...lol

Hard to find orange wetsuits...

Here's my James Bond "Thunderball" figure....a 1997 release I think.
I wired him onto the metal coral stand you see here, (sold as a ladies jewellery holder) and never touch it.
The orange wetsuit seems to be in perfect condition as far as looks go but the white shorts have started to develop a yellow stain and are in need of a clean, but I'm VERY reluctant to undress the figure and subject the wetsuit to all the flexing that would involve.
Think he might have to stay with dirty shorts.
I have had to tighten the face mask strap which had stretched out over time.

(Sorry about the over-saturated colour. The camera was accidently left set on "Art" which artificially bumps up the intensity.)

Cool looking diver LeStryge!
Yellow stain? Maybe he seen a shark and peed himself..

inntruderr61 wrote:

Yellow stain? Maybe he seen a shark and peed himself..

That could be a good cover story for the situation!
"The P is silent, ....as in swimming"?
Thankfully the stain wasn't brown.....

The dive knife in the leg sheath is the kind of thing that the little kid in me finds totally cool. Makes me want to lose all this extra flab I'm packing around and get back in to diving... even tho' I now live almost a thousand miles from the nearest ocean.

The irony is, your cool toy photo makes me want to sell all my toys and buy new dive gear. (I sold mine before I moved four or five years ago, and it had been sitting unused for a long time prior to that.) Fortunately, my "toy collection," such as it is, is financially almost worthless, so I'll have to come up with another approach to funding dive gear. Maybe put away a couple of dollars for every pound of fat I'm able to lose....

Took mine to a Fijian island recently, ...(NOT in cabin luggage of course!) and used it to dispatch as many crown of thorn starfish that I could find.
With local ranger's permission naturally as most places are declared marine sanctuaries, but those damned things have a voracious appetite for living coral and are very destructive.
I did get one sting though.

LeStryge wrote:

inntruderr61 wrote:

Yellow stain? Maybe he seen a shark and peed himself..

That could be a good cover story for the situation!
"The P is silent, ....as in swimming"?
Thankfully the stain wasn't brown.....

LeStryge wrote:

Took mine to a Fijian island recently, ...(NOT in cabin luggage of course!) and used it to dispatch as many crown of thorn starfish that I could find.
With local ranger's permission naturally as most places are declared marine sanctuaries, but those damned things have a voracious appetite for living coral and are very destructive.
I did get one sting though.

OUch, do the stings hurt much?

SCU_HQ wrote:

The dive knife in the leg sheath is the kind of thing that the little kid in me finds totally cool. Makes me want to lose all this extra flab I'm packing around and get back in to diving... even tho' I now live almost a thousand miles from the nearest ocean.

The irony is, your cool toy photo makes me want to sell all my toys and buy new dive gear. (I sold mine before I moved four or five years ago, and it had been sitting unused for a long time prior to that.) Fortunately, my "toy collection," such as it is, is financially almost worthless, so I'll have to come up with another approach to funding dive gear. Maybe put away a couple of dollars for ever pound of fat I'm able to lose....

Cool you once was a diver? Thats awesome!

inntruderr61 wrote:

OUch, do the stings hurt much?

Nowhere near as much as I'd been led to believe they would.
Mind you, it wasn't really a deep sting but more of a graze from the thorns. Not wearing gloves of course.

SCU_HQ wrote:

.... I'll have to come up with another approach to funding dive gear.

Of course good diving gear can be really expensive, but when travelling and weight is such an issue, I've bought quite cheap equipment that is perfectly satisfactory for the purpose.  Just as long as the facemask doesn't leak around your face.
NEVER rely on the stuff available anywhere that's for general use. Always take your own!

LeStryge wrote:

Took mine to a Fijian island recently and used it to dispatch as many crown of thorn starfish that I could find.

I had a blunt-tipped "pry bar" type "dive tool" rather than a sharp-tipped knife.

When you travel, do you take your BCD, regulator, and gages? Or just mask-fins-snorkel... and your knife... and rent the rest?

inntruderr61 wrote:

Cool you once was a diver? Thats awesome!

Certified through "PADI Rescue Diver" level (which sounds more impressive than it is, but sounding impressive is better than nothing). I used to own all the gear – suit, buoyancy compensating vest, weight belts, regulator, tanks, the whole bit – but it gets expensive; regulators require annual servicing whether you use them or not, and the servicing isn't cheap. You have to pay to fill your air tanks, not terribly expensive, but factor in making the time to drive back and forth to the dive shop and having the tanks inspected every year and it becomes a hassle. Boat dives get expensive fast, and you are being herded around like cattle most of the time. I ended up doing much more snorkeling than diving when I lived near the sea. Grab your mask and fins and go, no other gear to hassle with, no boats, no fees, no waiting for other people.

[quote="SCU_HQ"]

LeStryge wrote:

I had a blunt-tipped "pry bar" type "dive tool" rather than a sharp-tipped knife.

That's exactly the type I was using on the starfish. You have to mangle the centre of them (or they'll regrow from the bits!) and the flat tip works best. The fish do the rest.

SCU_HQ wrote:

When you travel, do you take your BCD, regulator, and gages? Or just mask-fins-snorkel... and your knife... and rent the rest?

Taking the whole thing would be prohibitively expensive.
I usually just take mask,snorkel and fins and rent the rest.
However of late I find I have been doing more snorkelling than Scuba. (You can usually pick up a weight belt anywhere.)
It depends on the location of course but I certainly agree with you on the hassles of dive-boating.
I hate waiting around.