How Gold Plastic Syndrome is Killing Toys and Game Consoles

Certain vintage toys and Nintendo DS consoles are suffering from a phenomenon known as Gold Plastic Syndrome. As Hackaday reports, metallic coatings used to give plastic a sheen can react with the material over time, leaving the shells brittle, yellowed, and prone to crumbling. While the exact chemical cause remains unknown, the Transformers toy community has documented the issue since the late nineteen eighties. For handheld consoles, replacing the original shell with a third-party version is currently the only viable fix.

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