Vintage Star Wars Snowspeeder Box restoration - Palitoy - Toy Polloi

I picked up a couple of boxed vintage Star Wars vehicles recently, but the boxes needed some repair to make them good enough to display. Check out how I got on repairing this Snowspeeder Palitoy box.
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[@makingmapp690]

I just watched a man repair a 40 year old cardboard box, and I loved it.

[@paulnorton3607]

It's the sort of thing that makes life still worth living. Really satisfying end result.

[@Luvythicus]

If someone were to ever light a cigarette in Toy Polloi's house, half the block will be wiped away

[@endurojack7415]

😂

[@GALAXIE67]

Wow you don't just fix toys you fix there homes as well 🙂 you are the man, excellent video 👍👍

[@FenrirFire18]

You're a Wizard, Harry

[@unorthdoxcleric6953]

Now it looks like the Retro Collection Box's

[@cookiemadison8529]

The level of careful attention to detail over what is essentially an old cardboard box is amazing. And I mean that in the best way. Your obvious love for what you do comes through, and is what makes this one of my favorite channels, Well done.

[@autoneurotic]

It never was going to be a mint piece but you did salvage it and wonderfully so!

[@CrabOfDoom]

This video really does so much good for my preservationist soul. Tattered as it was, that box was absolutely worth saving for a collection, and your end result shows that so well. Great to know that lighter fluid can get marks & old tape off, without adding new water stains.

[@inthelionsden6335]

You inspired me to collect and refurbish old hand tools with wooden handles. Very little work but they look great when the metal is cleaned and the wood lightly sanded and treated. Thank you.

[@shadowaura5631]

The public eye among us would say that; fixing a cardboard box is just ridiculous, but the passionate see the card board box as a treasure, every cardboard box has a story and to the passionate, is worth saving

[@gamerid6507]

ah a box restoration, nice

[@novax-ig9yt]

Nice job on getting that box in displayable shape! I actually like that the box has some damage....gives it character!

[@francoisregis2155]

Great video Dave you motivate me to restore some boxes especially my gi joe cobra mamba chopper

[@greenlanternhg5141]

Last box repair you did I couldn’t believe it, when I saw the title of the vid I got anxious with anticipation 😁 Great video 👍🏽✌🏽

[@kjamison5951]

Dave, another winner! I would never have believed it possible! I have ruined more boxes by not using the proper materials. I have Lighter Fluid on my shopping list now. Isopropyl alcohol just doesn’t cut it! Many thanks for the video and the tips to making the box more presentable!

[@yavrielsechelle7431]

Your techniques remind me of how the Japanese go about restoring old books.

[@jasfrt6384]

I'm sure the wife appreciates using the dish towels to iron the moldy box. Good stuff. I'm working on a NES box that was taped to hell. This came in handy.

[@invictus84]

This was amazing! Your body of work in restoring toys is really wonderful.

[@ZombieOmega]

Fantastic video! Thanks for taking the time to put all the hard work into this project. I have a 1986 G1 Metroplex box sitting around that you've inspired me to restore now!

[@tntsk868]

great demo! excited to watch your videos with a hot cup of coffee.

[@passthebutterrobot2600]

Thanks, great tip about the lighter fluid! I've got a few beaten-up old vintage Palitoy Action Man boxes, you've inspired me to have a go at tidying then up a bit.

[@Broadshore]

Toy-Polloi! Your work always blows me away. Keep them coming my friend! :D

[@hegadus6011]

Awesome, really enjoyed that one Dave. One of the best bits of packaging in the Empire line and I'd never have imagined results that good? Looking forward to more box work in future!

[@simulatorgamer5958]

Awesome job!

[@thomashensel5645]

I think McGyver has now ever a bottle Lighterfluid Witz him 😉 Great Video. I restorate my Rebel Transport Box. After cleaning with lighterfluid and drying i use black shoecreme with a sponge to repair the damages. It works very will, the black creme has after drying the same black as the Box was colored. Maybe it could be good for your Box to Color some Service damages with ni coloring/painting. Like your helpfull Videos. Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Germany Thomas

[@mx472000]

Excellent video!

[@titmusspaultpaul5]

Interesting video with lots of good tips. Didn't think i would watch the whole video but i allways watch your other videos so i thought i would take a quick look. I'm glad i did and i watched and enjoyed the whole thing. Thanks and keep up the great videos.

[@themonkeyhand]

Most impressive.

[@kg6qzx]

Excellent video! I worked on a large Eternia Box that had some issues but not near this extreme. Great tips and I like the EVA glue method. I’m going to try that on any delaminatation issues I run into. Thank you for posting. Kind Regards, Pat

[@camcordernonsense5264]

Beautiful!!!!!

[@camcordernonsense5264]

My favorite rebel ship from my favorite film.

[@oswaldoautomata]

Great tutorial, thanks

[@guyhiebert]

I do not restore toys. I find your video enjoyable to watch you go through to find a way to restore the item. Thank You

[@cobboGHS91]

awesome, i have an original Voltron in a box that i need to restore. i had a little laugh at the pen holes, i remembered a 9 year old me doing that imagining bullet holes going into it just like the A-Team, lol.

[@FCastle23]

A press for vinyl transfers works great for pressing. Also making a custom insert from either a sheet of cardboard or foam board helps the box keep it shape and protects it from future damage.

[@apodis4900]

Awesome tips, thanks man. Great job. 😁

[@apodis4900]

By the way, could you use acetone instead of lighter fluid, or would it ruin the print?

[@toypolloi]

Acetone is very harsh. And will damage pretty much everything. So don't use that.

[@gutz1981]

This is great to know. I got one or two MOTU boxes that one or two corners need some TLC and I have one or two cheap boxes I would want to buy that now I can restore better. Cheers.

[@MusicalBox]

Looks definitely better. I wonder if you ever got tempted at some point to try to fix the damaged printed areas on an old box.

[@kylesteele9403]

I've found when repairing boxes that are separating -- just putting glue on the corrugated ridges is good enough, with some medium weight coasters on top to keep the layers in contact, but not smushing the cardboard paper thin, keeping the open space in the cardboard in tact

[@RMAILLER]

I'm gonna try that with my super powers batmobile box

[@dennisneo1608]

I tried to restore a Vectrex box once. Big failure. I wish I had your videos then.

[@JiraiyaPlaysRetroGames]

Nice one Dave, PM’d you my Bossk repaint the other day. I did similar restorations on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers boxes that had lost plastic window boxes or scuffed foxing on edges

[@Raysboss302]

Fluid trick is in the pocked.

[@Nicopelli]

Well done that looks amazing, I got some old Kenner Real Ghostbusters boxes I will try this on.

[@thewiseman80]

i have the same snowspeeder and same issue with the box, maybe slightly better condition, not ripped or taped, but its pretty flimsy and worn. Got it from antiques shop in in 1994/95.

[@scruffsbycartoonfish2301]

Nice to see someone restoring something that might seem insignificant but actually has good memories for some. Would you consider trying to repaint the missing print parts?

[@ds3930]

This Toy Polloi episode brought to you by Lighter Fluid “Lighter Fluid...we need to sell this surplus to someone! Lighter Fluid..please buy some TODAY!”

[@thereallantesh]

I wouldn't have thought the end result would have come out so well. One thing that concerns me though. It looks like there was mold in between where the cardboard had separated. Wouldn't it be wise to find some way to neutralize that before gluing it back together?

[@smoll.miniatures]

I enjoy working by candle light as I remove the tape…

[@davidmcfadden1763]

Would have been a shame to throw that in a landfill, good on you! It looks great!

[@deans0209]

A black magic marker would have worked wonders

[@garym6315]

I wish we had known back then that sellotape would cause such permanent damage. I used to use sellotape to reinforce the creases on folded posters I'd get in Doctor Who Magazine, but of course the tape became yellow and brittle and ended up causing the creases to have weird wrinkles along them.

[@toypolloi]

We weren't to know any better and just used what seemed sensible.

[@shdavid83]

While it may be near impossible to repair all the surface wear on the box, could you colour match and paint the black portions of the box?

[@mikeymike3240]

Looks great now, how about fixing the black washed out bits, can it be done. I was thinking about a black permanent marker to tidy up the black, Waddaya think of this idea. Great video. 😀👍👍👍

[@toypolloi]

I'm not a fan of using pen on stuff like this. The ink changes colour over time, most likely will go brown. So best to just leave them as is.

[@rohnsparkman5466]

not bad

[@bikerscout7467]

Excellent work as always! I'm guessing the same technique could be used to clean up tatty Vintage Star Wars figure Cardbacks?

[@toypolloi]

It's fine to use in vintage cards.

[@ethrieltd]

When you first use lighter fluid it looks like it's gonna ruin the box, but I've never had it do so. I've used it on boxes and books and always had a decent result. As to glue, I've always used laminate floor PVA, and a roller device for bending and folding the edges. To clamp the box together take two strips of 1x1" and drill holes in each end and they can then be bolted together like a strip clamp. This box is what they call "showing it's age" but there something to be said for that, and it's of course much cheaper than a mint one...

[@weswesley826]

Next time you need to pull old tape or stickers off old packaging try using a hairdryer. I use it for old vhs tapes especially and works like a charm. It pulls almost no color from the packaging

[@davidJones-mx7yw]

Bet mrs toy polloi was fuming you were using her ironing board and brand new tea towels to iron a box lol na bet she cool with it really lol u must of asked her first

[@VirginiaTombstoneRevival]

Do you happen to have anything on recreating the banner and flags for the MOTU Castle Grayskull by any chance? The “toyjesus” website doesn’t show that it’s even active anymore for some reason. You have some great downloadable files on your site, but I didn’t see anything for this particular fix. Any help would be great and keep up he amazing content.

[@toypolloi]

See the pinned post on that video. Cheers

[@scruffsbycartoonfish2301]

Doesn't lighter fluid contain benzene? Would isopropyl alcohol work instead?

[@gildad2000]

Excellent video. I’m wanting to restore a 1978 landspeeder box for display. Any tips? How hot do you make the iron?

[@toypolloi]

The iron does not need to be that hot, you are just warming the cardboard. Cheers

[@gildad2000]

Toy Polloi awesome, thanks for the advice friend

[@TheToyBoy1978]

Not sure how necessary the EVA glue is, i used PVA several years back when re-carding Vintage Star Wars figures back onto original cards, gluing down the torn paper where the blister has been pulled from the card, that paper is very thin but they all still look great. Of course if you dont have PVA glue to hand then you might aswell buy the EVA simply because its acid free and obviously thats a bonus! Also, when gluing boxes back together i often lightly sand the glossy side to help with adhesion. ; )

[@hughragsdale7351]

👏👏👏

[@Villordsutch]

Can I ask, after the lighter fluid has evaporated does it still retain the odour of the fluid or does that go too?

[@toypolloi]

That goes as well. Just leave the window open for a bit. Cheers

[@samandbecky6496]

One pice of advice on the lighter fluid, do leave it a couple of minutes to do its work and you can remove old tape and stickers with minimal to no damage at all. I personally would not remove it so quickly. Great video though.

[@sbusiello]

How come you didn't touch up the missing black specs around the box? Edges and stuff?

[@camcordernonsense5264]

In my mind I made those boxes so much thicker than what they were released as.

[@alanpwhelan]

Do you mind me asking where you got the acid free EVA? I’ve been looking online and can’t find anything suitable.

[@toypolloi]

I got mine in a local model shop. I’m sure there must be online sellers.

[@smokinggunsaloon208]

Did you keep the receipt?

[@restorationandrecovery102]

Puedes retocar los daños con marcador negro o lapiz

[@davidropp3174]

I've seen you edit scans of stickers, have you ever considered scanning a box once you've flattened it and making a reproduction that could be printed and cut out?

[@toypolloi]

There are places that do this already and have amazing scans of boxes. So for now I've not bothered. Cheers

[@VMIFerrari]

Doesn't the lighter fluid leave that smell on the box even after it evaporates?

[@toypolloi]

The smells goes as it evaporates.

[@mrbrown2186]

A bit off topic of cleaning toys, It's also amazing for cleaning smeared mirrors, car windscreens and also amazing for refurbishing dirty/worn wiper blades.

[@Tim-57]

Hey Man I was grinning the whole way through. Most times when I watch your videos I think...I do not have one of 'those' however, I will be able to help someone with 'this', if it ever the need comes up.... ☺️ Another good one in the books Dave.😀

[@dion74t58]

I have a fully original parts completed Snowspeeder and box. Could anybody give me an idea of an evaluation please?

[@toypolloi]

Check for previously sold items on eBay. That will give you an idea.

[@danielg.vgremio83]

👍👈

[@Superdimensional]

I would’ve tossed this out in a New York minute 😆

[@toypolloi]

Send them my way next time!

[@Superdimensional]

Toy Polloi I’ll keep you in mind. “One mans junk is another mans treasure!”

[@KhaiJbach]

makes you wonder what the toy exec's were thinking tho.... a PINK sky....?

[@morlvol]

Fixing toys is a little bit on the edge, But this is way over the top.

[@toypolloi]

On the edge of what? And way over the top of what? 🤷

[@lauragonzalez9095]

You should used a spray bottle for the lighter fluid! It would cover more space and save you time. Great video!!!

[@toypolloi]

Not sure if that would be dangerous or not. You would be spraying lighter fluid as a vapour. And that could end up being a problem. The vapour is much more flammable.

[@alpal482]

Would lighter fluid help bring back colour lost to sun damage?

[@toypolloi]

No. It's just for cleaning.

[@alpal482]

Toy Polloi thank you I can’t find any recommendations.

[@toypolloi]

There is no way to bring back the colour. Learn to enjoy it for what it is. Wabi Sabi collecting.

[@alpal482]

Toy Polloi no worries cheers bud

[@mrlawilliamsukwarmachine4904]

I have started donating elastic bands and washi tape to charity shops. I told them it’s for the boardgames and why sellotape should be BANNED from charity shops.

[@callithowiseeit5806]

Black ink over cracks and places where the tapes removed the print, I do this on mine (even subtly painting in detail), brings the box quality up big time, was hoping you might go that far

[@toypolloi]

I'm not a fan of using pen on stuff like this. The ink changes colour over time, most likely will go brown. So best to just leave them as is.

[@callithowiseeit5806]

Fair play, maybe try some experiments tho, poor quality carbon ink tends to brown but good quality (used strategically rather than over whole areas) can freshen up edges, cracks and worn areas a treat, appreciate you responding and always enjoy when your latest work appears ;)

[@ilj1259]

Did anyone else cringe when the lighter fluid was applied?

[@mrbrown2186]

Nope.

[@irgski]

This guy must not have a day job....

[@toypolloi]

I do have a day job, this is just a hobby.

[@FantAsI_Men]

You can also use baking paper, when you need to iron something that is delicate, clothing with decals and so on.