Dirty plastic bags in a MISB set

[legotrainfan]

I have recently bought a MISB set. It's a set released in the year 1983. When I got the set, one flap was already loose. Due to old age those seals sometimes tend to fail, as we all know. So I pulled the carton box out and noticed that there was a kind of substance on one or two sealed plastic bags. It is white and sticky. That substance was also on one stud of a bigger element in the box - some plastic bags lie on it -but I could easily wipe it away with my finger.

I'm wondering what it is. It looks like sticky white paint. Upon contacting the seller he could assure me that both seals were intact when he got it, and he said he had never had a look at its contents, thus not knowing anything about the matter. I believe him since I've bought things from him before.

Unfortunately, I cannot post any pictures. My cameria isn't good enough so that you'd be able to see what I am describing.

So my question is whether you have had similar experiences. Have you ever had a MISB set in which you found dirty plastic bags matching my description... or have you come across other peculiarities with older MISB sets?

[Hey Joe]

Hey! It's a good question. Here in Beijing we have a lot of dust, that stuff works it's way into unimaginable places. Perhaps your set was stored in a poor environment. Also, once I bought a new, recent set at a store and a bag had a small tear and a little piece had come out into the box.

Stuff happens. Joe

[naf]

Do you know what kind of environment this set was stored in? If it was in a hot place, some kind of glue from the box might have melted.

[legotrainfan]

Do you know what kind of environment this set was stored in? If it was in a hot place, some kind of glue from the box might have melted.

The seller said he'd had it in a dark and dry place. As I said, he found it in a shop. I have no idea where the owner of the shop stored it.

By the way, I also assume it must be a kind of glue.

[Balrog]

Dark and dry doesn't mean, that it hasn't been hot ;) I would guess this is some wear of the plastic bags due to being stored with more than regular room temperature. But who knows.

[Hey Joe]

My sister worked in a hobbist glass blowing shop for a number of years. It was a little disconcerting to me to see how that silica (I think it's called) embedded itself into and onto everything. I guess that whatever is on the inside of your box was also on the outside, but has been wiped off.

Joe

[Faefrost]

If its been sealed since 1983 and spent a long time on a store shelf it's probably just something environmental that worked its way in. That or it was stored in someplace hot enough that the box glue melted or deteriorated. The final option is something weird got in it from the packaging machine way back in '83.

[CP5670]

I've had some MISB sets that were apparently stored in smoky environments and the pieces had traces of dirt on them (which came off easily, but they were also discolored in some cases), but nothing like the substance you are describing.

[legotrainfan]

Dark and dry doesn't mean, that it hasn't been hot ;)

You're right!

Maybe the sticky paint-like substance was already on the plastic bags before they were filled with bricks at the factory. I'm just adding another theory...

[Lyichir]

You're right!

Maybe the sticky paint-like substance was already on the plastic bags before they were filled with bricks at the factory. I'm just adding another theory...

Maybe, but that's unlikely for the simple reason that we would of heard of this sort of thing happening to other sets of that era after this many years. The fact that no one seems to know what caused this is evidence enough that it's never happened before, and is therefore unlikely to be a factory error.