PVC, Vinyl, ABS, PU, Polystone, I believe you have heard of these. What are they? Are they plastic? POLY is more expensive and advanced than VINYL? We are confused about these questions about the materials and processes.
PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride)
VINYL is the V in the Poly Vinyl Chloride. PVC is the raw material of VINYL and SOFUBI. The two basic forms of PVC are hard and soft. SOFUBI is the phonetic abbreviation of the Japanese SOFT VINYL, its material is soft PVC. Vinyl is a special production process of PVC. The PVC has the below advantages.
1. Good stability.
2. Good plasticity.
3. Lightweight.
4. Low price.
PVC is the most frequent material for the collectible toy. The material of VINYL and SOFUBI is PVC too. The cost of the PVC is low and the mold cost is high, it is suitable for mass production.
ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)
The ABS material is found everywhere in life, such as car fenders, dashboards, televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioning and so on. Most of the Blind Boxes and PVC Figures on the market are made from the material PVC and ABS. Why use two different materials to make them? The reasons are the different material characteristics. The PVC is tough and ABS is hard. All PVC material collectibles are easy to deform, crack and outlet. The ABS material is suitable for long-term weight-bearing legs, arms, neck and other parts on the toy figures. The ABS is easy to process for expressive details and plating performance and is suitable for the performance of details and metal texture. Most of the blind boxes and figures on the market are made from PVC and ABS parts. The main components are PVC and ABS for the local structure requires weight or the form of sharp accessories.
PU (Polyurethane)
PU is the main material to make the Garage Kit. The usual "HEI-CAST resin" is PU resin. It is made by mixing agent A and agent B in the same weight ratio and quickly molded. PU is highly malleable and has a strong ability to express details and a good feel. It has various colors, such as white, beige, ivory, transparent and so on. It can also be modulated with special colors. PU material is more expensive compared with PVC, ABS and other traditional plastics. It is made of art toys when carried lightly need to hold lightly. PU is commonly used in small-batch production of artist and designer toys. Compared with PVC, the material cost is high and the mold cost is low, the labor cost is high and the combined cost of a single is higher.
Poly (Polystone)
Polystone is a type of artificial stone. It is usually used in statues and appeared in art toys in recent years. It is made of resin mixed with stone powder. The advantages and disadvantages of Polystone are as follows:
Advantages:
1. The material is cheap.
2. Impact resistance, heat resistance and hardness.
3. Longer life.
Disadvantages:
1. Heavyweight.
2. More brittle.
Compared with PVC, ABS and PU, Polystone is the hardest, the heaviest and the most prone to fracture.