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Re: Preventing or Slowing Sun Damage
I have a TON of experience with this from collecting vintage Joes.
Your main source of damage is either direct sunlight or the UV that is released from light fixtures. Fluorescent lamps are usually what cause the most damage unless you expose stuff to the sun outside. It's been my experience that reflected UV is minimal but I've always had carpeted floors so they don't reflect much and wall paint doesn't seem to add anything appreciable.
Best bet, use incandescent bulbs (maybe LED too, I've not run out of incandescents yet), DON'T buy the halogen light you can get for a detolf. This keeps all the UV to a minimum.
I know this as I had only one fluorescent light in my house as a kid and none of my toys ever discoloured in the slightest, even with a bit of play outside. On the other hand my SNES, which was in the room with the fluorescent light, did turn yellow. This is also the case with lab equipment at my work. 10yrs of fluorescent light exposure to grey plastic power supply cases have discoloured them, yet the supply in my office where I normally keep the lights off, has not significantly discoloured. (The extended exposure has even created a shadowing effect under the knobs where the discoloration is slightly less.)
Also, the discolouration seems to "creep" across and entire plastic part most of the time, regardless of the side that it was exposed to the UV. I had an interesting Cobra Mamba that had beed displayed for years suspended from the ceiling. The top half piece turned an ugly brown over the entire surface, the bottom half remained fine since it was in the shadow of the top half. Cut open or open a discoloured item and it'll be the same colour inside and out.
There are tricks to remove the discoloration but they're tough on paint and stickers.
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