Objects losing properties

Here's my problem,
I'm loading a character select mission (charselect.mis) where the user selects from a series of fighters and also selects their skin (using the setSkinName resource)

I end up creating objects with properties. I'm uising a SimObject because it seems that these are the most generic of objects.

So I end up with something like...

$w1 = new SimObject();

$w1.bodyshape = "blah/blah/blah/tall_template.dts";
$w1.skin = "fighter2";

then I do the same this with a $w2;

Then what I want to do is load the fighting arena, and dynamically generate 2 AIPlayers using these settings. The problem is that when I load a new mission, the properties of these 2 SimObjects are erased. I've tracked it down to the disconnect() function.

So 1 of 2 things I'm guessing.
*Can I load another mission another way that doesnt destroy simobject properties?
*Is there some type of global general object that I can use simply to add and store properties (almost like a struct) so that would span across multiple missions?