is this a legit variant?

[TrooperWill]

hi folks,
starting to drift across into the shady world of variant collecting and stumbled across this seller from the states.
he has this for sale:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SEMI-RARE-IR ... SwsZJadP90

is this a known variant? as i have never heard of it and i have been reading up a bit recently. the seller has lots of variants for sale but is clearly also a bit of a chancer and a clear repro enthusiast. i probably wont pull the trigger as i dislke dealing with international shipping but am very curious.

he clearly warns that attempting to clean it removes the effect which made me think a layer of grease or some other degradation of the plastic as opposed to a rare variant. he also has a second one for sale for half the price, which seems odd if they are rare.

thanks.

[subzero]

Well that would be the first one iv'e heard of so far, not to say that it's not a true variant but the metallic finish just looks weird to me.

[Tarkin's nosehair]

its solely plastic degradation and this guy is a well known........how shall i put this nicely?

[TrooperWill]

Post by Tarkin's nosehair » Wed Sep 19, 2018 3:04 pm

its solely plastic degradation and this guy is a well known........how shall i put this nicely?

no need to put it nicely, 12 negs in 12 months is fairly impressive..... cheers, i thought as much, but there was 2 available which made me wonder!

[poncho]

thats just paint degredation thats all. its not a variant

[Dannywhiteley]

Put it this way, they never looked like that 30-40 years ago. That's the sign of a true varient (eg Tusken cheek holes) and Vs paint/plastic degradation (green limbed Chewie).

[plantainman]

hi folks,
starting to drift across into the shady world of variant collecting and stumbled across this seller from the states.

Welcome to the world of variants. Check out my COO thread in orange below, might be of use...

Stargeezer has this metallic hair Leia listed in his list of variants (see link)...It is just degradation, But the reaction didn't happen that way with all Leia figures, So I guess its individual taste as to whether its a piece YOU need in your collection, or not.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32951&p=438563&hilit=variant#p438563

Peace

[weasel]

As someone who never quite saw the attraction in variants, I always thought a 'variant' was like beauty, "in the eye of the holder." I.e whatever the feck the owner wants.

I'm in the camp whereby a variant has to be noticeable at a distance, large head and small head Han, cloth/Vinyl Jawa etc. but I know some variant collectors consider paint differences as legitimate variants as well as COO markings.

My all time favourite quote by a variant collector on here, I don't remember who it was, was something along the lines of "this is my new (insert whatever figure name it was) variant, it has a slightly raised bar but not as raised as my raised bar...."

Sorry but when you're getting to the stage where barely noticeable difference in bar heights are 'a variant' YOU NEED TO GET OUT MORE!

[Snaketibe]

I take the point, as variant collecting is certainly not for everyone (and no, it wasn't me with the raised bars! ), and personally I like to be able to see the differences between two figures if I'm going to call them variants. Having said that, each to his or her (do we actually HAVE any regular female members here?!) own, and if another collector enjoys acquiring every single COO available, then fair enough

As for the metallic / iridescent hair Leia, I would class it in the same category as the purple smocked Ugnaught. Unless someone can prove otherwise, I believe I am correct in saying all Unaught smocks started life blue, but some of them have since discoloured to purple. However, since not all blue smocks discolour, clearly there is a difference (and a very obvious one at that!) between the two smock types. Since one type discolours and the other doesn't, personally I class them as separate variants. And following that logic, it could strongly be argued that the metallic haired Leia IS a true variant... albeit perhaps not quite such an exciting one as you might think. I own a metallic pouch Chewbacca, but unless you angle it correctly in the light, you'd never know as most of the time it looks like a bog-standard pouch paint job. I also own a Dengar with one metallic limb!

So buy the Leia if you feel it's something you'd like to own, just be prepared for the possibility of being rather underwhelmed when you have it in hand

[_Lee_]

its solely plastic degradation and this guy is a well known........how shall i put this nicely?

Ill say it to save Carl the hassle...a well known cunt.

End of

[Cornish_jedi]

Put it this way, they never looked like that 30-40 years ago. That's the sign of a true varient (eg Tusken cheek holes) and Vs paint/plastic degradation (green limbed Chewie).

Couldn't agree more. I have seen my fair share of degradation on accross the line since the early 90's and this is the same. Personally don't see these as varients (although sometimes interesting to look at for focus collectors).

It is concerning that people put such items up for sale as 'varients', likely to target new or less knowledgeable buyers. Another reason platforms sush as here, and other established groups, should be shared and utilised at every level of collecting.

[Dannywhiteley]

As someone mentioned above, the fact that some limbs, paint apps or capes change colour when others don't means there must be some variation in the materials used. However considering some of these figures were produced continuously for 8 or so years means it's very likely that supplies, materials or plastic mixes changed several times over that period (tied to the last fact they were coming out of several different factories across SE Asia).

Personally I think the rise in costs of most vintage SW has led to collectors seeking out niches, one of those being COO varients. At least initially you could buy a loose lot of figures and no attention was being paid to what the COO was by the seller. That's obviously changing now, but was a good way to build a diverse collection on relatively little money.

I remember buying loose lots for hidden Trilogo Fetts and hollow cheeks Tusken BITD. That's obviously far less likely these days, but 'hidden' COO varients can still slip by relatively unnoticed. Adds a challenge that admittedly not everyone gets (myself included).

[edd_jedi]

Is this a legit variant?

Unless it's a vinyl cape Jawa, double telescoping Luke/Vader/Ben, small head Han, or blue Snaggletooth, then no

[lejackal]

its solely plastic degradation and this guy is a well known........how shall i put this nicely?

Ill say it to save Carl the hassle...a well known cunt.

End of

I'm getting predictable

[Pomse2001]

I would not buy it for that kind of money but if I found it in a lot then I would keep it as a variant.

10 years ago many collectors would have called poch figures for degradation in the colour and plastic production errors, but today they are poch figures.

Just like maybe 20 years ago a lili ledy figure was just a kenner figure for most collectors etc. etc.

Maybe it is degradation but we also have other toy that are metallic that we do not call degradation. Metallic bespin blaster for PBP.

Yellow plastic that was white I would for sure call degradation and the green armour dengar degradation.