I feel dirty... I just bought some repro weapons

[edd_jedi]

Hear me out before the pitchforks come out please

My older boy loves Star Wars and now the figures, it started off with LEGO but I've given him a couple of dozen vintage figures over the last year which he loves. But they were all rough spares with no accessories (partly because they were small and I was worried he would eat them.)

But now he's 4 and a half, he saw my complete figures and really wanted the blasters for some of his figures. There's no way I'm giving him £25+ accessories to play with (lose) and he wouldn't accept my suggestion of using some of the many LEGO blasters we already have!

So today I have just bought him a handful of repro blasters from eBay. Although I bought the grey plastic ones so they should never be confused with the real things, I still feel bad about it. But you get to a point in life where pleasing your son becomes more important than keeping the collecting community happy, I guess.

So what have you all done in similar situations - thrown caution to the wind and given your four year old £200 worth of 1cm plastic things? Stood your ground and said no?!

 

[Michael Sith]

It's a hard choice indeed!

the key here is that you have:

1. purchased the grey ones ( so no confusion there)
2. Purchased for a very valid reason

There is no way on this earth that by collectors not buying these that it will eradicate the problem of repro, there are boxes, weapons and cards and bubbles all out there.
I myself have used replacement bubbles on a couple of cards, for display for now until such time as I can source/budget for the real thing ( if they ever come up)

it's a personal choice thing in my eyes, let's face it Edd it's about the individual, and the community knows you well and understands your commitment to the hobby and love of Vintage.
i would not lose sleep over this if I were you, you are not purchasing for nefarious reasons just simply being a Dad and protecting your Vintage!
as the little one gets older and understands ( as with all things as a Dad, you'll teach the right and wrong in the world) he will take on the morals and principles you bestow

just my opinion

 

[Snaketibe]

You did a sensible and reasonable thing. Mind you, if you need any more, why not ask if anyone here on the forum already has some repro rubbish they can give you? I know I do! Whenever I've bought a figure over the years, if it came with a repro weapon I would quarantine it in a 'bag o' crap' and store it away to prevent it polluting the hobby again in the future. What that means is that I have small cache of repro garbage that I have no home for, so if you're happy for your son to have them, you're very welcome to them.

Jeremy

 

[edd_jedi]

What that means is that I have small cache of repro garbage that I have no home for, so if you're happy for your son to have them, you're very welcome to them.

I hadn't thought of that, I appreciate the offer, I only bought four for the grand total of six quid but I'll bear that in mind if he wants more! I always thought collectors kept rogue repros for comparisons. I don't think I've got any in my collection, but I am not the world's greatest expert on them! That's one of the reasons I went for the grey ones, the blue and black ones looked damned convincing to me.

 

[theforceuk]

My son has got my fake VC Jawa that a bought for £120 in 1999. He's also got some other repro weapons, I actually went through them the other day and took out the proper ones (stormtrooper blaster included) as like you say they're worth a bit to much now. Live and let live I say.

 

[colin310]

At that age I think you need to stand your ground
When I got my vintage figures along with my vintage MOTU out my parents loft my 4 year old loved it! Certainly the "bears" (ewoks) but this, although cute, gives me chills…..

They have been removed for the time being & will be allowed to be looked at only for the foreseeable!

 

[lejackal]

My son has got my fake VC Jawa that a bought for £120 in 1999. He's also got some other repro weapons, I actually went through them the other day and took out the proper ones (stormtrooper blaster included) as like you say they're worth a bit to much now. Live and let live I say.

120, you were done. Current repro VCJs are like 16 quid and great to pop on the desk lol

 

[theforceuk]

@lejackal This is what happened. lol

Biggest stitch up down the years

Ok I'm new to this forum, but have been collecting vintage Star Wars for many years and have some great memories of great finds down the years. But I did get stitched up once badly many years ago. I found this shop not far from where I lived that had some vintage stuff. I bought all the stuff...

starwarsforum.co.uk

 

[Pomse2001]

Hear me out before the pitchforks come out please

My older boy loves Star Wars and now the figures, it started off with LEGO but I've given him a couple of dozen vintage figures over the last year which he loves. But they were all rough spares with no accessories (partly because they were small and I was worried he would eat them.)

But now he's 4 and a half, he saw my complete figures and really wanted the blasters for some of his figures. There's no way I'm giving him £25+ accessories to play with (lose) and he wouldn't accept my suggestion of using some of the many LEGO blasters we already have!

So today I have just bought him a handful of repro blasters from eBay. Although I bought the grey plastic ones so they should never be confused with the real things, I still feel bad about it. But you get to a point in life where pleasing your son becomes more important than keeping the collecting community happy, I guess.

So what have you all done in similar situations - thrown caution to the wind and given your four year old £200 worth of 1cm plastic things? Stood your ground and said no?!

I think it is a good idea, I would have done the same. Repro can be used to kids playing with the old toy or for collectors that want weapons for the figures but do not have the cash for the original.

Why I hate repro today is only because they now make some of them so good so they are hard to ID so they can trick collectors when they buy from bad sellers.

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

I have a bag of repro accumulated over the years and my daughter has those to play with her beater figures. There is no way she wouldn't lose the real thing… I've seen her playing with her Barbie and My Little Pony and that stuff is strewn all over the place and forever going missing.

 

[momike]

I think I have some repro lying about you can have, saves you lining sellers of the stuffs pockets dosnt it, as long as your lads happy that's all that matters, all about fun of it and I love how young kids appreciate the vintage goodness

 

[Robstyley]

Don't worry about. They're for playing with, not collecting, there's a big difference. My kids have a tub of beaters they play with every now and then but none have weapons and they've never asked for any. I would do the same if they wanted some, give them repros. It's too late to stress about repros, that ship sailed a long time ago. As long as they're not being sold as original.

 

[gammoguard]

At that age he doesn't need to know the difference and you don't need the cost/stress of something that IS going to get lost. The beauty of it is that one day he'll be old enough to see the difference and know how important it is to get the correct accessories.....from there he might even want to get a set to match his dads (proud moment beckons).
I wish my two had an interest in Star Wars toys but no matter how hard i try they just dont want to know.......even telling them they'd have the best Star Wars bedroom in their school doesn't work

 

[sparkysx]

No big deal buying him the repro ones, they are out there now and no one can stop it from happening, repro wouldn't exist if the originals were not so expensive anyway. As plastic takes so long to break down, I wonder how many original guns are sitting in landfills, never to be seen again?

 

[edd_jedi]

As plastic takes so long to break down, I wonder how many original guns are sitting in landfills, never to be seen again?

I often wonder that when sitting on beaches, there must be thousands of them in the sand!