Palitoy Toltoys Death Star Action Figure Stands

Cazza said:

Set of 6, 100% original.

Have sets. All originally purchased from the Palitoy employee's shop and we're part of a massive collection.

£24 delivered (Royal Mail recorded).

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Sorry to dig this up, but how can you tell the difference between these original stands and the modern ones you can buy readily today on ebay etc? I have a bunch of clear and yellow ones that came with a collection and just wondering as to their originality.

Cheers
Chris

Hi Chris, they have three little half moon shapes on the underside edge. A lot of the modern ones also have a small circle around the base of the peg, which isn't present on the original. Post up some pics

Cazza said:

Hi Chris, they have three little half moon shapes on the underside edge. A lot of the modern ones also have a small circle around the base of the peg, which isn't present on the original. Post up some pics

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Although this is true about the circle around the peg on some repro ones, the ones Iain sells don't have this and look the same as the originals. Fortunately I have some originals and recently had a close look at these compared to the repro ones to see if I can tell them apart. From what I can see the placement of the 3 half moon shapes differs from the repro ones.

Edit - James contacted Iain and his stands are the ones with the circle around the peg so the other ones that look very close to the original are from somewhere else. Not trying to dirty your name Iain, honest

One of the half moon shapes should be directly beneath the peg (12 o clock) with the other 2 at roughly 5 and 7 o clock on the originals. The repros have the half moons opposite with the one at 12 o clock on the originals being at 6 o clock. Hope that makes sense but I've looked at the set you sent me Cazza against my originals and also an Action Force original and the half moons all match. If anyone has repro ones and it's different from what I've just mentioned then please pass the info on here.

All of the above is for the clear ones and I haven't looked at the yellow ones so can't comment on them at this time. Also all the repro clear ones are clearer than the originals (just by a bit), as they must be using slightly different plastic.

Ian

Thanks for the extra info Ian. Yeah, mine were part of a massive SW/Action Force collection from the son of an ex-Palitoy employee. They had been in storage since the late 80's. Had a bag full of the stands. The best thing was the Action Force baggies- some really rare stuff. He also had a metal prototype (with hand drawn decals) of the Action Force Tri-Fighter. An amazing piece- I told him to keep it and I hope he has!

We should probably have this moved to the reference section (sorry admin), but here are my findings.

The original Palitoy stands differ in three noticeable ways in comparison to the modern stands. The peg shape is different, the semi-circles on the underside rim are positioned differently and the plastic of the modern stands is of a far better quality. You can see the Palitoy ones have a rough, fine bubble like finish in spots. This is true of both the yellow Cantina and clear Death Star stands. There is also a difference in dimensions only detectable with vernier calipers. It's too fractional to detect with the eye, but it is there and haven't found one stand that differs in this way.

Here are some shots to illustrate the points. One other tell about the vintage clear stands is they are often (at least those I have) are a little yellowed. That's not to say that the modern ones won;t yellow with time, so I wouldn't use that as benchmark. Also, I've read that people use the fact that all repros have a circle around the base of the peg. Again this shouldn't be used as a benchmark as some repros, like the one show here, don't have this circle.





Chris

TK-7785 said:

We should probably have this moved to the reference section (sorry admin), but here are my findings.

The original Palitoy stands differ in three noticeable ways in comparison to the modern stands. The peg shape is different, the semi-circles on the underside rim are positioned differently and the plastic of the modern stands is of a far better quality. You can see the Palitoy ones have a rough, fine bubble like finish in spots. This is true of both the yellow Cantina and clear Death Star stands. There is also a difference in dimensions only detectable with vernier calipers. It's too fractional to detect with the eye, but it is there and haven't found one stand that differs in this way.

Here are some shots to illustrate the points. One other tell about the vintage clear stands is they are often (at least those I have) are a little yellowed. That's not to say that the modern ones won;t yellow with time, so I wouldn't use that as benchmark. Also, I've read that people use the fact that all repros have a circle around the base of the peg. Again this shouldn't be used as a benchmark as some repros, like the one show here, don't have this circle.


Chris

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Looks like your findings are same as mine Chris and good to see that your half moon shapes follow the same rule as mine (as does the yellow one which is good). I didn't notice the difference in the peg length and taper so that's good to also know and the pictures show it all nice and clearly.

As I mentioned I can't see any difference at this time between the SW and AF stands and as they both came from the Palitoy factory (at least I'm guessing that where they were made?), it stands to reason that they were both made from the same mould (as the yellow ones probably were as well).

This reference guide for them should be on TIG really as I'm sure people out there would like to know.

Ian

Ian, the SW/AF stands are identical.

Cazza said:

Ian, the SW/AF stands are identical.

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Thought as much and at least it means there are more chances of picking up the originals once your supply has gone.

Ian

Mods, these are all sold now, but it may be worth pruning the sale posts and moving this to the reference section, instead of the sales archive...

I have some Death Star figure display stands, which came with a large collection I bought in the 90s.
This was a time when these stands weren't really of interest to collectors, and certainly weren't worth alot of money.
These stands have the three half circles on the back, and no circle around the peg....as seen on original stands.


I also have some Action Force unused items, which have these stands. These have the three half circles on the reverse, and no circle around the peg.


However, another collector has noticed a couple of differences with the 90s bought stands and known originals. Mainly that the sprue mark on originals is the opposite side of the peg, whereas the 90s bought ones have it the same side as the peg:


Also the peg itself is slightly different. The originals has a slightly tapered top, whereas the 90s bought ones have more rounded, dimple type top:



According to TIG:
'The only way it seems to tell (fake stands) is by the circle that goes around the foot peg of the repro version.'

This circle isn't seen on the 90s bought stands I have. Also the TIG original has the sprue mark next to the peg (not the opposite side as seen on the originals I own).

I've looked through my Action Force battle packs and all the stands in those have the sprue mark the opposite side of the peg.

So, could these stand variations both be original but variations from different moulds...or are the 90s bought ones fakes...made very early on?
It seems odd that these stands would be replicated at such an early date, when these stands would not have been in demand or worth alot.

Having looked in my Action Force HQ interestingly there are four of this stand below. These have the same defects, two marks, which must have been in the mould. So that means at least two variations of these original stands:


So, can people with known original display stands please post whether the sprue mark is either next to the peg or the opposite side. Perhaps we can get a concensus as to whether both stands (sprue next to peg, and sprue opposite to peg) are original...or sprue next to peg are replicas!

Hope that all makes sense and I look forward to your replies.

Thanks in advance

Lewis

A very well explained thread

My own stands all have the sprue opposite the peg, which is tapered and has no dimple on top (see photo below). However, I hope some other forum members are able to contribute to this thread and help answer the question, as it seems quite possible there could have been different production runs yielding slightly different stand variations:

I posted my findings on this last year in this thread...
https://starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=32106&p=480872&hilit=figure+stands#p480872

Here's what I posted again for ease.

"The original Palitoy stands differ in three noticeable ways in comparison to the modern stands. The peg shape is different, the semi-circles on the underside rim are positioned differently and the plastic of the modern stands is of a far better quality. You can see the Palitoy ones have a rough, fine bubble like finish in spots. This is true of both the yellow Cantina and clear Death Star stands. There is also a difference in dimensions only detectable with vernier calipers. It's too fractional to detect with the eye, but it is there and haven't found one stand that differs in this way.

Here are some shots to illustrate the points. One other tell about the vintage clear stands is they are often (at least those I have) are a little yellowed. That's not to say that the modern ones won;t yellow with time, so I wouldn't use that as benchmark. Also, I've read that people use the fact that all repros have a circle around the base of the peg. Again this shouldn't be used as a benchmark as some repros, like the one show here, don't have this circle".





In addition to this it's also worth noting that not all the modern/repros have the circle moulding around the base of the peg. So being devoid of this circle isn't a clear indicator of originality.

Looks like I have to check my stands again :? Thanks guys for all the great info :wink:

Great info, thanks guys

Thanks for the information Chris.

It looks like the quickest and easiest way to differentiate (which you haven't noted in your study), is the sprue mark.

On your pics you can see the sprue mark on the modern ones is next to the the peg, whereas on originals its opposite the peg.


I'll add this information to your other thread.

Thanks
Lewis

Moving these post to the original thread (now in the reference forum).