Quote from: sithtoys on August 20, 2007, 05:32 PM

The only vintage Vader case fake/repro prototype cases are the Gold Chrome on black plastic cases. A few years ago in Toy Shop, there was a dealer making repro's. They are very easy to tell apart from the real thing, but shady dealers picked up on them and resold a few of them as legit.
If there is ever any doubt, contact me or another vintage collector.

Bill

Bill - the fakes were they just gold "plated" on the exterior, but the interior was left black? A vintage toy shop I visit has one such Vader case buried under a pile of junk behind a display case (it's been there for at least two years). I've always figured it to be a fake, but I'd find it kind of funny if it was one of the Kenner test pieces and the owner doesn't even know what he has. I've never seen interior shots of the test pieces and can only find exterior pics on the Archive with no references to the interiors.

Cheers!

All of the known fakes/repros are the black cases w/ the gold chrome. This is NOT saying that all such cases are fake. The original chroming tests by Kenner were done using the black cases. (this is what they had on-hand)
As the process evolved, Kenner started using different plastics (ie. the Dull Gold Case), and some of them being Chromed as well. In all, there are 3 main variants for the Gold Chrome case.
Your best bet it to examine it, and see if it has been split/cut along the main seam for the case. (Kenner cut the cases to aid the chroming process.) Also, look for general signs of wear and aging. If it is a black case (whole) and has a very deep gold color, without a lot of wear, then it is probably one of the vintage repros/fakes.

Bill

If you can post some pics of the case, or send them to me I can give you a better idea.

hi there.i found something in one of Sansweet's books. i hope this will help out:

   When Kenner decided to make a gold C-3PO action figure carrying case,they wanted to see how much packaging it needed to protect the finish in the shipping process. So they took about 100 of the black plastic Darth Vader cases,vacuum metalized them in a gold finish,and shipped them to and from Kenner headquarters.(i would love to have one of them!) I have never seen a white one.it could be a prototype.

LOL... you think ?   I wonder what those other cases in the pic might be ?

Bill

Hmmm... I was checking out SithToys.com, the Darth Vader Toy Museum.  On the front page, he states that there are only 8 of these known to exist.   If that case was a real prototype, I'll kick my ass for not jumping on it. 

Sorry guys, but this was indeed a real prototype white case. (I was the high bidder)
Vintage cases like this are next to impossible to fake. The only vintage Vader case fake/repro prototype cases are the Gold Chrome on black plastic cases.
A few years ago in Toy Shop, there was a dealer making repro's. They are very easy to tell apart from the real thing, but shady dealers picked up on them and resold a few of them as legit.
If there is ever any doubt, contact me or another vintage collector.

Bill

Quote from: JedioftheNorth on March 27, 2007, 03:30 PM

Holy that site is great and there was a book published also may have to try and pick that up some how really good reference site.

Sithtoys.com is a great site!  I'm pretty sure the owner's name is Bill McBride.

"Vader - The Ultimate Guide" only skims the surface of Vader items produced, but it's still a great read.

Quote from: JedioftheNorth on March 26, 2007, 05:11 PM

Nice Jesse please let me know any tips you have about a Vader focus as I'm starting to do this abit myself.

The smart thing to do would be to focus on certain sub-lines, not try not to buy everything like I do. 

Howdy All!! I was pointed to this site by another forum member.

www.sithtoys.com is indeed my site, and I am also the same "Bill McBride" featured in the LFL book "Vader : The Ultimate Guide"
I love to see new people coming into the Vader collecting fold!! Trust me, there are more than enough items to go around. I think that is one of the key things that I love about having a Vader focus: there is so *much* out there to collect.
My personal "sub"-focus or rather personal priority list has always been headed by the more rare and unique items. (non-US MOC and MIB pieces, prototypes, displays, etc)
I guess my main bit of advice would be to go for quality over quantity. Anyone can pile up junk and call it a collection, it takes someone with passion and a keen eye to put together a quality collection.

Bill