Collectibles > Vintage Kenner
Modern Vintage Repros and Bootlegs
JesseVader08:
The figures are reproductions, first created by Mark Poon who even used the Hong Kong stamp on the leg. It appears that a company in China is now using his molds to mass produce the figures and place them on these crazy cardbacks. I think it's safe to say they are NOT licensed, despite the copyright.
Scockery:
Not the dread Mark Poon! :o
Never heard of him. Not up on modern vintage bootlegs. I think people get a bit too worked up over repro accessories, figures though I can understand...especially if they started making Yak Face...I can that would be problem for serious collectors...and I totally would get one. :P
JediJman:
--- Quote from: scockery on March 23, 2012, 03:23 PM ---...and I totally would get one. :P
--- End quote ---
I guess I can understand people's desire to not be fooled into thinking something cheap is something truly rare. It would be unfortunate to see a mass production of rare vintage figures hit the market and then people who really want a true vintage one have a hard time telling them apart. I don't mind repros that much as long as their is some easy method to determine that it's not authentic.
That said, I also find that kind of thinking leans a little elitist. "I have an authentic vintage figure that I spent a ton of money on, so you shouldn't be able to have one without doing the same" is a crap arguement in my opinion. I like my collection because I like the actual 'stuff' not because I want to be part of a small elite group that has things no one else can get their hands on. Everyone likes the rare stuff in their inventory, but it doesn't make me happy knowing that others can't have one. I bought a repro rocket firing fett a while back and it looks great in my collection - I'd never have one if not for options like this.
I ended up buying 3 of these sets in total. Most of my vintage troopers are yellowed and loose, so great to be able to get something like this in minty white shape. And the Shadow Trooper looks stellar in my opnion. I'll gladly stand him up next to my Polish figures, Fett Repro, and various vintage customs.
McMetal:
I can't help but disagree, I think any bootleg or unlicensed repro figure/accessory is a cheap abomination and they should all be banned like asbestos. It's someone exploiting the public and making money off someone else's intellectual property without paying them their fair due. Has nothing to do with elitism, IMO, just a desire to protect the integrity of the hobby and the largely unsuspecting public.
Some figures are going to command a premium, sure, but not everyone HAS to have everything, right? If you can't afford it, that's ok. I have never seen it as a competitive thing.
I guess I can understand people wanting to have a knock-off Vlix for kicks, but the risk and potential problems with stuff like that circulating is just too great. There are always going to be shady dirtbags who try to pass them off as the real thing, or at the very least are purposefully dubious about their origins.
If these things were officially licensed and clearly identifiable as modern reproductions, like the recent rocket firing Fett Hasbro did, that is another story. There's no chance of mistaking those for an original.
Just my two cents, as a true vintage enthusiast...there are some folks over at RS who take that stuff VERY seriously, which I'm sure will surprise no one.
Scockery:
I understand that.
On the other hand, something like 80's Yak Face was never meant to be rare. It's not a Faberge Egg or something. It was a toy that underproduced before the days when a collectors market was even acknowledged.
Suppose they were bootlegged and somehow indistinguishable from the originals. That would mean the old ones are worth more because they are old? Their decaying plastic more valuable?
Or what if a warehouse was found with 500,000 Kenner Yak-face figures...all originals mint on card...which would lower the market value. Would collectors be mad that what was once rare became common? A lot of them, yes, because of what they paid for the originals, but also because it is about pride to some people, having that rare thing. Folks want unique collections but collect mass produced items! (One of the absurdities of being a collector.)
All the same I'd be cool if Hasbro made a retro Yak-Face (with proper foot hole size, dammit) and it was different enough from the 80's version to keep folks from getting too cranky. Then the true originals would remain such. And I could have an old style figure to add to my old collection. Hasbro probably won't do that, though. That's where the collector-aimed bootleg market comes from, when a company abandons the old style and there's still demand for retro product.
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