Repro rebel blasters

I bought these 3 blasters off the same guy about 6 or 7 years ago when I'd not been collecting that long and hadn't discovered TIG, RS and forums etc. I had no contact with other collectors and was just on ebay at the start. The listings had all the usual guff about 100% original and all that bollocks, I've been a collector for years blah blah blah. It was only later on I realised I'd been done. I'm pretty sure they are repro, they just look far too crisp and new. Anyway, I just wanted to see what you lot think? The guys name was Paul but I can't remember his ebay handle, might have been Paul6767 or something like that. The bottom photo is other weapons people have sold to me in the last 9 years as original but are repro I know there's been plenty of threads about repro but I just wanted to share these ones. Alarmingly they have all the right detail, but if you had them in hand you'd see what I mean. Real ones are a bit rough, these are perfect.

Do the Rebel Blasters sink or float ?

The Palace Blaster is certainly repro - they didn't make them in blue. The lightsaber is repro too, the hilt shouldn't be rounded.

Edit: just saw that you already know the bottom photo are all repro.

try the drop test on your Rebel Blasters, repro tend to be a harder and more brittle plastic and consequently they make a higher pitched 'chink' sound like glass when you drop them onto a tabletop.

Struggling to tell on my iPhone but it's the dimple in or out on the second photo?

itfciain said:

Do the Rebel Blasters sink or float ?

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They do float mate but I've never been convinced about that test. I've read on TIG and elsewhere that some of the repro smaller blasters mimic originals and do float.

walkie said:

Struggling to tell on my iPhone but it's the dimple in or out on the second photo?

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The dimple goes in Walkie as it should. They are a perfect copy of a blue/black V1.

Robstyley said:

itfciain said:

Do the Rebel Blasters sink or float ?

Click to expand...

They do float mate but I've never been convinced about that test. I've read on TIG and elsewhere that some of the repro smaller blasters mimic originals and do float.

Click to expand...

You're right that the float test is not the be-all-and-end all but it is a good start. I will be honest, I can't see too much wrong with the Rebel Blasters

I know the sink test isn't the be all and end all but if you try it in conjunction with the drop test I've found the combination does get it right a lot of the time.

Without wishing to teach you to such eggs: drop each weapon form a height of 10-15 cm onto a hard surface and listen to the sound. The lighter, higher pitched sound is the sign or a repro, the dull heavier sound usually means all good. Not sure about you but my initial thought when I heard about it was that I had no noise for comparison. Personally, even though I had only one suspect weapon to test I found I didn't need it. The noise didn't sound right and I knew the one I had was fake. Must have been some kind of memory from childhood lodged away in a dark corner about what noise SW weapons make when dropped on a hard surface!

I have tried dropping them and some other original ones and I couldn't really tell any difference to be honest. The same one dropped repeatedly makes a slightly different sound each time. I don't know what to think now, I'm none the wiser :lol: They look very similar to a couple of other ones in my collection, but quite different to another one I have. I'm starting to think they might well be genuine version 1's :wink:

I'd say if they float, don't sound dodgy and look fine then they are fine

Look just like some of my carded Han Hoth blaster a to me

Are you coming to FF again his Christmas? I'll be happy to bring a selection of rebel blasters for you to compare. Some are from my childhood collection and some from Iain so they're definitely the real deal.

The rebel blasters look ok to me :wink: