Hi all,
I know this has been discussed before but i was just having a little delve into it.
I just wanted to do a wee test over the past few weeks and i bought one of these kits from Mr Poon as i was buying something from him anyway:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Star-Wars-Palitoy-12-Back-Stormtrooper-Recard-Kit-Figure-not-included/202349038846?hash=item2f1cf14cfe:g:L~EAAOSwlMFZJuKI
I also bought a card kit from Beggars canyon toys just to see how good these actually are. Now ive been collecting for a long time and have had hundreds of MOCs pass through my fingers ( ive also had ariund 5 Palitoy troopers), but i have to say that these repros are getting closer. Both of these are extremely close to being exact to the originals. Poons in particular is shockingly good. Beggars Canyons cards are Kenner mainly but still good (in a production sense - i dont support repros) but Poons is very worrying as it is of outstanding quality. Like it or not, these guys are not producing replica shite like Mr Orme, they are producing VERY near perfect replicas.
My conclusion is that the day is coming that we are getting nearer and nearer to the perfect repro. Will we in time see a repro graded mistakenly?
Its very worrying, and alarming how good these things are getting but my feeling is that we unfortunately now have no control over the MOC market anymore. I suppose the older and more sentimental i get the more i find it hard, but im also starting to be more relaxed about it all? The world has driven itself to be able to produce such quality and however unfortunate it is we just cannot stop it. I do not support repros in anyway, BUT i will not criticise people who like to try and bring the look and aesthetics back to their life. Ive no doubt there are thousands of budget collectors out there who like to get the vintage feel and genuinley cannot afford the real deal, should they really be frowned upon because they want to bring something famiiar back to their collection. Some will say go e reseal route, but again, some just dont have the funds. Should a collector who has recarded some vintage figures be any different to a collector with a full Palitoy 12 back run or whatever??
Food for thought, and good to be talking again.
lee