Hello all,
Firstly sorry if this is the wrong forum and secondly it's okay, I'm 99.9% sure this cape is a fake!
So a bit of background, I started collecting Vintage star wars toys back in 1994, my aim was initially just to collect the figures I'd had 10 years prior which were mostly lost to the depths of time, I still had a couple but not many and it was memories & nostalgia I was seeking, I never collected with a thought for what the value could end up being over 25 years later.
A few years in and I bought the Tomart Price Guide To World Wide Star Wars as a reference guide and then decided to try and extend the collection and get an example of each figure type, not necessarily the different variants, I just wanted a decent complete set.
I collected for just over 6 years in total, ending in early 2001 by which time I'd got a fair collection, towards the end I was working full time and with spare cash started aiming for the rarer stuff not just the figures like blue Snaggletooth & last 17 but boxed vehicles and ships such as A-wing fighter, Imperial shuttle and Tatooine Skiff etc. I would buy from bootfairs, collector's fairs and towards the end, ebay.
1999 when ebay was still in its infancy and auction pictures didn't always look like a professional photographer had taken them, I was casually browsing and came across an auction for a star wars figure bundle, there were 10 figures in total, I couldn't even tell you what all the figures were now but I remember they were mostly Jedi with some Empire and a few loose bits inc a couple of weapons.
The auction photo was for want of a better word absolutely awful, clearly taken without a flash and in darkening light; it was slightly out of focus which is why I probably ended up winning it for £10, no one else even bothered to bid. Now included with this figure lot I could see amongst others a Lando Calrissian General which in itself made it worth a punt but that was not the reason why I went for it.
In the photo I could see a Bib Fortuna which was nothing unusual but here's the thing, right at the bottom of the picture I could make out red, just a little and it wasn't clear if it was on the cape or just another fault with the photo, but from having the Tomart book I knew what it potentially could be.
When the box arrived I got this guy, now what we have to remember here is this was 1999 and the figure wasn't advertised specifically, it was just one of 10 and none were named individually, the seller either didn't know what they were selling or just didn't care at the time and I don't know for sure if I just dreamt this up years later or not but I seem to recall the person selling saying the figures had been their dad's who had been a Kenner employee.
At the end of the day for me I don't mind that it is a fake, it's still worth more than the £1 it basically cost me what 22 years ago and this guy will go to my wife and children with the rest of my collection when I've kicked the bucket to do with as they please.
What I do know is back then as a collector you just didn't see these, it's the only one I ever came across when I was collecting and although I believe it is a fake (colour is questionable although the photos aren't great, cape length, stitching, collar and the figure has no COO etc) it was likely done years before I obtained it.
The only niggle I have which is why I've not said I think it's 100% fake is for one thing the age of it and that there was no attempt by the seller back then to sell it as a rare figure so seems strange a non collector would go to the trouble of making and dying a cape if not for profit so there's a story there somewhere. I have a standard Bib and there are obvious differences between the capes which leads me to believe this one was made, it's not just a simple take a beige cape and dye it red job.
So what do you all think? Just another very old fake or something more intriguing?
Firstly sorry if this is the wrong forum and secondly it's okay, I'm 99.9% sure this cape is a fake!
So a bit of background, I started collecting Vintage star wars toys back in 1994, my aim was initially just to collect the figures I'd had 10 years prior which were mostly lost to the depths of time, I still had a couple but not many and it was memories & nostalgia I was seeking, I never collected with a thought for what the value could end up being over 25 years later.
A few years in and I bought the Tomart Price Guide To World Wide Star Wars as a reference guide and then decided to try and extend the collection and get an example of each figure type, not necessarily the different variants, I just wanted a decent complete set.
I collected for just over 6 years in total, ending in early 2001 by which time I'd got a fair collection, towards the end I was working full time and with spare cash started aiming for the rarer stuff not just the figures like blue Snaggletooth & last 17 but boxed vehicles and ships such as A-wing fighter, Imperial shuttle and Tatooine Skiff etc. I would buy from bootfairs, collector's fairs and towards the end, ebay.
1999 when ebay was still in its infancy and auction pictures didn't always look like a professional photographer had taken them, I was casually browsing and came across an auction for a star wars figure bundle, there were 10 figures in total, I couldn't even tell you what all the figures were now but I remember they were mostly Jedi with some Empire and a few loose bits inc a couple of weapons.
The auction photo was for want of a better word absolutely awful, clearly taken without a flash and in darkening light; it was slightly out of focus which is why I probably ended up winning it for £10, no one else even bothered to bid. Now included with this figure lot I could see amongst others a Lando Calrissian General which in itself made it worth a punt but that was not the reason why I went for it.
In the photo I could see a Bib Fortuna which was nothing unusual but here's the thing, right at the bottom of the picture I could make out red, just a little and it wasn't clear if it was on the cape or just another fault with the photo, but from having the Tomart book I knew what it potentially could be.
When the box arrived I got this guy, now what we have to remember here is this was 1999 and the figure wasn't advertised specifically, it was just one of 10 and none were named individually, the seller either didn't know what they were selling or just didn't care at the time and I don't know for sure if I just dreamt this up years later or not but I seem to recall the person selling saying the figures had been their dad's who had been a Kenner employee.
At the end of the day for me I don't mind that it is a fake, it's still worth more than the £1 it basically cost me what 22 years ago and this guy will go to my wife and children with the rest of my collection when I've kicked the bucket to do with as they please.
What I do know is back then as a collector you just didn't see these, it's the only one I ever came across when I was collecting and although I believe it is a fake (colour is questionable although the photos aren't great, cape length, stitching, collar and the figure has no COO etc) it was likely done years before I obtained it.
The only niggle I have which is why I've not said I think it's 100% fake is for one thing the age of it and that there was no attempt by the seller back then to sell it as a rare figure so seems strange a non collector would go to the trouble of making and dying a cape if not for profit so there's a story there somewhere. I have a standard Bib and there are obvious differences between the capes which leads me to believe this one was made, it's not just a simple take a beige cape and dye it red job.
So what do you all think? Just another very old fake or something more intriguing?
