Advice needed on story of ?? LL figures and price

[timbo72]

Hey guys,

I've been talking with Ozio on TIG and he has come across a very different kind of B-wing pilot from ??the LL factory??

this one it's made with LL original parts, it has a nien nunb torso, a right biker scout arm, a left ERG arm, ERG legs and a bwing pilot head. Torso it's glued not welded, he is hand painted, paint looks and smells like LL, it was painted with a brush not with an airbrush, head its factory painted. Under the red paint parts are unpainted (no black paint on biker scout arm and no blue paint on nienn nunb torso).

The back story is a little unclear but there are a few differrent theories to how this came about

The story on this figure it's not clear yet. Version 1 is that on the LL factory kids visiting the factory where allowed to made their own figures and take them home. Version 2 is that after the LL factory closed, loose unused parts where taken and used to make figures in order to sell them. Version 3 is that LL used loose parts to make 'non starwars' figures and give them away for charity. All 3 versions match why this figure has new unpainted parts under the hand applied paint and a glued torso not a sonic welded one.

What do you guys think as im very interested in this piece ????

 

[tundra9]

As far as the stories goes, we probably will never know what's true, but then again, Ozio always has
some extremely nice LL pieces and is well "educated" about them.
My bet would be the story about the kids mismatching and making their own.
Remember this was Mexico!

 

[timbo72]

Have to say that the figure looks cool and the fact there could be a few different reasons as to how it was made has made me interested..........but the price is quite high and im not sure if it is worth what is being asked.

Think i'll pass this time, maybe if i win the euro lottery (or just some of it) tonight, i might re-think

 

[e30318is]

Interesting piece Tim. Personally I cant see any value to it, unless you have provenance.

It could well be some kind of production error, or possibly preproduction, but without a letter from some guy who worked at the factory explaining he pulled this from the prototypes box its pretty much worthless.

I have full faith in Ozio btw, but with items of this nature you have to assume the worst :wink:

If I was in your position I would gamble £20 or £30, as a curio. Are we talking substantially more?

 

[Joe]

I have encountered these "Frankenfigures" before coming out of Mexico as Ledy protos/employee **** ups/concoctions made by kids on a tour of the factory and here is my view:

The only person that I have heard strongly backing up the "kids going to the factory and making their own figures up" story was Merlin.. I challenged that and told him that I didn't believe it and there was a big old argument about it on TIG at one point because apparently I wasn't there so I didn't know (and that was about the crux of the argument to prove this story) ..but the thing is Merlin was also adamant that the "EL Negrito" Yoda bootleg figures were given out at the Ledy factory as well and were worth thousands..Well..guess where the El negrito Yoda's originated from? You guessed it - a known scammer..making bootlegs to sell to the collector market in the NINETIES...

So, in all honesty I don't believe these things are anything other than made up figures from overstock from Lili Ledy figures, there were literally sacks and buckets of overstock bits and pieces when Ledy closed production and they have turned up from a few different sources, so either it's the kids of ex workers mucking around, collectors mucking around or scammers making figures with a back story that no one can really prove.

Don't get me wrong, OZIO is a good guy and I dealt with him before on a Ledy purchase, I also know he has some great knowledge about Ledy and I am no one to stand up and say he is wrong so I am glad he counts the story as a theory and not the truth but my honest hunch is that these are nothing special and memories can be mistaken. A lot of people still think they got a Rocket Firing Fett in the mail too but we all know that didn't happen.

 

[tiefighterboy]

Looks like a custom to me. If it's overstock...why is it hand painted again?

 

[timbo72]

Thanks guys, i was offered this for $500usd and as much as i think it's pretty cool (the bank account wont stretch that far.........well it could do, but i'd be broke for the most of the month)

Shame it hasnt got any evidence to back it up

 

[tiefighterboy]

Once you said it was hand painted and it was for kids to play with...that is where I question the story. The paint would have never held up to kids handling it and to be honest...that paint job looks fairly new and fresh.

 

[Dark Sith Lord]

Thats a very interesting Piece Tim!

Never seen anything like it before but there may be some reference to it and what Joe is referring to in this thread on TIG - http://www.imperialgunneryforum.com/t319-lili-ledy-factory