Darth Vaders Star Destroyer Variations

[jediwebmaster]

Hi, I am new to this Forum... but desperately need some help!

I currently own 2 loose Star Wars Darth Vader's Star Destroyers.

One I had from when I was a kid and a second which I recently purchased from eBay.

However, there is a big difference between the parts of each ship including:

- Different Orange colour on the plastic windows, bulb cover, hologram etc
- Different quality of plastic casting
- Different part serial numbers and positions

I am from the UK and the version I owned had the light orange and bad quality casting... so was this Palitoy and have I just bought a Kenner?

Although I have seen Palitoy versions with the darker orange parts too...

If anyone can shed some light on this I would be eternally grateful!

Version 1 - Lighter Orange

Version 2 - Darker Orange

 

[Capetown]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

Mine is Palitoy. Looks like it has the lighter orange plastic.

 

[jediwebmaster]

Hi Capetown, thanks for the reply.

You also have a different box insert to the one I have too, which is in 2 cardboard parts.

(unless you are missing a piece)

My confusion is because I have seen others on eBay, YouTube and around the web with a Palitoy version with the dark orange...

So was the lighter orange and darker Palitoy variations or was the darker just Kenner!

 

[Pomse2001]

Funny I was writing about that last year I think. I have a kenner that is light orange and my palitoy is dark red

 

[jediwebmaster]

Hi Pomse2001,

Yeah, it almost seems to be random.

I have checked multiple places over the web and some Palitoy have the dark orange/red and some have the light orange.

It's also the quality of the plastic casting, as the light orange has a lot poorer casting than the dark.

Almost like the dark was the original mould (maybe Kenner) then for the Palitoy the plastic mould had been used so much that the quality decreased.

In the photos below you can see the corners of the plastic in the light orange are rounded, where the dark have sharper corners.

Version 1 - Light Orange

Version 2 - Dark Orange/Red

 

[Pomse2001]

I can check the ones I have for the same details this weekend

 

[Bonsai_Tree_Ent]

There seem to be quite a lot of vehicle variations, but compared to figure variants few collectors appear to care about them (adopts best whiny Luke voice "I care!").

The Palitoy and Kenner do have some differences that I can detail.

-Different sized boxes.
-Different designed cardboard inserts.
-Palitoy only: includes two clear figure stands.
-Kenner only: includes additional guidance slip relating to inserting batteries.

However I haven't looked at mold differences or colour differences between the two so that could be interesting. You do have to be a bit careful about colour because of course this can be dramatically affected by years of sunlight exposure.

Looking at your photo it does look like there is a definite difference between the dark grey pieces at the bottom. I'd suggest you do a side-by-side comparison of every individual part and see if you can ID any more variations? I for one would be interested!

 

[jediwebmaster]

Hi Bonsai_Tree_Ent,

Thanks for the additional info regarding the figure stands and guidance slip... I will pop onto eBay and try and buy those!

Basically, I have the Kenner box and the Palitoy box... but just want to know what bits to put in what box?

I'd rather not guess that the light orange goes in the Palitoy and the dark orange/red goes in the Kenner, but want to get it right...if possible.

That's the plan anyway, hence why I am on here trying to find the answer!

I have a repro insert for the Kenner (marked clearly as repro), so I also want to make a repro insert for the Palitoy, so need to find some pattern for that to copy.

But I will have a closer look at each of the parts to compare and will post my findings later.

 

[Pomse2001]

Hi Bonsai_Tree_Ent,

Thanks for the additional info regarding the figure stands and guidance slip... I will pop onto eBay and try and buy those!

Basically, I have the Kenner box and the Palitoy box... but just want to know what bits to put in what box?

I'd rather not guess that the light orange goes in the Palitoy and the dark orange/red goes in the Kenner, but want to get it right...if possible.

That's the plan anyway, hence why I am on here trying to find the answer!

I have a repro insert for the Kenner (marked clearly as repro), so I also want to make a repro insert for the Palitoy, so need to find some pattern for that to copy.

But I will have a closer look at each of the parts to compare and will post my findings later.

The red one I have was sold to me in a palitoy box, I bought it from mumbo from the forum. Maybe he knows more about it :?

The orange one I have was bought in usa but I have no box for that one.

 

[jediwebmaster]

That's the thing, my original was the light orange version, so as I live in the UK I assume I had the Palitoy version.

You can also see that Capetown has a light orange in the Palitoy box, but you had the dark orange/red in the Palitoy.

There must be a reason for the difference in colours, parts and serial numbers.... but what is it?

The mystery continues...

 

[Gadders]

Hi all,

I still have my original one from childhood and that is the red version. I'm assuming it was Palitoy.
I also have a Palitoy boxed one with all the parts sealed in a Baggie and that too is the red version.

 

[Pomse2001]

Hi all,

I still have my original one from childhood and that is the red version. I'm assuming it was Palitoy.
I also have a Palitoy boxed one with all the parts sealed in a Baggie and that too is the red version.

That is great news, thanks. Any pictures

 

[Gadders]

This is all i have to hand at the moment . Will try and take some pics when i can.. if you look closely at the baggie you can see the red of the plastic strip thing..

 

[Pomse2001]

Thanks for the fast pictures, hope we see more soon

 

[jediwebmaster]

Hi Gadders

If you get the chance, would you be able to take the cardboard insert out and take some photos of that together and opened up?

Just that I need to make a repro one for my Palitoy box so need to know what it looks like...

Would be eternally grateful!

Cheers

 

[edd_jedi]

If you get the chance, would you be able to take the cardboard insert out and take some photos of that together and opened up?

Just that I need to make a repro one for my Palitoy box so need to know what it looks like...

That's fine, but please can you send the photos via PM. It is not a good idea to show inserts in public as people make and sell repros.

 

[jediwebmaster]

Hi Gadders,

If you do have time to take the photos, please PM them to me as some people make repros and sell them on as genuine.

My other Kenner insert is a repro (not made by me) but is clearly labelled as a repro.

Unless one of these things come up on eBay!!!

Cheers

 

[Capetown]

This Kenner one is also orange.

http://forum.rebelscum.com/showthread.php?t=1021174&page=4

 

[Pomse2001]

So what do you guys think. To me it begins to look like kenner is orange and palitoy is red :?

 

[jediwebmaster]

Personally I think the light Orange version was a Palitoy, but almost like the "last, end of production" copies.

That would explain the different colour and poor quality plastic casting.

The mould was used so much for the Red version, that by the end of production, it was well used...

Well that's my theory anyway.

So the Red was Kenner, then Red for the first lot of Palitoy... then Orange for the last Palitoy.

So that's where my Orange and Red are going in their Kenner and Palitoy boxes!

Unless someone can confirm this otherwise... that's how I'm playing it!