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Caswellbot
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thanks spoons. It is a lovely cardback. It's all too often got a fat survival sticker sat on his face or something similar. Just obscures what is a great pic of a cool character.
Yeah it is a 41 back ham. With kenner esb cards you're quite limited as to which cards are offerless. I think most of mine are 31 backs or 41 backs. I'll have to check whether its a d or an e.
With regards to the modern mocs steve, I've never been tempted. They just don't do it for me. They look pretty cool in some respects but thats mainly because they are trying desperately to look like vintage. I think I would rather own one jedi moc than two or three modern equivalents. But then again I am a fool for the old stuff.
Yeah it is a 41 back ham. With kenner esb cards you're quite limited as to which cards are offerless. I think most of mine are 31 backs or 41 backs. I'll have to check whether its a d or an e.
With regards to the modern mocs steve, I've never been tempted. They just don't do it for me. They look pretty cool in some respects but thats mainly because they are trying desperately to look like vintage. I think I would rather own one jedi moc than two or three modern equivalents. But then again I am a fool for the old stuff.
After many months of idle threats, it looks like I'm back collecting again 
It took me a while to figure out what to start with, but I eventually decided on a set of Kenner 12 backs as there's not many of them to collect and they're not uber rare. I can then go on to a debut card run of later figures if I get the bug back completely!
So here's the first 5 I've got over the last month or so. Arguably the easier and cheaper ones, so I think it'll take a while to add a Luke, Han and Vader to these. But it's a nice start.
One quick question - does the Tusken look a little faded to anyone else? I'm sure it's original as it has wear you can't fake, and the blacks are nice and dark, but the colours of the photo look very washed out. Are they all like this?
It took me a while to figure out what to start with, but I eventually decided on a set of Kenner 12 backs as there's not many of them to collect and they're not uber rare. I can then go on to a debut card run of later figures if I get the bug back completely!So here's the first 5 I've got over the last month or so. Arguably the easier and cheaper ones, so I think it'll take a while to add a Luke, Han and Vader to these. But it's a nice start.
One quick question - does the Tusken look a little faded to anyone else? I'm sure it's original as it has wear you can't fake, and the blacks are nice and dark, but the colours of the photo look very washed out. Are they all like this?
Nice one Edd, i'm glad your getting the bug back
I was also thinking of collecting the first 12 figures on cards, i've never been a carded collecter really but i do like these.
Its looks like the Tusken Raider is definitely faded out, you just have to look at the star wars logo compared to the others, also it looks like its faded on the card behind the figure as well so i'm thinking it must have been in a shop window for a while before it was sold?
I was also thinking of collecting the first 12 figures on cards, i've never been a carded collecter really but i do like these.
Its looks like the Tusken Raider is definitely faded out, you just have to look at the star wars logo compared to the others, also it looks like its faded on the card behind the figure as well so i'm thinking it must have been in a shop window for a while before it was sold?
yeah i agree with Chewie - it just looks like it's been in the sun for too long. Did the bubbles not yellow on 12 backs?
Caswellbot
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Nice one Edd mate. You move fast! Great work. The Tusken is faded for sure as the green has turned a turquoise colour. Apart from that mate they all look great. Good to see you collecting again and look forward to seeing this collection take off! 8)
The bubbles on most Star Wars Kenner cards didnt tend to yellow like their later Jedi and POTF counterparts. Palitoy bubbles rarely yellow fullstop by the looks of things. Im no expert on Palitoys but I dont think I can remember seeing many with yellow bubbles.
Although yellowing is not unheard of on Kenner Star Wars cards it is certainly not commonplace.
The bubbles on most Star Wars Kenner cards didnt tend to yellow like their later Jedi and POTF counterparts. Palitoy bubbles rarely yellow fullstop by the looks of things. Im no expert on Palitoys but I dont think I can remember seeing many with yellow bubbles.
Although yellowing is not unheard of on Kenner Star Wars cards it is certainly not commonplace.
Caswellbot
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Hi guys, as Im sure one or two of you were aware I am in the process of selling off my loose collection in order to fund a purchase. Well finally after many months of emailing and organising, I have just been to collect the item from the post office depot. It is an Empire Strikes Back Prototype Test Package for the ESB heroes 3-Pack. Here is a little background information on the 3 Pack. It was purchased from Alex Bickmore who was selling it on behalf of his brother Mac Dunbar Bickmore because he is getting married this year. Alex runs a website called the Super Toy Archive (based in the US) and although their collections are not based solely on Star Wars, both Alex and Mac Dunbar own some rather rare Star Wars related items. Alex owns the prototype Red Cape Bib Fortuna seen in many of the kenner promotional photos for example. Examples of some of their items can be found on the SWCA by searching their names.
I was of course intrigued to find out as much as I could about the Prototype 3-pack and had to go about doing my homework on both the sellers and the item itself.
With regards to the 3-Pack, the seller, Alex Bickmore had this to say:
"There is no real provenance as such to the piece because Kenner did not hand any out of course. It can be acquired from top vintage collectors if needed such as Gus Lopez, Chris G. etc. In short, it is a production test for the packaging of an ESB 3-pack from the early 1980's. Only about 8 white 3-packs are in existence. All of the prototype 3-packs came from the same dealer. The dealer got these and other prototypes from Kenner in the early '90's. In addition to the 8 white 3-packs he also had about 100 revenge proof cards. It is fully authentic and I have had it since the late 90's. It was bought in Kane County in the late 90's (St. Charles IL toy show; still exists to this day). The seller knew they were some form of prototype samples or a mistake package. The other sets were the Imperial Set and the Bespin Set. We purchased the one with R2 since my brother (Mac Dunbar) loves R2-D2. And we regret not buying the others when we had the chance. There are 4 versions of the white 3-pack out there. There are 2 examples of each version. The 4 versions are ESB Hoth Heroes, ESB Imperial Forces, ESB Bespin set and the 4th escapes me."
Gus Lopez at the SWCA describes the item as such:
Very few of these are known to exist and all came from the same original find. This one features Leia Hoth, R2-D2 with Periscope, and Luke Hoth and is known as the Rebel Set. Samples like this are made up prior to printing in order to verify dimensions, presentation, and overall layout.
I have recently contacted John Wooten who appears to have the twin of this 3 pack in his collection in order to cross reference a few things with him and I will update with the findings. Obviously I am well stoked to own such a piece. Although it certainly aint the prettiest thing Ive seen and my loose collection certainly displayed better it is a very special addition to my collection. I just need to verify a few things first before I exhale and smile.
Other examples can be found on the SWCA website
http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=48693
http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=48692
http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=48694
http://www.toyarchive.com/Starwars/3packPrototypeWhiteHero1.html
Picture 005 by Caswell2009, on Flickr
Picture 006 by Caswell2009, on Flickr
Picture 007 by Caswell2009, on Flickr
Picture 003 by Caswell2009, on Flickr
Picture 004 by Caswell2009, on Flickr
Any thought would b greatly appreciated as always! Even if you think its a pile of **** and I should have kept my loose collection!
Thanks, Chris.
I was of course intrigued to find out as much as I could about the Prototype 3-pack and had to go about doing my homework on both the sellers and the item itself.
With regards to the 3-Pack, the seller, Alex Bickmore had this to say:
"There is no real provenance as such to the piece because Kenner did not hand any out of course. It can be acquired from top vintage collectors if needed such as Gus Lopez, Chris G. etc. In short, it is a production test for the packaging of an ESB 3-pack from the early 1980's. Only about 8 white 3-packs are in existence. All of the prototype 3-packs came from the same dealer. The dealer got these and other prototypes from Kenner in the early '90's. In addition to the 8 white 3-packs he also had about 100 revenge proof cards. It is fully authentic and I have had it since the late 90's. It was bought in Kane County in the late 90's (St. Charles IL toy show; still exists to this day). The seller knew they were some form of prototype samples or a mistake package. The other sets were the Imperial Set and the Bespin Set. We purchased the one with R2 since my brother (Mac Dunbar) loves R2-D2. And we regret not buying the others when we had the chance. There are 4 versions of the white 3-pack out there. There are 2 examples of each version. The 4 versions are ESB Hoth Heroes, ESB Imperial Forces, ESB Bespin set and the 4th escapes me."
Gus Lopez at the SWCA describes the item as such:
Very few of these are known to exist and all came from the same original find. This one features Leia Hoth, R2-D2 with Periscope, and Luke Hoth and is known as the Rebel Set. Samples like this are made up prior to printing in order to verify dimensions, presentation, and overall layout.
I have recently contacted John Wooten who appears to have the twin of this 3 pack in his collection in order to cross reference a few things with him and I will update with the findings. Obviously I am well stoked to own such a piece. Although it certainly aint the prettiest thing Ive seen and my loose collection certainly displayed better it is a very special addition to my collection. I just need to verify a few things first before I exhale and smile.
Other examples can be found on the SWCA website
http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=48693
http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=48692
http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=48694
http://www.toyarchive.com/Starwars/3packPrototypeWhiteHero1.html
Picture 005 by Caswell2009, on Flickr
Picture 006 by Caswell2009, on Flickr
Picture 007 by Caswell2009, on Flickr
Picture 003 by Caswell2009, on Flickr
Picture 004 by Caswell2009, on Flickr
Any thought would b greatly appreciated as always! Even if you think its a pile of **** and I should have kept my loose collection!
Thanks, Chris.
tigerham
Sith Lord
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Ed firstly congrats on those 12bks, very nice. And yeah I would say the Tusken has faded as looks like behind the Tusken has a darker green where the sun didn't get to as appose around the edges of the green bubble area. Nice work dude!
Secondly Chris what a great pick-up. It looks so minty. Nice to see one as not seen one before. Congrats dude and again great work!
Secondly Chris what a great pick-up. It looks so minty. Nice to see one as not seen one before. Congrats dude and again great work!
I've never seen one of them before. It must be fantastic to own such a rare piece!
Personally i wouldn't have given up my complete minty loose collection for it, buts thats because i've sold it once before and have vowed never to do it again.
The fact that there is no real provenance to an item like this would scare the S**t out of me :? But i'm sure you have done all your homework to get it verified. Personally though i would have asked them to get it afa graded before i bought it, but thats just me.....
Do you think you will get it graded with a certificate?
Again though, how great to own such a rare piece that very few people own! Well Done that man! 8)
Personally i wouldn't have given up my complete minty loose collection for it, buts thats because i've sold it once before and have vowed never to do it again.
The fact that there is no real provenance to an item like this would scare the S**t out of me :? But i'm sure you have done all your homework to get it verified. Personally though i would have asked them to get it afa graded before i bought it, but thats just me.....
Do you think you will get it graded with a certificate?
Again though, how great to own such a rare piece that very few people own! Well Done that man! 8)
Imperial nut
Sith Lord
Yeahh chris I much prefer even battered loose but it does make you double take unroll you look at the figures and then it kills the nostalgia rush . And they cost almost as much as some beater mocs ?
Caswellbot
Sith Lord
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Lol. Thanks guys! I really appreciate those comments. They mean alot. God knows Ive hard a hard time sorting this one out. Its hard enough explaining spending £100 on a carded figure without having to justify spending considerably more on what is essentially a white box! :wink:
Me and my girlfriend have had enless discussions about the dam thing and Im lucky she is so patient and trusts me I guess.
Joe - Yeah Alex advertised this on his site and I thought long and hard about it for sure. I was in contact wih him for over 2 months I think, talking about it and trying to sort a deal. It has definitely gone to a good home.
What do you reckon, should I send it to get it authenticated? It would be a difficult thing to get authenticated in reality as I believe whoever does it needs to have seen a prior example? Is this true?
Me and my girlfriend have had enless discussions about the dam thing and Im lucky she is so patient and trusts me I guess.
Joe - Yeah Alex advertised this on his site and I thought long and hard about it for sure. I was in contact wih him for over 2 months I think, talking about it and trying to sort a deal. It has definitely gone to a good home.
What do you reckon, should I send it to get it authenticated? It would be a difficult thing to get authenticated in reality as I believe whoever does it needs to have seen a prior example? Is this true?
Great piece of history there Chris. Perhaps it's worth it contacting Tom Derby before sending it in for grading.
Caswellbot
Sith Lord
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Indeed Edd. I think you are right in this case. I will try to get in contact with Tom Derby and get the ball rolling asap. :wink:
I'm not into afa at all. Just don't understand it. Especially when it's just a regular MOC. I don't need it authenticated or graded. I can see the condition thank you! :wink:
However, this is something i actually do think i would get authenticated/graded because it's such a unique piece. Also, if ever the time come you wish to sell it on, it's just gonna be a lot easier having it afa'd.
The protective casing wouldn't hurt either.
However, this is something i actually do think i would get authenticated/graded because it's such a unique piece. Also, if ever the time come you wish to sell it on, it's just gonna be a lot easier having it afa'd.
The protective casing wouldn't hurt either.
Badboybez1
Padawan
Some REALLY nice buys chaps.
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