Vintage Star Wars figures on Ebay, why so many repo weapons?

[Jedi Master 1]

Hi everyone. i've noticed there's lots of SW vintage figures for sale on Ebay that either come with no weapons or with repo weapons/accessories. I then look further down the Ebay page and see the original weapons on sale separately for crazy prices! So my question is, is it more important that the figure is in mint or near mint condition or is it more important to have the original weapon? I'm just collecting the figures in great condition regardless if it has any weapons or not. What is your views on this topic?

 

[Robstyley]

Say NO to repro!! People will sell **** repro weapons with figures because they think if it's "complete" they can get more for it. It's pointless, for me they're worth nothing, may as well have no weapon. I look for the best figures regardless, if it has a genuine weapon it's a result but I'll buy without if I want the figure. Only you can decide what's important to you but repro is wank and most people on here will remove any they get from circulation and not put them in their collection, me included!

 

[walkie]

Weapons are the first thing to get lost, hence there are more figures then accessories in circulation. Dealers see this as a cash cow and often split complete figures to sell off the parts for more profit.

Don't waste your money or repro's or buying incomplete figures (unless rare) as you'll either pay a premium for the accessories later on or upgrade the figure to a complete one.

 

[steve obi wan]

Where there is money to be made someone will cash in ,

Everywhere is full of repro shite

 

[SublevelStudios]

I see way more repro weapons on UK listings than I do anywhere else, god knows why. When I got back into collecting vintage SW after a 15 year gap I had no idea about repro weapons and got stung on nearly all my first loose purchases but quickly learnt as it's an expensive mistake.

As has been said, if you can buy with a legit weapon first off, you'll save yourself money and headaches later on. A loose figure just sin't the same without their weapon/accessory!

 

[itfciain]

I have a bit of a theory as to why there is more repro in the UK than in the US. Over here a lot of childhood collections were kept in the carry cases, especially the Vader one. The Vader, Rifle and C3PO cases all have sections to hold weapons so I imagine a lot more were stored away than in the UK where the cases weren't so prevalent

It is shocking the amount of repro on eBay and unfortunately it's only going to get worse. As there are more people in the hobby now then there are obviously more buyers and sellers. These people may well have purchased in good faith from an unscrupulous seller and will then pass off their items as genuine without knowing any better. There are also the ****-arses out there that just want to make money and don't care

 

[Robstyley]

That's an interesting idea Iain, makes sense. When I started collecting I bought a guy's childhood collection to kick me off. Was about 60ish figures in a Vader case all mostly with accessories and weapons. Some of those weapons are in my collection today although the figures have been replaced and I do have a lot of spare weapons from that collection. I suppose a lot of childhood figures accessories that were not stored like that were lost - up the hoover!

 

[Jedi Master 1]

It's very interesting reading all the comments and all have a very valuable point. So the message is, if your going to buy a figure make sure to buy it complete with original accessories/weapons. I totally agree with that, after all what's the point in buying fake if your going to eventually replace with the real thing? I only buy genuine figures with either a genuine weapon or if the figure is in great condition without but no repro's or customised. I will always find a way to complete all my figures, i currently only have 45 of them which will go in my display cabinet. 8)

 

[theforceuk]

They all whent up your Mum's vacume cleaner. :lol:

 

[Capetown]

I had a case like that and I lost them all anyway. :roll:

 

[Pomse2001]

I also think cases could be the reason why we can find more weapons in the usa.

I also think it is strange in denmark it is much harder to find farmer luke sabers than it is to find kenobi and vader sabers :?