The Spoils of War and a New Discovery (for me) on ESB-h Kenner Baggies...
A few months back, I took a walk into the "wild side" that is Face Book; A daunting feat in my eyes, as I prefer the anonymity and security that a Forum and eBay brings. Along with the good; there is also the bad and the real ugly! So the advice given to me from a few friends was to proceed with caution…
Despite this, I have to admit the sheer power that social media brings to the palm of your hand in an instant is epic; I have met some really great people, reunited friendships with past members of this very forum and uncovered a swathe of Luke Jedi items including some of the items I had to let go of when we were expecting the little guy.
Amongst the spoils of war, I have uncovered pre-production; the final snap cape MOC that I needed, Spanish PBP Luke Jedi cardbacks, Meccano and Macau related Luke Jedi items, more overstock Luke Jedi figures, more French mustard glasses and Baggies.
First-up on the blog, is a set of Luke Jedi ESB-h type baggies…
I have been mistaken (for a good number of years), in believing that the ESB-h baggie type was made by the Vendor “U.M.” of Taiwan. This is the same vendor that made “Made in Taiwan” COO Luke Jedi figures and who printed a “TJ” factory stamp code next to the POP on their carded figures. Every baggie I saw had the same combo… Taiwan painted face Luke with correct Taiwan accessories and cape wrapped in a green paper sleeve.
A few weeks ago, a Luke Jedi – made by the vendor Unitoys, was shown to me, still sealed inside an ESB-h baggie. I immediately dismissed it as fake. Unitoys made the “Made in Hong Kong” COO Luke Jedi and up till now, no Luke Jedi baggies from this factory have ever surfaced.
The Unitoys Luke Jedi is highly desirable figure, as their production was halted early during in the 77-A back release. The moulds were sent to Mexico and the Lili Ledy Luke Jedi was born. I did inform the gent that, even though I didn’t think the baggie was legit, he did have a Unitoys Luke inside and that alone was worth a lot of money. The Gent came back a few days later, offering to sell it to me and I ended-up buying the baggie.
Once in my hands, I could see that the seal and baggie look legit, no evidence of reseal, same soft plastic baggie type and identical dimensions. Figure and Accessories were spot-on. This was a huge surprise to me as I couldn’t figure out how the Unitoys figure got inside.
I immediately started looking at all the ESB-h baggies for sale and to my surprise I could see figures packaged in the same ESB-h from a variety of factories – both Taiwan and Hong Kong. I never knew this.
It appears (as is the current acceptance amongst some baggie collectors) that the ESB-h baggie was made by Kenner in Cincinnati to keep-up with demand for baggies for its Catalogue Packs. When baggies of a certain character had run out, Kenner opened what carded figures they had to hand and bagged them-up in house to fill the gap. This why you can find both Taiwan and Hong Kong versions of the some characters in the same baggie. Although it’s appearing to be a Kenner-made universal baggie and not a specific Unitoys Luke Jedi baggie made in the Far East, this might be one’s only chance of getting a baggie specimen of this figure.
Last week another ESB-h Luke Jedi Baggie turned-up; this one does have the Taiwan figure inside, but it appears be an earlier one as the face paint is not as sharp and the green sleeve is missing. Maybe it was taken from an Early 65 Back as the cape is loose.
These small COO differences do not indicate any differences in paint schemes.
REMARK: In the pics below a comparison is made between a Lili Ledy and PBP Stormtrooper. A Trilogo Stormtrooper is also included for reference. All three versions have a hard torso, which is cast in much more detailed plastic.
Compared to his PBP counterpart, the Ledy Stormtrooper has: - A thicker black helmet band - A wider black mouth piece - Bright instead of creamy white head, torso and limbs - Limbs made from soft instead of hard (more detailed) plastic - Sometimes a filled peghole in the right foot (see the pics further below)
Remark: The PBP Stormtrooper in the picture totally lacks the black paint on the helmet 'ear' pieces. Probably a factory error.
Compared to his Trilogo counterpart, the Ledy Stormtrooper has: - Another COO: COO #9A/#9B instead of COO #10/#11 - A thicker black helmet band - A wider black mouth piece
Comparison between Stormtroopers. From left to right: 1 (PBP), 2 (Ledy, COO #9A), 3 (Ledy, COO #9A), 4 (Ledy, COO #9A), 5 (Ledy, COO #9B). Note that all Ledy Stormtroopers have a filled peghole in the right foot.
Comparison between Stormtroopers. From left to right: 1 (PBP), 2 (Ledy, COO #9A), 3 (Ledy, COO #9A), 4 (Ledy, COO #9A), 5 (Ledy, COO #9B). Note that all Ledy Stormtroopers have a filled peghole in the right foot.
ACCESSORIES
The Ledy Stormtrooper wears a solid black imperial blaster having a different mould (V6 or V7) compared to the Kenner blasters.
Lili Ledy solid blue and solid black imperial blasters. Top row: V7 mould. Bottom row: V6 mould. (Pic provided by Ozio).
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Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:30 pm
