Hey guys hope everyone is well, haven't been on for a while i'm afraid had a lot on

I was upgrading my death Star Droid the other weekend and noticed a difference in the sculpt and rivet used. I'm not much of an expert in variations and just wondered if any one here could shed any light on this?

Could one be an early and later version or maybe a different mould from a different factory and does anyone know of certain cardbacks they would of appeared on?

Oh and if there is a thread on this please point me in the right direction.

cheers!

It seems to be a genuine variant. Nice one!!





From this thread by a focus DSD collector : http://forum.rebelscum.com/t897954/

Hope this helps.

Cheers

definite COO variation as well, it took me awhile to track this version down. very hard to spot on a blurry pic from eBay. nice score!

The differences in the pop rivet can be found with figures of the same COO ( I don't count this as a variant because I think it is just a difference caused by more or less pressure in the bonding process of the rivet or the manufacture of the rivet to start with)

BUT the COO difference (no space between the HONG & KONG) is a clear mold difference which I notice with the rectangles in his upper arms having 4 clear rasied dots (there are other slight differences as well).

Look like a totally different rivet to me.

snaggletooth wrote:

Look like a totally different rivet to me.

4 different looking rivets but only 2 variant figures.

2 'different' rivets (large & small)



Production flaws where the rivet instalation tool has been off center & hit the plastic as well



to me this is 2 versions of variant 1


variant 2 is the one with the more detailed arm dots

Great Thread guys. I have found 5 variants in my collection all coo variants.

Maybe it can help a little bit.

Death Star Droid (5 Variants)

I am glad you look closely. I missed the dots between GMFGI as variants & they are right here in my hands ( It could be mold wear &/or thickness of the 'chrome' ) I still need your variant 2

I agree about the first to have the same rivet but think also that the two in the second pic and the one on the right in the third pic (james's pic's) are 3 different rivets. What do you think?

Just edited my last post with the right DSD

I'm not sure what/which you mean but the rivets are not significant in respect to the COOs. ie. the same rivet is found on 2 different COOs & different rivets on the same COO.

aussiejames wrote:

I'm not sure what/which you mean but the rivets are not significant in respect to the COOs. ie. the same rivet is found on 2 different COOs & different rivets on the same COO.

I understand that, i think i have 2 different rivets with the same COO, in your pics 1,2 & 4th look to have different rivets to me.

aussiejames wrote:

I am glad you look closely. I missed the dots between GMFGI as variants & they are right here in my hands ( It could be mold wear &/or thickness of the 'chrome' ) I still need your variant 2

I am glad that I could help with something.

I had never seen the dots on the arm and I can see I also have dots on some of my figures.

I think the rivets are the same, as James said. I use to do construction work and used some anchor-like rivets for several things. When you put them in they will NOT look the same every time. It all dependes on the method used. The figure couldve slipped or was turned when it was put in, as shown in the one pix posted. And just like the production of anything in the world, no two parts are made the same. We ran across some rivets in the boxes from the company they were shorter and longer than what was specified on the box. At least thats one area I can confirm.

here are mine

Nice thread link Dr Dengar thats a lot of DSD's !
It was a bit hard to see in the pic what versions were on which card backs, does anybody know this?

I was going to get rid of one of these as i was upgrading my current figure until i noticed the rivet and mould differences as one is so much sharper in detail with differences than the other, i knew the rivets wouldn't make it a variant unless certain factories used one sort to another?
If i do let one go which of the two is the harder to find as i never knew of sculpt variations on this figure until i saw these and would rather keep the harder to find version.

I'd also love to know if these were from one mould in one country and one from another or was it that the first mould started to wear then another was made with the added details and sharpness? I guess with all the variations in figures like these ones then these questions are likely never to be answered unless records have been kept? but then that adds to the excitement of learning and finding out new things in the Star Wars collecting world!

Chris_J wrote:

I think the rivets are the same, as James said. I use to do construction work and used some anchor-like rivets for several things. When you put them in they will NOT look the same every time. It all dependes on the method used. The figure couldve slipped or was turned when it was put in, as shown in the one pix posted. And just like the production of anything in the world, no two parts are made the same. We ran across some rivets in the boxes from the company they were shorter and longer than what was specified on the box. At least thats one area I can confirm.

Do you think all 3 are the same or just 1 & 3?

aussiejames wrote:

variant 2 is the one with the more detailed arm dots

I wonder whether the variant with the more detailed arm dots is linked to a specific COO.

The different COOs on Lars' site differ only slightly, could this mean they were all produced from slightly different steel moulds in the same factory? In that case, limbs which were cast from different steel moulds were probably mixed up before assembly. So there would no linkage between a specific COO and a specific arm mould.
What do you think, guys?

Scott, I think all of them are the same. When they get pressed in, or hammered in like I was using them, the ends will flatten out differently every time. It all goes with how it was hit. Some times straight on or slipped to the side of it. As for figures, I dont know how they were put in, but you can never pop them in the same way. And the way the tops are flatten out, my guess would be machine pressed. For that reasoning is because its alot different if they were hammered in. And besides, you couldnt use the rivets for a variation anyway, not with how they would be massed produced. Some times they all come out the same, some times they dont. You could have long/short ones and the same for the heads of them. It all depends on how clean the molds are when they used them.

Marco, it could be possible the molds had flashing on it to cause the dots. And of course the limbs will be all mixed up since they had them in boxes on the assembly line as it showed in that Palitoy video. It will be impossible to nail it down to a specific mold like it would be to determine which figure came from what mold. Theres just no way of telling even by the COO if its specific to a certain one. Theres just not enough info out there to confirm it.

Chris, thanks for the explanation on the rivers.

Marco, I think this explains what your looking for with regards to Lars variants.

"As in the silicone molds, each part of the figure requires a two-part steel mold to be made. Several "sub molds" or "cavities" are created and placed inside a large mold "frame" so that one cycle of the molding machine can yield several kinds of parts, but all made of the same plastic. This also allows for the use of generic sized frames and cavities which means cavities can be swapped in and out and frames can be used for many different parts. The cavities themselves could be swapped with replacements (if damaged) or replaced with cavities for parts that were needed at the time. Multiple molds can be made in order to increase production yields which is evident by looking at the dates stamped on the legs of most old Star Wars figures. Many different text sizes and combinations can be found for identical figures which signifies that each was made from a different mold or mold cavity. Molds are made of steel and are not trivial in cost or complexity. Think of how tough steel is and consider the difficulty in transferring the shape of your favorite figure into a large chunk of it. So when you hear the term "steel mold" just remember that Joe Shmo doesn't have the equipment or money involved to make them."

I will go out on a limb ( ) & say the COO with no space ( & very little space) between HONG & KONG ( Lars variants 1 & 2) are more difficult to track down & have the unique mold differences ( dots on the arm & different chest circle/badge )

aussiejames wrote:

I will go out on a limb ( ) & say the COO with no space ( & very little space) between HONG & KONG ( Lars variants 1 & 2) are more difficult to track down & have the unique mold differences ( dots on the arm & different chest circle/badge )

I can say about variant 1 that I bought it from a seller here in Denmark some months ago and he told me it was bought in Denmark in the 80's I don't know what card it can be found on. But he had been the only owner of this figure before I bought it from him.