A true grail piece, looking differently from the production Han.

Happy he landed in your collection, Steve.

At last the teasing with your avatar is over. Congrats on your new addition!

Thank you fellas : ) This Han Solo has been a piece I have been wanting for so long. This deal literally took 6 months to make final : ) Time to enjoy him now. Thanks again, -Steve

Congrats Steve, what a cool piece

I like the comparison pics on page one.

I wonder, if at the paint apps stage, if the facial features were hand-painted rather than production spray mask applied? Your FS Han has just dots for eyes, whereas the production piece has eye dots plus an eyeline attached. Actually, yours does seem to have one eye that appears to have the eyeline - but it's not a uniform line. Hard to tell exactly, maybe the other had a line too but has worn away?

The eyebrows on your FS also seem much lower placed than a production.

Certainly gives your FS a unique look for a unique figure

Also really cool you got the FS blaster too!

Thanks : )
Yup, he was completely hand painted, and not production painted. The face, hair, shirt, hands, and red lines on his leg were done by hand.
Other really strange things that I noticed when comparing the mold, is he has differences to the final production molds. He has longer arms, larger hands, a thinner smaller head, different torso details (like the belt), his blaster holster on his leg differs also and his legs and torso are thinner... when compared to the small head molds I looked at....
The picture below demonstrates another difference. If you look at the torso halves, where the seem splits, under the arm, on all the production pieces, a pocket is cut in half, then continues onto the back half of the torso. On the First Shot, this pocket is barely on the back torso. Take a look....
Many of you are variant experts. Your opinion certainly matters to me. From the comparisons I've made, and the pics I took, I am leaning towards this Han Solo being an "early" First Shot being molded in house, at Kenner, and differs in many ways to the final steel mold production pieces sold to the general public.
Opinions are appreciated. Thank you, -Steve

One of the things I noticed was the overall bigger size of the FS. Especially the longer hands and wider arms.
Interesting detail about the pocket though. I was using one of AJ's group pics earlier to check eye details.

http://www.imperialgunneryforum.com/t4264-the-tig-fotw-thread-han-solo

Hopefully some of the variant guys can tell you more about the pocket location.

The_Dark_Artist wrote:

Thanks : )
Yup, he was completely hand painted, and not production painted. The face, hair, shirt, hands, and red lines on  his leg were done by hand.
Other really strange things that I noticed when comparing the mold, is he has differences to the final production molds. He has longer arms, larger hands, a thinner smaller head, different torso details (like the belt), his blaster holster on his leg differs also and his legs and torso are thinner... when compared to the small head molds I looked at....
The picture below demonstrates another difference. If you look at the torso halves, where the seem splits, under the arm, on all the production pieces, a pocket is cut in half, then continues onto the back half of the torso. On the First Shot, this pocket is barely on the back torso. Take a look....
Many of you are variant experts. Your opinion certainly matters to me. From the comparisons I've made, and the pics I took, I am leaning towards this Han Solo being an "early" First Shot being molded in house, at Kenner, and differs in many ways to the final steel mold production pieces sold to the general public.
Opinions are appreciated. Thank you, -Steve

Thank you Paul. I appreciate the link. I have had 2 small head Hans in hand, one of which is the white molded leg version, to compare to the first shot. The first shot has differences, to both, across the board. In some cases they are small differences, and in some cases they are quite noticable. Fun piece to do research on. Thanks again for the link and your thoughts : ) -Steve

Congrats on your new additions, both Vader hardcopy and Han vintage first shot.
I love the Vader hardcopy.
Really enjoy seeing your collection grow.

Update on Page 1.
Thanks for looking... -Steve

Nice R2!! Loving all those differences to the production figure, it's so good to know that a lot of these items have managed to survive.

And another update coming soon?!!!?

congratulations on yet another amazing piece Steve. I like the unique decal on that R2

also really like your other latest additions too, the Han shot first, sorry the first shot Han is a great new addition, with some interesting differences to its production counterpart.
the hard copy Vader is also very cool

Thank you guys.
Also, thanks for not bashing my Vader modern HC : )
The R2 is such a neat piece. The proto sticker is just cool.
Um, there is 1 more joining soon to the Vintage first shot collection... and she is unique : ) with unique proto accessories. I'll post in a couple weeks : )

Congrat's Steve. That's a fantastic R2.

Steve, I have to admit that when I see that you have posted in this thread, my heart beats a little faster at the prospect of seeing some truly original pieces of SW toy history. And you don't disappoint.
 Congratulations on the R2. I'll look forward to seeing what you reveal in a couple of weeks.

Great R2! I love the proto sticker. Look forward to the arrival of the special lady and her unique accessories

New addition on page 1
: )
Thanks for looking -Steve

That blaster is fantastic

Thank you James

Wow, cool Leia + unique accessories  The blaster is so cool!
I take it the photo of her next to Han is from the original pics following the salesman's find? She does indeed look shorter than her production version.
Congrats on adding this cool piece!

That is correct. I plan on carefully removing her from the coffin. I have a nice slide back acrylic case for her waiting : ) I have done this with all my graded prototypes. I just prefer the slide back cases, for display, better.
-Steve

The_Dark_Artist wrote:

That is correct. I plan on carefully removing her from the coffin. I have a nice slide back acrylic case for her waiting : ) I have done this with all my graded prototypes. I just prefer the slide back cases, for display, better.
-Steve

very good plan! Plus you get to see her 'in the flesh' so to speak

Steve,

FANTASTIC ADDITION!
Love that Leia blaster, man! They really should have went with that mould for production.

So when is the next group shot?

Thanks for sharing man! Very, very cool!

cheers!

Thanks guys. Group shot added on page 1
-Steve

Group shot added
All are First Shots with the exceptions of C3PO and Luke, which are Engineering Pilots.

Well, you've done it again!  I particularly like the detailing on Leia's blaster.