The glasses are really cool Bud, when you get chance can you add some slightly bigger pics of them to the oddball thread?

thanks!

http://www.imperialgunneryforum.com/t4668-tig-world-of-odd-drinking-vessels

12" Luke




with wrong lightsaber.



When i have a chance i will clean him up and try to take better photos so that the gunnery can use them as reference, for the clothing, lightsaber, grappling hook and belt part.


who should i send the photos to? the admin?

cheers!

Here is the Luke Stormie i was talking about. A near perfect example. Tight limbs and all, Flawless head with no paint rubs, slightly yellowed limbs. Now all i have to find later is a genuine helmet and blaster....


I have watched for this one for a long time to try to get him as close as perfect as possible and i think i have achieved it. Other than buying one on a card or AFA'ed. Getting him in this quality loose is close to a miracle... Pretty proud of myself.... Got it from a fellow Canuck too!

New addition to the family. Also this ERG answered a question i had earlier. I had asked about why some erg capes seemed fluffy and other were not. I think i have figured it out.

Some of the capes were assembled one way and some were assembled the other way. That is why some capes look fluffy and other capes seems to have the lines pattern in the cape when i saw these on ebay.

The line pattern capes are the reversed capes or vice versa ( maybe ). Honestly i do not have another ERG to compare it with but the evidence is too convincing to be anything else. So i guess it could be considered a variant of some kind ( or maybe not )...

Finally!











For some strange reason i thought that the light saber was gonna be like very thick and ugly. I am surprised to see that it is actually of a decent size and does not look stupid. I also thought that the lightsaber was really pliable but mine seems to be made of a plastic that is very dry ( sort of) i checked and it looks like a legit lightsaber as sold an original one but you can never be sure, i have seen some pretty messed up bent out of shape saber on ebay but mine looks good compared to those. But 50$ for a saber..wow...it has the equivalents of maybe 3 plastic toothpick in it. ahahahah

Loose Luke 12 Inch reference guide.



My Luke has Ben's saber right now but i am expecting another one to come in with proper saber so i will update later.

edit: I have received the new Luke with a blue lightsaber!

Detailed analysis:

Nota: The red squares indicates mold or mould artifacts to look for when trying to see if your weapon is fake or not. This does not constitute an absolute reference to spot fakes but should help.

Luke has a hard torso of plastic with a COO stamp at the bottom of his back





His head also has a COO or rather copyright stamp at the bottom of his hairdo.





His arm are made of a hard flexible rubber material and they fall back in position. There is no joint system in his arms.



His head is attached using a system like this. I have used a beat up Luke to demonstrate:






His legs are of the same material as his arms but somewhat harder and there is a skeletal system in the legs that allows the knees to be bent and stay bent. You can see artifact of the knee joint system.




Clothing:

Luke has white boots that are made of rubbery material. The boot is pretty well made, about a couple of milimeters thick of semi hard rubber so if the rubber is still flexible and if you take care you "can" remove the boots. Under the sole, there is a stamp that says made in Hong Kong. The boot seem to be neutral has the is no left or right foot and the boots are the same mold so again the boots are neutral ( not left or right foot ). These boots are extremely hard to take off and put back on. I really struggled to get this done without breaking the legs of the toy. I am sure that there is a trick to put them on but without that knowledge they don't come out or go back on easy. The boots were dirty and showed signs of yellowing ( sort of ) when i got this Luke. I used Oxi clean, the same as on the shirt and i can say that the end result of the clean up is nothing short of miraculous. The grime was removed and the yellowing was practically gone. I will repeat this, i do not know the long term effect of oxi clean on the toy. It may or may not have an adverse effect on the material in the long run but right now it did more than an awesome job at restoring the figure.





He has light golden pants. They are golden, There was too much light in the pics so the pants look white but they are not.





A Martial art like tunic , inside the tunic there is a small label that says made in Hong Kong , the lettering is red in color.






When I got this Luke the tunic was all stained with yellow color. It barely shows on the pic below but it was quite bad. I tried to clean it with regular detergent but it was not working out. I did some research and landed on Oxi Clean and I decided to try this. I mixed the solution and put the boots and shirt in. In a matter of minutes all the nasty yellow stains on the shirt were gone. The only side effect is that it discolored the Hong Kong lettering inside his tunic but who cares right? nobody see this. The shirt is has white as when it came out of the factory so the stuff works. It bleached the boots also and they came out nicely. I cannot tell you the long term effects of what I did but at this time it helped.

Before oxi clean clean up



After oxi clean clean up



He has a flexible hard rubber utility belt that assembles together under the buckle. There is a set of number inside the belt, the lettering is pretty sharp so if you think you got a reproduction belt maybe this could help identify it. The numbers are 31600557 and under that line is a single 1. There is silvery paint on the buckle of the belt as well as the buttons and some other parts on the belt, that paint seem to be the same silver as Snaggletooth blue and unfortunately it seems to rub off the same way. My belt is missing a lot of the silver on the belt and i would say that this is a common problem on this Luke in his loose form. I have another upcoming Luke that has a better belt and i will update the pictures when i get the new belt.








Better looking belt: You can see that the button should be painted silver on the belt.







He has a grappling hook that has yarn spun around it or loose. The top of the grappling hook spins on the shaft of the grappling hook.



Lightsaber

I got the blue version of the lightsaber which should be Luke's lightsaber, But i am somewhat disapointed because the saber is pretty beat up and paint has rubbed off. I looked at it and it does not seem to have the same mold artifacts as the Ben lightsaber ( see Ben's saber below) which has me worried that this might be a repro but it could just be a factory difference and the saber might be genuine.







( I have the Ben version with this purchase but I would assume that Luke would be the same , just a different blade colored version)

Although seemingly divided into 3 parts , the lightsaber is one piece of plastic painted in 3 separate sections.



The lightsaber is divided in three parts.

The pommel is black. There is a round mold artifacts on the pommel in the back where there is a hook to hang on the belt. It looks like an indented spot. Not a real round mold artifact like in the other parts of the ligthsaber.



On the other side you will see another mold artifact.






Then there is the emitter part which is silver painted, the is also a round mold artifact at the start of the silvery part where the pommel and the emitter join.

The silver part seems to be of the same quality and finish as the silver on the belt and similar to the silver used on the blue snaggletooth. Therefore it seems to rub off easily. Looking at the photos on the guide, i am inclined to say that the real sabers have a more matte silver finish ( dull silver ) and that the repro sabers have a shinier silver color applied to them which would help spot fakes when you are able to purchase on site.




Under or the top of the emitter ( so to speak ) are little details, you will see 6 tiny bumps that had detail to the lightsaber. These are very well defined.




On top of that detail is another raised detail that looks like a bump ( knob, button )

The blade part is either glow stick yellow/ greenish for Ben or blue for Luke.
Almost of the end of the blade you will also see a circle mold artifact.





Weight of the toy parts:

My scale is not top notch but i thought i would include these measurements so that people know about them. Since my scale is not top notch, these may not be accurate figures but at least it is a start.

Luke naked: 246 grams
Lightsaber: 4 grams
Belt: 6 grams
Boots ( individual ): 9 grams
Pants: 6 grams
Shirt: 7 grams
Grappling hook: does not register on my scale

Lengths
Lightsaber length: 120 mm
belt length: 165 mm
boot height : 64 mm from top part to bottom rear of sole


Comments: I have seen some Ben on auction sites and i came to see that he has the same boots as Luke but brown colored instead. Which leads me to say that Ben would be the exact same sculpt ( toy- body ) as Luke but with a different head and accessories. It would make perfect sense for Kenner to have done this at that time to save some money on production. When i get a Ben i will post my findings on this assumption.



Paint rub off on hand:




Both luke i got had black hands, I suspect that the rubbery material that makes the arms rubs off after the pommel of the lightsaber and rubs off the paint off the pommel, If you put the saber on and off out of Luke's hands or Ben it rubs off the paint on the saber. Which is sad because it makes getting a proper saber harder to find. The paint can be removed from the hands fortunately but is lost of the saber.

My Very Own Death Star!

Nuff Said!

US version. First edition. Everything was included except the original catalog from what i can see. The elevator works like a charm, the door of it too.

The cardboard are in super shape. Dianoga is nice and the trash compactor works very well. The canon is intact and works in its different position and ejects. The floor are just a tad yellowed but it think it would be more of a dirt problem than actual yellowing. I did not want to throw it in the sink and wash it because i did not want to damage the stickers. Assembling the toy is a no brainer. Putting it back in the box with the cardboard insert was the real challenge.

I may try to get the cardboard version down the road but that is super rare and also expensive...







Store price tag. But i think on SWCA it says that sears was selling them for 17$ or something like that.






































































The infamous foam. It is in perfect shape, i was able to manipulate it without even doing any damage. I think i might be missing the blue color out of it. Not sure but you cant beat what i got.



The little rope that everyone says " it's always missing!"

Love your passion Bud, and some really nice boxed stuff too, love your collection mate, cheers

Aussie Fortuna wrote:

Love your passion Bud, and some really nice boxed stuff too, love your collection mate, cheers

Thanks, what you just said means a lot to me. I will continue to put more stuff in my limelight as i go along.

My pleasure mate, i really like your attention to the finer and small details, ive really enjoyed reading through your thread here, and i love sharing in others passion mate, i can feel your joy coming through your posts and not everybody has the ability to extend that joy to the readers, so love your work mate and looking forward to seeing more of your collection and hear your take on it..

cheers mate
Tony

The Beatles.. John, Paul, Ringo and George. No sabers in the deal but at the price i paid i could not pass up this deal!

Different COO Luke Bespin deal i got on ebay. At least one is decent enough to go in my collection. One of them has the coo divided in two, a part on each leg COO 5 from what i understand from Wolf's guide. Is it from a particular distributor outside USA?

Aussie Fortuna wrote:

My pleasure mate, i really like your attention to the finer and small details, ive really enjoyed reading through your thread here, and i love sharing in others passion mate, i can feel your joy coming through your posts and not everybody has the ability to extend that joy to the readers, so love your work mate and looking forward to seeing more of your collection and hear your take on it..

cheers mate
Tony

Thanks again, I just think this is the best thing i have done in a long long time ( collecting SW toys ) It costs money but the thrill of the hunt and getting your prize at the end is an awesome feeling. I am on a constant discovery journey with my collection and that is what is the most fun i learn something new everyday. I just like to post as much info as i can about what i can because if it helps someone in collecting get over the hurdle i had more easily then that is what i would want.

I also like to thank micahc6v8 ( youtube vintage Star Wars toy reviewer extraordinaire ) who inspires me to get these items.
I watch his youtube channel all the time and every review is an adventure to watch. He has some of the weirdest reviews but they are from the heart, I know he loves this so much and i aspire to him. He is my idol in that field to be honest. One day i hope i have as much real vintage toys as he seems to have. I am getting there. I am doing good on my loose figure set i now have 68 out of the 93 and they are for the most part high grade figures and i am very proud of that and other things as you can see here.

cheers!

Manamaman!


In great shape, He is almost mint just one tiny paint rub. The staff is in top shape. The coin is used but it is nice. This coin is my first one , maybe i will pick up some more later...



















Behind the scene stuff on the set....


Ailsa Burke was the mime artist/puppeteer of Amanaman in Return of the Jedi.

Latest:

2005 Certificate, still sealed.







Vader 15" in very decent shape. Missing saber but i ll get one later no biggie! Tattoine dust included!








Luke! I am your Father!

Bud, can i be rude enough to ask you what the early bird certificate cost you, im thinking of getting one and framing it, cheers

sorry bud, i thought it was an original there for a second, cheers mate n keep up the interesting blog here im lovin the pics and thoughts.

Aussie Fortuna wrote:

sorry bud, i thought it was an original there for a second, cheers mate n keep up the interesting blog here im lovin the pics and thoughts.

The original can go very high depending on their shape. I have seen Jordan pay something like 500$ for one on Toy Hunter...( might be wrong though, been a while since i saw that episode) and we all know the early bird kit is super expensive. Chances of getting a sealed one are slim unless you have the cash. Even then, I am not entirely sure if i would want an original that is sealed. I would prefer a delicately opened one with most of the items inside so i can take it out and see what it was about back then.



The one i got was 28$ only 50 000 of them made apparently so they are "kinda rare" too. I would say that the chances of getting one that is still sealed is even rarer too. Not to brag or trying to say that my copy is more valuable but a lot of people probably took advantage of that early bird kit and sent away for the toys. It would be interesting to know how many of the 50 000 have been redeemed at Hasbro. Maybe someone has the numbers...

There is all kinds of them on ebay. Few like mine. Some opened. Some with the early bird toys. etc... not hard to track but the prices vary greatly from cheap to downright too expensive.

Bunch of Play copies i got:




BTW the book is awesome!

It all looks great! Now I'm curious about the book, will have to reaerch it

Original Don Post Mask circa 1977 0r 1978

I wanted to get this Don Post mask for the nostalgia factor and i can say that this is an impressive collector's item even if this is an entry level mask and not size accurate to the original helmet. To be honest it feels like i have a real prop of the film in my hands, It breaks apart like the original helmet and ads a lot to the feeling of it not being some cheapo mask thing. It also kinda creeps me out just because it feels so real. Imagine having the helmet of Darth Vader on a shelf in front of you. How Creepy would that feel?

Now i know how David Prowse felt with this mask on.


This is an excellent entry level mask and i highly recommend it to anyone. You can probably find it on ebay at any given time for dirt cheap. Mine is used and scuffed up but this is exactly how i wanted it. It is not pristine and shows its age and it feels like a piece of the 1970's which i love so much.

It is made of very thick plastic about 1.5 millimeters to probably more in some areas. I am not sure if the helmet is made of ABS or PVC plastic, could be wrong on this one. This is probably why it lasted well for such an amount of time. The nose paint and tusk paint is missing on my helmet but i do not mind at all. i like it. It probably rubbed off easily over the years. The helmet is not heavy at all and is easy to wear.

The mask is not small, an adult can easily wear it. It fits snugly over the head and the top part hold with a strong Velcro. It does not feel flimsy on your head and the helmet part does not wobble around so it is fun to wear. You face goes deep in the helmet so you are close to the lenses. However the lenses are curved and blurry but you still can manage to see thru enough to get around.

Lenses seem to be clear but have had a smoke effect to them so they are somewhat dark.

One funny part is that when you have this on you actually hear yourself breathe in it and it sounds like you are doing the actual Darth Vader respiration sound and its a funny feeling.

Strangely enough if you look at the helmet in a certain it looks amazing and realistic. Another aspect of the helmet is that it looks more like an empire strikes back Vader helmet than an ANH helmet. If the flare of the helmet and been down about roughly an inch lower, it would have been spot on an ANH helmet. For ESB the flare side ( bottom of side of the helmet itself) of the helmet cap were higher than ANH and this helmet strangely resembles an ESB helmet.

I believe that the Rubies company now have the Don Post molds and are still making this helmet but i preferred the real thing over the Rubie. However i plan to get the deluxe Rubies helmet down the road as this one did convinced me to get a more screen accurate Vader helmet,

It is simply an awesome book. I would suggest it to any hardcore ANH fans. However i would suggest to buy the hardcover version as it has more pages. I have the paperback and it is a huge book. I have read it several times already it is amazing.

I am actually waiting for the making of ESB version in the mail which i should get soon so i can read on it.

There is quite a few reviews of these books if you want to get a feel of what the books are about...

cheers!

Nice pick up with the Helmet . I can understand what you stated about the creepy factor, lol. So if I understand correctly if your not drinking and would like the visual effects of drinking...then put the mask on

yes

Coming soon!

Review: WIP

I am writting a review of this book and it will be written in several sessions.

The book itself is big. It is oversized and just a tad over an inch thick.

Product specs from Amazon:

Product Details
Paperback: 324 pages
Publisher: LucasBooks (April 24, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345477618
ISBN-13: 978-0345477613
Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 1 x 10.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

I got the paperback version.

The book is full of photos, concept drawings, paintings etc....

The book will leave you with a impression of how it was hard to make the film and will clarify a lot of the urban myths that have been circulating in amateur documentary and professional documentaries on the makign of the film.

It was not as easy as it might have been reported in documentaries as " empire of dreams " once you have read the book. you will find that empire of dreams is a very diluted and romanticized version of the making of ANH.

The books pics up when George was at American Zoetrope and then when he went on to make american graffiti and then really picks up soon after Graffiti and how George had to go against unsurmountable odds in order to get his movie done.

The book is divided into some sort of time line.

example: Boundary Busters: january 1975 to august 1975

The author explains what happened within that timeframe. The entirety of the book is based on that timeline format.

Within that timeframe the author delivers facts, anecdotes, pictures, concept drawings and other relevant info related to the film.

Strenghts of the book: The format. It is done in a timeline fashion which makes the concept and the filming process make sense.

another strength is the photos and drawings. The book is full of them.

You will discover thru the book of lot of interesting details that you rarely see or hear about.


Weakness of the book: The book lacked a lot on the props and costuming aspect of the film. The author while explaining who did what as far as costume go did not dedicated any book pages to how the costumes were really made or how many of the props came into being. Just a few lines. So the people who are avid about those details will be left hanging dry with this book which is a shame.

This book is big, almost too big, it is not easy to just sit in a chair and enjoy reading this book as you have to continually shift around the reposition yourself to read the book. You get tired quick and then have to read the book in several sessions. Some people like this some people don't.

There is no real modern view of the story. It would have been nice to have people reflect on their work and have that inserted in the book to see how they feel now versus back then. The book is built around interviews of that time, nothing recent.


The book could use a re edit with more pages or some sort of companion book to show more about the logistic aspects of the film.

Topics covered in the book at a glance:

Pre-American Graffiti

Pre-Star Wars and George Luca's financial difficulties

Lucas shopping Star Wars around after script writing

Foundation of ILM and the special effects of the film

The contract and financing of the film

Casting and what happened

Choosing locations to shoot the movie

Choosing a director of photography

movie sets

Editing

post production

publicity

Theater release

Aftermath of the movie release.