Hi everyone.

I've been lurking for few days using the incredible resources this site offers.

I'm a life long Star Wars fan and for my sins have a rather modest collection of vintage figures and ships.

Until recently I wasn't aware of the breadth of variations that were available.  My collection has come from purchases made from the Hens Teeth in Exeter some years ago (long since gone) and Brian's Toys in the US.

I have been going through all my figures and assessing them for age, manufacturer, COO and whether or not the accessories are original or replicas.

Thus far I have found what I think are a few replicas.  It's disappointing but inevitable.

I have hit a snag and can't seem to be able to find an answer.

I have a dark blue rebel blaster, but it has a silver tip.  This came with a red Snaggletooth figure.

Is this a known variant?  Or is this looking like a repro or later manufactured blaster?

Can upload an image if required.

Thanks in advance.

Matt

  to TIG Matt  

as far as I am aware there were never any vintage weapons that were painted at all . Yours is most likely a repo or possibly a vintage weapon with a custom paint job done by a previous owner/collector/child .

Pics would help us give you a definite answer though so load 'em up  

Welcome to TIG, Matt. Glad that you took the decision to join the ranks!

Without a picture I also think about a custom job.
I have a Wicket/Romba spear with a grey tip. Neat to see, but a custom from an original vintage spear for sure.

 Matt, nice to see new members signing up from the UK.

A photo would be nice, but my guess without seeing it, custom painted.

I've owned a few figures with silver shoe soles and silver dots on the guns, my guess it was some kids way of identifying his figures.

I have one too where the front part has had silver paint applied to it. I thought repro but didn't think about custom. It floats.

  Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum.

Alas, it is as I thought.  It is most definitely painted! I have just float tested it too and it floats.  Looks more like a repro to me.

Here are the photographs as promised.

 Matt.

As you now know it has been custom painted. Can you post a pic of the other side of the blaster, as it will make it easier to determine whether it is a repro.  

Hi and welcome to TIG indeed!

Your blaster is not listed on the confirmed repro section of the main site;
http://www.imperialgunnery.com/rebelblasters.htm

I can almost see the kid dipping it in mams silver nail-polish or something convinced it would look awesome

Here is a picture of the other side.

Thanks for the extra pic Matt. IMO that blaster looks like an original vintage one, but lets see what others have to say.

(The common repros have a raised bump above the magazine & sink in water, originals have a depression & float)

From experience with weapons i've picked up, I'm sticking with vintage but custom painted.

yep , yep - - looks like a custom paint job on a vintage gun .

If it bothers you you might be able to flake it off or try cleaning it off with a little paint thiner :scratch: 

I would just leave it that way myself and have a cool custom painted vintage weapon  

a magic eraser should remove the paint with no issues  & welcome to the forum!

RetroRewindToys wrote:

a magic eraser should remove the paint with no issues  

but you should sprinkle a little Fairy Dust on it first  

seriously , Magic Erasers are a great suggestion - they work wonders on quite a few issues ...

The magic eraser is a neat idea  

I think I will keep it as is. It's part of the history of the item. I'm just glad it's an original product.

Just inspected my speeder bike and have found that the arms are reproduction, but the exhaust flaps are original.

I've also ordered six new figures from Paul at Vintage Star Wars Collectables. Missed the delivery today but will hopefully collect at the weekend.

Thank you all for your help.

I know it's been said a load of times, but the blaster is definately original, the silver tip of course is custom.