I have wanted to discuss these guys in public for quite some time but haven't had the time .
 
I have sent pics and asked a few of the members here what their thoughts are on these "white collar" Bespin Guards - so far everyone I have talked to seems inclined to think they are legitimate .
 
Here is some background info :
 
I have actually seen 3 of these in total over the last 7 years . The 1st one I came across was a real beater and my thoughts on it at the time were that the white collar must be custom painted and man , he sure had a screwed up squashed head  He was thrown in with a batch of beater figures and I sold him as such .
 
A year or 2 later I got another one (by accident) in a large lot I purchased and it got me to thinking ... hmmmm , maby this is a legitamate variant after all  
 
so I started actively searching for another ... it took me another year to find the 3rd and I bought him . When I got him I was pleased to find that he was identical to the other I had - same squashed head , identical coo stamps , pinkish cuff paint and the shade of white on the collars is identical . Another trait they both had was no trace of gold paint on the trim but I suppose that could be wear - just odd to me because they don't show much wear at all anywhere else .
 
Keep in mind that all 3 were bought from different sources , they were not advertised as anything "speacial" , and were purchased months to years apart from one another .......
 




 
I still own one of them but I sold the other to another member here - I don't want to "out him" myself but hopefully he will chime in with his opinion  
 
I would love to post pics in the FOTW section but I want to get opinions from the members here before I do .
 
Questions :
 
Do you feel it is legitamate ?
 
Does anyone else have one ? (If so Please , Please share your pics  )
 
Does anyone have any idea of its origin ?
 
let's discuss

Here's another example....



 

This site has one documented but with a different 'tash, however it looks custom made to me as there are blobs of paint on the chin. Surely this paint app would have been done before the head was fitted?
 
http://www.highasakoit.co.uk/starwars/bespinwhite.php
 

 
And here's a black bespin guard with a white collar, the image was stolen off RS  

Image from http://www.highasakoit.co.uk/starwars/bespinwhite.php

walkie wrote:

But seriously, these site has one documented but with a different 'tash...
 
http://www.highasakoit.co.uk/starwars/bespinwhite.php

And here's a black bespin gaurd with a white collar (it's not the neck if you check ESB screenshots).

 
 
Thanks Stef  
 
I have seen those pics but they confused me even more - the only real similarity that figure shares with the 2 I have pictured is the painted collar :scratch: 
 

ourchickenshack wrote:

 
I still own one of them but I sold the other to another member here - I don't want to "out him" myself but hopefully he will chime in with his opinion  

I bought one of James' white collar Bespin Guards more than a year ago.
Belief it or not but I was thinking about this figure earlier today on my way to work, maybe to start a thread about him to get some more info.
Seriously James, wearing Jason costumes at Haloween is OK, but starting to read my thoughts cross-Atlanticly is getting really scarry.  

Back to the white collar Bespin Guard. Here are some pics.










You can clearly see that the white paint on the collar is hand painted not sprayed. So at first glance it looks like a custom figure.
The remarkable thing is that whoever did this used at least two times a figure with unique facial details. Again these might be customized as well off course, after succesfully removing the original paint. But why?

I am not an expert. Do the eyes and moustache look sprayed, or hand painted?

Hoping to get some more input on this, like James.


BTW: Here is another white collar Bespin Guard. Prototype this time. Nothing to do with this figure.


Source: General Kahn's cardback collection. http://www.imperialgunneryforum.com/t6311p15-card-back-collectors-thread#107874

I've not seen those before James. Sorry I can't shed any light, but the fact you have got them at different times, from different sources & they have the same colour paint on the hands, & cuffs (when compared to your others), coo & facial details, I can see why your wandering whether or not they are legit.

Dr Dengar wrote:

ourchickenshack wrote:

I still own one of them but I sold the other to another member here - I don't want to "out him" myself but hopefully he will chime in with his opinion

I bought one of James' white collar Bespin Guards more than a year ago.
Belief it or not but I was thinking about this figure earlier today on my way to work, maybe to start a thread about him to get some more info.
Seriously James, wearing Jason costumes at Haloween is OK, but starting to read my thoughts cross-Atlanticly is getting really scarry.

That is a little strange Marco

it must be "The Force" at work

"The force surrounds us , binds us togeather , ... between that rock and that tree , even between the Netherlands and Oklahoma ... hmmm "


Thanks for jumping in man

walkie wrote:

.....however it looks custom made to me as there are blobs of paint on the chin. Surely this paint app would have been done before the head was fitted?
 

Agreed! Plus none of the shown white colars here is "sprayed". They are all handpainted and all seem to be painted after the figure was assembled!

The next question would be: If this was a "true" variant, why haven't a carded one showed up in all these years?

wbobafett wrote:

The next question would be: If this was a "true" variant, why haven't a carded one showed up in all these years?

That's easily answered Wolff. The Bespin Guard was just about everybody's favourite figure and most kids couldn't wait to get one and then rip it from the card!  

On a serious note though, and while talking about Bespin Guard, can anyone else remeber the old rumour about one with a 'Gold' cap, aparently it was given away at some store in the U.K. I can remeber reading about it years ago somewhere, never eard anything since, never seen a picture or anything, certainly bullshit, but can anyone else remeber reading that?

General Kahn wrote:

On a serious note though, and while talking about Bespin Guard, can anyone else remeber the old rumour about one with a 'Gold' cap, aparently it was given away at some store in the U.K. I can remeber reading about it years ago somewhere, never eard anything since, never seen a picture or anything, certainly bullshit, but can anyone else remeber reading that?

I heard that story but I think it's bull shite tbh.

It's actually the Father Guido Sarducci variant!

Here are some pics of the one I still have ...
 
I took pics like Marcos on a blue background if anyone wants to do some comparison -
one thing I did notice that I had not before is that there is a trace of gold trim paint on the back of his neck area ...
 



 
@ Wolff -
 
I contacted Lee M about these figures nearly a year ago - at that time he seemed to think it was a legitamate variation and wanted to purchase the one I hadn't already sold to Marco . Lee also asked me at that time not to start a thread about them yet - he wanted me to wait a couple months so he could have time to try and find one before a new "variant craze" kicked in . Out of respect for him I postponed showing these guys here for nearly a year . Hopefully he has found one now or will at least chime in as to what his opinion is now and if he still feels its legitamate :scratch:

This 100% handpainted. Paint was also scratched away in the places where it doesnt belong and the color was running in the depth of the collar in the middle.

I know my opinion is an unpopular one on this one. But to me it is a fake/custom etc.

You know me all...I would go crazy for such a variant, but they are all obviously not real....sorry

@ Alex: I have a picture of the golden hat.....anyone wanna see it??

wbobafett wrote:

@ Alex: I have a picture of the golden hat.....anyone wanna see it??

Yes..... I said Gold hat NOT purple hat  

This picture is btw the reason so many of these pop up....no matter on which character:


You can find the Bespin Guard white colar, and the Bossk with the neat additional black paint apps as well as Han Hoth and Rebel Soldier. These are faked from grown ups, as well as some kids who wnated their figures like they new it from advertising (these Protos were actually used for some advert. shots)

And thats the fake golden helmet:



I had more pictures before my PC crashed years ago....damn...what great pics I have lost in time

General Kahn wrote:

wbobafett wrote:

@ Alex: I have a picture of the golden hat.....anyone wanna see it??

Yes..... I said Gold hat NOT purple hat  

Even a German guy knows what that means.......     

GROOOOOSSSSS!!!!  

walkie wrote:

.........................
 
And here's a black bespin guard with a white collar, the image was stolen off RS  

Maybe you should have noted how that black BSG was advertised over on RS??

Bespin Security Guard (black) (Fully Poseable Custom Action Figure / Neutrally posed at attention) $8

source:
http://forum.rebelscum.com/t1053577/

wbobafett wrote:

Even a German guy knows what that means.......

It's a universal joke  

@ Wolff - Thank you for your opinions but out of curiosity : do you have any Bespin guards that have the same weird head sculpt in your collection ? Maby it's just me , but doesn't the heads on the ones Marco and I have look misformed and kind of squashed ?

can you explain why the figures are just overall different looking to normal Bespin Guard variants ?

As Marco said - If they are customs why would someone go through so much trouble to make 3 identical ones ? They were purchased from different parts of the US over at least a 2 to 3 year time span , from different sellers and were not even advertised as anything speacial . The 2nd one I came across of them was even bought in a large lot that I had no idea it was even in :scratch: 

conspiracy or coincedence  

It doesn't look weird...it is the normal look of this coo (family). You compared it to another coo family all along!

 

(So yes I have one looking like that and 2. What is "normal" looking?)

And as seen on other pic posted by walkie these touchups can also appear on other coo molds!


If you are a "crazy kid" you paint all your BG...if you have 5 of them you paint 5 of them. If you have bought them in the store it is very likely that you bought the same coo families in one store.....and so on.

Anyway: Fact is that the paint looks off. It is definatley not factory made IMO.

@Wolff...my bad for not reading the RS thread

Hey Wolff,

Can you share a pic of your Bespin Guard having the same details in the face pls?

Then we can mark this case as solved.

wbobafett wrote:

It doesn't look weird...it is the normal look of this coo (family). You compared it to another coo family all along!

 

(So yes I have one looking like that and 2. What is "normal" looking?)

And as seen on other pic posted by walkie these touchups can also appear on other coo molds!


If you are a "crazy kid" you paint all your BG...if you have 5 of them you paint 5 of them. If you have bought them in the store it is very likely that you bought the same coo families in one store.....and so on.

Anyway: Fact is that the paint looks off. It is definatley not factory made IMO.

do the others in this "coo family" also have the very light red (almost pinkish) cuffs ? or did the "crazy kid" custom paint those to look identical too ?

I respect your opinions Wolff but just because one guy says "custom" doesn't necessarily make it so . Could you post pics of your Bespin Guards that share the same coo family ?

I don't agree or disagree with anyones opinions on this figure - I am simply trying to have a discussion on a figure that is really odd to me