OK so I understand the blueish boots appear on the No COO PBP/Euro variant. Which No Coo scar is associated with this variant? On Wolff's old guide it appears to be the 3a No COO scar has blue boots and the 3b No COO scar has the greener boots however the background lighting looks different and i often find it difficult to be sure from looking at photos unless there is a direct comparison with a regular green boots figure. So I wasn't sure.

So is it confirmed with this COO only?

Are all 3a COO figures blue boots variants?

There should be no difference between 3a & 3b ie. both should appear in both boot 'colours'

far right two figures are same Hong Kong & different 'colour'

Thanks mate. So the blue boots can be found on both No COO Euro variants and also the Hong Kong COO too?

Is that one of the Greedos James has posted on the right oli? This HK factory was responsible for both of these scars and they where the ones that made all of the Greedos out there with the same COO's or slight different positions, all 3 HK factories where creating slight paint, plastic and COO Variants right the way through there production times, SW through to POTF and at least two from the very start.

Ok so the Greedo 2nd to the right with the blue boots in James' picture is a Hong Kong COO?

Of all the Greedo's I owned the figures with really noticeably bluer boots had the 3a COO.

I know the No COO scar is the Hong Kong mold but that doesn't necessarily mean it was still in Hong Kong, it could have been Spain for example. I'm just curious how the different paint colours appear on all COO's I guess it is just a slight unintended variation in paint mix.

olisuds wrote:

Ok so the Greedo 2nd to the right with the blue boots in James' picture is a Hong Kong COO?

I'm just curious how the different paint colours appear on all COO's I guess it is just a slight unintended variation in paint mix.

from left to right in my pic is: II (funky 7), smooth no CoO, scar no CoO then 3 Hong Kongs

I do think any colour 'variations' is just batch anomalies/mix and could not be specific to half a mould pair

Thanks James that sounds likely. What the he'll is a funky 7? :-)

Oli,
       Glad you asked this question mate, I thought the PBP blue boots was (3a) only  

James, that's a great funky 7 brother  

ourchickenshack wrote:

olisuds wrote:

What the he'll is a funky 7? :-)

Mould family II is 'funky 7'

not a 'normal' 7

what were we talking about?- a picture keeps distracting me

I see the a & b 'versions' of variants just like dent no dent blue snag- 'same' figure produced in equal quantities and batch 'anomalies' should apply to both.

olisuds wrote:

I know the No COO scar is the Hong Kong mold but that doesn't necessarily mean it was still in Hong Kong, it could have been Spain for example. I'm just curious how the different paint colours appear on all COO's I guess it is just a slight unintended variation in paint mix.

The deep scars came before the smoothed over COO's and that would mean Spain had the scar mold above but then sent it back to HK for there "Palitoy" Greedo with the smoothed over COO, the same paint colours appearing on all the 3 COO's also leads credence to them all being made in the same place as it shows these blueish boots where made from start to finish.

Yeah totally agree. It would make more sense if they were made in the same place. I guess the question is, was it Hong Kong or Spain.

olisuds wrote:

Yeah totally agree. It would make more sense if they were made in the same place. I guess the question is, was it Hong Kong or Spain.

I think this proves there all HK made Oli as its only the deep scar that's believed to be PBP, this HK COO in a SW era Baggie will confirm it 100% for me as these PBP figures didn't come on the scene till late ESB? and ROTJ.

When I say HK, they could have also been copied latter by one of the affiliated factories IMO, Macau or China but I dont think its the later. Apart from the card COOs I honestly can't see where PBP came in to the production thing and think they where just packing figures like Palitoy and Meccano

Perhaps you are right, but the anomaly for me is that the No COO scar Greedo still has that funny "PBP" plastic smell and not to mention the different shade of plastic colour. So it does indicate a change in production method along with altering the CRs on the mold which would suggest the mold changing location. It's honestly very confusing! lol

"When I say HK, they could have also been copied latter by one of the affiliated factories IMO, Macau or China but I dont think its the later. Apart from the card COOs I honestly can't see where PBP came in to the production thing and think they where just packing figures like Palitoy and Meccano"

I've been thinking about my above statement I'm not sure which HK factory made these Greedos at the moment so the above might not apply. Figures/COO's where copied by China for Kader and Macau for Smile. I'm not sure if China and Macau where also doing this with each other's affiliated factories as well as Unitoy and there's a lot of research that still needs doing.

olisuds wrote:

Perhaps you are right, but the anomaly for me is that the No COO scar Greedo still has that funny "PBP" plastic smell and not to mention the different shade of plastic colour. So it does indicate a change in production method along with altering the CRs on the mold which would suggest the mold changing location. It's honestly very confusing! lol

It is very confusing Oli and I don't consider myself an expert as my opinion changes all the time. I can't explain the smell either but maybe nostalgia and degradation have something to do with it or its down to something these factories where using in the plastic. Colour and type of plastic was changed throughout the times of all these factories and wouldn't need a change in production method, just the plastic. I would love for some one to convince me otherwise as quite a bit of my collection is "PBP" but I can't see it.
I'm not sure why removing the COO's should suggest a move in factory either, the last 13 ROTJ figures are all no coo or they also have Taiwan COO version. HK where still making these no coo figures and for the POTF last 15 figures they are all only no COO. These deep scars are just a step in production and came before there smoothed over counterpart, the HK factory(s) quickly amended these eyesores with the next batch of a perticular character that they had ordered(like they did with Palitoys Greedo) If the factory(s) had no other order for a character then that character with the deep scar was the last produced by this HK Factory(s) like you can find with Luke Farmboy.

Franks excellent guide has a Baggie down as Euro e/a and Euro e/b, this is the same Baggie IMO and from the same factory, the slight different texture is down to the time it was made and what plastic the factory had available. The a or b designation comes from the confusion about PBP figures. The "a" has "PBP Euro" scar figures in them and the B has HK? Smoothed No COO figures in them(same factory as the scars just the next produced)
http://www.starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15937&start=30

Franks is a HK COO IG-88 in this Baggie and mine is the same variant just latter produced without a COO(smooth)

You can see 2 deep scar greedos in my first pic but I'm not sure if ones a different batch or discoloured. Below that is my IG-88 and a No COO Luke in the Euro e/b Baggie. Two other "PBP" figures in the same baggie type and another PBP figure in a MIHK Baggie.

I was having a look on eBay the other day to see if I could work out where these Hollow Eyed IG-88's where made. This is more proof that these baggies and figures are all made in Hong Kong and it's great that I can add it to my collection that this baggie type originates from the Smile factory.

ESB 41 back with the Hollow eyed IG-88, no factory code's on these Smile MOCs at this time in production but it does still have the perforated punch.




ESB 48 back with hollow eyes and an "S" factory code for Smile.




ROTJ 65 back with hollow eyed IG-88 and a "HN" factory code for Smile factory

Interesting read.

Personalky I like to stick to the theory that the late PBP figures with no COO (Class III) were produced in Spain.
* The PBP Cantina Aliens appeard on Made in Spain Kenner cards in the US
* PBP figures have their signature chemical smell different from other no COO figures
* PBP figures mainly appeared on Spanish cards. Also on some Trilogos (reflecting European distribution via a central Palitoy logistic center?)

On the other hand there is no proof yet that PBP produced their figures in a Spanish factory. So In theory it could also be an Asian factory (Hong Kong, Macau, China) that produced the PBP figures and exported these to Spain. I have high hopes Javi's upcoming book will provide some proof about where the PBP figures were produced.

Scott, why do you think that the PBP figures were produced in Hong Kong?

Cheers
Marco

Makes sense Marco - that was my line of thinking too. Although I confess to being a bit confused by it all :-)

Hi Olli, you are not the only one being confused.

Back to your original question.
Are the  blue boots maybe just discoloured green boots?
Similar as seen for Prune Face's pants..