- jackaroni wrote:
- Just curious if this is common in the vintage Star Wars action figure market. I am just seeing too many vintage figures in near mint condition for sale.
Concerns:
1. The hands don't look right having no definition between fingers.
2. Stray paint - i.e. a body color on another body part, example blue on the white fringe of the Hoth Han Solo. Is it common in the vintage painting process to have mishaps?
3. COO stamp not as defined as one would think it should be.
4. Boots and hands in near perfect condition.
5. Oddly, I don't see any brushstrokes - so maybe they are o.k.?
I would appreciate any feedback any of you may have on this topic.
Thanks in advance!
Trying to answer these in order here.
1. Some paint apps were applied thicker than others but as a general rule a lot of figures like Luke farmboy, obi wan, Luke X wing, etc..painted hand figures usually have some loss of definition more than others who have the molded hands that are not painted.
2. Many paint app errors are common and some times the paint will be present where it shouldn't be. If it is a lot then likely something to look into. The way paint apps are applied is a neat process. There are some you tube videos you can look up by searching painting action figures. I have seen a couple and the paint screen is like a metal clamp like device that works like this: a worker picks up the unpainted part and puts it in the paint screen device. This device is comprised of pieces that are made to fit over the part in the places that the paint does not get applied, leaving only the places needing the paint exposed. The worker the. Grabs a spray gun and shoots the paint onto the spot of course getting some on the paint screen, but they try to minimize this. If the paint screen did not clamp shut properly, or if the paint was applied really thick once the screen is removed the paint still being wet could run or if it wasn't shut properly it may have gotten behind the screen a bit. This is based on videos I have watched of how they paint modern figures and from what I understand the process is the same as how they did it then.
3. The coo not forming as clearly can also be the plastic used, or the way the mold was. Some figurs have good clear crisp coo markings and others do not. Again painted limbs does have a tendency to "muddy" the detail of the coo. Imagine a worker doing this for an 8 hour day. They didn't care if the paint was to thick to see the coo, just needed to get the paint apps applied.
4. This is cause for concern if you see play wear on other parts of the figure. If the figure has spaghetti limbs and wear on the torso, but has fantastic hands and boot paint likely this is retouched.
5. Sometimes it is very difficult to see brush strokes. This is down to the person doing the touch up. There are some very skilled con men out there.
In general paint touch ups aren't a real big problem. On most common figures there really isn't enough profit margin for guys to be concerned about. the higher priced the figure (blue snag is notorious for repainted) the more likely to see it. In other words when looking at common figures I rarely check for repaint when buying, but when looking at last 17 or foreign, or other rarer variants then more scrutiny is involved. The one figure I have seen more an any other is blue snaggletooth. His boots had crappy silver paint that flakes easily and he is in the price range where the better the paint looks the more dollars a seller will get.
Subject: Retouched Paint on Vintage Action Figures 
Sat Mar 12, 2016 11:28 pm
