I recently bought a vintage Star Wars Princess Leia (1977) that was in great condition. However, upon looking at the hands it appeared as if one was repainted. The paint was perfect and looked new compared to the other hand. Not wanting a figure that was tampered with, I sent it back.

I've seen some Princess Leia (1977) figures and maybe some other vintage SW figures that have a slightly different paint color on the hands. I wonder if this had something to do with manufacturing or were painted to look new after the fact.

Does anyone have any insight into this and should I stay clear of repainted figures due to their diminished value?

Sometimes the paint does weird things on these figures. I have seen paint that on one hand it was paler than the other, have seen a lot where overspray makes it look sloppy. The thing is if you think it was repainted and don't want it send it back. The odds are it isn't but if you think it is there is no reason to keep it if you don't want to. With most figures the price point isn't there for people to do touch ups, but the more expensive figures they might think it is. Bottom line is these figures weren't meant to be around for 30-40 years as collectables but were made as toys to play with. They didn't know when they painted them that all these years later we would be inspecting them for defect.