These convincing REPROs have managed to sneak into the collections of many people, myself included. Numerous threads can be found on both the Rebelscum and TIG forums with collectors expressing their concerns over these rough-looking weapons which appear to date back to around 2012. Checking my own collection purchase history, I unknowingly acquired one of these with an A-Wing Pilot from eBay back in 2004 - therefore it appears that these REPROs have been in circulation earlier than first thought.

Unlike some of the mass-produced REPROs we are used to seeing, these aren't as widespread but have appeared for sale on online auction sites like eBay quite frequently. The most common REPROs in this set seem to be the Palace Blaster and Pilot Blaster, and up until earlier this year I had not managed to find another example of the Rebel Blaster.

These REPROs have, largely, remained undocumented for a long time and are being sold openly as genuine items. Sellers are flaunting the use of the 'float test' to pass them off as genuine. Below are two examples taken recently from eBay...

So far six reproduction weapons have been identified as sharing the same characteristics. It would be safe to assume that these all come from the same source. I was initially aware of five of these REPROs before discovering the Rebel Blaster in February 2015. Please bear in mind that this may not be a fully comprehensive list. TIG will document any additional items found with the same characteristics as soon as any come to light .

Note that when comparing your possible REPROs to the images below they will differ slightly due to the lack of quality control in the manufacturing process. Towards the end of the report you can see a comparison photo of three Endor Blasters, each slightly different to each other in appearance.

As you most likely gathered from the title of this report "DEBUNKING THE FLOAT TEST MYTH", these REPROs all PASS the float test. Although it has never been claimed that the float test is a de-facto standard for identifying REPROs it does work pretty well for many of the other reproductions on the market. We should therefore consider that the float test alone should only be used as 'part' of the REPRO identification process along with other methods of identification such as the Drop Test and UV light test.

Thankfully these reproductions have a lot of tell-tale signs to easily distinguish them from their original counterparts. That is of course if you know what to look for... so on behalf of the TIG team please allow me to demonstrate with an easy-to-follow list how these differ when compared to their original counterparts.

(*) The amount of 'flashing' - which is the term used for excess plastic around the edges of the REPROs - can vary dramatically. This is due to flaws in the manufacturing process. For example, the two halves of the mould not sitting flush together and/or excessive amounts of plastic being fed into the mould and seeping out.

There is an additional concern with the Princess Leia Blaster. Although it was never moulded in black by Kenner it was released as part of a bootleg line in Hungary. Two figures in this product line can be found with a black Princess Leia Blaster: these are Princess Leia & Han Solo - both of which are bootlegs of the action figures from the first 12 Kenner line. The picture below shows the two Princess Leia Blasters side by side.

It is possible that with a steady hand some of these floating REPROs could be cleaned up so that they appear like their genuine couterparts. This, however, would be near impossible with some of them due to the loss in detail around the external edges because of the amount of flashing. Take for example the Endor Blaster below, the detailed rings around the barrel have been completely lost - even the steadiest of hands working with a craft knife could not rectify details like this, thankfully!

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Fred/Thargoil for the awesome logo and photo enhancements.
Paul/Artoo_Detour for proof reading and editing my draft report.