I bought this:




For a little over $200USD and clearly some are missing capes, weapons etc. So I bought the missing items as reproductions. Except for the Sandpeople cape and the Chewbacca gun. Everything else is a reproduction. My goal is just to have toys that can be played with and held and whatever else I want. I'm not looking for mint items that will sit on a shelf. Is this generally frowned upon that I'm completing this without real weapons?

Also, I'm a total novice here so is $200 a decent deal or did I overpay for junk? You won't hurt my feelings either way. So feel free to shoot me straight. Does anything look out of the ordinary here to anyone?

Hi there, I also just started collecting a couple months ago, and I would say that collecting the real weapons are part of the joy of collecting these figures. What I would recommend is that since you already got the repro weapons, study it together with the IG website to know the differences between the repros and the real weapons, and also the variations and colour weapons. If you come across any original weapons in the future, you should purchase them and slowly replace all your repro weapons with the original. It might take years, but it's worth it!!

Yes, generally using reproduction pieces is frowned upon in the collecting community. The issue is that somewhere down the line your reproduction parts may fool someone into paying the price of real parts. Everyone says they won't sell them as real, but if you had an accident today and someone took possession of your items, they have no way of knowing you have fakes mixed in. When you couple the fact fakes are getting better and that authentic stuff has consistent rising prices I realize it is hard to avoid going the cheaper option and buying fakes, but as I tell/ask everyone who says they just want the same thing they had as a kid, you had original as a kid why would you want fake now?

trappedtexan wrote:

Yes, generally using reproduction pieces is frowned upon in the collecting community. The issue is that somewhere down the line your reproduction parts may fool someone into paying the price of real parts. Everyone says they won't sell them as real, but if you had an accident today and someone took possession of your items, they have no way of knowing you have fakes mixed in.  When you couple the fact fakes are getting better and that authentic stuff has consistent rising prices I realize it is hard to avoid going the cheaper option and buying fakes, but as I tell/ask everyone who says they just want the same thing they had as a kid, you had original as a kid why would you want fake now?

This. Even if it takes longer to save up for the real deal.. just do it.

@aussiejames -- "take your time- enjoy the ride"

trappedtexan wrote:

Yes, generally using reproduction pieces is frowned upon in the collecting community. The issue is that somewhere down the line your reproduction parts may fool someone into paying the price of real parts. Everyone says they won't sell them as real, but if you had an accident today and someone took possession of your items, they have no way of knowing you have fakes mixed in.  When you couple the fact fakes are getting better and that authentic stuff has consistent rising prices I realize it is hard to avoid going the cheaper option and buying fakes, but as I tell/ask everyone who says they just want the same thing they had as a kid, you had original as a kid why would you want fake now?

You know I hadn't even thought of that. I was thinking about it for just myself knowing that I will never sell this collection once I finally assemble it all. I own a watch forum and fake watches are frowned upon heavily there. It feels strange buying a $20 figure and a $35 pistol. But I can replace them all with no problem. I just didn't take the time to track any down. I was looking for a quick fix to my issue of the missing parts. I'm also trying to do this so my wife doesn't find out how much is being spent on what she calls "kids toys".

The main problem I have in this scenario is that now there are blue guns, raised bump guns, smooth guns. It's just all so confusing. I have no idea what actually goes with the original figures because it's been 30 years since I've even seen one of the figures in real life.

You know about the main site right? If you look on the menu bar under the forum header, the second spot says TIG.com that is a shortcut, or you can type immperialgunnery.com or search for imperial gunnery in a search browser. This forum is a result of the main site so you could possibly fund the same info here but it's pretty outlined on the main site since that is the weapon guide.

Yes that is precisely why we need the IG website to educate us on what is original and what is a repro. Believe me, once you get into the hang of it, you will be an expert in no time. The reason why the weapons command a premium is because it is far easier to lose something very small compared to a figure. If Yiu throw both hansolo and his blaster into a Football field, which is more easy to find? Def hansolo. That's why the weapons are more expensive than the figure sometimes.

trappedtexan wrote:

You know about the main site right? If you look on the menu bar under the forum header, the second spot says TIG.com that is a shortcut, or you can type immperialgunnery.com or search for imperial gunnery in a search browser. This forum is a result of the main site so you could possibly fund the same info here but it's pretty outlined on the main site since that is the weapon guide.

Thanks. Actually I didn't know about the main site. But I do now!! I hope nobody took my thread the wrong way. I'm genuinely concerned about my involvement in this hobby now and I want to make sure I get it right. I appreciate all the help so far.

PS I looked around. Especially on blaster identification. Some link are not working. Jawa blaster, both lightsabers and Chewbacca's blaster don't work. Says "Page could not be found". This is in the "Identification Guide" section.

Broke wrote:

PS I looked around. Especially on blaster identification. Some link are not working. Jawa blaster, both lightsabers and Chewbacca's blaster don't work. Says "Page could not be found". This is in the "Identification Guide" section.

Thanks. It's actually currently being worked on. Sorry for that inconvenience!

darthmatt22 wrote:

Broke wrote:

PS I looked around. Especially on blaster identification. Some link are not working. Jawa blaster, both lightsabers and Chewbacca's blaster don't work. Says "Page could not be found". This is in the "Identification Guide" section.

Thanks. It's actually currently being worked on. Sorry for that inconvenience!

No worries, I just wanted to make sure that admin was aware of it. I'm old and own my own business so I can wait around on it a few weeks.

Welcome to TIG. Repros have been around since the 90s and and show no signs at all of letting up. Despite the damage they can cause by ripping collectors off, I also believe that you never truly have a 'vintage' piece in your collection while one of the accessories is repro. The pleasure of finally hunting down a missing item far outweighs paying a few dollars etc for a cheap piece of plastic that's not genuine.

Broke wrote:

PS I looked around. Especially on blaster identification. Some link are not working. Jawa blaster, both lightsabers and Chewbacca's blaster don't work. Says "Page could not be found". This is in the "Identification Guide" section.

Re the links. Our site host Webs is having technical problems, so yes some of the links in the identification guide are dead at the moment. If you use the links (coloured green) listed directly below the banner they will take you to any section you need.

Thanks. Also was the price I paid for this lot too much or close to right on?

These came today. Both advertised as authentic:

what everyone else said , I think it was a decent deal what you paid , not great but not horrible either

Welcome to the forum Broke.
If that were my collection I would display them and enjoy them with the repro weapons, but over time swap them out for the real deal.

hellhippie wrote:

what everyone else said , I think it was a decent deal what you paid , not great but not horrible either

Thanks. I was happy with $10 per figure.

Gorneesh wrote:

Welcome to the forum Broke.
If that were my collection I would display them and enjoy them with the repro weapons, but over time swap them out for the real deal.

Thanks. That will be my plan. I have no issues getting real weapons. I just wanted them all in tact initially. I'm blessed enough to have enough disposable income to complete this collection. Much as we all do or we wouldn't be here collecting. So I'm grateful for that. I am excited about getting it all completed but I'm sure I won't come close to what some of you guys have. I'm looking for something very specific and that's just what I had as a child.

And one last thing. I've created a spreadsheet with every figure and weapon that states whether it is a reproduction or real. I emailed it to my wife with instructions to throw away the reproduction stuff when I die. No seriously, I just did that. She's emailed me back asking if something was wrong with me.

I forgot Paul mentioned the main site having some issues. He is working hard to get it resolved but as he said there are some shortcuts to use until the site people help to get it fixed.

Glad your actually thinking proactive also with the repro thing. I dislike repros but do try to see both sides. I don't condone them personally but won't beat the dead horse. We just try to educate people how they are destructive and let you make the choice based upon having all the information.

As others have said- just say no to reproductions. This forum was initially set up as a platform for members to communicate ideas/updates for the main site. We will always stay true to our roots

Long time lurker. Strongly agree with the no repro sentiment here. I first found this site years ago as I was trying to validate the weapons that came with some loose figures I purchased. TIG is a fantastic resource, many thanks to those who created it and continue to maintain it!

BTW - I was disappointed and somewhat shocked to see recently that Brian's Toys is selling packs of repro weapons. Until seeing that I thought they were mainly available from sketchy ebay sellers.

I see what you guys mean. I got the reproductions today. They are surprisingly good. Especially to those of us who don't know the ins and outs.

Maybe compare to the repro pics on the main TIG site and try to determine if they are a new breed of repro?