Gold Death Star Droid - 99% of the time I wouldnt do this but ...

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Found him  

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Very neat figure Bill but its hard to say from the photo what it really is

I posted pics of the carded C-3PO with the DSD paint job n the Factory errors thread a few months ago and I remember that the person selling it on Ebay was Tom Derby . Considering he is who AFA sends VC Jawa's , DT Lukes etc to , there's a pretty decent chance that the carded C-3PO was legit .

As others have said here it is also possible that its a childhood custom ( or a recent assholes fake variant attempt )


The other possibility is discoloration . I have came across several Gold DSD figures over the years and have been fascinated with them for a long time .

I have saved some photos I took several years ago but the quality is rather poor - unfortunately they were taken before I got a decent camera and learned more about taking pics .


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Now I am well aware that they did not leave the factory gold and that it is most likely the result of degradation / discoloration.

I feel there is more to it then that because I have seen 4 or 5 of them over the years and they all have shared some similar traits .

They are always very glossy/shiny and have a much smoother finish then the standard ones I see . They have far less surface scratches and the black paint is always much nicer .

There are a couple ideas I have been rolling over for quite some time .

Perhaps the earliest DS Droids did not have a clear coat put on them at the factory but after a few years Kenner may have realized that they were very prone to paint wear (like we are all aware of today) and decided to add the clear coat for protection and durability ?

or

Perhaps there was a factory that used a different type of clear coat - something more like lacquer , which I know from my construction experience , is very prone to yellowing with age .


I am not trying to argue that they are a true variation but I do feel there is a bigger story here then most guys have tried to think about . If a blond hair and brown hair Luke are variants , then it's possible that DS Droids with or without clear coat could be a variation too

Just some food for thought

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