The Hazards of Reproductions on Vintage Collecting

Hey all, I've been meaning to post this for ages.  A few years ago, in reply to a challenge from someone on another board, I wrote an entire article on how reproductions do actually harm the hobby we all love.  It was received warmly at the time, but gained new life about a year ago when our very own Christian featured it on his blog, and it got shared on multiple Facebook groups.  For anyone who hasn't seen it, I hope this demonstrates the issues behind this scourge of the hobby.  If it changes the mind of even one collector who uses or is considering using repros, then this article is a success.  Enjoy.


The Hazards of Reproductions on Vintage Collecting by Ian Cowley

I will do my best to summarize the issues concerning repros. I am well aware that there are people here who can better articulate some of these hazards, or who may consider things I may overlook. If anybody wants to add to this, or even replace it with a better one, I welcome it.

First of all, I am going to include a couple of excellent resources that can help identify reproductions.

The Imperial Gunnery
Jawa Armory

The following is going to be fairly long. If you are not going to read the entire post, this is a quick summary.

   Reproductions are defined, and how they differentiate from bootlegs;
   Repros have the potential to cheat collectors out of large amounts of money;
   Every repro purchased, even small common items, fuels the demand for more and helps the creators perfect the quality;
   ALL repros will eventually and inevitably return to the marketplace if not destroyed;
   Concerns about authenticity have led to third party authentication services, which have artificially inflated vintage prices; and
   Ongoing concerns have caused many long time expert collectors to exit the hobby, which depletes us of invaluable resources.

I guess we should start with a definition of a repro as it applies to vintage Star Wars. Opinions on this will differ, but I would imagine the broadest definition would be any product custom made that replaces or substitutes anything produced and released by Kenner or its international subsidiaries at retail during the years of 1977 to 1989 in its Star Wars brand, and is intended to replicate said product. This definition excludes bootlegs, which differ in a couple of ways. Bootlegs were available at retail in most cases, and in any event, may resemble authentic vintage product but were never made with the intent of being a substitution for any licensed product.

For some collectors, repros are a relatively easy and inexpensive way to complete a loose collection that is missing (or has damaged) accessories, decals, and/or other miscellaneous parts. It also provides a method of storing loose figures in reproduction cardbacks to mimic the way in which they were originally sold at retail.

Surely this must be a good thing to be able to finally give that Tusken Raider a gaffi stick after all these years, and to have that rush of nostalgia seeing Luke Skywalker as he appeared all those years ago on the pegs of the local Toys R Us? They certainly display nicer, so what could possibly be the harm?

As it turns out, these repros which in all likelihood were originally created with the best intentions, have fueled a thriving underground market in which collectors are being ripped off by unscrupulous sellers, which threatens the integrity of the hobby as a whole.

Sure, there is little damage from a repro Bespin blaster that completes your beat up Lobot, but as the methods of replicating these accessories has improved, it has opened up an opportunity to make some big money under the right conditions. That Lobot is nothing in the big picture, aside from the fact that someone who has paid money for an authentic Kenner produced item has instead received something different that only copies what he wanted. But what about the person looking to get an authentic carded DT Ben Kenobi? Now we are talking about an item that sells for tens of thousands of dollars. In this example, authenticity suddenly becomes a major factor, as no one would pay that kind of money for a fake item.

The DT Ben example is an extreme one, but it highlights the issues surrounding the dangers of repros. Far more affordable are vinyl caped Jawas, DT Lukes, Luke Stormtrooper Helmets, etc. These are the items that most collectors can afford, yet are still relatively pricey if you are paying full market value for an item that is a counterfeit. Carded figures command a premium over loose figures, and the exact same dangers apply. As repros are made of higher and higher quality, and resemble authentic items more and more closely, it is becoming a challenge even for the seasoned collector to distinguish the fake from the authentic. Scam artists are making a LOT of money by duping collectors into believing they are purchasing authentic items that are not. The more repros they sell, the more they make, and the more they make, the better they perfect their craft of reproducing near exact replicas.

Many collectors who knowingly buy these repro items do so believing that they are causing no harm, as the items are locked away in their personal collections. The truth is, this is an incorrect assumption. Not even the most diehard collector will own their items forever. Notwithstanding what happens to inherited or the unfortunate stolen collections, the fact is the vast majority of collectors who maintain they are in it forever will eventually move on and sell. This can be either a change in interest, or an unexpected financial downturn could necessitate it. There is also the probability that most people upgrade their collections, and it is always possible a repro item will mistakenly be sold or traded off. Any time a repro item leaves your hands, it is unknown what future owners will do with them, which means there is always the potential for a future scam.

The residual effect of this unethical market is the introduction of authenticating services such as that which AFA provides. While it is debatable that AFA provides a needed standardized system of grading that eliminates a separate issue (incorrectly described conditions), it is the authentication service that is directly fueled by the very existence of repros. If authenticity wasn’t a concern (ie. repros did not exist), this service would not exist. Being a business, they charge a fee to authenticate items, which is an additional cost on top of every single vintage purchase a collector wants to make sure contains no repros. This has made a quick and easy way for a collector to forego educating themselves on identifying repros, as they just pay for authenticity. Many collectors pay a ridiculous premium for pre-authenticated toys. As a further issue, some people have seen the opportunity for profit here as well, and purposely buy non-graded top condition toys, have them graded, then sell at inflated prices for the sole purpose of making profit.

The irony here is that repros have caused a bigger problem out of what they were created to solve – the cost of authentic product.

Throughout all of this, long time collectors who have spent countless hours learning how to authenticate their own items, and who have spent untold dollars on building their collections, now watch as newer collectors increasingly find no need to educate themselves, and fill their collections with items that are not authentic. Furthermore, those still trying to complete collections the old fashioned way are facing an uphill battle as repros flood the market and sellers knowingly (and sometimes unknowingly) try to pass off repros as real. More than a few of these incredibly knowledgeable collectors have withdrawn from the hobby as a result, which does nothing but deplete valuable sources of information from the hobby, not just in the toys themselves, but the history behind them as well.

There are still many long time collectors who try to maintain the integrity of the hobby, who will not settle for anything less than authentic items to consider a collection to be truly ‘vintage’. However, the continued use of repros continues to fuel a market that produces them, leading to unscrupulous sellers, fraud, and inflated prices for authentic items.

So what is the solution? As long as a market exists, there is no way to eliminate repros. The only thing that can be done is for ethical producers of repros to make some sort of identifying characteristic on their items. This can be a unique marking, or a significant difference in the repro item (ex. a noticeable change in an accessory’s color may be an idea). Anything that can easily be seen by even a novice collector would help prevent the scams that occur on a daily basis. Unfortunately, as long as there is money to be made from near perfect replicas, this is not likely to happen any time soon.

I can only hope that this post can enlighten even a few of those that feel that a few repro purchases here and there do not harm the hobby. It’s a cumulative effect for sure, but everyone who purchases a single reproduction item is adding their contribution to this mess that threatens the integrity of the hobby which we all hold so dear to our hearts.

Ian

Nicely written article Ian. And as you say, any repro of an original production item has a VERY detrimental effect on our hobby and the more we can educate people, the better.

Love this article Ian. It still gets loads of hits on my blog and I can't count the amount of times it has been shared.

Well done Ian. That sums it up nicely.

a great article Ian, very well written and nicely explains the hazards of reproduction items in the Vintage Star Wars hobby.
Thank you for sharing it here too

Ian, a very well written article, something I feel very strongly about(that and U grading) thanks for posting mate

Thanks guys.

I just hope it helps with people who don't agree with our stance on it.

Ian

great article Ian , this should be a header on ebay when you sign in

Excellent read Ian

Hopefully it will educate a few people

Very well written Ian - just wish a few of the 'well they're just toys' or 'they're mine to do with as I want' guys on FB would read this

Thanks Iain!

Unfortunately, it seems it's most likely to be read by those already on board. Not sure how much the target audience has been reached, but only one person reconsidering makes it worthwhile.

Good to see you posting here too my friend.

Ian

Yes, some of the rubbish you read on FB does make you wonder why people even bother to collect - but as you say, this is probably not the forum for them

Guess you just have to keep fighting that fight!

I do keep meaning to post more on here - I like the format but with everything else I forgot to come over here

I will try harder

itfciain wrote:I do keep meaning to post more on here - I like the format but with everything else I forgot to come over here

I will try harder

Iain, definitely stop by more often.

itfciain wrote:Yes, some of the rubbish you read on FB does make you wonder why people even bother to collect - but as you say, this is probably not the forum for them

Guess you just have to keep fighting that fight!

I do keep meaning to post more on here - I like the format but with everything else I forgot to come over here

I will try harder

Oh yes, you know how I was on RS fighting the repro fight. Never give up. Some get tired of hearing it, but they're not the people being targeted with anti-repro discussion.

I know you're one of the busiest guys in the hobby, so I'm happy to see you've spared some time for us. You joining us for the Jeopardy game next weekend?

Ian

Jeopardy game ? Think I better find the thread - sounds interesting !

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Original date was going to be today, starting right about now actually, but I had to put it back a week as we have family coming over for my daughter's birthday.

Rules can be seen [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Prizes should be posted later today, although I can sneak peek that there will be a MOC involved, as well as some other cool non-figure stuff.

Ian

Looks good - will sent a reminder

Awesome. I'll hopefully find a few FB groups that will let me promote it this week too. Not sure how much awareness there is at this point.

Ian

Iain good to see you posting here a bit here mate. Don't worry we know you're busy and there are countless SW platform to suck up your time...

Ian, let me know when you are ready to start advertising the game and we can also post on the Tantive FB page and my blog FB page.

No cause for alarm lol

Thought I'd bump this excellent thread!