I know Lt Falcon v3 uses the same mold as the Falcon v1 but is it common that even the date stamp isn't altered? I also own a LT Falcon V3 with a 1992 date stamp while it is a 1991 figure. I presume this last one is the ordinary one. Does somebody seen this differences before and are they common.

my sonic falcon is stamped '87...

I checked three of mine and they're all 1987

To my knowledge they never altered the date stamp on repaints of existing figures back in the day(82-94). All Tiger force and Python patrol figures have the old dates on them, as do the Night force ToysRus exclusives, and the figures offered with flag points through hasbro. Only in the last few years have I seen new dates being added to old figs.

To my knowledge they never altered the date stamp on repaints of existing figures back in the day(82-94). All Tiger force and Python patrol figures have the old dates on them, as do the Night force ToysRus exclusives, and the figures offered with flag points through hasbro. Only in the last few years have I seen new dates being added to old figs.

and that is probably because the big H lost a bunch of figure molds and had to recreate them... :rolleyes:

All Tiger force and Python patrol figures have the old dates on them, as do the Night force ToysRus exclusives,
Not quite so...at least for Flint:

The Flint mold has had a long history. It was first used in the US in 1985 and then again in 1986. After that, the figure was repainted in Tiger Force colors in 1988. At this time, the date stamp on the figure was changed from 1985 to 1988. Around late 1988 or early 1989 Flint began to appear on the backs of Argentine figures made by Plastirama. However, he was never actually released as Plastirama ceased operations around that time. In either 1989 or 1990, Muralha was released in Brazil. This figure features the 1988 date stamp as well. Sometime in the mid 1990's, the Flint mold then made it's way to India where it was released by Funskool. In India, though, the figure was never released with the original Flint forearms. Those appear to have gotten lost or damaged at some point between the use by Estrela and the mold's arrival in India. As was common practice for them at the time, Funskool blurred out the date stamp on Flint's legs. You can still see a faint mark of the 1988 date stamp, though. In April of 2003, Flint was returned to Hasbro and the mold was used in the 2004 Night Force set. This mold, though, featured a prominent 1988 date stamp on the figure's leg. This is significant since the Night Force Beach Head figure that was in the same set also featured a mold returned to Hasbro by Funskool in April of 2003. The Beach Head mold featured a rubbed out date stamp but the Night Force Beach Head featured a prominent 2003 date stamp. So, the question is why did Hasbro update the date stamp on the Beach Head but not on Flint? While we will probably never know for sure one of the more probable explanations is that there was an additional mold for Flint's legs that had remained under Hasbro's control since 1988. Flint was a very popular figure and character so it is possible that his original figure was created from multiple molds. Regardless, though, it shows the subtle changes that can occur in molds as they move across continents over the decades.

I've not checked other TF figs from the vintage line nor compared other figs that were sent overseas. But, Hasbro did change some date stamps as they went along. According to the archives (http://www.yojoe.com/action/identify/92.shtml) the '93 Leatherneck figure which uses the Falcon legs and waist has a '92 date stamp. I don't have a figure handy to verify that, though. However, if they did change the date stamp for that, it's possible they might have used the legs in Sonic Fighters colors for any '91 Falcons that were released in '92. (But, I didn't think any of the SSF figures were released in subsequent years.) Regardless, the stamp appears to have been changed for Leatherneck so it is within the realm of possibility that there were some transitional figures with the new date stamp. But, I'd have to see some pics to be sure.