Uh, oh......Secto Viper Repro Gear!

[3DJoes]

The problem is that there's people who will try to pass these repro parts as original pieces.

EXACTLY! I've even seen shady folks trying to sell clearly marked repro cards on ebay as the real deal. Some people have no problem ripping others off. Indistinguishable repros gives these shady people a way to easily rip people off.

[spiderpumpkin]

The problem is that there's people who will try to pass these repro parts as original pieces.

Also, as time goes by figures and vehicles with repro accessories and parts will change hands many times and no one will know what's what.

[j_inmon]

If they are truly identical and indistinguishable in every way, wont that mean there are more complete vehicles and figures out there? (by complete I am not saying original, but not missing any pieces) Wouldnt that be a good thing for people just getting in to gi joe or those that army build? There are more sides to this than just the long time collector not wanting the collection to loose value. If the repo is the same in every way possible, quality, color, type of plastic etc. to the point where no one can tell the difference, what other reason is there to be against them other than to make them hard to find and thus more valuable? The entire rare figure/vehicle thing is already way out of hand. Tried to find a night viper recently? We have limited runs, retailer exclusives, figures you can only get from the club, figures you can only get from the conventions, figures you can only get online, trying to beat the scalpers and the list goes on and on. And we wonder why kids arent into gi joe like they use to be? We wonder why this may be the end of the line? I'd rather see a flood of repos than gi joe off the shelves for the next 10 years.

[hotdog]

If they are truly identical and indistinguishable in every way, wont that mean there are more complete vehicles and figures out there? (by complete I am not saying original, but not missing any pieces) Wouldnt that be a good thing for people just getting in to gi joe or those that army build? There are more sides to this than just the long time collector not wanting the collection to loose value. If the repo is the same in every way possible, quality, color, type of plastic etc. to the point where no one can tell the difference, what other reason is there to be against them other than to make them hard to find and thus more valuable? The entire rare figure/vehicle thing is already way out of hand. Tried to find a night viper recently? We have limited runs, retailer exclusives, figures you can only get from the club, figures you can only get from the conventions, figures you can only get online, trying to beat the scalpers and the list goes on and on. And we wonder why kids arent into gi joe like they use to be? We wonder why this may be the end of the line? I'd rather see a flood of repos than gi joe off the shelves for the next 10 years.

Holy cow, I better go put on my aluminum foil hat, you are stealingy thoughts.

[j_inmon]

Lol aluminum foil wont help for that your gonna need tin foil

[Kronz]

Really interesting thread. I haven't got much to do with repros since I don't buy Joes on eBay any longer but it's interesting stuff to consider. If the thought of repros getting into your collection is a big deal, just stick to trading here and searching yard sales and such. I also gotta fall on the side insisting that this hobby is not something to invest in for monetary return. Of the ten thousand dollars or so of merch I own, I think I might get $500 for the lot of it if I chose to liquidate. It's 100% about fun for me. If it wasn't fun, I wouldn't collect. Obviously AFA collecting and MLC collecting are completely different beasts. I think it's awesome that 3DJoes was able to collect and resell his MOC at a profit.

[3DJoes]

^thanks Kronz^

It was hard to let em go, but I was relieved to get my money back out of em!

Annnnnnd, now I have a house :-)

[Pit Viper]

For all I care somebody can identically reproduce the entire 1982-1994 run and in great quantities. I don't really care about value. It's about nostalgia and fun.

[scrapiron]

For all I care somebody can identically reproduce the entire 1982-1994 run and in great quantities. I don't really care about value. It's about nostalgia and fun.

So, what would be nostalgic about a whole series of repro stuff? If you were just starting to collect 82-'94, would you want everything in repro?

[hotdog]

I certainly would like that. I think it would be awesome to give my grandkid a nice bright white minty carded 1984 stormshadow without crapping my pants when he tears it open and buries it in the garden. I would love to see all of them redone, then I could let loose of all my spare parts because I wouldn't have to worry about breaking a figure when I put him on a stand, or put a gun in his hand. or even having the torso break when I try to open them to replace the oring (or have the chest crack when tightening the screw in 30 year old plastic. I liked the packaging of the 25th ann. joes, but for the most part the joes themselves were terrible, and inappropriate gifts for young kids with their tiny and fragile accessories and freakish posture (and the fact they couldn't stand on flat ground without a stand). vintage 1982-94 joes are gi joe to me. they have the perfect balance of pose ability, detail, ruggedness and accessories. of all the joes I purchased (for me) from retail in the last 13 years I would say 90% were vintage style. I still by carded Chinese or Japanese figures when possible with the thought of birthday presents for grandkids, so they can experience tearing open duke on Christmas or at a birthday party.

just to clarify, I bought a MISB soundwave (g1) for my kids 3rd birthday, he's received numerous carded joes (including the alien bounty hunters lobotomaxx, predicon and carcass) for presents- all to open. he used to play with my terror drome and defiant. to me these are just really cool toys, and watching my kid play with them was worth the money to me.