Do you cheat with your Joes?

[GTG]

When it comes to mint loose vintage Joes do you cheat? Let me explain. We know that vintage Joes can be easily disassembled and reassembled, usually for the purpose of replacing the o-ring, as it is something that is necessary to maintain the figure, so I don't count it as cheating. What I'm talking about is switching body parts from more than one figure to make a mint figure, as vintage figures usually have paint wear, or a busted crotch or thumbs. For example, If you have a few v1 Cobra Commander figures, one has a perfect head with no paint wear, but the boots and logo on the chest is worn. The second figure has paint wear on the face, but has perfect paint on the rest of the figure. Would you switch the parts to make a mint figure? There are some sellers that switch the parts and are honest about it, other sellers don't disclose the information, in which case the buyer wouldn't even know. So, do you switch the parts? Or are you the type of person that will hunt as long as it takes to find a mint figure that hasn't been tampered with? Do you care if a figure has been fixed using parts from different figures? Or do you not care as long as you have a mint figure? I personally prefer figures that haven't been fixed, sometimes even going as far as to open vintage figures to make sure. I'd like to hear what other collectors think about the subject. Also, why won't this forum separate my paragraphs in this post?

[Alchemist]

Welcome to forums!

I don't collect vintage Joes anymore, but when I was a kid, I did that while picking them up at my local flea market in the early 90's. Sometimes it was unavoidable. I remember it took me three Snake Eyes v2 figures to make one complete one with two unbroken thumbs. Then my friend busted both of them off simultaneously after hitting him with a plastic ball.

With all of these years that have gone by, it's probably hard to tell whether or not a figure has had parts swapped. There's even parts for sale everywhere that I'm sure people are using. Plus, figures travel from collector to collector and their history becomes lost. If I got back into collecting vintage Joes (I have a modern collection, BTW.), I wouldn't think too much about it. But, that's just me.

As for the paragraph thing, yeah, it's annoying. It's something that I noticed happen in recent times anytime I edited a post. Once edited, there doesn't seem to be a way to get what I typed back into paragraph form.

[whakojacko]

As mentioned above, many of these figures have already been passed through several collectors. Who knows what they did while they owned them. They may have had multiple parts swapped out before they got to you anyhow. Unless you are the original owner or you purchase them carded and then open them, you’ll never really know for sure. I see no issue in swapping out parts as long as you’re using the exact same figure.

[GTG]

Welcome to forums!

Thanks for the welcome. As you both said, after this long, there's no telling how many figures have been put together using different parts. I'm sure there must be a few of them in my collection that I've got over the years. As Alchemist mentioned, I know there are individual parts sold for that very purpose, though the only time I buy them is to make customs. I understand why it doesn't bother some people, I guess I'm just a picky collector, probably because most of the stuff in my collection I open them myself. Thanks for the replies guys.

[cageyJG]

Alchemist - that story was so tragic! Haha! Ah, memories.

GTG - as an alternative to reselling - customizing can be its own reward. Sharpies, fabric, decals, paints, switching out torsos, adding battle damage and so on - Frankenjoes. You could sell some of the better ones on your own "line" but you may end up not wanting to give them up.

[PЯOVOSҬ]

When it comes to mint loose vintage Joes do you cheat? Let me explain. We know that vintage Joes can be easily disassembled and reassembled, usually for the purpose of replacing the o-ring, as it is something that is necessary to maintain the figure, so I don't count it as cheating. What I'm talking about is switching body parts from more than one figure to make a mint figure, as vintage figures usually have paint wear, or a busted crotch or thumbs. For example, If you have a few v1 Cobra Commander figures, one has a perfect head with no paint wear, but the boots and logo on the chest is worn. The second figure has paint wear on the face, but has perfect paint on the rest of the figure. Would you switch the parts to make a mint figure? There are some sellers that switch the parts and are honest about it, other sellers don't disclose the information, in which case the buyer wouldn't even know. So, do you switch the parts? Or are you the type of person that will hunt as long as it takes to find a mint figure that hasn't been tampered with? Do you care if a figure has been fixed using parts from different figures? Or do you not care as long as you have a mint figure? I personally prefer figures that haven't been fixed, sometimes even going as far as to open vintage figures to make sure. I'd like to hear what other collectors think about the subject. Also, why won't this forum separate my paragraphs in this post?

Been doing this with a few ARAH figures of late cause here in Australia sourcing is a little bit more of a challenge so swapping out good parts from one to another till got a mint complete figure has been a thing I've done. I myself see nothing wrong with it but someone if they were wanting a "pure" figure then understandable that they'd not do it.

[thorn]

i have done this with figures if the part is the exact same// i would note that if i was selling it. I think this is pretty common with accessories and vehicle parts certainly// as another said, you cant be sure if it hasnt been done already with figures bought online / if it is the same part, i dont have a problem with it. Some figures had notoriously bad hands, crotches, or elbows and it becomes a necessary concession if you want a "mint" figure (ha! note my signature)