17 replies to this topic

[retroactive80z]

Hey guys I've never seen one of these before.
Anybody know much about it? I never knew it even excsisted.
http://pages.ebay.co...id=301520774375

[Ericnilla]

looks like paint to me. Maybe a kid painted it 25 years ago?

[Sixthwizard]

You can see what looks like the real paint app beneagh those paint chips.

[Coelocanth]

This guy's full of it. It's very obviously paint. 

 

There are several premium metallic spray paints that mimic a plastic coating because they have such a large particle load.

[retroactive80z]

certainly one ugly beast. Thanks for the info.

[bachamn]

Well, considering the gold chrome shields and chariots, this might legitimately be from wherever that stuff is sourcing from in China. The other "test shots" he has up seem to be like the ones we had seen before. Either way its obviously just a repainted beast so that asking price is absurd. If some dope buys it I'm making a trip to Home Depot

[Shadow Bat]

I forget who I got them from but this story is half true

I have two one done full one partial

and the whole vacuum plating part is legit but the person I got them from had a friend do it to them, nothing to do with test shots etc

 

 

Well, considering the gold chrome shields and chariots, this might legitimately be from wherever that stuff is sourcing from in China. The other "test shots" he has up seem to be like the ones we had seen before. Either way its obviously just a repainted beast so that asking price is absurd. If some dope buys it I'm making a trip to Home Depot

[Shadow Bat]

 IMG_0227.JPG   259.52K   7 downloads

cute custom but not a rare prototype

[retroactive80z]

Thanks for the info. I'm guessing it was the same person that made the other guys one as well. He must have had a few spare any eaters lying around.

[jupiter]

Guys, I'm the seller here. As you can tell from my auctions I collect a lot of weird things and have sold a lot of unique things, I've gotten lucky and found some pretty interesting toys over the years.

 

I've been messaged about this and provided the person who messaged plenty of information on this, he's the one who told me about this thread. I should have put more info into the auction to begin with, not trying to start an internet battle or debate here, just want to give more background on this.

 

I will update my ebay page with this info after this post:

 

As I said in the current description I don't know the context for this toy. 5 years ago I found a seller on taobao selling the proto LBs and when I messaged him to see if he had more he sent me a picture of everything he had as well as these gold guys. When I asked him for more information he told me the gold guys and LBs all came from a factory find. Honestly, I don't even know if the "proto" LBs that some people own are even real protos.

 

It's purely speculative what it is, where it came from, and what was the purpose; was someone just testing the VM chambers? Where they just bored and messing around at lunch? Are they proof of concept for something? Evidence of a 30+ year old toy is hard to dig up, unless someone can do more than just google like crazy like I have and know someone who actually worked at the factory or was in charge of production. I took the same risk buying these as someone would if they bought my auction now.

 

Yes, this is vacuum plated as i stated in my auction, there is a huge difference between the mirror gloss finish you get from this than you would the "gold metallic" spray paint you can buy for $3. Can you please post a sharper image of your custom silver beasts? Is the finish glossy, mirror, and wet looking or metallic, shiny, but reflection is dull like below?

 

Alsa corp makes a GHOST CHROME spray which is probably the best VM wannabe spray finish but it costs more than my auction and you need a base coat of gloss black underneath, you wouldn't see color like on the anteater. Also, it is still not a mirror finish like true VM.

 

There is also a huge difference in the way old and new vacuum plating looks: finger print oil, the environment, age gives it a different color gold, slightly darker and patinaed and not perfect, here is the BB compared to two different new gold chromes:

 

Yes, I have noticed the VM is worn, I've posted very clear auction pictures and am not trying to hide anything.   i would say the wear on these is weird and thats why they seem like tests to me, I haven't listed this Slashor Seahorse yet, it's a lot more damaged but compare the body color showing to the original toys, it is not turquoise or light blue but more green. I don't know if you guys have a Slashor Seahorse or Anteater that changed into this color over time?

 

The VM process involves a vacuum, real metal particles, and clear coat on top for protection. It is not a chemical process like traditional dipping or plating so it wouldn't react to plastic or the paint used on this toy, if it did than the pink on the anteater showing through in some of the pictures would be affected too:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jupiter]

I also want to mention that gold chrome and even all silver chrome toys isn't something Takara has never done.  I'm not saying these are even close to a legitimate "lucky draw" or campaign toys like they did with Transformers but it is something they have been doing since Diaclone toys. Below is a scan from Takara SF Land, a pretty rare mook, but it shows the gold chrome porsche and datsun. .

 

 

 

 

 

Very, very obscure knowledge but they even made VM vintage kabaya transformer kits.

 

No one knows what the context for those kabaya kits are, i haven't seen any scans from magazine contests posted for them and they come in the exact same box as the original kits.  If you scroll down this thread and check out the silver chrome windcharger kit that looks like a cusotm too, the silver is worn and falling off in some places:

 

http://www.tfw2005.c...m-question.html

Edited by jupiter, 10 February 2015 - 09:49 PM.

[jkaris]

Thanks for all the pics and info on this jupiter! Welcome to the board!

[108KickBack]

I have one question.I couldn't find the original thread on those prototypes.I believe all of the protoypes are bootlegs.Correct me if i'm wrong since i don't know much about them.

 

How come these all originate from China shouldn't they be from Japan!?!?

 

I recently got some reproduction stuff from a member that was originally from china & it is freaking identical to the real thing i can hardly tell the difference.The only the difference is the the stiffness of the plastic.

[Skullcruncher]

Interesting, I have one of the smaller transformers chrome Kabaya kits, (gumball machine prizes).

[jupiter]

all, thanks for your time.

 

decided to sell the mantz with less paint apps and gold anteater privately to a collector here.

[bachamn]

It's purely speculative what it is, where it came from, and what was the purpose; was someone just testing the VM chambers? Where they just bored and messing around at lunch? Are they proof of concept for something? I took the same risk buying these as someone would if they bought my auction now.

 

Yes, this is vacuum plated as i stated in my auction, there is a huge difference between the mirror gloss finish you get from this than you would the "gold metallic" spray paint you can buy for $3. Can you please post a sharper image of your custom silver beasts? Is the finish glossy, mirror, and wet looking or metallic, shiny, but reflection is dull like below?

 

 

This and Shadow Bat's silver plated guys up there makes me think my original assumption is correct. Here's a shot that shows one of the gold chrome shields (from my collection thread): 

 

As mentioned I got these from a Chinese seller about 2 years ago. He had both gold and silver chrome shields and sleds. The shields available were Killer Hound, Mantfrenzy, and Fight Horn but none came with stickers (the "rising sun" sticker is just a custom I made.) Like the ones you've shown, the chrome flakes off in chips and isn't simply a spray paint job. To be clear, I was just making a joke previously; the difference between paint and actual chrome plating is obvious. I guess "repainted" was the wrong word, I was just trying to express that it was basically just a makeup job on an existing figure. 

 

I have both gold and silver chrome sleds as well but I can't locate a photo at the moment (will post when I find one, or take one). This guy was also the same seller that I (and at least 2 other members) bought sets of reproduction lasers from. 

 

He spoke limited English but indicated that he previously had more BB stuff, but was moving away from selling toys. I do recall someone mentioning he had previously listed a solid black Flying Dragon in an auction, but  we never confirmed if this was a "test shot" or a recently produced piece. At the same time he was listing the repro lasers, he was also consistently selling a few bootlegged G1 Transformers and some GI Joe plane; one or both of which had chrome elements, iirc. The last I saw of him, he was on Facebook selling 3D printers and subscriptions to some Chinese marketplace whose name I can't recall at the moment. 

 

How come these all originate from China shouldn't they be from Japan!?!?

 

I recently got some reproduction stuff from a member that was originally from china & it is freaking identical to the real thing i can hardly tell the difference.The only the difference is the the stiffness of the plastic.

Not many mass-produced toys are manufactured in Japan. BB's were primarily made in China and Macau. The little sticker that shows up on the bottom of the Japanese beasts to cover up the Hasbro logo says 'Made in China' 

 

Regarding the reproduction lasers, and the differing materials (of these and the shields/sleds) I did not get the impression that any of these items were vintage "factory finds", but were instead recently produced pieces. We discussed this a while back on the boards and due to the quality and precision of the reproductions, we felt someone had obtained some original molds and were producing reproductions from those. This would also explain the items that appear to be "test shots" being distributed by the same seller.

 

If they found a factory test shots, maybe there were molds as well?

Edited by bachamn, 11 February 2015 - 07:21 AM.

[bachamn]

gold chariot and shield in the same shot. still trying to dig one up of the silver one before I take another.

 IMG_20130928_000044.jpg   124.92K   1 downloads

 

 

 

[Flashbax]

odd pieces; the bubbling on the plastic, where the sticker should be, makes me think at one time this has residue leftover? Etiher way, fake or real, cool looking.

Edited by Flashbax, 12 February 2015 - 10:48 AM.