Jump to content

Theme© by Fisana
 

Photo
- - - - -

Letters on the feet?


  • Please log in to reply
30 replies to this topic

#1 Malosavich

Malosavich

    Serious Collector

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 322 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Dorset England
  • Interests:Boglins, Mini-Boglins, MIMP, P.E.T Aliens, Gormiti, Fistful of power, M.U.S.C.L.E and Starwars :D

Posted 24 October 2008 - 11:25 AM

I've just noticed on the feet of my series 1 MIMP It has the usual copyright and NBR of the figure, but it also has 1 lowercase letter a, b, c, d, or e. What do these letters stand for? There doesn't seem to be a correlation between letters and colours... I'm be-fuddled!

Malosavich
  • 0
Posted Image





#2 Aikola

Aikola

    Main Offender

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 1564 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:South Coast, UK

Posted 24 October 2008 - 11:28 AM

Im pretty sure all they are is the different waves of figures (when they were made) another assumption could be that it is just the different molds
it really isnt anything special.
  • 0
Aikola: Collecting figures that no-one else cares about since 2007.
"Punk Rock: A loud, fast and deliberately offensive style of rock music"

My Trade List
My Little Army
Aikola's Mini Boglin Colour Archive

#3 Malosavich

Malosavich

    Serious Collector

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 322 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Dorset England
  • Interests:Boglins, Mini-Boglins, MIMP, P.E.T Aliens, Gormiti, Fistful of power, M.U.S.C.L.E and Starwars :D

Posted 24 October 2008 - 12:43 PM

Im pretty sure all they are is the different waves of figures (when they were made) another assumption could be that it is just the different molds
it really isnt anything special.


That would deffinatly explain why I have 2 figures that are the same (Slight colour variations but nothing mentionable) but with different letters on the feet. Out of intrest, are any of the letters significantly rarer?

Malosavich
  • 0
Posted Image

#4 Malosavich

Malosavich

    Serious Collector

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 322 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Dorset England
  • Interests:Boglins, Mini-Boglins, MIMP, P.E.T Aliens, Gormiti, Fistful of power, M.U.S.C.L.E and Starwars :D

Posted 25 October 2008 - 11:50 AM

I guess I better increase my collection then, so I can start comparing letters, currently I have the motivation, can easy find the time so I guess I'll ...have.... to buy more figures :D <--- definatly a goal I can live with.

Malosavich
  • 0
Posted Image

#5 Airot

Airot

    Serious Collector

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 545 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Australia
  • Interests:In no particular order, these are the things I collect;
    Monster in my Pocket (Both original the modern)
    Gamoja
    Fistful of Power
    Monster Connectors
    Gormiti
    Boglins
    Plasma Creatures
    Dinosaurs
    Mighty Max
    HorrorClix

Posted 27 October 2008 - 08:25 PM

Well, we could always compare collections. Trends that appear in collections could help us understand what the letters mean.

I have yellow winged panthers marked a, b, c and e. My c panther has what apears to be a small moulding defect in the middle of it's chest, two tiny indentations side by side right in the middle.

If it's the mould that caused the defect, and the letter indicates which mould was used to make the figure then any other panther marked c should have the same defect. 'Course it's also possible the defect was a bubble in the plastic, or something else not mould related, or even that the defect happened to the mould part way through a production run, but you get the idea. We could choose a different figure to compare if someone has a better and more definate moulding error.

Also, my e panther is actually quite shiny compared to the rest of the yellow panthers, if the letter indicates batch, then it's possible that all yellow figures marked e are shinier due to a slightly different plastic compound, but dullness could also be cause by weathering, so this is also an imprecise way of judging.

As a sidenote, I have two purple panthers marked f which both have a sort of speckling in the texture on the base around where all the numbers are printed, it seems to be a mould defect as the patterns are identical. I also have one red panther marked d.

Of my 27 yellow figures I have 11 are marked a (some duplicates within this lot are shinier than others, but this may be due to wear/weathering), 10 are marked b (all seem the same), 2 are marked c, 0 are marked d, 2 are marked e (these don't seem any shinier than the others), and 2 are marked f

I suggest people look for panthers either marked f (or g, h, i etc, if those exist) with speckles around the letters on the base, or panthers marked c with indentation in their chests. The indentation thing is probably a more informative thing to find because mould bases would be edited every batch if the letter indicates batch anyway, but if the letter indicates batch, then there will probably be more than one mould being used anyway... but who knows? maybe one mould per colour? If anyone finds a speckly bottomed yellow or red f marked panther, I guess that should mean the letter indicates mould?

Really, we need more info about the manufacturing process. And I need to stop rambling, lol.
  • 0
I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret.

#6 jack cambrian

jack cambrian

    godless biologist

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 329 posts
  • Location:Coburg, Victoria, Australia
  • Interests:Music, Science, Religion, Scrabble, Monster In My Pocket, Battle Beasts

Posted 27 October 2008 - 10:22 PM

Also, my e panther is actually quite shiny compared to the rest of the yellow panthers, if the letter indicates batch, then it's possible that all yellow figures marked e are shinier due to a slightly different plastic compound, but dullness could also be cause by weathering, so this is also an imprecise way of judging.

It's interesting to hear you say this because the other day I noticed while looking at a duplicate figure (two yellow W. Panthers or Charons, I forget) that one of them looked shiny, while the other looked decidedly matte. I'm away from home at the moment, but when I return I'll get them out and check for more shiny/matte figures and their corresponding foot letter.
  • 0

#7 Aikola

Aikola

    Main Offender

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 1564 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:South Coast, UK

Posted 27 October 2008 - 11:14 PM

I think is is due to wear rather that mold
  • 0
Aikola: Collecting figures that no-one else cares about since 2007.
"Punk Rock: A loud, fast and deliberately offensive style of rock music"

My Trade List
My Little Army
Aikola's Mini Boglin Colour Archive

#8 Airot

Airot

    Serious Collector

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 545 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Australia
  • Interests:In no particular order, these are the things I collect;
    Monster in my Pocket (Both original the modern)
    Gamoja
    Fistful of Power
    Monster Connectors
    Gormiti
    Boglins
    Plasma Creatures
    Dinosaurs
    Mighty Max
    HorrorClix

Posted 28 October 2008 - 02:08 AM

thing is some of them look like they're sexy and new, but are quite matte compared to others... and I ment more that it was due to the plastic, either because it's a shinier compound, or because it withstood aging better.

Also, when I said we should look for panthers marked c with a mark on the chest, I meant any panther with a mark on the chest identical to the one I've got, and if they're all marked c then c probably means mould, and if they're not, then c probably means batch.

I'm so bad at explaining myself when I'm in a rush, lol.
  • 0
I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret.

#9 Aikola

Aikola

    Main Offender

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 1564 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:South Coast, UK

Posted 28 October 2008 - 01:12 PM

I need to stop rambling, lol.





I was very impressed with your long and well thought-out post, Airot. For exactly that reason, I was also disappointed to see you accuse yourself of rambling.

You WEREN'T rambling, and I certainly don't want you to stop. In fact, we need MORE people who are as eloquent, as thoughtful, as informative, and as motivated.

Keep up the good work, friend! ;)


Your a rambler :p
  • 0
Aikola: Collecting figures that no-one else cares about since 2007.
"Punk Rock: A loud, fast and deliberately offensive style of rock music"

My Trade List
My Little Army
Aikola's Mini Boglin Colour Archive

#10 Airot

Airot

    Serious Collector

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 545 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Australia
  • Interests:In no particular order, these are the things I collect;
    Monster in my Pocket (Both original the modern)
    Gamoja
    Fistful of Power
    Monster Connectors
    Gormiti
    Boglins
    Plasma Creatures
    Dinosaurs
    Mighty Max
    HorrorClix

Posted 28 October 2008 - 11:31 PM

Wow, I just felt my ego get bigger :(

so, uh, just out of interest, did anyone find any defective panthers? I'll find where the batteries have run off to and take a photo of the defect on the chest of mine to show you what you're looking for. Maybe someone could even tell me if they think it's just a bubble in the plastic or something equally unhelpful. And I should photograph the speckling pattern on the base of those other panthers.

Oh, and I tried bending a few figures, and I'm noticing no correlation between the letter marked and pliability, but I am noticing that the more worn looking figures are softer. Maybe it's something to do with the way the plastic degrades?
  • 0
I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret.

#11 asator

asator

    Still lurking around

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 1145 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Pittsburgh, Pa

Posted 30 October 2008 - 11:06 AM

I need to stop rambling, lol.





I was very impressed with your long and well thought-out post, Airot. For exactly that reason, I was also disappointed to see you accuse yourself of rambling.

You WEREN'T rambling, and I certainly don't want you to stop. In fact, we need MORE people who are as eloquent, as thoughtful, as informative, and as motivated.

Keep up the good work, friend! ;)


Your a rambler ;)




I realize you're probably joking, and - furthermore - I'm not sure which of us you're (jokingly?) accusing of rambling, but I'd like to point out that if everybody contributed to this group as much as I do then we wouldn't have all these unanswered questions.

P.S. It's spelled "you're". I thought you guys invented the English language?! :p



:lol:
  • 0

#12 jack cambrian

jack cambrian

    godless biologist

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 329 posts
  • Location:Coburg, Victoria, Australia
  • Interests:Music, Science, Religion, Scrabble, Monster In My Pocket, Battle Beasts

Posted 30 October 2008 - 07:45 PM

Ok, so I just re-catalogued my collection onto a better formatted system and I noted the letters for all my figures this time. First of all, I only have 'b' Panthers so I couldn't make any of the comparisons that Airot suggested. Secondly, I noticed that I have one shiny looking Charon - 'f' and one matte looking Charon - 'a'. I'm pretty sure this is not due to wear, it's just two extremes within the variations of plastic they used to make these figures. I also noticed that all point values from 25 to 15 had only a's and b's. C's, d's, e's and f's were only found on the bases of 10 and 5 pointers (along with a's and b's). Finally, I found a perplexing mystery - a purple Mad Scientist with 'c a' stamped on his foot. Curiouser and curiouser.
  • 0

#13 Airot

Airot

    Serious Collector

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 545 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Australia
  • Interests:In no particular order, these are the things I collect;
    Monster in my Pocket (Both original the modern)
    Gamoja
    Fistful of Power
    Monster Connectors
    Gormiti
    Boglins
    Plasma Creatures
    Dinosaurs
    Mighty Max
    HorrorClix

Posted 31 October 2008 - 03:25 AM

Finally, I found a perplexing mystery - a purple Mad Scientist with 'c a' stamped on his foot. Curiouser and curiouser.

c a? what? Does it look accidental? I wonder how many have letters like that? I guess I should check all my guys feet, eh?

I had a thought - if anyone's got any sealed packs with visible feet, are all the letters the same within the pack, or are they different?
  • 0
I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret.

#14 jack cambrian

jack cambrian

    godless biologist

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 329 posts
  • Location:Coburg, Victoria, Australia
  • Interests:Music, Science, Religion, Scrabble, Monster In My Pocket, Battle Beasts

Posted 01 November 2008 - 01:23 AM

I found a perplexing mystery - a purple Mad Scientist with 'c a' stamped on his foot. Curiouser and curiouser.

Curious indeed! I'd love to see a photo of that sole (hint, hint).

Yo. The combination of my archaic camera and my own incompetence as a photographer means that I simply cannot take shots that close up. However, here is an artist's impression of the writing stamped on the feet of my purple Mad Scientist:
Posted Image
Figure 1. Abnormal markings on the sole of a miniature Mad Scientist.
  • 0

#15 PSlulitt

PSlulitt

    MIMP Fiend

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 45 posts
  • Location:New York, NY

Posted 01 November 2008 - 09:47 AM

Yo. The combination of my archaic camera and my own incompetence as a photographer means that I simply cannot take shots that close up. However, here is an artist's impression of the writing stamped on the feet of my purple Mad Scientist:
Posted Image
Figure 1. Abnormal markings on the sole of a miniature Mad Scientist.


I just picked up a yellow Mad Scientist from my duplicates to compare and mine has "c b" stamped on its sole.
  • 0

#16 Airot

Airot

    Serious Collector

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 545 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Australia
  • Interests:In no particular order, these are the things I collect;
    Monster in my Pocket (Both original the modern)
    Gamoja
    Fistful of Power
    Monster Connectors
    Gormiti
    Boglins
    Plasma Creatures
    Dinosaurs
    Mighty Max
    HorrorClix

Posted 01 November 2008 - 01:44 PM

Well, I sorted all my mimps out, and I have one green mad scientist with c a on his foot, I'll take a photo when I get back from the markets -

I guess everyone knows already but I'd like to point out that S1 isn't the only set with a/b markings.

S2, super scaries, super creepies, dinosaurs, and I'm guessing all the others also have these marks, but they are in capitals and they don't go further than B.

My s1 figures go up to f, with the vast majority being in a and b

My super scary gitd figures are all marked A, even the yellow ones

I have some dinosaurs and super creepies without letter markings. Both my cave men, notably, don't have the marking, so it's possible that they failed to put the marking on *specific sculpts*

more discussin from me when I get back.
  • 0
I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret.

#17 jack cambrian

jack cambrian

    godless biologist

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 329 posts
  • Location:Coburg, Victoria, Australia
  • Interests:Music, Science, Religion, Scrabble, Monster In My Pocket, Battle Beasts

Posted 01 November 2008 - 02:20 PM

Three figures with multiple letters on their feet and they're all Mad Scientists? That's weird. Airot: did you also notice that your 25-15 point figures only had a's and b's? In fact, now that I look at my spreadsheet again, the only figures with letters higher than a or b are the 10 pointers that came in 4 packs (Ghoul, Phantom and Mad Scientist) and 5 pointers. I wonder if anyone's got a 10-point monster with a c,d,e etc. that isn't one of those three?

Edited by jack cambrian, 01 November 2008 - 02:24 PM.

  • 0

#18 Airot

Airot

    Serious Collector

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 545 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Australia
  • Interests:In no particular order, these are the things I collect;
    Monster in my Pocket (Both original the modern)
    Gamoja
    Fistful of Power
    Monster Connectors
    Gormiti
    Boglins
    Plasma Creatures
    Dinosaurs
    Mighty Max
    HorrorClix

Posted 01 November 2008 - 02:51 PM

Okay, here's a nice clear and easy to see photo of all the dust on the soles of my mad scientist's feet, and the dirt on my fingers that I didn't know was there -.-

Attached File  foot_001.jpg   101.97K   31 downloads

And all my higher than b figures are marked 5 or 10 points, no more. The 10 pointers are ghoul, mad scientist and phantom.

The fact that these three have something which links them together is really helpful, I don't know how yet, but I'm sure it is important, lol. Probably means there was something special about the mad scientist too, maybe he was given out in a particular promotion? Were there any promotions where a mad scientist was given out? If so, then there's a chance that any other figures in that promotion had the odd markings too.
  • 0
I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret.

#19 jack cambrian

jack cambrian

    godless biologist

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 329 posts
  • Location:Coburg, Victoria, Australia
  • Interests:Music, Science, Religion, Scrabble, Monster In My Pocket, Battle Beasts

Posted 01 November 2008 - 03:04 PM

Okay, here's a nice clear and easy to see photo of all the dust on the soles of my mad scientist's feet, and the dirt on my fingers that I didn't know was there -.-

Attached File  foot_001.jpg   101.97K   31 downloads

And all my higher than b figures are marked 5 or 10 points, no more. The 10 pointers are ghoul, mad scientist and phantom.

The fact that these three have something which links them together is really helpful, I don't know how yet, but I'm sure it is important, lol. Probably means there was something special about the mad scientist too, maybe he was given out in a particular promotion? Were there any promotions where a mad scientist was given out? If so, then there's a chance that any other figures in that promotion had the odd markings too.

Well, given that those 3 10-pointers were included in 4-packs (along with all the 5 pointers) maybe they just plain had to make more of them and therefore made more batches? All the other 10 pointers were only included in 12-packs and 24-packs so there must have been less of them made at the time (Does this make sense?). As far as working out where the multi-letter Mad Scientists came from, I have absolutely no recollection of where I got mine from. Helpful, I know.
  • 0

#20 Airot

Airot

    Serious Collector

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 545 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Australia
  • Interests:In no particular order, these are the things I collect;
    Monster in my Pocket (Both original the modern)
    Gamoja
    Fistful of Power
    Monster Connectors
    Gormiti
    Boglins
    Plasma Creatures
    Dinosaurs
    Mighty Max
    HorrorClix

Posted 07 November 2008 - 04:27 PM

Contacting any toy company about toys which ceased production 6 months ago will generally result in a resounding 'we haven't got that information anymore, sorry', so there's pretty much no point even thinking about contacting them about toys from around 20 years ago. Toy compnaies make toys for profit, not for collectors, so they never think to keep their records nice and neat and at hand for whomever contacts them whenever they feel like getting in contact.
  • 0
I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret.

#21 PSlulitt

PSlulitt

    MIMP Fiend

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 45 posts
  • Location:New York, NY

Posted 07 November 2008 - 10:55 PM

Hell, Matchbox didn't even keep track of what they were putting out when MIMPs were on the shelves in the early '90s, as anyone who wrote to them at the time knows...!

On that note, I have to imagine they have most of the source material around somewhere, considering the "Monster Quest" line that was planned for release years ago... unless they were just planning on selling lots and lots of unused stock!
  • 0

#22 Complete M.I.M.P For sale

Complete M.I.M.P For sale

    Budding Collector

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 46 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Cumbria UK

Posted 08 November 2008 - 02:12 PM

i've got a mad scientist in neon yellow which i know for a fact that i got in one of the 'hot colours' 24 packs. I know this as at the time i wasn't really keen on the new hot colours as they weren't the originals i was collecting, and so i only bought the 24 pack to complete my collection. I never saw a kraken before those 24 packs came out! anyway, the neon yellow mad scientist has 'c a' on the base. I got all my figures in the UK by the way.
I also have an 'original yellow' charon which i'm fairly certain was from a 4 pack as this was one of the 1st figures i ever got. Theres a slight chance i've gotten confused and the charon i got in the 4 pack was red (which i no longer own) but i'm fairly certain it was this yellow one. the base reads d, ad this was like one of the first figures i ever got (of 4) right after they were originally released!
This information means nothing to me but thought it may help u guys in some way...
  • 0

#23 jack cambrian

jack cambrian

    godless biologist

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 329 posts
  • Location:Coburg, Victoria, Australia
  • Interests:Music, Science, Religion, Scrabble, Monster In My Pocket, Battle Beasts

Posted 08 November 2008 - 02:57 PM

Hell, Matchbox didn't even keep track of what they were putting out when MIMPs were on the shelves in the early '90s, as anyone who wrote to them at the time knows...!

On that note, I have to imagine they have most of the source material around somewhere, considering the "Monster Quest" line that was planned for release years ago... unless they were just planning on selling lots and lots of unused stock!

Just out of interest, what did you write to them about and what was the nature of their reply? And what is "Monster Quest"?
  • 0

#24 PSlulitt

PSlulitt

    MIMP Fiend

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 45 posts
  • Location:New York, NY

Posted 08 November 2008 - 06:14 PM

Just out of interest, what did you write to them about and what was the nature of their reply? And what is "Monster Quest"?


I wrote to them at least twice in the early '90s. I don't remember what the first letter was in regards to, but the second one was about the haunted house playset. All I got in return was an extremely short, very vague response about it "not being available" that didn't answer any of my questions.

And my mistake, it was Monster in my Pocket: The Quest, and it was some toyline they were producing around the same time as the "G2" figures, but instead of entirely new sculpts they were just rereleases of series 1 and 2 figures in some unique colors. There was a planned, computer-generated cartoon and everything (that seemed to be based a lot on Pokemon), but I don't know whatever happened to it. I have pictures of the proposed characters for the show, but I can't for the life of me find the picture I saw with the actual toys in it, unfortunately...
  • 0

#25 matthewf1tz

matthewf1tz

    Miracle Victory Power

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 1096 posts
  • Location:London, England

Posted 10 November 2008 - 05:37 AM

Just out of interest, what did you write to them about and what was the nature of their reply? And what is "Monster Quest"?


I wrote to them at least twice in the early '90s. I don't remember what the first letter was in regards to, but the second one was about the haunted house playset. All I got in return was an extremely short, very vague response about it "not being available" that didn't answer any of my questions.

And my mistake, it was Monster in my Pocket: The Quest, and it was some toyline they were producing around the same time as the "G2" figures, but instead of entirely new sculpts they were just rereleases of series 1 and 2 figures in some unique colors. There was a planned, computer-generated cartoon and everything (that seemed to be based a lot on Pokemon), but I don't know whatever happened to it. I have pictures of the proposed characters for the show, but I can't for the life of me find the picture I saw with the actual toys in it, unfortunately...


I'm actually working on an entry for Toypedia on MIMP The Quest but this is one of the pictures another website put up:

Attached File  1160.jpg   78.27K   44 downloads

I can't remember which site it was at the minute but I will credit it on Toypedia when I find it :D
  • 0


Posted Image







Copyright © 2024 LittleRubberGuys.com