Vintage vs. Reissue/Repro - Study in Taxonomy

Hello,
I hope this is an ok topic, as it has vintage and modern. I thought it might be a nice reference to start, to post a vintage figure beside its counterpart reissue OR repro (thanks for the correction Steve! ). A big thanks to Mark K as always , for his vast toy knowledge and his generosity to share. He's helped me immensely from avoiding BIG boo boos along the way in my toy adoptions, and all of the factoids are vastly fascinating to me. AND thank you to everyone for sharing your knowledge and questions along the way too!

Ok... so here is the Popy Kanegon. The repro is smaller and stands to the left, while the vintage brother stands to the right and is taller.


also...


The differences:
-Height of vintage is about 5 mm taller (not that much!)
-The length of the collar scale (just under the head) is slightly longer in the vintage creature (see 1st photo)
-Chin of repro is sunken in/concave, but in the vintage it's a convex transition, where the head fits onto the neck--you can see this in the second photo
Other than that, the logo is identical, and the color and spray placement is also nearly identical. It's really hard to tell them apart! So unless the adoption descriptions are specific or you happen to really know the difference, it's easy to confuse the older brother with his younger counterpart

I'm adding the header card, encyclopedia, and Baltan photos that Steve posted (see his original post in the Vintage Mail Day thread). Thanks again Steve, for finding and sharing these photos!

HEADER CARDS
Reissue


Vintage
Front

Back


Vintage advertisement from back of Ultraman Encyclopedia of Keibunsha


Baltan: Reissue on left, vintage on right

Last edited by Mr. Humphreys on Fri Jun 07, 2013 10:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It's puzzling because they made the new versions so close the original - something you would not think was 'acceptable' given how particular Japanese collectors are with vintage toys. I would have thought they wanted to add some kind of extra stamp or copyright just to be sure.

Great idea for a thread Grace. Here is one I took a while ago of the original KZ Goji alongside his Slash reissue counterpart.



Unlike the KZ reissues, you can see distinct sculpting differences between the two brothers.

Last edited by ultrakaiju on Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

cool idea for a thread!

ive posted this somewhere here before, but here it is again for good measure



unifive reproduction on the left, vintage bandai/popy on the right

obvious paint differences, size difference, and (not pictured) the unifive has a "U" stamp next to the other markings on the back. in case you are knee deep in a pile of vintage and repro kaijin minis, you can just check for the "U" and know which is which.

You found your camera - yeah! This really is a fantastic idea for a thread. It's one of those that you would think had been on here for years but here we are. I won't be able to add anything from my own collection, unfortunately, but I'll certainly be following every last post when they happen.

Wonderful scores, Grace! Thanks for sharing them with us.

i thought "reissue" meant reusing the old molds or casting a new mold from an older toy (which would explain the size difference), but the kanegon looks like a re-sculpt. in addition, the new header card exhibits shifted elements and a wider crop of the artwork compared to its vintage counterpart, not to mention the difference in line weight. a re-draw? that's a lot of effort!

sheesh! can't slip away with anything around here! Bill you know I'm only chiding you!
And thank you everyone, for the nice comments
Okee Dokee Bill, I edited the topic to include Repros, as well as my description. Thanks for keeping this scientific study accurate!

...wonderful additions everyone! Hopefully, this will be a helpful reference.

P.S. David, I did find the camera, but not the cable to download the photos <insert angst here! >. So the carpenter took the photos. He really thinks these toys are weird (but in a good way).

Last edited by Mr. Humphreys on Fri Jun 07, 2013 11:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Great post!! Can't wait to see and learn more!

Hi there I know this is an old conversation, I just wanted to ask does anybody know the actual size of the vintage popy baltan!?

Hi there I know this is an old conversation, I just wanted to ask does anybody know the actual size of the vintage popy baltan!?

its 6.5 inches

Thank you

I knew they did garamon but did not know about kanegon. Is the repro vinyl softer? The concave effect could just be warping when it got hot. Happens to the bullmarks.

bandai and bullmark seabozu

Oooh, lovely pair of bone monsters you collected there Charlie. While I would do some serious things to get an OG Bullmark in my family some day, I have to say that the Bandai reissue of him, with that ever so delightful space silver paint, has really earned a special place in my heart. He is kind of the perfect segue for me between the goofy and cute vintage takes, and the more 'show realistic' Bandais that came out later. Together though, the best of the best.

yeah I agree, I feel like the Bandai version is a good stand in for the Bullmark, especially since he has a paint job that more closely resembles his costumed version, without being too over the top realistic. and I've always been a fan of the lack of care that went into the spray for his mouth on the Bandai version. It gives a more evil, almost bloody mouth look, to him. All that being said, the colors on the Bullmark pop! really hard, and it stands out on the shelf, I was happy to be able to pick him up.