The Mysterious Black Cuffed Soldier Ape

[megoapesnut]

So... I just accidentally stumbled onto something that may change the variation count for the POTA solider apes. For many years, I thought I had a black cuffed ape sitting on my shelf. Looking at it in any room light, it looks absolutely like it is a black tunic. I had several of the figures laying on my desk this morning and turned on a very high intensity magnifying lamp to look over a proof here at work. The "black" tunic figure was lying directly under the light and when I flicked on the lamp, voila! It suddenly jumped out as a VERY dark blue and not black. In my group shot, he looks most definitely black. The fabric backing is grey and the stitching is light grey. This is what I have accepted as the "black" cuffed ape for years.







The blue cuffed ape has blue fabric backing and blue stitching.





And here they are side by side in a cell phone pic I just took.



However, under intense light, you can see that it is actually a REALLY DARK blue and not true black. Look at the fabric right next to the black of the head.



This throws me completely for a loop. I also remember an incident some years back where a member called out another member for selling him a "black" cuffed ape but it turned out to be blue. This has me wondering if there are any TRUE black cuffed apes out there. Does anyone have one that they can photograph under a very intense light to dispell this thought?

[Confessional]

PM'ed ya!… and yeah, let's all try to confirm.

My recollection of the one that passed through by hands had a dark black backing fabric instead of grey. Also the black tone of the tunic was more of a warm (ivory) black, opposed to a deep shiny (mars) black.

[apes3978]

I hope you guys can figure this out... I don't own a "black" Soldier Ape, but it'll be good to know if there are any true black ones out there...

[PNGwynne]

Hmmm, this is a thorny issue; black pigments have an undertone of brown, blue, or even green.

My "black" cuffed Palitoy tunic, on an Ursus, has dark gray thread and what I would consider a black lining. It has gray highlights in the same manner as the toed boots.

[Nostalgiabuff]

I don't know, that one on the right still looks black to me.

[scifiguy94]

This throws me completely for a loop. I also remember an incident some years back where a member called out another member for selling him a "black" cuffed ape but it turned out to be blue. This has me wondering if there are any TRUE black cuffed apes out there. Does anyone have one that they can photograph under a very intense light to dispell this thought?

I still have this pic from that incident. In that case it was a cuffed Ursus, but the one purchased on the right as a black tunic turned out to be blue too.

[PNGwynne]

That seller was me, I looked at the dark tunic more closely, including the thread, and conceded it was a very dark blue. I was just learning about variants back then. I did later sell it as a blue set after providing Pat a refund as I'm sure Megoapesnut recalls.

I will say--and perhaps I'm just being stubborn--that the other cuffed tunic I retained and have examined in bright light, seems black to me as I posted above.


These tunics were loose , but from England & I assume Palitoy issues.

[megoapesnut]

That seller was me, I looked at the dark tunic more closely, including the thread, and conceded it was a very dark blue. I was just leaning about variants back then. I did later sell it as a blue set after providing Pat a refund as I'm sure Megoapesnut recalls.

I honestly did not remember who the seller and buyer were, I just remembered the incident. Now that you reminded me, I do remember it being you and Pat.

I will say--and perhaps I'm just being stubborn--that the other cuffed tunic I retained and have examined in bright light, seems black to me as I posted above.

That's good enough for me. I guess now I am wondering if the true blacks were on Ursus, and if any were ever on a solider ape.

[PNGwynne]

All of the loose apes I received from England were actually Soldiers. Since I collect loose figures, I tend to mix parts until I'm satisfied with a "perfect" figure.

My Ursi are purple cuffed & "black" cuffed. My soldiers are navy, brown, silver, & bright blue.

The "black" cuffed tunic was originally intended for an Aldo custom...

[Confessional]

I have a pic from a UK auction back in 2012 or so which also appears to be a black tunic on the General…*I'll post it up when I get a chance this week.

I kept this image because it appeared so similar to one I had (mentioned above) and subsequently ruined in a regretful Aldo-custom-gone-bad experiment. :(

[PNGwynne]

WW, it sounds as if you and I have similar black tunics...