Iron Man Belt Clarification

[AJ Collector]

No updates are needed. If you are as familiar with the accessory check as stated, then I'm sure you have read the intro innumerable times.

"This guide attempts to describe the original accessories and track known reproduction parts. The focus is on accessories, variations of accessories and FACTORY made reproductions of accessories. There are many hand casted and home made reproduction parts out there. They are too numerous to catalog and address, but most are easy to identify. Clothes and heads are addressed in this section only if factory made substitutions are available."

Unless there is a new item recently factory reproduced or a section that has not been created yet, then 99.9% of all factory made reproduction items are in the accessory check. There will never be hand cast items included as they never come out the same every time in regards to color air bubbles etc. You may not be able to spot them in a photo but unfortunately nothing can prevent that. However unless you are a bit slow, you will be able to identify these hand cast repros when they are in your hand immediately. Anyone can get their hand on resin and silicon and reproduce any item by hand with a few hours of reading through the tutorials in custom mego. Hand cast items (Iron Man belts and Speedy hats, et al) are not and will not be included in the check, as it would be essentially pointless.

And as a novice collector I did not know that the belt was hand made (which by the way would fall under "variations of accessories" no?) and I am sure there are others who are thankful for your info as well......

You learn something new everyday!

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

I find this, from the auction

"He is complete and ALL ORIGINAL 100% vintage Mego with the only exception being his belt, guaranteed."

to be contradictory. (and somewhat misleading...)

If the belt is not original then it is not 100% original (in capitals to stand out in a cursory glimpse at the auction.).

Same in the Speedy auction, surely Greg can tell if it is original or not? The way it is written sounds puts an emphasis on it being all original and yet no guarantee....strange.

[MegoGeek]

Greg might want to double check that chest decal on his IM. It looks a little choppy around the edges. The IM decals were diecut and perfect circles.

[Remco Monster]

Sorry, I had just assumed the Speedy hat was factory produced, because it looked so nice. Mego 8" scale Speedy Teen Titans COMPLETE ORIGINAL! - eBay (item 400090255112 end time Dec-13-09 18:10:18 PST)

At the same time, I assumed the acc. check included most known repros, and didn't realize they only focused on factory produced repros.

Also, for the record, I was not in any way coming down of the folks who do the acc. check. I was simply pointing out an omission that I thought was legit, for the greater good of the acc. check.

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

Greg might want to double check that chest decal on his IM. It looks a little choppy around the edges. The IM decals were diecut and perfect circles.

Mmm, I was just thinking the same thing Charlie.

[AJ Collector]

Sorry, I had just assumed the Speedy hat was factory produced, because it looked so nice. Mego 8" scale Speedy Teen Titans COMPLETE ORIGINAL! - eBay (item 400090255112 end time Dec-13-09 18:10:18 PST)

At the same time, I assumed the acc. check included most known repros, and didn't realize they only focused on factory produced repros.

Also, for the record, I was not in any way coming down of the folks who do the acc. check. I was simply pointing out an omission that I thought was legit, for the greater good of the acc. check.

As were Rich and I....not sure why Charlie thought otherwise. I freakin love this place!!!

[stabilio]

And as a novice collector I did not know that the belt was hand made (which by the way would fall under "variations of accessories" no?)

Well now you know, and you may assume that anything and most likely everything not listed as having factory reproductions has been hand cast in the past.

And No the iron man belt would not fall under variation at all.

The variations in the check are real variations from Mego, for example the 2 different types of boots Dr. Zaius came with. Or Thor's bracelets with or without black thread.

Think about it for a minute and it will come to you. How do you list a reproduction part that comes out differently each time? What good would a picture or description of that one example provide? Doc Mego (just one provider of hand cast items) has changed materials many times for what he has used to cast over the years, the colors are always slightly different from batch to batch. Molds have to be replaced periodically. Eventually you won't be a novice and this will make more sense to you.

[AJ Collector]

Well now you know, and you may assume that anything and most likely everything not listed as having factory reproductions has been hand cast in the past.

And No the iron man belt would not fall under variation at all.

The variations in the check are real variations from Mego, for example the 2 different types of boots Dr. Zaius came with. Or Thor's bracelets with or without black thread.

Think about it for a minute and it will come to you. How do you list a reproduction part that comes out differently each time? What good would a picture or description of that one example provide? Doc Mego (just one provider of hand cast items) has changed materials many times for what he has used to cast over the years, the colors are always slightly different from batch to batch. Molds have to be replaced periodically. Eventually you won't be a novice and this will make more sense to you.

That is the second response from you with either subliminal and or flat out sarcasm in your response! Excuse me for not knowing everything about this hobby, but as a person I think you have a few things to learn yourself…….
Your approach on helping others would be a good place to start!

[Meule]

No offence AJ Collector, but stabilio is absolutely right, it's simply impossible to include all the DM hand cast repro items into the accessory check.

[AJ Collector]

No offence AJ Collector, but stabilio is absolutely right, it's simply impossible to include all the DM hand cast repro items into the accessory check.

No offense taken, If you notice I agreed with his comments and thanked him... And maybe I am wrong but he seems to be a bit condescending.
I will leave this alone now……

[Dave Mc]

Hey gang,

The most common email I get regarding accessory check is "hey, Doc made such and such". And he did, but it wasn't factory made. AC has always been ONLY about factory made accessories, but sometimes that fact is overlooked.

When I started the project, Paul was kind enough to send me one of everything he had ever produced in china, totally free of charge, so that I could open it, photo it, compare it, and share the info. Joe supplied me with CTVT parts to do the same. But I started that project a couple years ago, and while I try to keep up with it, there is always the possibility that Doc has had a couple items made in china that he didn't have available when I made those pages. If those things are discovered, please point them out to me and I'll get it fixed.

Final note on accessories. Please keep in mind that at some point, EVERYTHING has been reproduced by someone, although in handmade form, so you can see, that would be impossible to catalog.

[LonnieFisher]

How would you even know what's out there that people make at home? No way to even know who does it. Unless they tell us we would have no idea.

[kryptosmaster]

So basically if the piece is something that gets made in a mass-produced mold set-up it's labeled "factory"? Likely coming from China.
Perhaps an easier solution would be to have a piece-specific statement/warning under each suspect item (rather than the all-encompassing "hey, maybe there's a bunch of hand-made items out there")? Something like: "DM made/makes a repro of this piece but it's not factory made so be aware".
One piece specifically that came up in my travels is the ape general sword. I saw some on DM site but acc check doesn't mention this at all. That's a commonly missing original piece.

The Generals have a knife (short sword really) that can also be found with some figures in the Lion Rock line. It has not been factory reproduced.

Neither I nor Anthony are trying to open a can of worms or start some sort of war here. We're just trying to make a great place even better. I think we are showing how much we care by pointing out things we find that could cause problems for others (not to mention ourselves).
Rich

[warlock664]

Repro

I really, really, really HATE repro items . Honestly, I don't understand why anyone would want a WGSH figure completed with what amounts to forgeries. And it has made buying Megos on ebay very dicey. Many ebay sellers apparently buy repro items off Dr Mego, use them to finish off an incomplete figure, and then list them for sale without mentioning it, hoping to take advantage of some unsuspecting sap. Earlier this year, I bought a Batgirl off an ebay seller, when it came it had repro gloves, boots, belt and cowl, yet the seller claimed he was unaware and stated "I'm in no way an expert on these items".
How many times has that line been used by a hustler? How did he miss the "DM" stamped on the items? A pox on repro accessories.

[kryptosmaster]

I really, really, really HATE repro items . Honestly, I don't understand why anyone would want a WGSH figure completed with what amounts to forgeries. And it has made buying Megos on ebay very dicey. Many ebay sellers apparently buy repro items off Dr Mego, use them to finish off an incomplete figure, and then list them for sale without mentioning it, hoping to take advantage of some unsuspecting sap. Earlier this year, I bought a Batgirl off an ebay seller, when it came it had repro gloves, boots, belt and cowl, yet the seller claimed he was unaware and stated "I'm in no way an expert on these items".
How many times has that line been used by a hustler? How did he miss the "DM" stamped on the items? A pox on repro accessories.

I agree. I wish there wasn't a market for them but there unfortunately is. It makes it harder for those of us who prefer real vintage parts. I am guilty of having a few repro items but usually it's because it's something That I know will take a long time to track down a real one and I'd like to have a placeholder. I'd never intentionally try to pass it off as real. There are quite a few ebay scammers that do what happened to you. Also there are some who twist the words and even though they tell you the stuff is repro, if you don't pay attention you can easily misread it and get ripped and I think that is done with 100% intention on that being the result.
Rich