Baggies, the facts!

[sauce]

Rich, if this book isn't on your shelf, then I highly recommend it:

[kryptosmaster]

Your example of MY logic is false, so please speak for yourself and not me. I in no way implied this. Original SI is original SI. Duh! Just like I was saying...Your point of my view is a worthless opinion.

Books NOT on Lonnie's shelf:

Oh, and before you flip out; I'm just messing with you. I actually agree with a lot of what you say (silently) but you have this way of saying things that seems to get you on some people's nerves.

I could tell re-strung figures. And I'm pretty sure Bryan could too. You can't find the EXACT elastic. It might be close, but not exact.

If you're that anal that you'd take apart a figure and get a magnifying glass out to check the elastic then you have other more pressing things to worry about.

My example is based on exactly what you wrote.....


thus a Zorro with a sword derived from a Blackbeard figure is NOT original according to you. If thats not what you meant, then you should explain yourself better.


mikej

Yep.

I've gotta agree here. In the strictest sense, if that particular sword did not originally come with that particular Zorro, it is not original. Original Mego yes, but not original Zorro. In the strictest sense, it doesn't matter if everything was made at the same time, in the same factory, and both Zorro and Blackbeard were packed with the same sword. If Zorro doesn't have THE sword that he was originally packed with at the factory and stuffed in his little Zorro box, he is not original. Original Mego yes, not original Zorro.

You have every right to feel that way but it's flawed logic. If something that petty bothers you then you shouldn't buy loose figures.

If the switches improve the figure, I'm all for it. I rather have a mint green arrow with a mint unbroken quiver that came from another green arrow, than a green arrow with his "original" broken quiver. And even if the switch was disclosed, I would never consider it NOT original. Would anyone value the broken one more because it was originally packed with the figure?

mikej

Thank you.
I actually have one comment on this though. If the broken bow (for example) was my ORIGINAL bow from my childhood then I would keep it with that figure just because it has more SENTIMENTAL value to me. Of course I would never sell it so it doesn't really pertain directly to the discussion at hand.

I don't get the counter argument at all, but to each his own.

I actually do understand it. It's called OCD and I have a couple of friends who have it BAD. One can't function if even ONE small part of his daily routine gets derailed and the other led to her husband divorcing her because he couldn't take it anymore.

Rich

[ctc]

>unless it is SEALED on a card or in a box, you will NEVER know for sure!

Yeah. I think you're starting to get into stuff that's indistinguishable. A Blackbeard sword and a Zorro sword may come from different figures, but they're exactly the same composition-wise. Unless you were gifted with the paranormal power of psychometry you'd never know. 'Course, I guess that's partly why MIB figures go for more.

Don C.

[dumbldor]

Nothing against those that are in disagreement, but I do 100% agree with Mike J. A Blackbeard sword is a Zorro sword, and vice versa. As long as it is original, they are indistinguishable. Once they are no longer MIB or MOC, does it really matter if a like for like change or donation of an ORIGINAL factory part is made?

I also like the example of the broken GA bow. A GA bow is a GA bow, and a Robin Hood bow is also a GA bow, and vice versa, once they are loose from the package. How could you possibly know for sure which original figure it came from? And I am always for an upgrade, even if it comes from another original Mego figure. I don't get the counter argument at all, but to each his own.

[sauce]

^^^I agree with you that I would prefer the mint and unbroken parts from another original source.

[megozilla13]

If the switches improve the figure, I'm all for it. I rather have a mint green arrow with a mint unbroken quiver that came from another green arrow, than a green arrow with his "original" broken quiver. And even if the switch was disclosed, I would never consider it NOT original. Would anyone value the broken one more because it was originally packed with the figure?

mikej

[megoapesnut]

This is a very interesting tread! It seems we are trying to apply MIB or MOC expectations to a loose figure. Once the cat is out of the bag..or in this case the Peter is out of his baggie, how can one know he is 100 mint unless you are buying him from the original owner?

And even then you would not know for sure as the owner could be misleading you that

1) It is complete with THE stuff that came off the card/ out of the box or...

2) that he is even the original owner.

We could go round and round on this forever. The bottom line is that you, as an owner of any given figure, have to be happy with what you have because, unless it is SEALED on a card or in a box, you will NEVER know for sure! And the value of it is whatever it is worth to you!!

[beartex2000]

This is a very interesting tread! It seems we are trying to apply MIB or MOC expectations to a loose figure. Once the cat is out of the bag..or in this case the Peter is out of his baggie, how can one know he is 100 mint unless you are buying him from the original owner?

[LonnieFisher]

I've gotta agree here. In the strictest sense, if that particular sword did not originally come with that particular Zorro, it is not original. Original Mego yes, but not original Zorro. In the strictest sense, it doesn't matter if everything was made at the same time, in the same factory, and both Zorro and Blackbeard were packed with the same sword. If Zorro doesn't have THE sword that he was originally packed with at the factory and stuffed in his little Zorro box, he is not original. Original Mego yes, not original Zorro.

I agree...

[MegoNutt]

thus a Zorro with a sword derived from a Blackbeard figure is NOT original according to you.

mikej

I've gotta agree here. In the strictest sense, if that particular sword did not originally come with that particular Zorro, it is not original. Original Mego yes, but not original Zorro. In the strictest sense, it doesn't matter if everything was made at the same time, in the same factory, and both Zorro and Blackbeard were packed with the same sword. If Zorro doesn't have THE sword that he was originally packed with at the factory and stuffed in his little Zorro box, he is not original. Original Mego yes, not original Zorro.

[megozilla13]

Your example of MY logic is false, so please speak for yourself and not me. I in no way implied this. Original SI is original SI. Duh! Just like I was saying...Your point of my view is a worthless opinion.

My example is based on exactly what you wrote.....

ORIGINAL is not something that has not been switched. " Not derived from something else"is the definition that applies here.

thus a Zorro with a sword derived from a Blackbeard figure is NOT original according to you. If thats not what you meant, then you should explain yourself better.


mikej

[Sandman9580]

I think a better analogy would be..... If you had a mint zorro and completed him with a blackbeard sword (which is the same) and wanted to sell it, would you call it not original.

If Mego gave Blackbeard's sword to Zorro, then so can we.

That's the short answer. The long answer is, while I wouldn't refer to it as "not original," I would mention now that the sword was donated by a different figure. Why? Because here it's good etiquette. Some people who collect Megos (obviously) seem to care about this, and you have to make concessions to the community you're selling to. Whereas with vintage Star Wars, even if I mentioned it, no one's really going to care.

Also, I would not expect "disclosures" like this to negatively affect the sale price (it's not repro items we're talking about), and I think price is the sensitive issue here; in this case, we're talking about $4,400, not $40. So that intensifies everything. And with honest sellers, the more rare and expensive the figure, the greater "moral pressure" there is to disclose any little thing that could possibly be perceived to be "wrong" with it.

So I empathize with Lonnie. But I stand by what I said: Star Wars or GI Joe, vintage Barbie or vintage Mego, it shouldn't affect the perceived value because the "rational market" does this for us, and it doesn't like to deal in unknowns. This accessory may have come with this figure, it may not have--I might be lying, I might not be. The collective market has little tolerance for this kind of uncertainty, so it equalizes the value of loose items across the board. And if one is as valuable as the other, we're going to make everyone crazy if we start insisting it be otherwise.

[LonnieFisher]

I defy you to tell the difference.
I can find the exact same elastic and restring a Mego and you'd never know.
I understand some people are overly anal about minute details but there's a point where you become ridiculous.
If a genuine vintage Mego part is used to replace a missing or damaged original Mego part and it is the EXACT same part that came from the EXACT same factory and EXACT same batch of parts then there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's not like they have serial numbers. Just because one of those parts ended up in a Wizard of Oz box instead of a WGSH box means nothing. They are the SAME.
By your (Lonnie) logic then, an SI that is pieced together from loose parts (pants from one original SI set, shirt from another, etc) is worth less than one that happened to luckily stay together from Day 1. That's silliness.
Rich

I could tell re-strung figures. And I'm pretty sure Bryan could too. You can't find the EXACT elastic. It might be close, but not exact.

[LonnieFisher]

By your (Lonnie) logic then, an SI that is pieced together from loose parts (pants from one original SI set, shirt from another, etc) is worth less than one that happened to luckily stay together from Day 1. That's silliness.
Rich

Your example of MY logic is false, so please speak for yourself and not me. I in no way implied this. Original SI is original SI. Duh! Just like I was saying...Your point of my view is a worthless opinion.

[megoapesnut]

for mailer box figures I've seen two different types of plastic material used for the baggies. One is real crinkley and the other is softer.

That is interesting as I ran across the same thing with my boxed CIPSA POTA figures. The accessories and clothing for the Urko figure is sealed in a crinkly baggie and the stuff for the Ursus figure is sealed in a softer baggie. All of my Mego POTA mailer figures are in the crinkly type baggie.

And another interesting thing is that I recently purchased a POTA soldier figure from someone and it was sent in a small box with packing peanuts, but the figure was in a plastic bag to protect it and I just happened to have it laying next to my mailer box figures one day and realized that the baggie is almost identical. I asked the seller and he said that it wasn't from a mailer figure. He is not sure where it came from, but he never owned any mailer figures so we are pretty sure it's not from a mailer. But you would be hard pressed to know that it wasn't if you had them side by side, as I did.