Coin Offer Sticker Fraud...Does It Happen?

[skye]

I was curious if there are any known examples of MOCs being sold with Coin Offer stickers that were applied after market? Unlike the other stickers, the Coin Offer is only on the front, making it easier to pass something as authentic.


I ask because I've seen a couple Coin Offer Stickers in my time collecting that looked a bit off. What I mean is, there seemed to be a kind of darkening of the sticker, that may have come from the sticker being removed an then placed on another card. The darkening I figure comes from the old printing still being stuck to the bottom of the sticker.

Or, are there examples of unused sheets being abused to make desirable variations?

With Aaron's awesome focus thread, I figured it may be time to talk more about these fascinating and frustrating stickers.

 

[Dave_T]

I ask because I've seen a couple Coin Offer Stickers in my time collecting that looked a bit off. What I mean is, there seemed to be a kind of darkening of the sticker, that may have come from the sticker being removed an then placed on another card. The darkening I figure comes from the old printing still being stuck to the bottom of the sticker.

Skye, I think the darkening of which you speak could be a deterioration of the adhesive that was originally on the sticker itself. You can see this "darkening" on some stickers that are still affixed to the original white backing (i.e. this phenomenon is still evident even though the stickers were never applied to a card).

I'd suspect that "sticker fraud" with the coin offer sticker would be pretty unlikely, and probably limited to pieces where its presence would command a premium (I'd probably check SW and POTF stickered figures very carefully, in addition to some key ESB and ROTJ figures).

 

[ThorOakenfelder]

It's possible, but there are plenty of people out there that look down on offer stickers who would see that as creating an issue instead of creating desirability. I've seen people remove stickers before that others would find desirable.

 

[John_A_Graham]

Skye I think these stickers were applied by retailers and as such were not applied at a Kenner Factory, thus they are all "after market" if you will.

As to the questioning of the 'darker' looking stickers, this I feel is a result of the glue from the sticker bleeding through.

Further it is NOT at all hard to remove one of these stickers from a card without lifting any of the original card, they are generally very easy to remove with the use of a blow dryer.

What to look for as possible removal and reapplication is any veining or cracking on the face of the sticker (especially around the corners and or edges), where it might appear to have been pulled to fast or at an extreme angle, causing damage.

It is my firm belief that any and all Cardbacks "COULD" have been subject to the coin offer sticker (as we all know they have turned up on anything from a 12Back to POTF), it just really depends on what old stock (peg warmers) was still available at the time the stickers were sent out to retailers.

Cheers,

-John

 

[BryanSimmons]

I've also wondered this as well. On the one hand, why would there ever be a very nice conditioned SW or ESB carded figure as these stickers were originally distributed during the really early POTF era via store stickers so anything left on the pegs should be pegwarmers, right? And by design if they are pegwarmers they should be trashed, right?

But we've seen more then a few nice examples of older stock so I don't know what to think. And to further complicate matters, I don't think the existence of the sticker brings much of a premium so why go to all the trouble of faking something if you can't benefit from it? Perhaps some of the older ones were overstock that found its way to retail at a later date? Weird, but I never recall seeing older logo'd stock on the pegs during my OT toy shopping days.

I never really know what to believe with the older ones. I know there are unused sticker sheets out there but absent a financial windfall why fake one?

 

[Chris_T]

I know there are unused sticker sheets out there but absent a financial windfall why fake one?

Why would you fake one? That is the real question from my point of view. You probably wouldn't even need an unused sheet. I can't imagine that it would be that difficult to make your own stickers. It would seem that stickers would be easier to fake than say a convincing cardback.

I've often wondered if this is happening to conceal dings etc.

 

[BryanSimmons]

I've often wondered if this is happening to conceal dings etc.

Although we here might think the sticker is a neat and unique looking thing, I have to feel the vast majority of MOC collectors don't look at the sticker as a positive. Most probably would shy away from it - heck there are enough people that won't touch a price stickered MOC so I'm sure the large yellow sticker on a black background isn't something most seek out. It would have to be a pretty bad ding / rip for me to think of a collector affixing a real sticker, let alone a fake one, on a carded figure.

Myself, I've always thought is was an underappreciated focus so it's really cool seeing Aaron's run, but considering he's the only one here doing it shows you how few people appreciate the sticker.

 

[Chris_T]

I have to feel the vast majority of MOC collectors don't look at the sticker as a positive.

I have to agree with you there. Given a choice I would prefer my cards "sans sticker".

Still We've all probably seen people attempt to conceal a sticker tear or something with another price tag. Heck, I once bought a Han Trenchcoat where that had happened. Good thing it was only a Han Trenchcoat.

My line of thinking was it would presumably be more desirable to have the coin sticker rather than a price sticker for such dastardly pursuits.

That would be an awful lot of trouble to go through though...

You know what? You've convinced me.

 

[RivesJunctionite]

Myself, I've always thought is was an underappreciated focus so it's really cool seeing Aaron's run, but considering he's the only one here doing it shows you how few people appreciate the sticker.

He's not the only one with a coin sticker focus. Mine's more of a side focus, and I limit it to beaters.

 

[skye]

I think that the idea that they are not that desirable is underestimating the fervor of focus collectors. I know that I would pay a healthy premium for a legit Chewie 12/20 back with a coin offer sticker. I could easily see people taking a beater 12 back, throwing a sticker, and getting back a healthy profit.

Hmmm... maybe I should be keeping my mouth shut in case any lurking cheats are reading this and get a new idea.

 

[grand_moff_aaron]

First off thanks Skye thanks for posing this question and making this a thread. this question has crossed my mind numerous times, even more so in the past year since this became a focus of mine. It leads to some very intereting debate about these often neglected cards.

First, I would have to say that I have seen the issue you bring up about some of these stickers looking like they may have been peeled off and re-applied. However it would be a lot of trouble to remove one and reapply it, risking damage to not only one but 2 cards. Like was said before (I think) it may be the glue bleeding through the sticker. For example when my kids glue together some art project together the glue bleeds through often discoloring the paper it is applied to. This may describe the appearance of some of these old stickers.

Again yes you can look for stress marks or spider webs on the sticker to see if it was every removed, but remember, these were applied by the local retailers. Some disgruntled stock boy might have been ticked off to get this job, and just wrinkled, ripped or whatever in the process of applying them. This leads to why I enjoy seeing a nice straight one. SOme one cared in putting it on and took some pride, probably as most of us would!

I do often wonder how in the world they got on some cards like 12 backs, ESB, POTF or popular figs like Fett or R2. Most of the time I attribute it to left over stock or a box that was buried in the back corner of a store. If Star Wars items weren't moving, the retailer probably didnt care who was on the card just slap the sticker on and get it out of here!

I think that the idea that they are not that desirable is underestimating the fervor of focus collectors. I know that I would pay a healthy premium for a legit Chewie 12/20 back with a coin offer sticker. I could easily see people taking a beater 12 back, throwing a sticker, and getting back a healthy profit.

Hmmm... maybe I should be keeping my mouth shut in case any lurking cheats are reading this and get a new idea.

As for this idea I totally agree. While most collectors love the beauty of the artwork on the cardbacks, figure focus colletors are looking for any and all variations of their favorite character. The fact that these stickers are on certain figures definitely makes them very desireable to focus collectors and they can command quite a premium especially on Ebay where you can get into a bidding war. Just try prying an R2, Chewie or Vader out of the collection of one of the focus members on RS. Its near impossible as some of these combos may be one of a kind especially double offer cardbacks( no offense to any of you guys with these foci I wouldnt sell either if I had a character focus with one of these).

Shhh Skye you gonna make it expensive for me

just kidding

Just my 2 cents as I have lots of spare time to ramble on now with school over and being on disabilty!

Aaron

 

[John_Kellerman]

As I stated in my book the SW and POTF logo carded figures are the most difficult to find with the Coin Offer sticker. I have seen only one SW-logo card (pictured in my book) and several POTF carded figures with the sticker. The SW card was found at a toy show in the early 90's and the POTF card was found at a booth at Celebration I (Denver in the rain). The dealer had about 4 - 5 POTF carded figures with the stickers. He was not asking a premium for the sticker. Those are all I've seen, and I've looked at a lot of carded figures!

John

 

[grand_moff_aaron]

John thanks for chiming in! Its always good to get your expert insight on things like this. From you said I am even happier to own a POTF cardback with the coin offer sticker

 

[Kyle_B]

I use to have a POTF Han Trench Coat with the Coin Offer. I picked it up for something like $30.00 on some weird website.

 

[danaustin1975]

Myself, I've always thought is was an underappreciated focus so it's really cool seeing Aaron's run, but considering he's the only one here doing it shows you how few people appreciate the sticker.

He's not the only one with a coin sticker focus. Mine's more of a side focus, and I limit it to beaters.

That's a not bad looking beater set, if you ignore all the stickers, those aren't bad cards at all and look like they'd make nice MOC actually, just my opinion.

As for the Coin Offer being dubious in any way, or put on a card to establish a fake as real, its such an ugly addition in my opinion, large, yellow and obtrusive (sorry coin offer collectors I'm sure your focus is great and everything) but I've consciously avoided these coin offers in the past, I think someone who wanted to make a fake look authentic would use a subtler technique, maybe a standard price sticker?

Anyway, there you go.

Dan

 

[CanadianCollectR]

I think someone who wanted to make a fake look authentic would use a subtler technique, maybe a standard price sticker?

Anyway, there you go.

Dan

That's definitely been done before.

-Mike
www.womprat.com

 

[BryanSimmons]

I think bidding wars can cause anomalies on ebay and perhaps there is money to be made for faking them, now that I think about it in retrospect. But I have no real basis for judgment as I don't actively seek these and don't have any listings that show values. Seeing as how most of the time these probably fly under the radar on ebay I think the average cost of a coin sticker offer would still be fairly low, if you throw out the statistical outliers(SW & POTF cardbacks on the high end and tremendous beaters on the low end). Most are probably mistitled just as, say "Rancor Keeper MOC ROTJ" with no mention of the sticker.

Regarding focus collectors, as we've stated Rebelscum is such a small microcosm of the world's Star Wars collectors. If we have 10 focus collectors here does that multiply exponentially worldwide or are we much more of a niche with the multiplier being much smaller worldwide? Common sense says the latter. If AFA has shown us anything it is that most people worldwide prefer pristine or near pristine examples and I still think the vast majority of MOC collectors worldwide prefer cleaner cards and would pass on a sticker offer card. Obviously focus collectors are crazy and collect everything related to their character, though

.

Like I said, I think it is a boss focus. I said many years ago a focus like this was great because it could conceivably cover every figure and cardback and it literally was an endless quest. It is a wholly unique focus because of that with no other equivalent that I can think of.

 

[ChrisGeorgoulias]

Skye, I think the darkening of which you speak could be a deterioration of the adhesive that was originally on the sticker itself. You can see this "darkening" on some stickers that are still affixed to the original white backing (i.e. this phenomenon is still evident even though the stickers were never applied to a card).

This is true and for years I owned a strip of unused coin offer stickers. Many of the stickers had turned noticeably dark and some had fallen off, all due to the aging of the adhesive backing.

-chris

 

[RivesJunctionite]

I think bidding wars can cause anomalies on ebay and perhaps there is money to be made for faking them, now that I think about it in retrospect. But I have no real basis for judgment as I don't actively seek these and don't have any listings that show values. Seeing as how most of the time these probably fly under the radar on ebay I think the average cost of a coin sticker offer would still be fairly low, if you throw out the statistical outliers(SW & POTF cardbacks on the high end and tremendous beaters on the low end). Most are probably mistitled just as, say "Rancor Keeper MOC ROTJ" with no mention of the sticker.

I can confirm all of that. Finding these things requires actually browsing the MOC listings, since coin stickers are almost never noted in the descriptions. I don't think the prices are any higher than regular versions of the figures, since I've not paid more than $40 for any of mine. That's why I tend to think that there isn't a lot of fraud happening. There really isn't much incentive to do so. Although, when desirable characters come up, they can sell high. I once bid on what I considered to be a beater ESB R2-D2 that ended up selling for $145 or so.

If AFA has shown us anything it is that most people worldwide prefer pristine or near pristine examples and I still think the vast majority of MOC collectors worldwide prefer cleaner cards and would pass on a sticker offer card.

Definitely. I'm an anomaly in that regard. I just prefer to see the figures as I remember them: beat up, unwanted, and marked down to 99 cents.

I said many years ago a focus like this was great because it could conceivably cover every figure and cardback and it literally was an endless quest. It is a wholly unique focus because of that with no other equivalent that I can think of.

Yeah, it is fun that way, but that's also why it's only a secondary focus for me. I prefer to have an end in sight (like the 62 coins).

 

[ThorOakenfelder]

I've been thinking and I've seen a few ESB figures command a mark up on ebay because they had the sticker. I think the ones I remember best are the 2 different ESB Luke Hoths, they seemed to get about a 25% premium over a similar condition non stickered figure. It's been over a year since either of those were on ebay. I feel there's an underground niche for ESB with coin offer sticker

 

[Mattias_Rendahl]

I find it hard to believe (a bit naive I admit) that someone would and could fake a good example. Well, at least not without having some unused sticker strips, but why ruin such a neat piece? I think I would fetch more money for my unused strip of coin stickers than using the stickers and place them on a card. And I doubt someone would be able to remove a coin sticker (without any visible tears etc) and re-glue it on another card. I've tried that many times in the past without any success, and all my coin offer moc's have firm stickers attached to them, and some "darkening" on them as well. Many of them are Chirpa's and I'm sure no one has faked those, at least not to get a premium

Mattias

 

[jjislas]

I think that the idea that they are not that desirable is underestimating the fervor of focus collectors. I know that I would pay a healthy premium for a legit Chewie 12/20 back with a coin offer sticker. I could easily see people taking a beater 12 back, throwing a sticker, and getting back a healthy profit.

Hmmm... maybe I should be keeping my mouth shut in case any lurking cheats are reading this and get a new idea.

Skye look what I just found in an old box, was thinking in sending it to AFA to get a Loose U Figure

probably a AFA U80 or AFA U85?



Don't worry Skye this Chewie won't be free from his blister, actually I don't have it, it was only 5 minutes of photoshop and a couple pics

 

[John_A_Graham]

In just under an hour this is what I've found between RS, Photobucket, webshots, and eBay.

Star Wars:
Power Droid (20 Back?)
R2-D2 21 Back

ESB:
At-At Commander 47 Back
At-At Commander 48 Back
At-At Commander 48 Back / Anakin Sticker
Bespin Guard (Black) 47 Back
Bespin Guard (White) 47 Back
Cloud Car Pilot ?
Imperial Commander 4-Lom Offer
Lando Calrissian 31 Back
Lobot 41 Back
Rebel Commander 41 Back
Rebel Soldier 4-Lom Offer
Yoda 48 Back
Yoda X2 32 Back

ROTJ:
Admiral Ackbar 65 Back
At-St Driver 77 Back
At-St Driver 77 Back / Anakin Sticker
A-Wing Pilot ?
Biker Scout 77 A Back
Boba Fett ?
Bossk 65 Back
B-Wing Pilot 77 Back
Chief Chirpa 79 Back
Death Star Droid 65 Back
General Madine 65 Back
General Madine 77 Back
Imperial Commander 77 Back
Jawa ?
Klaatu 77 Back
Klaatu 79 Back / Anakin Sticker
Klaatu Skiff Guard 77 Back
Lando Calrissian 77 Back
Lando Skiff Guard 65 Back
Logray ?
Luke X-Wing X2 ?
Nikto 77 Back
Nikto ?
Paploo Anakin Printed
Power Droid 65 Back
Prune Face X2 77 Back
R2-D2 65 Back
R2-D2 65 Back / Emperor Offer
Rancor Keeper X3 77 Back
Rebel Soldier 77 Back
Rebel Soldier ?
Ree-Yees 65 Back / Anakin Sticker
Ree-Yees 65 Back / Emporor Offer
Stormtrooper X3 77 Back ( I own one of these )
Squid Head 77 Back
Teebo 77 Back
Wequay 65 Back
Wicket 79 Back / Anakin Sticker

POTF:
A-Wing Pilot 92 Back
Amanaman 92 Back
Han Trench Coat 92 Back

Cheers,

-John

 

[Mark_Huber]

I thought that Power Droid was a 20 back, which so far is the earliest Coin Sticker card.

Also, there was just an Amanaman with Coin Sticker that sold about a week ago on eBay for around $85.

Mark

 

[John_A_Graham]

Updated.

-John

 

[dspair]

DaveT and stickers in one thread...I can't resist not commenting...
Now while removing a sticker from one card and putting it on another is a little sketchy...I would have to disagree that it's 'fraud' taking an unused sticker from a strip and putting it on a carded figure. Joe Schmo toysrus stock boy did it at retail 23 years ago...so what's the difference of someone doing it now? *Any* carded figure could have been hanging on the shelf at the time. I remember both TRU and KB used to have old toy stock sitting on their shelves for *years* at clearance. In fact I remember finding 1991 series 10 Sci-Fi and Snake Eyes at a KB outlet store in 1995 if not 1996...that looked like it came fresh out of a case (and eventually graded an 85). So...using poor condition to authenticate an older carded figure with a coin sticker is ridiculous. Also coming up with a comprehensive list of figures with coin stickers on them is futile...you might as well list every single cardback / sticker combo variation ever made on that list. I refer back to this thread for my diatribe on sticker variations: Cardback Variations & Sticker Variations

Also...cases of POTF figures potentially did come with rolls of stickers in them. See pics below...coin offer shipping case with assortment 69710 stickered over the 69570...69710 corresponds to the POTF figure assortment. POTF figures with coin stickers are not that rare to find...although they're obviously not as common as Jedi figures. Several came up for sale on ebay 1-2 years? ago on ebay...I don't recall which besides A-wing pilot.



But don't worry everyone...I'm not planning on using my stickers up on vinyl cape jawas and 12 back DT Lukes.
I'm just trying to make the point that it's not fraud to do something just because it's 20 some odd years later and not in a TRU aisle. It's not like someone's trying to create a 'preproduction' item...like Todd folding up box flats...or Jordan and those fake POTF stickered jedi figures...ahh...those were the good old days. oh no wait...I shouldn't have said that...one of them might come along and bump every other thread in this section to push my reply into oblivion....haha.



-Will

 

[ThorOakenfelder]

Wow, I love that Luke with markdown sticker and coin offer sticker.

 

[JohnA]

DaveT and stickers in one thread...I can't resist not commenting...
Now while removing a sticker from one card and putting it on another is a little sketchy...I would have to disagree that it's 'fraud' taking an unused sticker from a strip and putting it on a carded figure. Joe Schmo toysrus stock boy did it at retail 23 years ago...so what's the difference of someone doing it now?

The difference is, well, 23 years.

IMO, and everybody may have different opinons, it's like folding a flat and putting the contents or transplanting a Special Offer Sticker. It's a tad on the shady side. I know I'd want to know. The crux of the matter is that it's a variation that may never have actually existed. Collectors shouldn't create their own collectables (well, aside from medallions).

John

 

[Dave_T]

DaveT and stickers in one thread...I can't resist not commenting...

I'm honored.

Actually, this whole thread was cooked up between me and Skye to get you to post.

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Now while removing a sticker from one card and putting it on another is a little sketchy...I would have to disagree that it's 'fraud' taking an unused sticker from a strip and putting it on a carded figure. Joe Schmo toysrus stock boy did it at retail 23 years ago...so what's the difference of someone doing it now?

[/QUOTE]

Joe Schmo was supposed to do it, when it served a practical purpose. There's no good reason to do it 20+ years after the fact, other than to change the appearance of the card to a collector.

How can you say transplanting a coin sticker is "sketchy" but at the same time, have no problem putting a "new" sticker (from a roll) onto a card? At the end of the day, you'd have two carded figures that have stickers added, that didn't use to. One's "sketchy" and one's not?

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font>
*Any* carded figure could have been hanging on the shelf at the time...So...using poor condition to authenticate an older carded figure with a coin sticker is ridiculous.

[/QUOTE]

No argument here.

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Also...cases of POTF figures potentially did come with rolls of stickers in them. See pics below...coin offer shipping case with assortment 69710 stickered over the 69570...69710 corresponds to the POTF figure assortment. POTF figures with coin stickers are not that rare to find...although they're obviously not as common as Jedi figures. Several came up for sale on ebay 1-2 years? ago on ebay...I don't recall which besides A-wing pilot.

[/QUOTE]

I think they're pretty scarce on POTF cards. If the point is to give away a "free coin," it would seem more practical to put this offer onto cards that didn't already have one included.

 

[dspair]

How it's different:

1. Because using an unused sticker would make it indistinguishable from one that was created 20 years ago. A sticker transplant will never be perfect. For example, if someone put an unused coin sticker on another 20 back SW Power Droid...it would be indistinguishable from the one in John's book. No one would ever know the difference. John finding one at a show 15 years ago doesn't mean someone didn't have some unused stickers and put it on that carded figure 15 years ago as opposed to 23 years ago. There can never be any full provenance of any coin offer sticker on a carded figure save for someone's word finding it at retail on a shelf...which is meaningless. It's not like linking provenance back to a Kenner employee for a preproduction item.

2. Joe Schmo wasn't ripping stickers off one card and putting them on another.

All in all...they're nice to collect but no one should be paying a premium for one...and they shouldn't be considered a true sticker variation on par with a secret figure offer sticker or even an offer extension sticker...because Joe Schmo was (and maybe still is) the one who's making them.

-Will

How can you say transplanting a coin sticker is "sketchy" but at the same time, have no problem putting a "new" sticker (from a roll) onto a card? At the end of the day, you'd have two carded figures that have stickers added, that didn't use to. One's "sketchy" and one's not?

 

[grand_moff_aaron]

I thought that Power Droid was a 20 back, which so far is the earliest Coin Sticker card.

Also, there was just an Amanaman with Coin Sticker that sold about a week ago on eBay for around $85.

Mark

OH man how did I miss that beauty?

 

[ThorOakenfelder]

I'm kind of surprised at the vehemence in some of these posts. Especially considering how so many in the extended community seem to view these stickers as a detriment. Maybe they are just having their day in the sun now. I remember when Tri Logos were the weak sister and more people tried to peel the stickers off of the Boba Fett offer to show the rocket firing action. Next thing you know, the Anakin stickers will get a limelight and people will start snapping up those.

 

[Joe_O]

I thought that Power Droid was a 20 back, which so far is the earliest Coin Sticker card.

Also, there was just an Amanaman with Coin Sticker that sold about a week ago on eBay for around $85.

Mark

OH man how did I miss that beauty?

I saved the picture of that .. real cool!

 

[skye]

lol, JJ. You had me until I enlarged the photo.

It actually amazes me that there is a debate on the sketchiness of adding Coin Offer stickers. Just because the schmoe who put the sticker on was at Toys R Us and not at the Kenner Factory doesn't mean it is less meaningful. The application of the sticker was still a part of the vintage era, a part of Kenner's doomed and inventive marketing genius, and it should not be confused with a price sticker or any other store applied sticker.

My Chewies with Coin Offer stickers are an indication of the lines inability to sell. They are an indication of how well Chewbacca sold in general because they are hard to come by. Most importantly, to me, they are a legitimate card front variation. Just because it was not systematic, does not mean it is not a real variation, does it?

Anyway, it looks like my initial question was answered and coin offer sticker fraud does not happen. That is good, but I think it will happen in the future. I know that I would happily pay a nice premium for a coin offer sticker combo that I don't have. I also know that I'm not alone in that.

 

[BryanSimmons]

All in all...they're nice to collect but no one should be paying a premium for one...

Will, I agree with you on this.

One of the big problems with this sticker is if it does end up being the type of thing that picks up steam in terms of inflated values, it really does open up the door for someone to make some fake stickers. With all the resources available to people today, I'd have to think faking this sticker would be really, really easy. A faker probably wouldn't get it perfect, but by the time you figure that out you've already been had.

 

[Adam_L]

IMO, poor sticker placement- it obscures the great litho art of Amanaman. I'd prefer to have a non-offer/sticker version.

Like many have said in this thread, too many possible negative/bad things associated with the sticker offer being potentially faked. On a ROTJ package it can kinda look cool, and is with in reason (era) of it possibly being a real deal (plus ROTJ carded figures tend to be the most modestly priced). Otherwise, any other package type I'd stay away from.

I thought that Power Droid was a 20 back, which so far is the earliest Coin Sticker card.

Also, there was just an Amanaman with Coin Sticker that sold about a week ago on eBay for around $85.

Mark

OH man how did I miss that beauty?

I saved the picture of that .. real cool!

 

[BryanSimmons]

I do often wonder how in the world they got on some cards like 12 backs, ESB, POTF or popular figs like Fett or R2. Most of the time I attribute it to left over stock or a box that was buried in the back corner of a store.

This is something that hasn't really been answered and might not be able to be answered. But it really is unfathomable to think of a case of Star Wars logo'd figures to show up at a retail store years later that got overlooked. The odds seem incalculable - to find a 5+ year old case that got buried in stock, and gets found at the same time the POTF sticker rolls show up. Or ESB for that matter.

Does anyone know if places like Big Lots actually got really old stock like this? I find it hard to believe you'd see a Star Wars or ESB logo'd item in a K-Mart or Wal-Mart in 1984 or later but you might see something like that in a closeout store. Hard to think that Kenner would send those guys stickers, though.

 

[ThorOakenfelder]

I do often wonder how in the world they got on some cards like 12 backs, ESB, POTF or popular figs like Fett or R2. Most of the time I attribute it to left over stock or a box that was buried in the back corner of a store.

This is something that hasn't really been answered and might not be able to be answered. But it really is unfathomable to think of a case of Star Wars logo'd figures to show up at a retail store years later that got overlooked. The odds seem incalculable - to find a 5+ year old case that got buried in stock, and gets found at the same time the POTF sticker rolls show up. Or ESB for that matter.

Does anyone know if places like Big Lots actually got really old stock like this? I find it hard to believe you'd see a Star Wars or ESB logo'd item in a K-Mart or Wal-Mart in 1984 or later but you might see something like that in a closeout store. Hard to think that Kenner would send those guys stickers, though.

ESB figures were definitely hanging around in the POTF days. Lobot, Dengar, ugnaughts, Black Bespin Guards were all on the pegs at Lionell Playworld when they had bins of POTF figures. We'd find old stock in a lot of various places, Skaggs, Gemco, Fedmart, Walgreen's, Lucky's Stores. You'd spot the ocassional ESB figure years after the initial release. I just recall shoving aside some of them that I already had so that I could search for the new figures I really wanted.

 

[BryanSimmons]

^ Okay, that does make some sense althought it didn't happen in my area.

What about Star Wars figures?

 

[ThorOakenfelder]

^ Okay, that does make some sense althought it didn't happen in my area.

What about Star Wars figures?

I don't recall seeing those, but again I was really only interested in certain RotJ and PotF figures at that time. Who wanted to grab a Tusken raider when you could grab the newest ewok? LOL