STARWARS ACTION FIGURES The Unofficial Collector's Guide to Star Wars Action Figures

Watch Out For Fakes! Common Frauds

With anything of significant value there will always be not-so-ethical folks out there who will fake things in order to try and cash in on the demand that exists for the real thing. Star Wars toys are no exception and collectors should always beware.

If you’re collecting loose figures, you probably don’t need to worry too much as forgers won’t waste their time making fakes of figures that won’t sell for much to begin with. Where the danger lies is in the more expensive purchases. Carded figures are the first front where the majority of fakes will come through, and then there are the super-rare figures, which in some cases, are so rare that just seeing one means it’s probably not real. These loose figures, like the vinyl-caped Jawas and rocket firing Fetts, are almost always frauds if you see one.

With carded figures, the danger is in something called re-carding. Re-carding can take two forms. The first is alterations to an existing carded figure in order to improve the condition of the packaged toy, and the second is even more dastardly and involves the printing of completely fake packaging in order to dupe buyers into thinking they’re looking at an original carded figure.

With the first form, the scammers will alter the packaging on an existing figure to increase it’s value. For instance, someone might have an original carded figure, but the bubble is damaged and this the value is reduced. Cracked bubbles, discoloured bubbled or seperating bubbles will all seriously reduce the grade and value of a carded figure, and after so many years, those thing plastic domes tend to take a beating. A fraudster may very, very carefully completely remove the bubble from the card and replace it with a new, mint condition bubble that they will then affix to the card, again, very, very carefully. A real expert will always be able to tell when this has been done on close inspection, but the vast majority of collectors could very well miss it.

The second form of re-carding is where the entire thing is one big fake. Scammers will take a loose figure that’s in relatively good condition and print off a completely fake card, with a new bubble, slap em all together and try and sell them as a premium condition original carded figure. This is pretty low, and even more obvious to experts, but again, some may miss it.

Now that being said, some people do these things purely for their own enjoyment. They like having their collection shiny and fresh, and should these honest folk decide to sell, they will always make it very clear that the figures in question are re-cards.

While carded figures are the domain of the majority of fakes, you do also find the obvious case of people forging extremely rare figures in order to try and make some serious big bucks. The rocket-firing Boba Fett for instance is so rare (only a handful of authentic ones exist), that if you see one, it’s almost definitely a fake. Scammers will take normal Fett figures and modify the backs in order to fire. The price that a real rocket-firing Fett commands is so high, that anoyone who were to end up buying a fake would be out thousands and thousands of dollars, and would not be a happy camper. The most-oft fakes rarity though it the vinyl caped Jawa. This little guy is a pretty easy fake and only those really in the know will notice the difference. The common scheme is to take a normal cloth caped Jawa, strip the poor bugger, then dress him up in an Obi-Wan Kenobi cape that’s been cut down to size. Some slimy folks will then go as far as re-carding their fake, making it doubly bogus, but much more expensive if they can find some poor sucker to buy it. If you ever see a vinyl caped Jawa up for sale, remember, the real deal has a raised crosshatch pattern on the inside of the cape, the cape is a different shade brown than a Kenobi cape, and the arm holes on an altered Kenobi cape will fit poorly around the Jawa’s arms. If any of these problems pop up, you’re lookng at a fake!

So remember, any time you buy a carded figure that seems almost too good to be true, or if you’re ever put in a position where you can get your hands on one of those super rare pieces, be skeptical, and examine them very, very closely. You may very well be looking at an expertly crafted fake, and you wouldn’t want to waste your hard earned collecting dollars on something like that.