Vintage Figures

[Dinoguy2]

I definitely have an appreciation for the old "cheaposaurs". I had a lot of Imperials and Laramies as a kid. Never did have UKRD.

Less appreciation for the ungodly amount of lead and other highly toxic substances used to make those figures though. I'd never recommend anyone collect them without knowing the risks.

[Stegotyranno420]

Is there a way to detect such substances?

[Dinoguy2]

Is there a way to detect such substances?

Check the bottom of the figure and see if it has Imperial, Laramie, or UKRD printed on it and any date before like 1990 

[Crackington]

Don't let kids put them in their mouths or chew their tails! I find the odd old figure in a job lot with chew marks and dread to think what happened to those kids. Might explain some older generation voting patterns though 😉

@Stegotyranno420 I'm not too sure about retro, but strongly suspect that it might refer to me 🤔

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I've found myself more interested in vintage figures over the past few years. I have almost all the Marx and Invicta dinosaurs, as well as an SRG triceratops and some Mold-A-Rama dinosaurs.

[stoneage]

 







  I collect a lot of vintage figures:  Og Son of Fire, Miller, SRG, Linde, Marx, MPC, Ajasx, Lindo, ROM, , Starlux, Toyway, Yowie, Dinotails, Invicta and Battat.  I aslo have most of the early Bullyland, Carnegie, Schleich and some Papo figures.  I would say that about 1/5 of my collection is pre-eightys.









 

[Gwangi]

How about retro?

I think retro is more an aesthetic than a age indicator. Like Marx and Invicta are retro, but then you have Rebor also releasing new retro figures.

[Halichoeres]

I've thought about this a bit, and also what would count as antique. The general consensus is that Vintage is over 20 years old, but antique over 100:

https://pediaa.com/difference-between-antique-and-vintage/

Hence there are loads of vintage figures out there, including some early Safaris, but very few figures  in our collections would be antique; even SRG, Marx etc have some way to go.

Interesting, a vintage toy group on Flickr stipulates nothing later than 1976. That seems a little far back, but thinking of the first wave of Kaiyodo Dinotales currently aging into retro status seems too recent! Why can't everything be calibrated to my particular generation??? 

How about retro?

I think retro is more an aesthetic than a age indicator. Like Marx and Invicta are retro, but then you have Rebor also releasing new retro figures.

I've always thought of retro as an aesthetic, but in the sense of something that isn't old taking on the look of something that is. But I haven't thought about it very hard, I admit.

[ceratopsian]

"Retro" is definitely an aesthetic term for me and not descriptive of the age of the item to which it is applied.  Something can be made yesterday and still be "retro" - but that same item shouldn't be called "vintage", even if it reproduces the look of something vintage so accurately that it is indistinguishable from the original (old) item.

[Varanops]

I'm less than a quarter-century away from becoming an antique -- a badly damaged antique.

[ceratopsian]

I'm not many years behind you. I'm going with the phrase "has a lovely patina indicative of wear"!

I'm less than a quarter-century away from becoming an antique -- a badly damaged antique.

[Fembrogon]

I've definitely been growing appreciation for vintage in recent years. I think there was a period growing up when I was ready to forsake a lot of older toys wholly in favor of the latest scientifically-accurate, most-detailed models released; but I must have been underestimating nostalgia and oversimplifying the history and craftsmanship of certain lines & figures. Maybe I was reacting to issues in mainstream depictions? I dunno. I'm digging old-school now.



A relative of mine picked these up for me a couple of years back at a garage sale or somewhere similar. I've long been aware of Marx figures, but I didn't "know" them, if that makes any sense. These guys are charmers, though, so I definitely plan to get more.


...But Invictas are cool, man; seriously, once I started getting these I fell head over heels! There's a real beauty in the simplicity, and it's also exciting to look at these and realize how they were paving the way for SO MUCH of what is getting released now. The Brachio has actually been in my possession for a long time; I just never had a clue to its significance!


I had also never known Sinclair did more than a Bronto bank for merchandise. These were recently inherited from my grandparents' house, and I quickly realized I had no idea who produced them. I'll be on the lookout for more of these, too!

For better or worse, I think there's a certain amount of uniformity in much of vintage art and merchandise. I realize this is because everyone was basically imitating the same handful of original depictions, but it's actually kind of nice to have a consistent familiarity in the aesthetics, especially now that we've entered a new age of speculation and experimentation (which is great in its own right). The Sinclairs aren't identical to Marxes, which aren't identical to Invictas; but they definitely feel like they could all comfortably belong in one big, prehistoric family.

[Shonisaurus]

Marx's moschops is very beautiful, I think it is the best figure of this species made to date.

My thanks and congratulations for your photographs.

[Halichoeres]

Vintage figures don't generally fall into my collecting purview, and I don't really relate to nostalgia. But I have huge respect for the sculptors who produced, for example, the Invicta and Marx lines. They did really amazing work, especially considering what was available to them, and the figures are rightly regarded as pieces of art.

[Duna]

...But Invictas are cool, man; seriously, once I started getting these I fell head over heels! There's a real beauty in the simplicity, and it's also exciting to look at these and realize how they were paving the way for SO MUCH of what is getting released now. The Brachio has actually been in my possession for a long time; I just never had a clue to its significance!

Invictas are the best vintage figures by far. Most of the figures of that time are badly sculpted but Invictas are as retro and inaccurate as the rest but with a perfect sculpt. The detail is from other world. Once you have one in your hands you can't stop looking for more. I knew nothing about most of these vintage collections until 5 months ago and now I have two complete sets. I love them in every way.

Marx (and other similar MPC, Sinclair, Inpro, El Cigarral) are also very charming vintage figures. I love all hard plastic monochrome figures, they are for me the best representation of vintage art. Only the sculpt to shine.

El Cigarral, from my country. There are 7 color variations of the figures, I have a bunch of them:

[Fembrogon]

Question: is it heresy to trim excess plastic off of mold lines on Marx figures, etc.? ...I mean, I realize they're my figures to do with what I want, but I'm curious if others have thoughts on the matter. *nervously chuckles*

[Libraraptor]

Question: is it heresy to trim excess plastic off of mold lines on Marx figures, etc.? ...I mean, I realize they're my figures to do with what I want, but I'm curious if others have thoughts on the matter. *nervously chuckles*

I would not chuckle if I were you. I personally would not do it, but don't see it as heresy either.

[Crackington]

You have to be very careful, but I've used nail-clippers to trim the excess plastic down in the past. You can get pretty good control with them.

@Duna - those El Ciggaral figures are very nice, I really like the Rhamphorynchus, but what is the figure next to it supposed to be?

[Duna]

You have to be very careful, but I've used nail-clippers to trim the excess plastic down in the past. You can get pretty good control with them.

@Duna - those El Ciggaral figures are very nice, I really like the Rhamphorynchus, but what is the figure next to it supposed to be?

It's supposed to be Megalania. A very interesting choice of species.

Question: is it heresy to trim excess plastic off of mold lines on Marx figures, etc.? ...I mean, I realize they're my figures to do with what I want, but I'm curious if others have thoughts on the matter. *nervously chuckles*

I don't know if it's an heresy but I would trim them and without any doubt. And I do it every time I buy a hard plastic figure. It's my figure and I like it like that. Not in rubbery painted ones because then you need to repaint carefully that part (I've done it many times, though). I use a surgical scalpel (I don't know if it's said like that), very very sharp.

[Crackington]

Thanks @ Duna, yes interesting choice, I half expected it to be something much earlier in time,
some kind of temnospondyl. Maybe they missed a trick calling it Megalania instead, though I guess   their target audience weren't collectors on niche forums!