There's a new wave of repro toy boxes for sale appearing online, which I've noticed of late.
They appear to be professionally made and look very crisp.
There are many Century and JR21 repro boxes in there too.
What do you think of this new availability readers?
Would you buy a repro box for one of your toys?
No, I would not. Period. Repro is disease.
ReplyDeleteI hate when guys are selling Retro game repros for like 50-80$ for single Cartridge or CD
DeleteWhat are those Ran? copy CD's?
DeleteYes, bootleg game cartridges/CD's most of the tiem they sell it as "orginal" ones.
DeleteI am not sure who is worse, those guys or "scalpers" selling old stuff with overpriced price jest because "it can be popular someday"
Ha ha, those are strong feelings there Arto!
ReplyDeleteIt's not only boxes, ATLAS is reproducing old Dinky Toys! As long as the boxes have a mark somewhere that identifies them as repro so dishonest people can not misrepresent the model as MINT BOXED then why not.
ReplyDeleteWhere are Atlas based Terran?
DeleteChina. They are listed on US eBay just enter ATLAS DINKY.
DeleteI agree with Arto, I'm not a fan of repro boxes either, Woodsy. Personally, I'd rather wait years and get a tatty old original box which has genuine historical wear and tear, rather than have a repro. The search is part of the fun of collecting, for me.
ReplyDeleteI think a big concern is that many quality repro boxes are not clearly marked as such, as Terranova47 rightly points out! Needless to say, convincing copies can get passed on as original, by the unscrupulous, to the unsuspecting, usually for high prices. It can be a ruthless game of opportunity, where repro becomes counterfeit... this in turn, dilutes and destabilizes the integrity of the collectors market. Not a good thing for the honest collector. I'm always obsessively cautious about boxes and always do my research before buying!
Passing them off as originals is a whole different thing Tone I agree. That's a no no. Even creating new images of customised boxes on the blog was once flagged up as questionable. Whenever I re-imagine a box on the blog in photoshop I always mark the post as a custom project. I wouldn't want collectors searching for hours for a new box in the real world!
DeleteI've never really been bothered by boxes at all, some of my old toys have them and some don't. I've no room to display them anyway. I have made an exception for the JR21 Zero X and Spacex Superset1 mind you!
ReplyDeleteThere's even a repro Zero-X box available now and then Kev. That's a complicated box to recreate. There's nothing like the original but I have to give the reproer grudging respect for even trying an OX box.
DeleteEven the best repro boxes are usually fairly easy to distinguish from the originals I'd say, whether they're marked as such or not. I have a few, because I'd rather have a repro than no box at all, as the box artwork can be very evocative of the period it was first produced or I first owned it. Of course, I'd much rather have an original where possible, but that isn't always easy to acquire. For display purposes, repros are nice if they're high-quality, but I've noticed that even the best ones are usually let down by the way curved corners are cut. They can be pretty rough and not too accurately defined. Luckily, the fact that a box is usually closed means that these imperfections aren't glaringly obvious, but I wish the produces of such boxes would pay attention to details like this.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a new quality in reproing boxes Kid if the ones on Ebay are anything to go by. There's even a box filled with many smaller boxes, a Beatles display. Someone is putting a lot of work into it. I have in the past made my own boxes for my own fun as I know I'd never find a loose box. I suppose home-made boxes are at the other end of the scale as they won't be leaving my house. No one else would want them!
DeleteYeah, it's that new quality I'm referring to, Woodsy. Some are professionally printed, but it's always the way the curved ends of the flaps are cut (by hand) that lets them down. The colours are usually more vibrant as well. I have one repro 'box' that cost a LOT of dosh, but there are still a couple of things that mark it out as a repro, even though it's not marked as such.
DeleteSome boxes are so rare that the only way mere mortals like us may ever have one is to make one ourselves or have one professionally made, which as you know, is expensive Kid.
DeleteThe thing with any repro item, be it a box, a toy, a record, a comic or even clothing, the reason that a repro exists is because the original probably no longer exists, a lovingly reproduced item can be part of your collection, only those in the know will be able to tell them apart, learning to differentiate items in a collection is part of the fun!! - Mark J
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean MJ. I have a few DIY boxes I made for my own amusement. I know what they are and they're so bad no-one else would touch them! ha ha
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