Documenting Reproduction and Original Vintage Star Wars Weapons & Accessories Since 2009 Johnpaul Ragusa Presents..............
Click here to edit subtitle
The vintage Star Wars action figure line ran for a total of eight years and was a worldwide phenomenon. Throughout production many different companies across the globe were contracted to produce the figures and accessories: Kenner in the USA, Lili Ledy in Mexico, Glasslite in Brazil, to name just a few. This resulted in a large amount of figure variations being produced. likewise, the weapons and accessories that accompanied the figures also included variations.
In today's collecting market many of the hard to find figure variations (such as Glasslite and Lili Ledy) tend to be more sought-after in comparison to their standard Kenner counterparts.
As the collector market started to expand in the 1990s, a problem entered the hobby - repros (reproduction / fake weapons and accessories). Many of these reproductions were mass produced in Asia. With the advent of eBay the circulation of them became widespread.
Aside from the mass-produced reproductions, other types of fakes hit the market ranging from small-scale operations to homemade efforts. The production of repros has accelerated over recent years and includes parts for vehicles, play-sets, creatures, boxes and inserts, even Stormtrooper action figures! The plastic materials used and the casting quality has also become more advanced, making reproductions more difficult to detect than before.
Why has this website come about?
The Imperial Gunnery (TIG) is a non-profit, ad-free website created in 2009 as a resource for identifying original and reproduction vintage Star Wars weapons and accessories. Created by collectors for collectors, TIG's goal is to document all original weapons and accessories from the vintage Star Wars Action Figure toy line along with their reproduction counterparts. Visual guides enable collectors to identify original items as well as the large amount of reproductions available on the market.
While the site was created to cover the Star Wars 1977-1985 3 3/4 inch line, TIG has expanded over the years to cover other areas such as reproduction 3 3/4 inch figures, weapons / accessories from the 12 inch line, and a section for reproduction parts for vehicles, play-sets, creatures and other accessories.
In addition to this there is the TIG Forum where you will find active discussions on the world of figure variations and manufacturers like Kenner, Lili Ledy, Glasslite, PBP / POCH and more.