Tuesday, June 20, 2023

BUSTED! "Vintage Archer Spacewoman" Ratted Out as Glencoe Models Re-Issue


Pretty sure I've been over these three on the blog before. All obtained separately and under the premise of being "vintage" 1950s Archer Space People females. One probably is, one surely isn't, and the other one continues to elude a simple answer.

Video sets out the case and how the conclusions were arrived at.


Click here to open video in a new window for fullscreen viewing options.


Blue baby's hair is very softly defined compared to the silver lady's baby.


It was while studying their backs that I noticed the blue figure's helmet lacks the decorative ridge spanning the bottom of the two silver figures' helmets. 


The dead giveaway: Flashing from mold overspill ringing the feet. None of my known vintage Archer figures have any mold flashing at all, let alone around the feet.


Figure in blue with rifle established as a Glencoe Models re-issue.


Knockin' the boots. And his foot is bounded by a crescent moon of flashing, with evidence of more on the other foot having been trimmed off.


Her response to The Clink Test is also inconclusive or open to subjective opinion. Which has to mean she failed, and along with the other "evidence" is now classified as a Glencoe re-issue.

If you blew off the video, the Clink Test is when you very carefully rap the figure against a firm surface. Vintage 1950s polystyrene figures will reward the rappee with a bright metallic sounding clink. Glencoe re-issues pressed in their modern plastic blend will usually respond with a dull click or thud, but as the video demonstrates that is not always the case. 

The lavender Force Field Guy ratted out over the weekend as Glencoe also passed his Clink Test. But he failed all other indicators instantly and should have been an easy call even without others to compare against. The females have no indicators other than plastic color, with the flashing only amounting to a good hint since it won't be consistent on every figure.


Last point of consideration for Baby Lady is that her surface lacks the patina and yellowing of age seen on Space Gal with hands on her hips. She was also the only one of the three to obviously ace the Clink Test. That yellowing took decades to build up. By comparison, Baby Lady is still out of the box clean.


So given all of the above I am confident Space Gal is vintage 1950s.





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Puzzling. Am told her color is wrong for both Archer and Glencoe, and believe it in both cases. Her response to the Clink Test was ambiguous, which likely has to mean she failed it. But most of the Glencoe females I have seen tend to have a teal or greenish look. Or silver as I can now attest, which also means that any surviving Archer style space female is likely a Glencoe. 

Chances improve if the figure be cast in metallic green or metallic lavender. But I'd recommend studying as many figures as you can -- especially known recasts -- before shelling out for any Archer style female purported to be 1950s.

Space Boy still looks unimpressed.

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