Ed Wiser
March 7 1998
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.misc
I got this note after a reply to a message on Tomarts action section. I
posted it this morning. My reply is
after the letter:
-- Sounds like you haven't seen all the facts yourself. The unproduced
micro figures were not authorized by the original engineer to be sent for
first shots. He was the only person in authority at Kenner who could do so.
I have talked to him and Kenner officials about this many times. Those
figures were discussed as future possible figures for the micro line but
were scrapped, as far as Kenner's involvement, when the line was halted.
Planning stages for them got as far as sculptings and hardcopies but the
original engineer says he DID NOT sign authorization for first shots for
them. The pictures featured of them on Tom Neiheisel's mock up box are
painted hardcopies used for Kenner Photography only. This is all according
to the original engineer of the project who was in charge from beginning to
end. There were no other engineers in charge. These figures did not exist
from Kenner's real micro line. There have been many stories written about
the micro series by top people and lots of information has been given on
several different web sites, but not a single one of these people have ever
talked to the original engineer. If they had, they would not be showing
those figures in their private collections because they would have known
they didn't come from Kenner. Legally anyway. The original engineer is
the only person who knows what the 6 digit part numbers mean. He
authorized those numbers and they do have specific meanings to him. None
of the numbers on the unproduced figures were authorized by him and neither
were the figures either. He said whoever did the unproduced figures were
"rookies" in his opinion. Compared to the real thing, those figures are
completely laughable. I guess the average person has nothing to compare
with or the opportunity to talk with the original engineer, so they can
only go by what they've read, which is completely wrong and misleading. I
have all copies of the original engineer's documentation from the micro
collection. It blows the unproduced micros out of the water completely.
None of these guys know any of these things:
Who was the original engineer
What company did he authorize to do first shots for the micro line
What was their actual tooling process
How many first shots did he authorize for each character
How many approval stages did the micro figures go through
What was the dates for all the approvals
How many characters total were approved for first shots for each character
What do the 6 digit part numbers mean according to the original engineers
records
These are simple facts. Only the original engineer can give the
information as far as his records and documentation. Had any of these
people bothered to talk to him, they would have all copies of his records
as I do. The fact remains that those unproduced figures are being sold to
a unsuspecting worldwide market for up to $650.00 each, and they did not
come from Kenner. Now unless you can prove that the original engineer and
the top Kenner officials are goofy and their documentation is all lies,
then it's you who doesn't know what they're talking about. I have all
copies of this documentation. The engineer was very good at record
keeping. Every move that micro line made was recorded and documented and
dated. He even has the actual weight of each character recorded. As long
as people are spending their money for something that is being called
Kenner, very rare micro collection figures, I will not be quiet about it.
That's a lot of money for something that's being falsely advertised as the
real thing. I can't tell you who is responsible for those unproduced
figures being here, but I can prove they were not authorized by the
original engineer at Kenner for the Kenner micro line. The engineer said
those figures should not be in metal form and should not have come off the
paper they were drawn on and that they didn't as far as Kenner was
concerned. I don't plan to argue with anyone about this, if they want to
know for sure themselves, they can do what I did almost two years ago.
Start researching by calling James R. Black, SVP of the licensing
department at Kenner in Cincinnati, Ohio. What I've touched on in this
email is only a drop in the bucket to the whole story which is very
complete and fully documented, I might add.
V. Brooks
Actually I know how the process works . As I have been collecting Kenner
stuff for 20 years now.
Well I will check into this for you as I do know people who worked at
Kenner during the time in question.
I have seen many of the proto's of the Mirco line. As I live near Cincy I
have ran into quite a bit of the proto stuff from the old line. Boxes
figures molds all kind of stuff. I would say that you have gone about this
whole issue in the wrong way. Also the use of all these different Email
names does not look good at all.
Also for me the Mirco stuff has never been a very interesting line. The new
Micro stuff completely blows the vingtage stuff out of the water. The vintage
line has never been of high interest or value. I can go to any
Flea market and pick up all the Mirco pieces I want for 100 dollars no
problem at all.
The fellow that I know in Cincy does have quite a bit of info on these
types of things. Sadly Kenner has very poor records of every thing that
they did. I have talked to them about how it would be neat to see a
Kenner Museum with all the Proto's and other things for fans to see. But
they just don't have the stuff to do it.
I myself am just a collector nothing more. I have never sold nor would I
sale anything for more than I payed for it. I Have never in 20 years tried
to make a profit of the collecting of toys. I care little for HOW MUCH IT
IS Worth. It could be worth 2 cents and if I enjoyed collecting the item I
WOULD BE HAPPY.
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Well needless to say I didn't expect this kind of reply. As the persons
name on the post was not V. Brooks but a Mark or something to that effect.
As I said the use of various Email names does not look good I have never in
the 15 year that I have been on the net ever use a fake name or address. It
makes me not trust the person on the other in of a Email at all when they do such
things.
Just Thought I would post this reply and Email.
--
Ed Wiser
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