| Greedo Hardcopy Tooling Master | |
| Hardcopies are the prototypes that are used to generate the steel tooling necessary to mass-produce action figures. Cast by hand out of urethane materials, they are produced in low quantities and are sometimes painted in order to serve as models in photography or at industry shows.
Most hardcopies in collector hands are either of the painted variety or amalgamations of unused, even reject, parts. The latter type typically trace back to stuff that was laying around the old Kenner model shop when it was cleaned out in the '90s. But, as mentioned above, one hardcopy would be chosen to serve as the master for tooling that particular figure. The Greedo you see here is, I believe, that hardcopy. That's what the person from whom I bought it told me, at any rate. And his recollection is backed up by several of the piece's details. For example, the level of finish displayed by the figure is impressive. It's about the most perfect unpainted hardcopy I've ever seen. Also, there are still traces of white residue clinging to several details. I believe these are the remnants of mold release and white epoxy, applied to the piece to generate two negative tooling aids, which would eventually be used to cut the tools.
Finally, the figure displays parting lines carefully drawn on its parts using a pencil. These would have marked the junctures of the epoxy coatings applied to each piece of the hardcopy.
As you can see from this photo, the letters "F" and "G" are inscribed on the bottoms of the feet. As to what that might indicate, your guess is as good as mine. |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Ron Salvatore |
| From the collection of: | Ron Salvatore |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | A New Hope |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1978 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Action Figure Related |
