First Shot
First shots are among the very first plastic figures to come from the steel molds. Typically they are characterized by their lack of dates on the legs and their sometimes unusual coloring. Because they are preliminary pieces, any color of plastic can be used to mold them as the accuracy and functionality of the mold is what's being checked instead of the aesthetics of the figure itself. Many first shots are not painted and a few can be found unassembled. First shots are basically identical to production figures, but not all of them are "sonic welded" together. First shots can be found hand-painted or machine painted and some have turned up which are machine painted and colored like the production version but are actually fully painted figures. Basically any color of plastic can be used to make the figure and it will be painted correctly. For instance, a painted Romba first shot could be cast in white plastic, painted brown and then have the facial accents painted on. This figure would resemble it's production counterpart, but differ because the production figure would be molded in brown plastic and have only the facial accents painted on.

The most important thing that describes a first shot figure is the absence of the copyright dates typically found on the legs of Star Wars figures. However in the case of Paploo, the production figure does not have these dates so it's important not to confuse this with a first shot. A convincing Paploo first shot has to exhibit some of the other signs of being a first shot before one could call it that.

Remember that there are no first shots of items that are not in their production scale. First shots require steel molds and expensive steel molds wouldn't be made in the non-production size. This basically only affects the EV-9D9 and 8D8 2-ups and the Micro Collection 4-ups though.

Another term for first shot is Vendor Supplied Prototype (VSP)

TIE Pilot First Shot (white)
Nein Nunb First Shot (non-sonic-welded)
Sy Snootles First Shot

Description: Chris Georgoulias