Minor Variation of Muton
Posted: 05 Sep 2009 15:00
Minor Variation of Muton
I hope the following pictures & information will be of use.
There appears to be a minor variation of the Muton figure.
I’d noticed some years ago that some Action Force figures, including Muton, came with either very “thin†hands or “fat†hands.
At the time I thought it was more of a quality control problem than a proper variation. But it now seems there is a definite variation of Muton.
Pictured above are the two variations, the “thin†hand figure is the one on the Left (with close-up pictures on the top row) & the “fat†hand figure is the one on the right (with close-up pictures on the bottom row).
When someone posted pictures of the Red Shadow variations with “thin†& “thick†soles I checked mine & found that I had some with the “thin†soles & “thin†hands & some with the “thick†soles & “fat†hands.
I didn’t check out my other figures at the time but I’ve recently been sorting through my collection & noticed that I had six Muton figures but only one with the “fat†hands.
Looking closer I noticed the three white dots on the “neck plate†were painted a much brighter white on the “fat†hand figure.
(In the following pictures the “Thin†Hand Figure is always on the left & the “Fat†Hand Figure is always on the right.)
At first I thought the paint might have been touched up but as I checked the paint on the “eye†I saw the small circular hole In the middle of the “eye†was slightly different.
On the five Mutons with the “thin†hands there is a slight slope to the edge of the hole.
On the one Muton with the “fat†hands there no slope, the face of the “eye†is completely flat.
This is not easy to see as the painted lines on the “eye†continue down the slope so I’ve included a rough cutaway drawing below which shows what I mean better.
Packaging
I have two carded Mutons, one on an English/Italian card & one on a French/Dutch card. Both of these have the “Fat†hand figure with the Bright White Dots & the flat “eye†without the slope.
To summarise I think:
The Muton with “Thin†Hands was released first & had Faint White painted Dots on the Neck Plate and a Sloping edge to the “Eye†hole
The Muton with “Fat†Hands was released later & had Bright White painted Dots on the Neck Plate & No Sloping edge to the “Eye†hole.
Comparison of “Thin†& “Fat†Hand Figures
Comparison of “Thin†& “Fat†Hands
Close up of “Thin†Hand Figure
Close up of “Fat†Hand Figure
This appears to be one of several figures with small but definite variations, a few of these are;
The Thin & Thick Sole Red Shadow figures.
The Kraken figures with different length Lines painted on the Torso (see my Post I suppose everyone knows this but...).
The Baron Ironblood figures with painted & unpainted hands.
The Space Patrollers & Space Security Troopers with & without painted Pouches etc.
The SAS Commando variations.
The Z Force Minesweeper with different legs.
It seems to me that there are at least three possibilities as to why there are these variations:
1) At some point many (if not all) of the figures were deliberately modified.
2) For some reason the moulds & paint masks were replaced.
3) Foreign releases were made from different moulds etc to the British releases.
If anyone knows why there are these variations please let us all know.
Robert (the infamous) rcm1234567
I hope the following pictures & information will be of use.
There appears to be a minor variation of the Muton figure.
I’d noticed some years ago that some Action Force figures, including Muton, came with either very “thin†hands or “fat†hands.
At the time I thought it was more of a quality control problem than a proper variation. But it now seems there is a definite variation of Muton.
When someone posted pictures of the Red Shadow variations with “thin†& “thick†soles I checked mine & found that I had some with the “thin†soles & “thin†hands & some with the “thick†soles & “fat†hands.
I didn’t check out my other figures at the time but I’ve recently been sorting through my collection & noticed that I had six Muton figures but only one with the “fat†hands.
Looking closer I noticed the three white dots on the “neck plate†were painted a much brighter white on the “fat†hand figure.
(In the following pictures the “Thin†Hand Figure is always on the left & the “Fat†Hand Figure is always on the right.)
On the five Mutons with the “thin†hands there is a slight slope to the edge of the hole.
On the one Muton with the “fat†hands there no slope, the face of the “eye†is completely flat.
I have two carded Mutons, one on an English/Italian card & one on a French/Dutch card. Both of these have the “Fat†hand figure with the Bright White Dots & the flat “eye†without the slope.
To summarise I think:
The Muton with “Thin†Hands was released first & had Faint White painted Dots on the Neck Plate and a Sloping edge to the “Eye†hole
The Muton with “Fat†Hands was released later & had Bright White painted Dots on the Neck Plate & No Sloping edge to the “Eye†hole.
Comparison of “Thin†& “Fat†Hand Figures
- Muton #1A & #1B - Thin & Fat Hands Comparison.jpg (17.42 KiB) Viewed 4426 times
The Thin & Thick Sole Red Shadow figures.
The Kraken figures with different length Lines painted on the Torso (see my Post I suppose everyone knows this but...).
The Baron Ironblood figures with painted & unpainted hands.
The Space Patrollers & Space Security Troopers with & without painted Pouches etc.
The SAS Commando variations.
The Z Force Minesweeper with different legs.
It seems to me that there are at least three possibilities as to why there are these variations:
1) At some point many (if not all) of the figures were deliberately modified.
2) For some reason the moulds & paint masks were replaced.
3) Foreign releases were made from different moulds etc to the British releases.
If anyone knows why there are these variations please let us all know.
Robert (the infamous) rcm1234567
get produced anywhere other than Coalville?
