The Sun Always Shines on Hawaii(an Bullmarks)

Looking back on the Hawaii/Export Bullmark thread, it's such a shame that so many of those hosted pics have been lost to the internet aether. There are so many just incredible paint variations that were done in the 1970s by Bullmark as they sought to expand into (or maybe also shed some manufactured stock to) the export market. They are always some of the most creative paint variants and bring me a smile each time; so having lost those photos - which also serve as very excellent reference materials - is a double blow. In any case, for me the colours are an imminent delight and source of pleasure, so even while I generally lean heavily into the Marusan Ultra-Q and '66 lineup, as a vintage head there is no question that these export toys hold a special place of love in my eyes. I am always chasing after 'em, more in spirit than physical reality, alas, and especially information on their history and the many different versions of toys out there. Just devouring the story and data around vintage toys is a delight in itself for me. And I think/hope there are still a few people on this board who feel similarly.

But in particular I wanted to raise for discussion here something which has been floating around and would be great to get some open thoughts on. It is mostly heresay, so please take it with a heavy shaker of salt, but I've been told that a number of Japanese collectors and shops have put out the claim that many (or all) of some of the recent batches of vintage exports we've seen come up for sale have been fakes. It is a bold claim, and not one I have backed up with any sort of facts or evidence, though I'd be happy to review anything.

I'd like to know from everyone if anyone has ever experienced this sort of thing, has other stories or input, or has heard similar. There are export versions which do come up for sale more regularly, but a few of the rarer gems have also peaked their heads out from the sunny island and elsewhere. A lot of times they can be traced back to a good history/established provenance, or are from longtime collectors. Which is of course the ideal. There are, too, the very excellently made 'customs' and homages to vintage versions I think we've all seen, which I have no problem with and are, at least in my general experience, clearly indicated as such. But I have been approached for feedback on other things, and particularly when some of the stuff requires a hefty investment, all info is appreciated. Would be good to hear any thoughts of people here, especially the collectors who've handled a good number themselves and had opportunity to delve deeply into collections and examine toys of all sorts [@brianflynn I am looking in your general direction..... (with admiration of course) ] If people would like to share their stories, knowledge, or questions about these particular variants, let's get the ball rolling!

 

I am not sure about what has come up recently, but anytime a figure looks too good to be true, it is a bit suspiscious. These figures are 50+ years old (Bullmark folded in 1974, so next year is 50 years from when it closed), they should have some feeling of age. They should be a little matte, a little worn, a life to them if you will. That said, people have been faking/repainting expensive vinyls for close to 25 years at least, if not longer. The flesh vinyls were the first to be heavily faked in the early days because you could easily get a 1983 flesh bootleg and paint it. As so many people did not have access to a real one to compare it to, you would see fakes in store being sold as high dollar originals. Private dealers would often sell fakes to unwitting new collectors as well, as access was so key before Yahoo became commonplace. Coupled with the embarassment of being swindled, the fear of losing access from a backroom dealer, and the fact that you could never accuse someone of selling a fake to them in person (you must "save face"), it still happened enough to warrant stories. To that point, when I asked about certain fakes that were passed off, heavier Japanese collectors said "if you are dumb enough to not know the difference, you should have your money taken from you." which was a pretty crazy concept to me coming from "honest Japan".

Yahoo helped democratize some of that stuff, but also made it easier to sell a fake by listing it as some old family selling their kids toys with a badly written title and description rather than a delaer. For context, it was looked down on for about 5-7 years to buy on yahoo, as it was "cheating". A "good collector" had a network and had to buy only from specialized dealers who held customers in hierarchy, or to find it in the wild. Needless to say, those of us that did not live in Japan, thought nothing of buying toys online, and the prices and competition was low from roughly 1998-2003ish.

On multiple occassions I was offered a toy as a rare item, and when I responded that it was fake, the dealer in question tried to give it to me for free or force me to take it for free (as they could not be seen selling something that was fake, especially if a customer told them it was fake). I always felt they knew what they were doing, otherwise they would have argued back, but their about face was always immediate, especially if the price was $1500 a minute ago, and now it is free. Beyond that, if a dealer did have an item they got swindled on, they usually tried to pass it on to a foreigner, as there was less chance of the item or sale getting back to them. Whenever a dealer was/is trying to sell me something extra hard and really pushing, I have to assume he doesn't have a Japanese buyer, and if they lower the price, and still push that they guarantee it is real, I have to assume it is a fake they are trying to unload, because, if it was legit, they would have a customer in Japan willing to take it at the lower price, ad they would be confident it would sell. More often than anything, a "fake" will be a legit vintage rare item that has been repainted/touched up to look better than it was.

That is why, with the older collectors and expensive vinyls, you will see them hair dryer it apart and look at the state of the inside of the vinyl, has it aged correctly, does it smell correct, evidence of repair, etc. That is why occasionally for a rare vinyl on yahoo, you will see it pulled apart to show the insides, that means it is an older seller or has been requested from experienced buyers. For anything with a box, people will bring a black light and look for signs of restoration, as the white pigment base will show up on glues or underpaints.

Long story short, anytime there is money to be made, there will be fakes. The lower end $100-200 vinyls you don't need to worry about. But when the price tag becomes several thousands, there is always someone willing to cheat their way to a payday. No different than anything else, you just have to double check, and when something looks too good to be true, it usually is.

 

The figures shown above appear to be the 1983 flesh bootlegs. Before collecting vinyls was cool, some people found a factory that had some of the original molds, and they remade a small but decent quantity in flesh vinyl. If you have ever held one in your hand, you will know the vinyl quality is below standard, so they are really easy to tell in person. These were sold mostly to collectors at shows, and I heard a story once that they were being sold out of a car trunk. At the time no one really thought about it, and often people used the parts to paint over and repair older vinyls, as most were still relatively worthless. I will see if I can dig up a list of what they made. One interesting note is that the Godzilla is the original J-Tail, and not the production L-Tail.

from memory, there was:
Giant King Ghidrah
Giant Gomora (my brain keeps going back and forth on this one)
Antlar
Gomora
Baltan
Godzilla
Mogera
I think I remember Baragon and Goro as well? I need to check.