COO Stamps In Depth

Over the next few weeks (or as and when I have time) I’m going to add little bits here and there to this thread breaking down the finer points of Bespin Luke variations, and I guess the best place to start is with the COO’s. The pictures at the beginning of the thread may not fully show the details, so I’ve broke them down to make it easier to tell the differences…. So here they are:

Point 1 – The ‘H’ on leg A is notably bolder than on leg B.

Point 2 – The copyright logo ‘©’ is again notably bolder on leg A than on Leg B.

Point 3 - The ‘N’ in KONG is ever so slightly higher on leg A, also the position of the full stop is different as well as being bolder on leg A.

Point 4 – The last ‘L’ in L.F.L. if level on leg A, on leg B it is slightly raised off level.

2.1 – HONG KONG Small (HK Small)

Two molds exist and they travelled (most likely to Europe) and were altered by filling the HONG KONG words. There are numerous subtle differences between the two, but overall it’s easy to spot tell the two apart, as one is stamped higher on the leg than the other.

Point 1 – The copyright logo ‘©” on leg A is fine at the bottom of the surrounding circle, and more bold and well stamped on leg B.

Point 2 – The whole word ‘HONG is further left on leg A than on leg B leaving a notably larger gap between ‘HONG’ and ‘1980’, on leg B the gap is much smaller.

Point 3 – On leg B the ‘G’ from HONG and the ‘0’ from 1980 are level, on Leg A the ‘G’ is lower. Also on leg B the ‘K’ fro, KONG is higher than the ‘L’ from L.F.L. where as on Leg A it is lower.

Point 4 – On leg A the ‘G’ from KONG is further left leaving a larger gap between it and the last ‘L’ of L.F.L. On Leg B it is further right leaving a small gap.

Point 5 – On leg A the whole stamp is lower down the leg and closer to the knee line than on leg B where the whole stamp is higher up the leg and further away from the knee line.

2.2 – HONG KONG Small (HK Small) – Altered

The two altered molds are still as easy to identify as the unaltered versions as one can still clearly be seen to be higher up the leg than the other.

Point 1 – The copyright logo ‘©” on leg A is fine at the bottom of the surrounding circle, and more bold and well stamped on leg B.

Point 2 – On leg A the top on the ‘N’ from HONG can still be seen, on leg B it can’t but the top of the ‘G’ can.

Point 3 – On leg A the whole stamp is lower down the leg and closer to the knee line than on leg B where the whole stamp is higher up the leg and further away from the knee line.

3.1 – MADE IN HONG KONG (MIHK)

Three molds exist and this time both legs where stamped creating nine potential combinations. They also travelled (most likely to Europe) and were altered by being filled and smoothed. They were then most likely duplicated and duplicates travelled (most likely to China) and were altered by drilling (raised bar). The differences on the left leg are subtle but a close look will reveal a few obvious points. The right leg stamps are incredibly subtle and quite difficult to spot, it’s best done with an eye glass.

Point 1 – On leg A, the ‘HO’ of HONG are nudged further right on the leg closer to the MADE, on leg B and C the word ‘HO’ from HONG are level.

Point 2 – On leg A the ‘G’ from KONG is level, on leg B it is nudged slightly to the right and on leg C it is nudged slightly to the left.

3.2 – MADE IN HONG KONG (MIHK) – Altered

With the unaltered stamps, the words HONG KONG were the easiest way to establish the differences between the three molds, now that they have been removed identifying the difference is more difficult, but still subtle differences are present.

Point 1 – The line shows the edge of the smoothed area, on leg A this area has covered the bottom half of the word MADE, most likely as a result of the ‘HO’ been close to it on the unaltered version (see above). On leg B and C the whole word MADE is present. The rounded edge of the smoothed area is slightly different on each leg.

Point 2 – On leg A the ‘I’ of IN is very faint at the top and bolder at the bottom. On leg B the ‘I’ of IN is barely visible at all. On leg C the ‘I’ of IN is perfectly clear.

3.3 – MADE IN HONG KONG (MIHK) – Altered version duplicated and altered (most likely)

Because the second alteration was most likely done from duplications of the first altered molds, the exact same difference listed above for the altered ‘smoothed’ molds are present on the ‘raised bar’ molds as well which helps with identification. The bars themselves are also slightly different on each.

Point 1 – For some reason I’m not sure why I haven’t mentioned this earlier but on leg C there is a small line just below Luke’s bum. This line isn’t present on leg A and B. if you look back at both the original unaltered version and the first altered ‘smoothed’ versions this also applies.

Point 2 – The line shows the edge of the smoothed area, on leg A this area has covered the bottom half of the word MADE, most likely as a result of the ‘HO’ been close to it on the unaltered version (see above). On leg B and C the whole word MADE is present. The rounded edge of the smoothed area is slightly different on each leg.

Point 3 – On leg A the ‘I’ of IN is very faint at the top and bolder at the bottom. On leg B the ‘I’ of IN is barely visible at all. On leg C the ‘I’ of IN is perfectly clear.

Point 4 – On leg A the left hand bottom edge of the bar just creeps over the crease in Luke’s pants. On leg B the bar is more prominent over the crease. On leg C the bar is pretty much stopped the crease.

3.4 – MADE IN HONG KONG (MIHK) – Right leg

Point 1 – On leg A and B the full stops in L.F.L. are not very clear. On leg C they are quite bold.

Point 2 – The gap between the copyright logo ‘©’ and the ‘1980’ vary. On leg A the gap is small, on leg B it’s ever so slightly larger and on leg C it’s quite notably larger (at least notably larger than leg A) the difference between the gap on leg B and C is very subtle.

That should paint a slightly clearer picture of the Bespin Luke COO family chart for anyone who’s interested.

As always, any questions, just ask.