SUMMARY:
In Argentina, Top Toys produced various Faker variants. I would classify them in broad strokes as:
- 1st Editions: Soft head, small body (both tall and short necks, as well as Taiwan marked vs blank heads)
- 2nd Editions: Hard head, small body
- Reeditions: Hard head, big body reedition (Mattel inc marked big body)
- Pre-Reeditions: Hard head, with a mix of small and large parts.
At the start of the line all Fakers were soft heads with small bodies. Some had tall and others had short necks. The initial soft heads were imports, so they were marked Taiwan until they began production of the heads in Argentina (at which time they removed the Taiwan marking). Both the 1st and 2nd editions shared the same body and "common" mold accessories. All were blank torsos with round arm pegs.
As the line progressed, there's a mold transition at Top Toys, where the Faker torsos and the limbs transition to a larger size. Legs that were once small but sinewy, become larger and smoother. Arms become significantly larger, and the torso also adopts a much larger size. With this transition, the material changed as well. A PVC type plastic for the smaller molds, to a hard rubber material for the large reedition limbs. The torso is large, and has © MATTEL INC 1981 markings. The shorts on the re-editions are smoother, with less detail. They tend to be a darker purple than the common small-body versions.
The accessories in the reeditions are more detailed, with ridging along the perimeter of the harness and skirt. The reedition sword has round protrusions above the handle, and a lip at the tip of the sword. The color of the accessories is a brighter orange in the reedition, as opposed to a darker burnt orange in the “common”. Generally speaking, the reedition accessories are seen on the reedition Faker, while the first edition and second editions share the “common” accessories. Still, some reedition Fakers are found with the common sword.
As with anything Top Toys, we need to acknowledge that inconsistencies abound. That is where the “pre-reeditions” come into play. These are figures that are transitional or a mixture of parts. Some of these figures will have the small blank torso, and reedition limbs. Or even reedition legs, but small arms plastic arms.
Lastly, the chest sticker can be found sporadically throughout all editions. Some had it and some didn’t.
1ST AND 2ND EDITIONS MARKED: Unmarked.
PRE-REEDITIONS AND REEDITION: Some unmarked. Other marked © MATTEL INC 1981
1ST EDITIONS:
(Soft Heads, small body)
• Tall neck (May or may not have Taiwan-marked head)
• Short neck (May or may not have Taiwan-marked head)
2ND EDITIONS:
• Hard head, small body
PRE-REEDITIONS:
These come in lots of different combinations of small and large parts, for example:
• Small body, big legs
• © MATTEL INC 1981 big body, small legs
• etc...
REEDITIONS:
• Hard head, big body © MATTEL INC 1981
