The “Grey Limb” Snowtrooper is undoubtably one of the most controversial figures in the vintage line. From the outset, it’s important to understand this figure is not a variant by the normal definition. It is clearly in a degraded state and was not intended to appear like this after production. It is also not a fake. There are other Snowtrooper figures that can also degrade in a similar way (in particular the F1 Kader version) however, it’s a small batch of the PBP (F2.2) version of this figure which degrades with these specific traits.

PBP mass-produced a white-limbed Snowtrooper figure with the unique harder plastic (ABS) torso, using the F2 mould family tooling which have the scarred out COOs. All of these details match the Grey Limb Snowtrooper precisely, with the exception of the limb colour. These shared details confirm the production origins to be Spain. The filler PBP used to blob over the COO stamp is notoriously fragile and needed a number of repairs. It’s likely there were a lot of these initially produced before the degrading became apparent and the figures were likely disposed of. With that established, let’s next look at the grey limbs specifically and see what’s going on there.

As you can see in the main images above, the amount of degradation between these figures varies significantly. No two are the same. It’s also clear that the amount of degradation isn’t evenly spread across each figure. There has been a reaction in the PVC limb plastic which has occurred AFTER the figures were assembled, hence the uniformity of degradation in each figure.

Wolff recently noticed a connection between the darker patches of degradation commonly found around the back & sides of the legs and realized this area was in close or direct contact with the Snowtrooper skirt. There are some examples where you can actually see the outline of the skirt in degraded dark grey patches around the legs (Ref. pictures 1, 2 & 3 below). To be clear, I don’t believe it’s the skirt that triggered the reaction, but a negative chemical reaction emitting from the PVC limb plastic itself. The proximity to the skirt or nearby figures intensified the degradation process resulting in a darker grey patch.

Physicist and VSW collector friend Lee Bullöck studied a small number of these figures back in 2017. Catching back up with him recently he wrote the following text to include with this entry. “Whilst DecaBDE is present in PVC and was initially considered a possible candidate for the source of discoloration, it doesn’t further oxidise under normal circumstances. However there is some precedence for the PVC polymer to oxidise if there is an absence of stabilisers and antioxidants. This causes the oxidation of the polymer chain and additives within the PVC forming chromophoric (colour-producing) groups, causing discoloration to grey or brown (Ref. picture 3 below). I have forced this change in a Grey Limbed Snowtrooper – mechanically producing a new white surface, putting the limb in an oven at 105 deg C and forcing and oxidative/thermal degradation. A darkening of the fresh white surface was observed, as measured with a Hunterlab spectrophotometer.”

Another trait of these peculiar figures are the white spots on the limbs (Ref. pictures 4, 5 & 6 below). These spots seem to coincide where there was direct contact with the skirt, the hand from the same figure, or another figure in the box. This direct contact somehow seemed to create enough of a barrier to prevent that small section of PVC from oxidizing.

There has been some online discussion regarding the weight of the Grey Limb PBP figure verses the regular white PBP figure. BOTH PBP white and GL Snowtroopers can be found weighing 22gms while other standard PBP Snowtroopers can also weigh 19gms. This is unrelated to the limb degradation and is likely down to slight variations in the density of the PVC used.

It’s speculation to suggest the order of events and with certainty what caused this obscurity. Looking at what we currently know, it’s very likely these figures were assembled, accessorized with the skirts, and quickly degraded prior to packaging (none have been found carded or bagged). If you have a box full of loose plastic figures that were undergoing a live chemical reaction in such close proximity, it would create a toxic environment for the chemically unstable PVC plastic limbs in this particular batch of figures. Again speculation, but the most degraded examples could have been in the centre where air circulation was poorest.

Another theory to possibly explain this chemically unstable batch is the practice of recycling plastic. In the interviews conducted by Javier Ruilópez with ex-PBP employees (published in Vol.1 of his excellent “Made in Spain” PBP/Poch book), they discuss how previously shot plastic parts (runners, sprues) would be ground down and recycled back into granule form to re-use in shooting new plastic parts. This reduced the amount of waste plastic in the injection moulding process. This recycling could be repeated, but the plastic proved to became unstable and could darken in some circumstances.

So if this batch of Spanish Grey Limb Snowtroopers was originally white, quickly turned an uneven grey, how did they end up in Leicestershire? To explain, we need to go back in time to the 90’s, then further back to the early 80’s.

In the 90’s, a small batch of these figures was purchased by collector/trader Karl Davison at a car boot sale in the United Kingdom (Donnington or NEC Birmingham, he is uncertain). This area also happened to be nearby the Coalville factory where Palitoy operated. Palitoy was a well established toy producer who also happened to be head of the Star Wars European operations for General Mills (Kenner) and a distribution hub for the Star Wars line. As Poch/PBP in Spain were transitioning to producing and assembling their own figures, it is possible this was an early test run which went bad. Early days, this figure was antidotally known as a “Palitoy test”, though that label was unverified and no longer used. Palitoy had decades of experience at this point with plastic injection, and as head of European operations, may have also had some oversight with regards to quality control. It’s most likely this batch was flagged early on as problematic and sent to Palitoy for analysis (possibly along with that other controversial and flawed figure, the “Disco Boots” Death Star Commander). How this degraded Snowtrooper figure made it’s way into the public is unknown. It’s uncertain if the figure made it’s way out via the Palitoy staff shop as seconds, as although they seemed to originally turned up in a large batch by Karl, they have also been found loose over the years since. Another possibility is Palitoy staff taking the “seconds” figures home to give out to children.

In summary, this figure is not a fake. This figure is not painted or has limbs extruded with grey over white plastic. Crucially, when these first appeared on collector discussions in the 90s, they were bought as standard figures, in car boot sales or job lots without the exceptional price tags that are now commanded. When they were resold by dealers, it was for a slight premium to the standard Snowtrooper. To date, one has never appeared in a baggie or on a cardback anywhere. This figure was NOT produced by Palitoy, as it is identical in form, plastic, paint and COO to the Spanish PBP-made Snowtrooper, but confusingly, the loose figures have only ever been found in the UK, and notably not in Spain. 

On top of this already charged situation, everyone seems to have a different theory as to how this all came to be, including the ex-Palitoy employees themselves. James Gurney, who has lead the public focus on the a GL Snowtrooper for many years brought up a few questions to the Palitoy ex-Chief Designer and Tooling Manager during a presentation back in 2017 which can be heard HERE. We believe Bob Brechin (Chief Designer) and Roger Morrison (Tooling Manager) likely had not seen a Grey Limb Snowtrooper figure before this presentation, but in their years of injection moulding at Palitoy would have encountered similar looking grey test shots from other toys Palitoy produced. We have confirmed a lot more about this figure since the talk, particularly how the figure was moulded at PBP in Spain prior to Palitoy, so it’s very unlikely the GL Snowtrooper is any kind of pre-production item as claimed at the end of the presentation.

So along with some mixed information and some very wild sales in recent years, it’s unlikely the madness for this figure will ever truly end. This article will confirm what is known, provide the most likely scenarios how it came to be, and hopefully settle some of the outlandish discussions and negative energy surrounding the simple, old, and very grey Snowtrooper.