I have started collecting these vintage figures. They’re actually the tops of stamps, where you could swap around the Pokémon figures on different stampers. You can tell the stamper tops because of the rectangular holes on the bottom of the figures.
Anyways, I’ve noticed that there are multiple variations of what appear to be the same or extremely similar figures. TOMY figures are completely separate and while they have similar models, they often have significantly different molds when you look closely. Plus of course TOMY figures do not have the hole on the bottom.
My question is around specifically the stamper figures. Some just simply have the Pokedex number and a “BP”, presumably for Banpresto, stamped somewhere on the Pokémon body. Example is this Raichu:
However, others that I’ve seen have “任天堂 C.G.T.S.J.”, the “BP” stamp, and the Pokedex ID stamped on them, example is another Raichu:
My understanding is that CGTSJ stands for “Creatures - GAME FREAK - TV Tokyo - ShoPro - JR Kikaku”, as that is also often stamped on the TOMY figures. However, I am confused why the same exact stamper figures are found both with and without this extra information stamped on them. Is it dependent on the region that the stampers were sold? Seems odd considering outside of that stamp, they are the exact same figure and I would assume produced in one location. Any information on this would be helpful and ease my curious mind!
FWIW I am aware of this other thread on a similar topic, but it seems dead and my question is a bit more specific than the thread gets: Old Pokemon Figures
Photo of my stamper figure collection (BP stamp only) in its current state:
