Quoted from Djshakes:I still don't get why you need dies, etc. Isn't this a piece of curved plastic with a sticker on it? I would think someone could take an original and replicate.
Hi DJ,
The foil section of the decal on the WH2O waterfall topper is actually somewhat complex. It is stamped with a custom metal die that allows for the waterfall effect when the chase lights illuminate the topper in a specific sequence. I assume that the custom metal die is similar to a lithograph plate that artists use to make lithographs.
If the original custom metal die is indeed lost to time then another artist would likely need to create a new custom metal die. Certainly this could be accomplished, but it must be difficult to do or it likely would have been reproduced by now.
I have one of the WH2O waterfall topper decals that were created by Twisted Pins a few years ago and it looks fine, however the waterfall effect doesn't work at all. The etchings on the foil portion of the waterfall topper decal are not nearly deep enough for the waterfall effect to function correctly.
I was fortunate enough to find an NOS WH2O waterfall topper decal that I purchased from a collector back in February of 2009. Below is a video of my topper in action.
My apologies to the OP for getting a little off-topic in his FS thread.
Gord
