Fisher Price Friday - Ghosties vs Whoops

Today on Fisher Price Friday I thought it timely to look at a FPLP debate.  Oh yes, another debate but no worries, we won't have any long speeches on this topic. :)  It's the classic Ghostie (aka Whitie) vs Whoops debate.

White colored FPLP.  Do you have any?  They are the pale cousins of the FPLP world.  They look the same as their regular flesh colored cousins, but with a vampire-like skin tone.  The white colored FPLP can be either plastic or wood.

So what gives?  Here's how the experts explain these special little people:

From FPLP World
Whities (aka Ghostie) - Figures with ghostly white or faded faces due to lengthy sun exposure. The myth is that "whities" are factory made errors - this is false! If you were to disassemble a whitie you would find the pink outlined remains of the head under the hair or hat.

From This Old Toy
Whities -Little people with white heads/faces look sun-bleached, but they really came from the manufacturing plant like this! When mixing the dyes to make these Little People, the manufacturer didn't ALWAYS get the dye mixed correctly.

Hmm, so they either faded over time or came out of the plant looking white.  That would mean it was a whoops or variation.

Whoops: A factory made error.  Basically a toy that was not made the way it was designed to look.  Like a cow with backwards legs, a boy with girl hair, an upside down face, a horse head on a cow body, or a face that wasn't painted.  These could have been unintentional errors or perhaps by factory workers as a way to have fun!

Variation: Often described as a whoops variation figures look like regular figures but have different colors than originally designed.  This was usually in order to use up leftover pieces.  For example, a regular mom with a queen colored body.

All wood Whities/Ghosties.

So what do I think?  Glad you asked.  I think they're both right.  I think some are factory dye errors (whoops) and some are faded over time (ghosties).  I've decided this after looking at my own collection of white LP.  Let me show you some examples.

Whitie on the Left, regular color on the right.

I think this little bearded captain (from the Floating Marina #2582) is a whitie due to a whoops or variation.  The color is uniform on the white colored captain.  When peeking under his beard (just a little) I could still only see white.  I think he came from the factory this color.  Either a dye lot mistake or perhaps they were using up a white (clown) colored face.

From L-R: Ghostie (in progress), regular, Ghostie/Whitie

Now these lovely flight attendants give us a great view of a whitie vs a ghost.  The one on the left is a regular colored FPLP for comparison.  The lady in the middle is a ghostie who is in the middle of fading away.  She still has some color here and there, but is turning white.  The little lady on the right is most likely a whitie, but it's possible that she's a completed ghostie, I would have to check under her hair to be sure. :)

So what about this guy?  These are all wood dads.  Whoops or whitie?  I'm not sure.  Here are my theories, either the paint lot was whiter than normal (whoops) or it faded over time (whitie) perhaps due to a wood variation?  Maybe they used different hardwoods for the heads and some aged better than others.

What do you think?

One more bit of information on value.  A Whoops is more valuable ($$ costly) than a regular piece, since they are more rare.  However, a ghostie would be less valuable since it would be comparative to a torn/faded lithograph or broken piece from wear and tear.  I initially thought my ghosties were less valuable and sold them that way.  Now I'm not so sure.  Maybe I have some whoops/variation pieces?  I guess value is all in the eye of the beholder. :)