Grey faceplate RD-M735 ???

Spot the difference!
Both Shimano DeoreXT RD-M735 rear derailleurs.
Top one: date stamp PA = Jan '91, BLACK face plate
Bottom one: date stamp NL = Dec '89, GREY faceplate!
It's not camera trickery or lighting, one is black (as most were - I thought ALL until I got this one) and one is dark grey, even a hint of blueish tinge.
I'm curious as to why, because I have a trade deal with someone who needs the grey one and will swap me for an über rare Alpinestars carbon handlebar for the Ti-Mega. That's a fair swap in my book as the mech only cost me £23 and those bars are worth, well, who knows, but more than £23 for sure I was sitting on treasure and I didn't even know it!
But what's the story with the grey? Anyone know?

they do fade you know.

legrandefromage":2fabjcgx said:

they do fade you know.

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Well if it's that it's quite funny! The guy I'm swapping it with has been looking everywhere for a while for one apparently :shock:

I had one on my zaskar for years which ended up lighter.

There may have been manufacturing differences though - I have a Panasonic decal front mech by Shimano.

That Panasonic one is surely rarer than a rare thing.

But for my own fortunate experience, thank goodness for UV light degrading this!

Seriously, the guy said he wants the old type XT short cage at first. I assumed M730 or M732 and put up a wanted ad to be told that M730 (I think) was not available as a short cage. I went back to him and he said it's actually 735, but the early grey one, and I thought "I've got one of those" and the deal was struck!

Haha! No such thing as a special edition then, just a stinky old degraded-by-sunlight version!

I must say I prefer the faded version, got that same colour in the short cage version on my Klein Rascal, he doesn't have anything else rare and expensive he'd swap for another does he

Re:

I thought that early XT were black and later ones were a nice metallic grey...

Could be wrong :|

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Minifreak":1jklpw9o said:

I must say I prefer the faded version, got that same colour in the short cage version on my Klein Rascal, he doesn't have anything else rare and expensive he'd swap for another does he

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He might have a ton of exotic stuff Tim, he's got a lovely Rainforest Adroit amongst other things, but I haven't asked - I just want those carbon bars!
Any chance you can have a peek at the date code on your 'possibly faded' grey one? See below what's cropped up during today, you can help with the investigation!

retrobikeguy":1jklpw9o said:

I thought that early XT were black and later ones were a nice metallic grey...
Could be wrong :|

Click to expand...

There's been a couple of responses on my Instagram post with the same pic and story.
So far we have at least one confirmed similar/identical grey-plate M735-SS with a date code of OA, which is Jan '90, only a month after mine. Another reply is from a fellow RBer who is currently on holiday but definitely has one or two grey XT 735s amongst a collection of five in total, the others all black, so he's going to check date codes upon his return home.

It's intriguing with two only a month (or two) apart. If others fall in the same date range then either their paint batch were more susceptible to fading, if indeed that's why they're grey, or the finish was deliberately not black!

More to follow I'm sure.

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I have a black long cage MD and a grey OA long cage that I can see, cant get to the rest as its a little difficult to move in the man cave at the moment

.....Is it also a thought that the derailleur plates may have been sat waiting on a shelf for the rest of the parts to be made? or do we think they were stamped upon leaving the factory?

RBG