Before the Fujipet that we all know and love, there was... The FUJIPET. Actually, it's still just a Fujipet, but the original model was different in many ways. I haven't really thought of a cool nickname for this model to differentiate it. I usually refer to it as the first-generation Pet or simply Pet-1.
The biggest difference is in weight. Pet-1 is much heavier than the remodeled Pet. It feels, and looks, more serious than later Pets. Viewed from the front, the levers are slightly skewed. The shutter mechanism is a little bit different and can't be swapped with the later model. The fake leather is much smoother and actually feels like leather. The Pet-2 feels distinctly plastic. The badge is more silver compared to that on Pet-2 (non-gold models), which have a slight bronze color. Overall, a heftier build. Pet-1 only seems to come in black with silver trim. It is also less common than Pet-2, but there doesn't seem to be any difference in value between the two.
The second most obvious difference is the hood. It is made out of aluminum and is much lighter than the plastic hood on the Pet-2. You can see it is rolled on the end. It is very loose and actually quite annoying. There are small clips on the side that one could possibly bend inward to hold it in place, but it would probably only scratch the barrel.
Another major difference is the placement of the flash plug. It is below the hood, while Pet-2 keeps it under the hood. Visually, this doesn't make that much of a difference, but it changes the design of the shutter plate, keeping you from swapping these parts between Pet-1 and Pet-2. You can actually put the Pet-1 shutter plate in Pet-2 with some degree of success (i think it's always on Bulb), but the Pet-2 plate will not fit into Pet-1.
On the back, we can see that the counter window has a cover, as opposed to the Pet-2 at far right. Again, this is more annoying than anything, and tends to tear up the leatherette.
Inside there are four screws instead of the 3 found in Pet-2. The film winder screw is also different, requiring some sort of camera caliper deal that I don't have. Another minor variation not pictured is with the screw mount on the bottom of the camera. It is smoother and doesn't grip to your fingers as the Pet-2 mount does.
Overall, a very different feel to the first-generation Pet. It's hard to describe, but you feel it when you hold it. The parts are heavier and have a more solid feel to them (except for the aluminum hood). It feels more like a "real" camera, and even has a somewhat less retro look to it than the Pet-2. The Pet-2 isn't a lesser build, it's just lighter and feels a bit more 1960s, while Pet-1 has more of a 1950s feel.Pet-2 does seem a bit cheaper when held alongside Pet-1, but this is probably because it was cheaper to make. Which do I prefer? Pet-2, most definitely. Pet-1 has a few issues that make it less fun to use, such as the hood and the window cover. Also, the bulb switch is very loose, something I'm told is common for these models. Makes for a lot of blurry photos. There doesn't seem to be any correlation between glass and plastic lenses and older and newer Pets. I don't know the reason for that particular variation.
Most first-gen Pets are black, but they were also made in red and green. These are definetely rare and even bring a higher price in Japan, where the Pets are cheaper in general. I haven't seen the green variation, and this is the only red I've seen. It's a very nice looking camera!
There are other variations between Fujipets, regardless of Pet-1 or Pet-2 status. The most obvious would be the date stamp under the top metal piece. Every Pet I've seen has a different stamp, which also appears under the leatherette on the bottom of the camera. I assume the middle is the Showa date. 33 would be 1958... how that compares with the 9 9 30, I have no idea. The bottom is possibly who built the camera, or where it was built. I think that the name at bottom right is Muranaka, but that's with my bad Kanji skills. The others all have too many strokes for me to figure out.
This is the only Pet I've seen with a stamp under the viewfinder, as well as under the metal frame.
Two different decals for Fuji film that appear on the inside back of the camera.
This pet has a screw holding the shutter plate in place. It was a later model Pet with the plastic hood, but it's the only one I've seen built this way. I'm told that some first-generation Pets had this.
The typical shutter plate with no screw as seen above. It is just held in place by the front plastic lens mount screw.
More variations to come!