Kenner Toys Star Wars Figures – Kenner’s first vintage Star Wars toy line ran from 1977 to 1979, following the hugely popular theatrical release of Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope in 1977. The toy line features various characters and vehicles from the film. In 1980, it was succeeded by Kenner’s vintage game The Empire Strikes Back.
Lucasfilm Ltd. to create a full licensing program for the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope and Twentieth Century Fox executives were unable to convince the major game companies of the time. Creation of the Star Wars line. However, the idea piqued the interest of Bernie Loomis, president of Kenner Products, a subsidiary of cereal maker General Mills, who saw the commitment to producing toys for the Star Wars movies. Loomis later admitted that he was interested in the film before its release, but that Star Wars would be short-lived, and Kenner admitted that he did not see the project as a major investment.
Kenner Toys Star Wars Figures
Kenner signed on to produce Star Wars toys just a month before the film’s May 25 release. As the film unexpectedly became a huge success, Kenner was in trouble. Kenner’s first Star Wars figures were not ready for the 1977 Christmas shopping season, as the typical 3D toy production cycle was twelve to eighteen months. As recommended by most retailers, Loomis’ solution was the “Early Bird Certificate Pack”—Kenner riskily shipped 600,000 empty cardboard boxes, including a return-by-mail certificate assuring customers that they would be the first to own a future package. Four Star Wars characters including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Chewbacca and R2-D2. Although this tactic was heavily criticized in the media and many sets did not sell, Loomis was content to let the figures attract public interest until their 1978 release.
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The first twelve Star Wars figures shipped in the spring of 1978 and sold for $1.97 each, making it difficult for Kenner to keep up with demand. By the time Kenner’s “retro” toy line ended in 1985, following the conclusion of the original Star Wars trilogy, the company had sold approximately 250 million toy figures.
Although Star Wars author Stephen J. Sunsweet noted in his 1999 book Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive that Kenner’s first Star Wars series ran from 1978 to 1979, the later 2012 Star Wars: Action Figure Collection notes in the book: This series continued until 1980. In fact, the last game in the Star Wars series was released in 1979 before Kenner moved on to The Empire Strikes Back series in 1980.
Many of the characters based on background characters in A New Hope did not have real names, prompting Kenner to use the nicknames he used during the making of the film. Many of them would later be given real names in the works of the Expanded Universe. These characters include Walrus Man, Hammerhead and Death Star Droid. The toy line included two versions of Snaggletooth, later named Zutton and Zutmore. In most cases, the clothes of the characters did not match the clothes shown in the film.
For the Death Star space station playset, Kenner created a full-body version of the “Death Star Garbage Monster” (later called the “dianoga”), which did not appear in the film. This design would conflict with later Expanded Universe creations.
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Although most of the series were games based on the films, a few original products were produced. In 1979, the Imperial Trooper appeared in fiction in the Marvel Comics Star Wars series beginning in October of that year.
The Droid Factory Playset will eventually feature in the Expanded Universe the monster droids featured in 2006’s The New Essential Guide to Droids.
Greed’s depiction in the 1984 ABC children’s book and board set Star Wars Adventures was based on his original action figure design instead of the costume from A New Hope.
During the development of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Episode VI, the Imperial TIE Fighter was used for remote filming along with realistically shot models of TIE/LN starfighters and TIE Interceptors. As a result, the ships have slightly different wings than the other ZANGIA wings, especially when Emperor Palpatine reaches the Death Star, one of the ZANGIA wings looks a little smaller than the others.
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The table below provides information on the cards each character debuted on. After the initial release of the mineral character, details on the packaging, action figure and character name may change. No one attribute (name, shape, product number) defines the list completely, but all attributes combine to form a specific list.
Kenner also released “Large Action Figure” versions of some of the characters and other large action figure toy lines about twelve inches in size. Another IG-88 figure was released in the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back game series.
Luke’s Destiny · Hidden Heroes · The Quest for Darth Vader · The Quest for R2-D2 · Journey to Mos Eisley
Magazine: Prisoners of Evil · Magazine: Hero for Hire · Magazine: Fight for Justice · R2-D2 and Friends
Vintage 1990s Kenner Star Wars Action Figures, Hobbies & Toys, Memorabilia & Collectibles, Vintage Collectibles On Carousell
Rise of a Hero · A New Hope (French) · Disney Die-Cut Classic · Epic Adventure (Cancelled)
Escape from Darth Vader · Battle of the Death Star · Trapped in the Death Star! · Tatooine Problem · From a certain point of view
Modern Motivators · Droids: 6, 7, 8 · Special Edition: 1, 2, 3, 4, TPB · Manga: 1, 2, 3, 4
The Maining of (TV) · Sketchbook · Drawings · Album · Portfolio · The Art of · The Maining of the Movie (1980)
Star Wars Collectibles
Customizable Card Game: Premiere Limited, Premiere Limited, Limited, Revised Limited, Jedi Pack, Two Player Premiere, Enhanced Premiere · Trading Card Game
The Adventures of Luke Skywalker and the Jedi Knight · In Pictures: The Original Trilogy · Movie Stories · Stories from the Original Trilogy
Forces of the Dark Side · The Treasury: The Original Trilogy · 5-Minute Star Wars Stories · The Chewbacca Story
Trilogy Sourcebook · Trilogy & Special Editions · 20th Anniversary Commemorative Magazine · Trilogy Complete Album · Best Star Wars Books · Visual Dictionary (Complete, New Edition) · Awesome Crossovers (Complete) · Who’s Who · Complete Auto · 100 Scenes to Do · 100 Defining Moments · Best of Insider
Updated: New York Toy Fair 2020 Star Wars Product Reveals
The Original Soundtrack Anthology · LEGO Classic Star Wars · Customizable Card Game: Limited Special Edition · Hasbro’s First Trilogy Collection. Our first character is an exception compared to the others on this list. Due to security issues associated with missile launches
In 1978, Kenner decided to abandon the Boba Fett rocket launcher design. Fortunately, some forward-thinking Kenner employees got their hands on the pre-production models.
These figures are often referred to as the “Holy Grail” of Star Wars collectibles today. In 2016, a collector tried to sell “Rocket” Fett for $150,000.
Did. This Kenobi, with the twin telescoping lightsaber (quickly abandoned by Kenner), is one of the select few that survived the box. In July 2018, the figure sold for $76,000, the highest price ever for a vintage Star Wars toy.
Vintage Kenner Star Wars 1977 83 Figure Lot 10 Different Figures Nice
Kenner’s number of operations, but the line was canceled before it was released. A few years later, a Brazilian company bought the rights to some scrap toys and manufactured and sold them only in Brazil, making them extremely rare in the United States.
Part of what makes this little one so rare is that the company changed the wrap from vinyl to cotton when it was released. Kenner figured people wanted something a little higher quality to justify paying the same price for a smaller icon.
Like Obi-Wan (and Darth Vader), Luke had a twin-lens lightsaber. The dual telescope was so sensitive that Kenner decided to replace the product before shipping, making even a faint image with this feature rare.
Because of the mystery surrounding his character, Boba Fett is a popular and sought after character in any iteration. In 1978, it was released in an animated film
Star Wars Toy From 1979 Sold For World Record Price By Central Pa. Auction House
Published by Kenner, where else can you find three villains in one place? The packaging design is elegant and perfectly matches the original appearance, which is rare and intact.
LEGO is killing it with their Star Wars models and sets, so it’s no surprise that it’s on the list. With an original price of $500, this Falcon is one of the largest and most expensive LEGO sets, with over 5,100 pieces. New in the box will cost you, and even a complete model can cost $1,000 or more.
If you’re a true fan of the game, you know what it is and why it was great. Neither game was ready by Christmas 1977 due to the lack of time between the contract and the release of the film. Kenner didn’t.
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