Posts from the 'Action Figures' Category

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Blues for Snaggletooth.

Blues for Snaggletooth. (Vintage Luke Skywalker, Vintage Blue Snaggletooth, Vintage Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi)

Blues for Snaggletooth.
(Vintage Luke Skywalker, Vintage Blue Snaggletooth, Vintage Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi)

Hands down one of my favorite action figures back in the late ’70s was the short-statured red Snaggletooth. So it’s ironic that it was only about 3 years ago (when I began collecting as an adult) that I first heard about the rare and hallowed blue Snaggletooth.

It goes like this: in the original era of Star Wars action figure collecting information didn’t move in the mercurial manner it does today. If a toy wasn’t on your local shelves or reeling you in through a Saturday morning TV commercial it basically didn’t exist. And given that the blue Snaggletooth (available only in a very short run with a Sears Cantina playset) was neither, you can see how he escaped notice.

I’m glad I’ve got the blue Snaggletooth now. He’s exceptionally cool with his silver moon boots and, despite the hype I was still able to land him for well south of a hundred bucks. But when push comes to shove, it’s his small-fry counterpart that still wins me over.

Buying Notes for the Vintage Blue Snaggletooth

Check out the current listings for the vintage Blue Snaggletooth here.

The Blue Snaggletooth is a highly-coveted vintage Kenner figure and therefore fetches higher prices. Depending on the condition, you can expect to pay between $70 and $140. That’s a fair amount of ka-ching so by all means pay close attention to what you’re getting into.

Some things to watch for:

The Blue Snaggletooth boots came painted silver. Not uncommon to see heavy wear in this area as (I’m guessing here) that silver paint didn’t have much staying power. So look closely at that.

He should also have a black Han Solo type blaster.

Check out the current listings for the vintage Blue Snaggletooth here.

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Deep Ties to the Empire.

Deep Ties to the Empire. (Vintage TIE Fighters, Vintage TIE Fighter Pilots, Vintage Stormtroopers, Vintage Death Squad Commanders, Vintage Imperial Commanders, Vintage Bossk, Vintage Boba Fett)

Deep Ties to the Empire.
(Vintage TIE Fighters, Vintage TIE Fighter Pilots, Vintage Stormtroopers, Vintage Death Squad Commanders, Vintage Imperial Commanders, Vintage Bossk, Vintage Boba Fett)

The vintage TIE Fighter vehicle by Kenner is awfully sweet. The wings pop off in distress when you press secret buttons and another button lights up a chin gun and makes a cool laser sound to boot. I didn’t have one of these as a kid but was always deeply envious of my little buddies that did.

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With Signs & Wonders

With Signs & Wonders.<br>(Vintage R2-D2, Vintage Luke Skywalker Bespin Fatigues, Vintage Yoda the Jedi Master)

With Signs & Wonders.
(Vintage R2-D2, Vintage Luke Skywalker Bespin Fatigues, Vintage Yoda the Jedi Master)

I think it was actually late in 1981 before I went full tilt collecting Empire Strikes Back action figures. Teaming in my basement playroom were various Hoth rebel guys, a gnarly snowtrooper, bounty hunters (that looked cool but who I couldn’t really place in the storyline), a Bespin Guard or two… not to mention a Snowspeeder, a Twin-Pod Cloud Car, a couple of awesome mini rigs… plus the gigantic and epic Millenium Falcon. It was an embarassment of riches.

But for all that blasting, menacing, and soaring there was one quiet little action figure that I held in highest esteem. Smaller even than the tiny Jawa figure from 1978, it was Yoda that managed to keep my (limited) attention.

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Original Player Detail.

Original Player Detail. (Vintage R2-D2 / Artoo-Detoo)

Original Player Detail. (Vintage R2-D2 / Artoo-Detoo)

This is a close-up cropping of a popular entry from this blog, first published almost 2 years ago.

Why bother with a whole new entry? Well first off I’m actually not so nutty about the composition of that earlier posting. Also the tighter crop gives R2’s details the focus they deserve. Now you can really see the glory of that sticker… now you can almost smell that coat of dust and grime accumulated over three+ decades. Viva la vintage, baby.

(Friends, I promise this is the last of the lazy summer re-treads. New material is coming!)

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Easily Frightened.

Easily Frightened. (Vintage Landspeeder, Vintage Sand People)

Easily Frightened. (Vintage Landspeeder, Vintage Sand People)

Nothing says summer like a day out soaking up rays with your local Sand People!

Outtake from a 2009 photo shoot.

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The Beast in Me.

The Beast in Me. (Vintage Yak Face)

The Beast in Me. (Vintage Yak Face)

Also an outtake from an earlier shoot. I like how this one captures the quiet and regal side of a rare Star Wars classic.

Buying Notes for vintage Yak Face

Check out the current vintage Yak Face listings here.

Welcome to the top draw among Kenner’s Last 17 action figures. Hope you brought your wallet!

It’s a drag that Yak Face requires such a hefty buy in, but I’d have to say it’s worthwhile to have one in your collection. Nice thing is that bidding on a vintage Yak Face is a fairly straight forward affair.

First you don’t have to sift through a ton of nonsense in order to find him. It’s not like they were making Yak Face dixie cups and toothbrushes.

Second, Yak Face rarely saw heavy play among the kids of the 80s so when you do find him he tends to be in good condition. Still check for paint wear as his design does involve a good deal of paint ops (not much on the head but plenty on the hands).

And of course you’ll be sure to see that his weapon is included. There have been repro version of this staff spotted, but it’s the same weapon that was issued with some other plentiful ROTJ figures so in all likelihood it should be the real thing.

So best of luck. And please feel free to add any further thoughts in the comments section.

Check out the current vintage Yak Face listings here.

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Threepio.

Threepio. (Vintage C-3PO, Vintage Biker Scouts)

Threepio. (Vintage C-3PO, Vintage Biker Scouts)

Just cleaning out some old directories and came across this outtake from a set-up I put together almost two years ago.

If memory serves me well, the Biker Scout was the only figure that I actually bought from the ROTJ line back in the summer of 1983. At the ripe age of 12 I was getting ‘too old’ for Star Wars toys. Obviously he was just too damn cool to resist.

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The Rock Bottom Gang.

The Rock Bottom Gang. (Vintage Ree-Yees, Vintage Amanaman, Vintage Squid Head)

The Rock Bottom Gang. (Vintage Ree-Yees, Vintage Amanaman, Vintage Squid Head)

Essentially a man-sized leech featuring flaccid skin and absurdly-long atrophied arms, the Amanaman creature from Return of the Jedi is a double dog dare in the grotesque. Did I mention his knobby staff decorated with the skulls of his hapless victims? Yeah, well there’s that too. As you can see the vintage action figure in Amanaman’s name adds a nice touch, finishing the weirdness off with a devilish grin.

If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time you already know that the Ree-Yees and Squid Head action figures are perennial favorites. As far as the vintage line of Star Wars toys goes, these two beauties came along at the high-water mark period. Demand was still peaking for Star Wars goodies at this point in 1983 and Kenner clearly sought to keep their end of the bargain, designing toys that offered greater detail and newer features than their predecessors.

But sadly nothing good lasts forever. The Kenner line of Star Wars action figures would be dead (or at least relegated to the 59-cent bin) within 18 months.

Buying Notes for Vintage Amanaman

Check out the current vintage Amanaman listings here.

Hunting down the vintage Amanaman is pretty straight forward affair. It’s just a figure and a staff, and one can predict with almost 100% certainty that any existing example that turns up on eBay will be in virtually mint condition. It’s true. Neither the figure itself or his staff were actually played with by anyone, ever. The downside is of course that as a member of the ‘Last 17′ crowd, he can be a bit pricey. Be patient. With a little luck and some determination you should be able to snag one for about 50 bucks.

Now there is one twist: Amanaman was originally packaged with a coin by Kenner. If that’s important to you it may add another $25 your total to make it happen. My advice would be to start with just the figure and add the coin later. If you’re unfamiliar with the Power of the Force coins try buying a more common and inexpensive one first. If you find it’s something to your liking then loop back around and get the coin for ol’ Amanaman.

Check out the current vintage Amanaman listings here.

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Gas Miners United.

Gas Miners United. (Vintage Ugnaughts)

Gas Miners United. (Vintage Ugnaughts)

I have a few problems with the Empire Strikes Back. But the cantankerous band of get-the-job-done Ugnaughts isn’t one of them. And the vintage Ugnaught action figure has been a favorite since I was a kid, particularly because I somehow associated the figure’s hairstyle with George Washington’s hairstyle as seen on a one dollar bill. Apparently George Washington’s hair was so alluring to me that the only way my dad could trick me into letting him cut my hair was if he said “OK kid, you want the George Washington?”. Of course I’d agree but invariably I would end up looking more like Jay Baruchel on a bad day.

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