Boba Fett. (Vintage Boba Fett, Vintage Slave 1)
This struck me as an interesting profile of the vintage Boba Fett action figure. Unusual because his trademark body suit and armor is completely obscured. It’s all about the helmet which, let’s face it – even at 3 3/4″ scale – is completely badass.
Darth Vader. (Vintage Darth Vader, Vintage Stormtroopers, Vintage Death Squad Commanders)
Check out the current vintage Darth Vader listings here.
A nice vintage Darth Vader action figure is pretty much the alpha and omega of any collection. This is true for the beginner and advanced collector alike. A classic toy reaching back to 1978, the vintage Darth Vader has spun countless revisions and imitations but really has never been improved upon.
So I can’t blame you for thinking about picking one up. But because this item is so popular, it can be rough seas acquiring a good (and authentic) example for a reasonable price. Let’s go over some of the main points to consider before pulling the trigger on a vintage Darth Vader.
Once you’re on board at eBay the first thing you’ll notice is that the key words “Darth Vader” are used and abused ad nauseum to get your attention to buy other stuff. Don’t be discouraged and whatever you do don’t be distracted or tricked into buying something else. Your eyes will quickly learn to ignore all of the nonsense and aim strictly for the vintage gold. The links I’ve provided already do it to some extent, but you may also want to play around with the search engine’s advanced function on eBay to filter out the unhelpful stuff. Be especially aware of the new Hasbro toys labelled as “Vintage Collection”, “Original Trilogy”, etc. Their packaging is cleverly retro and aims to steer the newcomer off course.
Important to keep in mind with the vintage Darth Vader is that you’ve got two accessories to contend with: the vinyl cape and the light saber. Both were easily lost and/or damaged by their original owners so it’s common to see reproductions in the marketplace being passed off as original. There are excellent resources to read through at the Imperial Gunnery forum that will help you avoid pitfalls. Read them carefully. Go here for the light saber and here for the cape. This is also a good time to correlate a seller’s claims of authenticity with their feedback score. Have they sold a ton of toys? Do they score 100% with their buyers? If not, you can think twice about believing their claims. Don’t forget to double check the photos closely. Does the cape look torn anywhere? Do the arm-holes look distressed or sharp? How about that saber tip. Does it look straight and strong or does it like a toddler might have chomped on it for a snack once or twice?
As much as any other vintage figure, Darth Vader was a character that saw heavy play at the hands of us grubby kids in the 70s and 80s. If it’s not mentioned in the auction be sure to ask the seller in a message if the figure’s limbs and head are loose or stiff. Let the loose limbed Vaders go to the diorama builders. You want the guy that’s as close to package fresh as possible. The vintage Darth Vader had very little paint applied by Kenner so not much to worry about there. And chances are if you’re buying a figure with loose limbs there won’t be paint loss.
Feel free to add any thoughts in the comments and drop me a line if you run into any trouble!
Leia's Midnight Ride.
(Vintage Luke Skywalker in Battle Poncho, Vintage Princess Leia in Combat Poncho, Vintage Han Solo in Trench Coat, Vintage Paploo, Vintage Wicket W. Warrick, Vintage Speeder Bike))
This marks the first time I’ve photographed the vintage Speeder Bike.
As toys go it’s a fairly genius design that features a tension bar for holding the action figure’s legs into place, steering flaps on the rear that articulate in conjunction with the bottom struts, and of course the best – a secret button that explodes the whole shebang.
Those Biker Scouts never see it coming!
Not Easy Being Greedo. (Vintage Greedo)
It’s too bad Greedo gets extinguished less than one minute into his epic role in Star Wars. I thought he was a pretty rad guy. He didn’t quite have the snappy outfit of, say, Boba Fett, but for entertainment value he was the hands down winner. His dialogue opposite Han Solo revealed without a doubt that he was indeed equal parts scum and villainy; the consummate lackie for El Jabba. It makes one wonder as cool as Boba Fett was looked, how much more so could he have been if he’d actually been given some dialogue beyond the arrid and utilitarian quips he’s known for:
“As you wish”
“He’s no good to me dead”
“What if he doesn’t survive?”
“He’s worth a lot to me”
“Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold”.
In truth Boba Fett comes off as a pretty boring dude. I’ll take my beer with Greedo any day.
Well Armed for the Rebellion. (Vintage FX-7)
This droid, the venerable FX-7 from the Empire Strikes Back, was no exception. What he lacked in terms of a cool blaster he more than made up for with 8 robo-arms that you could either have fastened to his side or popped out for droid-at-work mode. Also featured was a telescoping head just in case FX needed to get the jump on any creeping-up creeps.
The Rescue Plan, Step 2. (Vintage Bib Fortuna, Vintage Leia in Boushh Disguise, Vintage Chewbacca)
I Want My MTV-7. (Vintage MTV-7 Mini Rig, Vintage AT-AT Driver)
Obviously this one took the cake in the end.
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.
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.
If It's a Fast Ship.
(Vintage Millennium Falcon, Vintage Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Vintage Luke Skywalker,
Vintage Chewbacca, Vintage Han Solo)
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.