Archives: Kenner

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Night Rally.

Night Rally. (Vintage Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight, Vintage C-3PO)

Night Rally. (Vintage Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight, Vintage C-3PO)


The vintage Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight figure has a cape that’s leaves a little something to be desired. With Luke’s face and body drowning in its excess, it’s more like a tent than anything else. So hiding the cape was my motive for going with such restrained lighting on this shot. I have to say I dig the results.

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The Emperor.

The Emperor. (The Emperor, Emperor's Royal Guard)

The Emperor. (The Emperor, Emperor's Royal Guard)

The vintage Emperor and his Royal Guard are among my favorites. If you can still find them in good shape, the red capes of the Royal Guard figure are great design worth checking out. There’s a waist cape as well as the shoulder cape, and they’re both miraculously attached to the figure in a permanent way that I still can’t really understand. Nothing was spared in the detailed sculpt of The Emperor. And with his yellow-eyed piercing stare, he’s got an evil edge making him worthy of his name.

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I Am The Walrus.

I Am The Walrus. (POTF2 Ponda Baba)

I Am The Walrus. (POTF2 Ponda Baba)

Of all the vintage Star Wars action figures, the Walrus Man (a.k.a. Ponda Baba) was probably one of the worst attempts by Kenner to nail down the likeness of a character in the original Star Wars film. Of course nostalgia rules the day and for that reason I still love that figure. But really — he had bright blue limbs, an orange tank-top jumper, and fins for feet. This didn’t come close to resembling the nasty drunk that gets his arm butchered by Kenobi in the Cantina. Kenner eventually redeemed themselves with a gorgeous redesign of Ponda Baba for their mid-1990’s POTF2 line as shown above.

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Triple Witching.

Triple Witching. (POTF2 Boba Fett, Ralph McQuarrie Concept Boba Fett, Vintage Boba Fett)

Triple Witching. (POTF2 Boba Fett, Ralph McQuarrie Concept Boba Fett, Vintage Boba Fett)


It’s difficult to believe that Boba Fett, a character with only 4 or 5 lines of dialogue, remains to this day one of the most popular characters in Star Wars mythology. How? I think there’s only one reasonable explanation: the dude had one killer outfit. And a killer outfit deserves a killer action figure, as demonstrated here by three versions of the Boba Fett action figure spanning nearly 30 years. The version at left from the mid-90’s has some nice details, but I can’t really get beyond the ridiculous barrel-chested thing (Kenner did this for all the figures in that line). Front and center is the strictly awesome Ralph McQuarrie concept Boba Fett from the 30th Anniversary Collection. But it’s the vintage figure at right that will always be most dear to me. I’ve known it since it first arrived on my doorstep through a free mail-in offer in early 1979.

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How He Got There.

How He Got There. (POTF2 Jawas, Vintage C-3PO)

How He Got There. (POTF2 Jawas, Vintage C-3PO)

Of course we know every detail concerning R2-D2’s royal zapping by a stealth band of Jawas. But what indignities did C-3PO suffer during his arrest? Whatever the case, it’s unlikely there was much struggle.

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