Hi folks,

I have decided to start a new thread where i will do some review ( mini reviews and extensive reviews on the items i have and that i am getting. I think i am going to move away from the limelight thread and post my items here with some sort of review. I feel that is it time that i stop just showing things and give more to the collectors than just photos. I am sure that a lot of people would like to know more information on what i have and i will do that. I am by no means an expert and i may make mistakes in the information i give. If you see that the info i have given was inaccurate, please feel free to post a post with the correct information so that the people have the real information that they need.

This will be a work in progress and may take some time to get updated but nevertheless i want to showcase the awesome Star Wars Collectibles that you can get. I will do some sort of blog while collecting.

First review coming soon:

edit: 6/18/13

I am going to post youtube video finds that i deem have a lot of information related to what i collect. I have no relation to anyone who has those videos but i feel they should be shown to the people who come here as they are very interesting.

If you are the author of the videos and for some reason do not want me to post them here. Please PM me so i can remove them.


cheers!

First up:

Star Wars, Series 1 (1977) - Blue border with white stars. 66 cards and 11 stickers (Cards 1-66 Stickers 1-11)

Back in the days when collecting cards was fun and cheap. Here is the first Star Wars Card set from Topps. I am missing the stickers but here is the front of the cards. 66 cards were produced for this set. The photos on the cards seem to be mostly stills images shot on the sets. There is no logical storyline order to the cards. The cards are not really rare but are somewhat hard to get in high grade. You should expect to pay more for high graded cards. The usual running price for the set is around 50$ and higher in different grades which is not too bad considering that they are old cards now.

O-Pee-Chee also produced the cards for Canadian distribution. These are rarer cards of course.


O-Pee-Chee information link



The original series Topps Box



Promo poster






The Cards:

















some of the back of the cards formed a poster when assembled together. Other were a part of the story summary of the film.








The Wrapper:





Every true Star Wars Fans should have this set regardless as to what they collect. This is from the early era of Star Wars Collectible and are true treasures to own.


Star Wars Collectible Coolness Grade: 9/10

Star Wars High Grade collectibility challenge: 6/10


Awesome site for more Star Wars card info

Nice review Budd ! Certainly brings back memories
The blue border cards were the first I collected as a kid here in the UK !

The pack was similar, but I don't remember getting stickers with the UK release( just the cards and a stick of gum )
Look foreward to more great reviews Budd
Cheers Andy.

You should come check out the "World of Odd" section. Lots of interesting things can be found hidden in there.

http://www.imperialgunneryforum.com/t4892-tig-world-of-odd-trading-cards

Thanks

Clint

Great review bud, looking forward to some more mate, cheers

And now a little bit of info blog for those interested.

The Kenner LP logo and why it may be important to you.


LP stands for Long Play


If you are new to collecting here is a big collecting tip.

When Kenner started their Star Wars toys. They had the LP logo on their packaging. It was also on the Early Bird Envelope kit for those who did not notice.



To many it does not seem to mean too much or is not important but the fact of the matter is that this logo can actually date your Star Wars toys! It is an historical indicator of how old your toy is!

If you buy a vintage boxed x-wing for example and you see the LP logo on the corner it means that you have actually purchased a first year/first issue/release edition of the toy which in itself can be a rarity!



The LP logo did not stay long on the packagings and was removed. Kenner then continued to produce its Star Wars toys without the LP logo. Therefore as an example, you can have an x-wing package with and without the LP logo. The LP logo is the oldest version and therefore the more desirable version if you are a fanatic!


LP





No LP



The x-wing is just an example, there are many Star Wars toys that both have the LP logo and then no LP logo.










The original toys on cards also had the LP logo




cheers!

This is not a plug for the books but rather i wanted to show you what these books are about. Any die hard Star Wars fan will want to put his mitts on these two books and will feel enlightened after the reading experience. These are worth the price of admission. And a similar Book for Return of the Jedi is slated for fall 2013 release apparently.



Review: Making of Star Wars

I am writting a review of this book and it will be written in several sessions.

The book itself is big. It is oversized and just a tad over an inch thick.

Product specs from Amazon:

Product Details
Paperback: 324 pages
Publisher: LucasBooks (April 24, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345477618
ISBN-13: 978-0345477613
Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 1 x 10.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

I got the paperback version.

The book is full of photos, concept drawings, paintings etc....

The book will leave you with a impression of how it was hard to make the film and will clarify a lot of the urban myths that have been circulating in amateur documentary and professional documentaries on the makign of the film.

It was not as easy as it might have been reported in documentaries as " empire of dreams " once you have read the book. you will find that empire of dreams is a very diluted and romanticized version of the making of ANH.

The books pics up when George was at American Zoetrope and then when he went on to make american graffiti and then really picks up soon after Graffiti and how George had to go against unsurmountable odds in order to get his movie done.

The book is divided into some sort of time line.

example: Boundary Busters: january 1975 to august 1975

The author explains what happened within that timeframe. The entirety of the book is based on that timeline format.

Within that timeframe the author delivers facts, anecdotes, pictures, concept drawings and other relevant info related to the film.

Strenghts of the book: The format. It is done in a timeline fashion which makes the concept and the filming process make sense.

another strength is the photos and drawings. The book is full of them.

You will discover thru the book of lot of interesting details that you rarely see or hear about.


Weakness of the book: The book lacked a lot on the props and costuming aspect of the film. The author while explaining who did what as far as costume go did not dedicated any book pages to how the costumes were really made or how many of the props came into being. Just a few lines. So the people who are avid about those details will be left hanging dry with this book which is a shame.

This book is big, almost too big, it is not easy to just sit in a chair and enjoy reading this book as you have to continually shift around the reposition yourself to read the book. You get tired quick and then have to read the book in several sessions. Some people like this some people don't.

There is no real modern view of the story. It would have been nice to have people reflect on their work and have that inserted in the book to see how they feel now versus back then. The book is built around interviews of that time, nothing recent.


The book could use a re edit with more pages or some sort of companion book to show more about the logistic aspects of the film.

Topics covered in the book at a glance:

Pre-American Graffiti

Pre-Star Wars and George Luca's financial difficulties

Lucas shopping Star Wars around after script writing

Foundation of ILM and the special effects of the film

The contract and financing of the film

Casting and what happened

Choosing locations to shoot the movie

Choosing a director of photography

movie sets

Editing

post production

publicity

Theater release

Aftermath of the movie release.


Making of Star Wars book video review

Sorry for bad sound on this particular video





Making of Empire Strikes Back Review Book:



amazon.com stats:

Hardcover: 372 pages
Publisher: LucasBooks (Oct 12 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345509617
ISBN-13: 978-0345509611
Product Dimensions: 30 x 3.5 x 27.9 cm
Shipping Weight: 2.3 Kg

no paperback ( as far as i know ) Kindle edition coming in fall of 2013????


Is it worth it?

a big Hell yeah it is!

Once again you are being transported behind the scenes of the making of the movie. The flow of the book is better and more fun and more intimate.

There are tons of anecdotes on how a lot of things worked out wile making the movie. This time around you are very closed to the experience that the director had during filming. His high, his downs, his successes and struggles to make everyone happy while making the film.

The books follows more of less the format of the previous book, but it better laid out and you can jump in and out of the book easily which makes the reading experience more fun.

here are a few themes from the book:


How the script came to be and how it was fine tuned.

Choosing director

Going to Finse to shoot the Hoth scenes.

How the director worked

How the creative artists worked to make the sets.

George Lucas' involvement during the film.

Financial woes during filming.

Stages used or built to make the film.

How Yoda came into being.

How Dagobah was made.

How the special effect were made.

Sound effect process

The editing

Publicity

Music

Post production

Release and aftermath

Making of Empire Strike Back book video review

Star Wars, Series 2 (1977) - Red border. 66 cards and 11 stickers (Cards 67-132 Stickers 12-22).

A continuation of the original series. Basically the same format and same idea for the cards but with a different border. However this series has a lot of cards that have some type of blur to them. Probably a printing defect of some kind. Nonetheless highly collectible. Since this is the second series the value in high grade can be less than the original Holy Grail Star Wars Cards blue set. I actually got this set with another set for a very decent price.

Card Details examples:










The Cards:


















The backs:





Reference site for the red series Link

Tomarts price guide to worldwide Star Wars Collectibles.

First printing 1994

224 pages

One of my most beloved Star Wars book. I had this when i was a younger lad but lost it in a move. I had spent many hours looking at all the amazing collectible that were out there, dreaming that i could own some of them. A year or so ago i was able to find a used copy on ebay for a decent price.
It is semi-rare on ebay. The book is printed in black and white with a few sections in color. The binding is pretty tough as the pages still hang on even after i spread the spine to read the book so it is a solid well made book.

The book covers all kinds of collectibles as well as toys up to that time. Even if it is quite old now. It showcases a lot of collectibles that are still available today. From books to t-shirts. You also get sections on posters, toys, and everything else in between.

It is similar in "idea" to the newer collectible book. You can see a lot of vintage prices of those time compared to today.

The famous Star Wars tin lunchbox.



•Star Wars Lunch Box w/Thermos
•Circa: 1977 Version 1 - Version 2 ( no exact release date )
•Manufacturer: King-Seely
•Size: 7” X 8.75” X 4”


The first version did not have art on the side band of the lunchbox. Just a star field. The second version came with art on the side.

There was different colors for the cap/cup of the thermos. I have seen red and yellow and blue seems to have been available too. Also the Star Wars logo under threepio and R2 have color variants, red and yellow and probably other colors too.

Some people claim to have seen different colors for the handle and latch ( white and blue ) which make them super rare and valuable.

Hard to find in good condition since most of them are pretty banged up, rusted and used. Expect to start paying at least 100$ and up for the lunchbox with the thermos instact. The price goes higher for a better version of the lunchbox of course.


I believe Canada did not get this tin version. If i am right i believe that Canada got a plastic version of the item rather than the tin version but i mayb be wrong on that.






Version 2 with art on the side band of the lunchbox.







The Famous painting on one side of the lunchbox. I had the name of the artist who did the painting once. If i can find his name i will post it.




Youtube video on the lunchboxes


Another cool review

Liked the info on this Bud,

I've learnt something there mate, Thankyou
Cheers Andy.

Kenner Star Wars Tie Fighter Original LP release.

From SWCA:

First Issued: 1978 (SW packaging, "TIE Fighter," with "LP" logo and incorrect content text)

Re-issues:1978 (SW packaging, with Darth Vader, Stormtrooper and Special Offer sticker)

1979 (SW packaging, "Imperial TIE Fighter," without "LP" logo, with corrected content text)

1980 (ESB packaging)



Original Price: As soon as i find out i will post it.

The " Twin Ion Engine" Fighter or "Tie" fighter.


Some of the best Kenner toys ever made.

The insides of the toy had a motor that rubbed against a piece of plastic to make that spaceship sound that we all love. ( see videos below ) The spaceship also had a light to simulate laser being shot at the ennemy. The toy operated with 2 AA batteries. It had a pop out wings mechanism that carried on to newer generations of this toy up to this day. Stickers were applied to the wings to simulate the panels of the Tie Fighters engine. There was no Tie Fighter pilot action figure when this toy was released so the fans had to use other figures to simulate battles.

Got this from Ebay. A very decent early first generation release box. And a nice toy. But i paid a bit too much for the item. I gambled and lost some money on the item. Like i said the box is pretty decent and the tie is decent but the wings stickers are damaged and the motor does not turn. There was no insertes nor cardboard packaging, just the box and the Tie. I tried to work on the motor a bit but gave up.. a bit disgusted to be honest. I though the motor would at least work on this. It is a common toy but to get it in the vintage box is rare. Especially the original release. It makes me proud that i have the first release as i have the same for the x-wing. In actuality this would be the second "real vintage" Tie i get. My grandma brought us a box full of Star wars toys my cousin were not playing with when i was real young. We received a loose Tie and X-Wing and figures. Boy i wish i had kept those....

The window of the cockpit is very clear and not yellowed and the cockpit itself is off white but not yellowed. I am sure i can easily find another tie for parts or even one that works with some nice stickers.

It also looks like my cockpit may have been opened because the retainer plastic tie was not present when i opened it to inspect it.

The battery cover is ivory white! I wish all the rest of the tie was like that. I guess they were using different quality plastics when they were making these toys and the figures and that is why some parts of the toys have yellowed with age while other parts remained mint white which makes it a challengre to collectors to get an all white toy or an even colored toy!
















The LP Logo below that dates the toy to the first version. Nice!






Darth: "En garde Ben Kenobi!"

Ben: "Yes, All for one and one for all...oops i mean to say. You can't beat me Darth!"










































Vintage Commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfPbtPqo92A

inside of Tie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDr0ziLSssI

Review from Micahc6v8 ( the collector who is motivating me to collect )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN16dwEu7Wo


Star Wars Collector High Grade Challenge score : 9.5

In other news:

Scheduled for 2013. I have to save my money for this now! Probably gonna have some unseen slave Leia pics to drool on in this book!

Bud Review the original Film: The french version compared to the english version.




First off this was the intro logo of the french movie and i believe it was that way until the darn special editions came along and changed everything for everyone. This was one of the changes that broke my heart. For some reason the french version started to have the " Star Wars" logo and it has remained like this ever since.

Below are some of the name interpretation that came from English to French. Some of these translations were transmitted to the name of the toys versus their American counterparts. As the Trilogy went along some of the names changed a bit but for the most part they stayed the same.

I guess at the time they translated the name as best as they could to fit the lip synching of the movie so some name translation do not make sense.

The millenium falcon became le millenium condor in this movie.


A falcon and a condor are 2 very different bird.... but hey, it worked then and Luke did not become Robert Skywalker or something like that.





Here are some of the names:

Star Wars - La Guerre des étoiles

Luke skywalker-Luc Skywalker

Chewbaca-Chiquetaba or Chico

Han Solo - Yan Solo

Princess Leia - Princesse Leia

C-3PO- Z6PO

R2-D2 - D2-R2

Darth Vader - Dark Vador

Ben Kenobi - Ben Kenobi

Stormtrooper -Troupe de choc

Jabba the hutt - Jabba le forestier

Millenium Falcon- Millenium condor

Death Star- L'étoile Noir.


The voice actors that did the parts were already well established at the time and some of them went on to do more parts after this.

Fun facts:

The voice actor of C-3P0 is also the voice actor for Winnie the Pooh cartoons in French

The voice actor for Luke also doubles for Nicolas Cage in the french version of his movies.


French Cast Distribution

Mark Hamill (VF : Dominique Collignon-Maurin) : Luke Skywalker

Carrie Fisher (VF : Évelyne Séléna) : la princesse Leia Organa

Harrison Ford (VF : Francis Lax)3 : Han Solo

James Earl Jones (VF : François Chaumette) : Dark Vador (voix)

Sir Alec Guinness (VF : Philippe Dumat) : Obi-Wan « Ben » Kenobi

Peter Cushing (VF : Henri Virlojeux) : Grand Moff Tarkin

Anthony Daniels (VF : Roger Carel) : C-3PO

Kenny Baker : R2-D2

Peter Mayhew : Chewbacca

Phil Brown (VF : Claude Joseph) : Oncle Owen Lars

Shelagh Fraser (VF : Paule Emanuele) : Tante Beru Lars9

Alex McCrindle (VF : Henri Labussière) : le général Jan Dodonna

Eddie Byrne (VF : Georges Atlas) : le général Willard

Garrick Hagon (VF : Jean Roche) : Biggs Darklighter

Dennis Lawson (VF : Pierre Trabaud) : Wedge Antilles

William Hootkins : Porkins

Richard LeParmentier (VF : Pierre Hatet) : le général Motti

Don Henderson (VF : Serge Lhorca) : le général Taggi

Alfie Curtis (VF : Henri Labussière) : le Dr. Evazan

Drewe Henley (VF : Marc de Georgi11) : Red Leader

Angus MacInnes (VF : Henry Djanik) : Yellow (Gold) Leader






I grew up in a french community so we usually watched everything in french. The first time i saw the movie was in french so it is burned in my mind forever. It was on Radio Canada and luckily i video taped it when it came on. I ran that tape until it died.

The voice are awesome and fit all the characters except Han Solo who has a quirky voice in the french movie but it comes across as very believable.

Believe it or not i think the french version is at time superior than the english version.

Why would i say that. Most of the time the actors were more into it than the actual actors. Some lines were delivered with way more punch than the english version and therefore gave the scene more context.

A good example is the move along scene.

In this scene, Ben tell the sandtrooper to move along.... The sandtrooper flatly responds to them to move along.


In the french version, the line is delivered angrily. The sandtrooper tells them to move along and he means it. It is delivered with more punch as if the soldiers is sorta pissed at them and he has better things to do then to listen to them anymore and wants to get rid of them which makes the scene better in my opinion.

All along the movie you get things like that. The french actors put more punch in the dialogue and it lifts the movie even more.


The thing i am most happy of is that the movie survived the Quebec laws about french translations of movie. Basically any french versions of any American movies that are distributed in North America have to be dubbed by Quebec actors. Most the time it is not pretty. I have seen Superman done in France French and in Quebec French and the Quebec french just kills it.

Luckily Star Wars survived this somehow. The french version remained as is. As their original release and i cant imagine it any other way.

I truly love both languages of the movie. The french as a sentimental value for me and like i said is a bit more fun. And i must thank these people that we never see that do the translations. They should deserve as much credit as the original actors because without them the entire world would not have had the chance to understand this epic saga.

budspencer wrote:

The LP logo did not stay long on the packagings and was removed. Kenner then continued to produce its Star Wars toys without the LP logo. Therefore as an example, you can have an x-wing package with and without the LP logo. The LP logo is the oldest version and therefore the more desirable version if you are a fanatic!

That is an awesome detail to watch for. Thanks for this Bud

ki4gsz wrote:

budspencer wrote:

The LP logo did not stay long on the packagings and was removed. Kenner then continued to produce its Star Wars toys without the LP logo. Therefore as an example, you can have an x-wing package with and without the LP logo. The LP logo is the oldest version and therefore the more desirable version if you are a fanatic!

That is an awesome detail to watch for. Thanks for this Bud

No Problem. Glad i helped.

The Landspeeder USA version:

One of the most beloved Star Wars Vehicle ever!

Just wanted to show you the evolution of the toy. Remember the LP logo versions are the oldest.


Original Commercial





Micah's review

Stay tuned!

Bucket of bolts on its way to me.

Thought id move this here since it is a review anyways.

Loose Luke 12 Inch reference guide.



My Luke has Ben's saber right now but i am expecting another one to come in with proper saber so i will update later.

edit: I have received the new Luke with a blue lightsaber!

Detailed analysis:

Nota: The red squares indicates mold or mould artifacts to look for when trying to see if your weapon is fake or not. This does not constitute an absolute reference to spot fakes but should help.

Luke has a hard torso of plastic with a COO stamp at the bottom of his back





His head also has a COO or rather copyright stamp at the bottom of his hairdo.





His arm are made of a hard flexible rubber material and they fall back in position. There is no joint system in his arms.



His head is attached using a system like this. I have used a beat up Luke to demonstrate:






His legs are of the same material as his arms but somewhat harder and there is a skeletal system in the legs that allows the knees to be bent and stay bent. You can see artifact of the knee joint system.




Clothing:

Luke has white boots that are made of rubbery material. The boot is pretty well made, about a couple of milimeters thick of semi hard rubber so if the rubber is still flexible and if you take care you "can" remove the boots. Under the sole, there is a stamp that says made in Hong Kong. The boot seem to be neutral has the is no left or right foot and the boots are the same mold so again the boots are neutral ( not left or right foot ). These boots are extremely hard to take off and put back on. I really struggled to get this done without breaking the legs of the toy. I am sure that there is a trick to put them on but without that knowledge they don't come out or go back on easy. The boots were dirty and showed signs of yellowing ( sort of ) when i got this Luke. I used Oxi clean, the same as on the shirt and i can say that the end result of the clean up is nothing short of miraculous. The grime was removed and the yellowing was practically gone. I will repeat this, i do not know the long term effect of oxi clean on the toy. It may or may not have an adverse effect on the material in the long run but right now it did more than an awesome job at restoring the figure.





He has light golden pants. They are golden, There was too much light in the pics so the pants look white but they are not.





A Martial art like tunic , inside the tunic there is a small label that says made in Hong Kong , the lettering is red in color.






When I got this Luke the tunic was all stained with yellow color. It barely shows on the pic below but it was quite bad. I tried to clean it with regular detergent but it was not working out. I did some research and landed on Oxi Clean and I decided to try this. I mixed the solution and put the boots and shirt in. In a matter of minutes all the nasty yellow stains on the shirt were gone. The only side effect is that it discolored the Hong Kong lettering inside his tunic but who cares right? nobody see this. The shirt is has white as when it came out of the factory so the stuff works. It bleached the boots also and they came out nicely. I cannot tell you the long term effects of what I did but at this time it helped.

Before oxi clean clean up



After oxi clean clean up



He has a flexible hard rubber utility belt that assembles together under the buckle. There is a set of number inside the belt, the lettering is pretty sharp so if you think you got a reproduction belt maybe this could help identify it. The numbers are 31600557 and under that line is a single 1. There is silvery paint on the buckle of the belt as well as the buttons and some other parts on the belt, that paint seem to be the same silver as Snaggletooth blue and unfortunately it seems to rub off the same way. My belt is missing a lot of the silver on the belt and i would say that this is a common problem on this Luke in his loose form. I have another upcoming Luke that has a better belt and i will update the pictures when i get the new belt.








Better looking belt: You can see that the button should be painted silver on the belt.







He has a grappling hook that has yarn spun around it or loose. The top of the grappling hook spins on the shaft of the grappling hook.



Lightsaber

I got the blue version of the lightsaber which should be Luke's lightsaber, But i am somewhat disapointed because the saber is pretty beat up and paint has rubbed off. I looked at it and it does not seem to have the same mold artifacts as the Ben lightsaber ( see Ben's saber below) which has me worried that this might be a repro but it could just be a factory difference and the saber might be genuine.







( I have the Ben version with this purchase but I would assume that Luke would be the same , just a different blade colored version)

Although seemingly divided into 3 parts , the lightsaber is one piece of plastic painted in 3 separate sections.



The lightsaber is divided in three parts.

The pommel is black. There is a round mold artifacts on the pommel in the back where there is a hook to hang on the belt. It looks like an indented spot. Not a real round mold artifact like in the other parts of the ligthsaber.



On the other side you will see another mold artifact.






Then there is the emitter part which is silver painted, the is also a round mold artifact at the start of the silvery part where the pommel and the emitter join.

The silver part seems to be of the same quality and finish as the silver on the belt and similar to the silver used on the blue snaggletooth. Therefore it seems to rub off easily. Looking at the photos on the guide, i am inclined to say that the real sabers have a more matte silver finish ( dull silver ) and that the repro sabers have a shinier silver color applied to them which would help spot fakes when you are able to purchase on site.




Under or the top of the emitter ( so to speak ) are little details, you will see 6 tiny bumps that had detail to the lightsaber. These are very well defined.




On top of that detail is another raised detail that looks like a bump ( knob, button )

The blade part is either glow stick yellow/ greenish for Ben or blue for Luke.
Almost of the end of the blade you will also see a circle mold artifact.





Weight of the toy parts:

My scale is not top notch but i thought i would include these measurements so that people know about them. Since my scale is not top notch, these may not be accurate figures but at least it is a start.

Luke naked: 246 grams
Lightsaber: 4 grams
Belt: 6 grams
Boots ( individual ): 9 grams
Pants: 6 grams
Shirt: 7 grams
Grappling hook: does not register on my scale

Lengths
Lightsaber length: 120 mm
belt length: 165 mm
boot height : 64 mm from top part to bottom rear of sole


Comments: I have seen some Ben on auction sites and i came to see that he has the same boots as Luke but brown colored instead. Which leads me to say that Ben would be the exact same sculpt ( toy- body ) as Luke but with a different head and accessories. It would make perfect sense for Kenner to have done this at that time to save some money on production. When i get a Ben i will post my findings on this assumption.



Paint rub off on hand:




Both luke i got had black hands, I suspect that the rubbery material that makes the arms rubs off after the pommel of the lightsaber and rubs off the paint off the pommel, If you put the saber on and off out of Luke's hands or Ben it rubs off the paint on the saber. Which is sad because it makes getting a proper saber harder to find. The paint can be removed from the hands fortunately but is lost of the saber.

Great stuff bud, always appreciate the detail and effort you got to, cheers

Millenium Falcon aka  bucket of bolts.

The Holy Grail of all Star Wars vehicles. Courtesy of my favorite Ebay seller Snakeriverman!

As you can see later down the pics i have the POTF2 version which is exactly the same mold minus a few things and a different paint job. I have included some pics to show the differences between the two. While i love the POTF 2 version, i think they went a bit too far with the paint on top of the falcon. Too me it looks like more like a decorated cake than anything else. It should have had less paint and more muted paint and it would have been awesome. I do not own the big huge recent Falcon one yet ( TVC line ). I might try to get one loose down the road though...

Star Wars a New Hope First Issue: 1979,  so it never had any LP logo on the box.

Price: 24.77$ ( Sears Wishbook price )









I was at the right place at the right time on Ebay for this one. Got lucky to have enough cash handy to order it. Craig Shipped it to me after an awesome packing job and i received it within a week. Kudos to him as Craig has slowly help me obtain a lot of the toys in my collection.

The toy itself is awesome. The only downside is that it is yellowed. Not that bad but if not protected i suspect it will deteriorate fast. It looks like it is complete. I might be missing a sticker or two but i by the looks of it, it looks complete.

From what i understand and see about these big kenner boxes is that Kenner had parts of the box printed in black ink ( line drawing parts ) and then had some big stickers sheets applied to the box for the color parts. Which explains why the colors are still so vibrant because the ink does not seem to have sunk in the cardboard of the box. it still seems to float above and almost look as fresh as the day it was printed. only the yellowing of the box ages it. Plus the darn tape that Kenner used at the time... which always yellows out.

I have all the pieces inside the cargo area ( if that is what you call it ), got the floor panel, the chess stand and the plastic training ball which sell for big bucks on Ebay when you have to look for it. the ramp is nice but the rear legs don't work that well, i guess they are showing their age now. But the main reason i bought this is for the box. It is a mid range box with a nice front which displays wonderful and i am very proud of that. I had been "somewhat" looking for a falcon but did not want to press the purchase but when i saw what Craig had to offer i had to jump on it because the box was in very good condition, especially for the original movie box. I have seen many on Ebay but most of them were too trashy or too expensive. I guess if i want to be fancy i could look for a better less yellowed falcon down the road. But i have the POTF 2 version which is the same exact mold so it would be overkill i think. I don't think i would chase for the empire or return of the Jedi version. Its just the same toy in a different box. This one was a huge deal for me and i finally got what i wanted. I have all the A New Hope spaceships now which is an awesome feeling. This was a huge chunk in my collection that i had to complete and it is finally done. I have tested the sound but it did not work, but it might have been just the batteries that i used that did not work out. But i have come to expect that it is hard to get these going after all this time so it does not break my heart as it used to when i got my first x-wing... and like i said i can always look for another copy of the toy if i become too "fancy" about things. It looks like the toy may have come from a Toys R us since there is a little remnant of the TRUS sticker on the packaging which gives the box even more flavor.

The graphic design on these boxes are awesome, especially this one. It screams display me! Kenner had an awesome group of people back then that knew how to make packages that were appealing and have designs that are timeless and still appreciated and mimicked today. That is why i love whatever Kenner has done for packaging and printed material. It is just awesome stuff!

Now i have to find a rubbermaid plastic bin that will fit this monster.



On with the show!

R2-D2 from the original 12" line.

A very nice toy. Originally i got this toy way back then ( not this one ) but my father had bought me a x-mas gift. It was some sort of hockey game and i opened it but it was missing a part so it was unplayable. We went back to a store called Peoples ( Canada ) and we went to see the store clerk and they told my father we could trade the toy in for another. I remember seeing all those star wars toys back then. Clear as day i remember. and i decided to choose an r2-d2 like this one to bring home. I opened it and played the hell out of it. I was one happy boy then. Wish i'd be able to back in time and pick up a ton of those toys. I d be a millionaire now. ahahahah


I do have the Death Star Plans, not just close by for the photo at this time.

The death Star Plans are usually missing when someone sell those loose on Ebay. On their own they can command a pretty hefty sum.

Most of these R2's that i have seen all have the yellowed seems on the legs. It is pretty rare to find a copy that is minty white but they do happen to pop up and you could get one if you persevere. I got this one for 30$ at the time which was not bad considering that it included the plans...

Destroy the Death Star Game circa 1977

In a sense this game is somewhat funny in its packaging idea because it is roughly the same size as a 15" inch pizza box and 3/4 of an inch thick. I guess you could call it the Star Wars Pizza box game.



A compliment to escape from the Death Star game.

Expect to pay upwards to a 100$ for a good copy and probably more for a sealed version.

In Canada i believe it was made by Parker Brothers.


info: Game board detailed Information













First Star Wars Catalog ( well second one really ) this one is a little bit harder to get. Always nice to have one!

Latest Vintage purchases:

I just stuck Amanaman there for fun!

















Teebo's ax. It looks too big to fit in his hand. I am wondering if i don't have a repro on my hand now!













Finally got this Bad Girl!

Here it is:

Han Solo in Carbonite. Courtesy of BluSnagman.

Really Happy with this one. It is a near Flawless figure the paint is just marvelous on this copy. I don't have the coin but i ll get one later down the road.

Power Of The Force 1984



"The red wire is connected to the.... shoulder bone."



"The blue wire is connected to the... elbow bone..."



















"Gahhh! No Eyebrows! Quick grab a brown Crayola Marker and make some!"

 Review by micahc6v8