that is a whole lotta Luke's. Wow. Look forward to seeing the update to the Luke guide. What made you choose Luke jedi as a focus? Just curios on how it got started. Did you also collect like a loose set of the whole run then start on Luke or was it a decision from the start? I skimmed the pic, but didn't see a ledy card, is that one that is still missing?

trappedtexan wrote:

 What made you choose Luke jedi as a focus? Just curios on how it got started?

I'm guessing because Luke Jedi is the COOLEST VERSION EVER!





But seriously, what's not to like? Black on black on black with a green saber!

Craigy that's great you're picking the focus and the guide back up. I know when you were taking your break we continued to refer collectors to your guide who were looking for LJ info - it's an invaluable guide!
And wow to that pic of the moc lineup so awesome to see.
I'm a fan of the LJ figure too, cool with all the accessory variations and I love the snap cape! Have a few loose variations now but the one that still eludes me is the moulded face version. Will add that one day. As well as the green saber I remember buying a blue saber loose back in 2009/10 from SuperDan I think his name was who had a number of them for sale. Also have a stitch cape in its green card wrapper and two snaps. Yep, it's a cool variant alright.

Craig T wrote:

 

Luke Jedi was my favourite figure as a child. As Matt points out he's uber cool: A great sculpt, all black, with cool accessories - that green sabre and gun were awesome to me as a kid. (I love the Super Nes artwork too!) So in the very beginning I already had my own Luke from my childhood, a couple of variants and a lovely MOC that I got authenticated graded in Celebration Europe.

I just noticed that the SNES artwork has him with two real hands and a blue saber.

Totally goes against the black glove and green saber cool factor.

Very cool back story Craig. I will keep my eyes peeled for a ledy cardback. Doubt I will see a carded one, haven't seen one in a long time (that I can remember seeing). Shawn's name is familiar and i think i know the website.

That’s very sad news. He has one hell of a Luke Jedi focus and imagine he will be dearly missed.

Craig your dedication to and encyclopedic knowledge of this figure is an inspiration to me

Very Sad news Indeed Craig. I do admire you taking the time to let us know and share some fond memories and experiences you've had with Bob.

Very sad news Craigy, RIP to a legend collector and a true gentleman

I am glad it is in a good home and will be appreciated. I want to elaborate a bit on the way this worked out just because really Rodolfo (username is Fito on here) is a super great guy and played a huge part in this.

So a while back Fito put up a sales thread for his childhood figures. Nothing odd about that, people sell things all the time. I had seen Craig post before in a top toys thread and knew he needed and wanted a Luke for his collection. I made mention in the sales thread publicly for him to ask Craig and I don't remember if he told me public or private but said he had contacted Craig already but due to circumstances of life that at this time a deal was unable to be closed on it.

I can not explain why but something told me I needed to acquire this and send it to Craig. For those who are non believers, call it what you will; but for some unknown reason I felt that this figure may bring a joy to Craig when he really needed it.

For the record, I hadn't really spoken to Craig so didn't know he was having problems at work or with a sick child, and i didnt have any thing I owe Craig for, like this was for a payment or something. It was nothing like that. I just felt compelled to get this figure into Craig's hands for some unknown reason. So I ask Rodolfo what it would take to make that happen. I also explain that in no way do I want to benefit from this as I want Craig to get this figure as a surprise and would like to make a deal that can help Rodolfo on his end and Craig on his end. We come to terms that I won't disclose but Rodolfo gave me a heck of a bargain. So I get Craig's address from the secret Santa that I ran and tell Rodolfo to send it to that address please.  I want to say both of these guys are top notch and if anyone needs some top toys ewoks Rodolfo has those left as far as I know, for what if a good price I believe.

Anyway Rodolfo ships this over and it arrives and the rest is history. As far as I know the Luke and cloak are original and appear correct though the cape i believe is slightly altered from production as it now has arm holes and they weren't made this way and Luke's hair I think may be repainted as it appears darker than original, but that stuff is for Craig to figure out.

In the end it has been an awesome experience. Those who know me, know I have given stuff away in the past so that os not necessarily new; but I made a great friend in Rodolfo and helped another friend to have a smile when he needed one. That to me is worth more than my entire collection in my opinion.  I never sat out years ago to make money or profits from collecting, I sat out to make friendships and have unique experiences.

It is the original Top Toys Jedi Luke. You have my word. Looking at some of my other vintage figures I remember a time when I started destroying some. That´s when I burned Han Solo´s face, broke Hammerhead´s hand... and sent Luke to the coiffeur for a new hair color.
I truly hope you still find it interesting as part of your collection anyways.

Thank you guys for so many nice and kind words. It´s been a pleasure, really.

Thanks Bryan and Rodolfo for taking the time to reply and share your story with everyone.

I am still in awe of the altruist generosity from both of you. Caviar Dreams and McDonald Pockets should be updated to: McDonald Pockets but a colossal heart of Solid Gold.

He is perfect in every way – he’s an original Toptoys and from the original owner, I know why he has holes in his cape and what the story is with his auburn hair! More important than condition however (to me anyways), is that he a truly appreciated gift; you’ll never know how much this really means to me.

It will be nice one day to get him an original replacement sabre and gun any maybe one of those cool Maestro Jedi card backs. But the cape and figure will be kept together indefinitely along with the little note that brought a very big smile to grey cloud.

I have to admit, my knowledge of non-Kenner Luke Jedi such as this guy is limited, as I have been primarily focused on USA Luke Jedi variants. However the buzz of having him in my hand and wanting to know more has already taken me to Bob’s inspiring work to read up more: (Click Me).

This is an awesome story and I appreciate it being shared with all of us.

Sometimes when I watch the news, I start losing faith in the human race. Then you read about something as remarkable as this, and you are reminded that there are still great people in it.

Tex and Fito, well done and brilliantly executed, you are true crusaders.

Craig, I am truly sorry to learn of recent hardships. Always remember, the night is darkest just before the dawn. Soon enough, you will be smiling with the sun on your face.

Hey Craigy, was sad to hear about the passing of Bob. I'm glad to hear his site is going to be kept running.

Kudos to Bryan and Rodolfo for the cool gift to add to your collection The scammers and repro makers of the hobby will always be outweighed by the generosity of its true members. I won't forget the kindness shown to me when my Dad passed away some years back, and a bunch of guys from TIG all banded together to send me some special gifts which I still cherish today.

This is awesome. Thanks to everyone involved for sharing the entire story.

There's so many examples of putting others before yourself, but this one definitely takes the cake of recent memory.

Big shout out to @trappedtexan and @Fito for setting this up for @Craig T

Speaking of -- Craig, just keep your head up as best you can. Sometimes we have to go through the ringer to become stronger, and I think that's just what'll happen to you. Stay strong and let me and anyone else know if you need anything.

Blog Update #6 (23/03/2018)

Luke Jedi MOC with SKU sticker - another “hard to find” Luke Jedi MOC variation for sale…


I was going to talk about this auction along with the Luke Jedi Snape Cape MOC auction that I posted on the 5th March, but my time was limited and then I got totally blown away last week with my awesome Top Toys Luke Jedi present from Bryan & Rodolfo, so I am only now getting round to this blog posting now.

It’s a USA Kenner Made in Taiwan (TJ) Luke Jedi on a 77-A card back. However, the Kenner Product Number for Luke Jedi (No. 70650) printed at the top left corner of the card, has been covered-up by black sticker with the number “71590” printed on it.



Considering that a Taiwan (TJ) Luke Jedi on a 77 card back is one of the most common Luke Jedi MOCs out there, these SKU sticker versions don’t pop-up that often. I have personally only ever seen 5 Luke Jedi MOC specimens with this SKU change-over sticker since beginning to collect Luke Jedi and then only on a 77-A card back. Let me know, however, if you own or have seen a Luke Jedi with the same SKU sticker on a 77-B, 79-A, 79-B  (or any other card backs) and I will update this blog and give credit to you.

Looking at the completed auction, I was a little surprised on how much it went for (relatively speaking in today’s high price market). It was most probably overlooked by the average “must be mint on a mint card” Joe, as they might not have realised what they were looking at and so I think the buyer had a very good deal there for a quite a hard to find variation.

As with all eBay auctions, the photos will eventually disappear and so I have posted photos of an example of a SKU stickered MOC from of my own collection above and below.










*** More Info on SKU Stickered Cards in General ***

I have noticed that these SKU stickers have also appeared on other characters too (as well as Luke Jedi), so they did have a purpose. Intrigued to know more, I have carried out my own research to come-up with a plausible reason for their existence...



The text printed at the top left corner on the front of every figure card back relates to the specific Kenner Product Number for that specific figure/character. The Luke Jedi figure, for example, is 70650. The black number sticker 71590 is always placed over this number. At first glance, one might think that Kenner had updated the old 5 digit number for a new one; after all, they both begin with 7****.

However, I believe this is simply pure coincidence and not the case. There are only 3 differently numbered SKU stickers to be found (i.e. 71580, 71590 and 71600), yet there were 79 characters released by the end of the ROTJ lines – all with unique product numbers. Since there are only 3 different SKU stickers, you can find the same sticker-number combination on a number of different characters’ cards. Below are a number that were for sale by a single seller the other day:





I have noticed, however, that in general, the same bunch of characters always turn-up with the same specific sticker number. This interested me a lot as I have an old copy of the Kenner ToyFair Catalogue from 1984:



It is from here, that I learnt that Kenner sold their figures in 3 different assortment boxes – each weighing 5lbs and containing 48 MOCs:

Assortment Number 69570



Assortment Number 69590



Assortment Number 93630



A simple google search for “Product SKU meaning” will bring about a ton of info. I have put a screen grab here of the most popular:



So a SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) is normally used by the merchandiser chain to identify a particular item for stock inventory in each of its stores, ROTJ Star Wars Figures for example! Some chains would have lumped a group of characters under one stock bin.

I believe that the 3 SKU stickers are in fact a merchandiser's own internal numbering system to identify figures from each of the three assortment boxes from Kenner. I have no idea why it would want to do this. Maybe it helped automate the stocking/buying process back in the day, but the time and effort required to sticker-over each of the cards' product number suggests to me that a big chain was involved. Maybe the printed product numbers on the front of the cardbacks were causing confusion being 5 digits long, so they had to cover them up.

EDIT: A UPC barcode can actually be seen printed on the reverse of the ROTJ cardback in the photo, but this technology - along with the optical scanners that were required at checkouts to read them, might not have been as widespread in the early 80s as they are is in modern days, so maybe this is why the stickers were used.

What is certain however, is that by the time that The Power of the Force range came on to the scenes, Kenner had updated to the front top left corner of the card back with the following printed material:

• The Character Kenner Product Number = 70650
  
• The Kenner Assortment Box Number= 69590
  
• The Merchandiser SKU Assortment Number = 71590
  

 

This helps me think that the merchandiser was significant, as Kenner took the liberty to print the SKU number onto the card for them. So in summary, I believe the SKU sticker is nothing more than an alternative/peusdo number for the Assortment box. Question is, who is the merchandiser? Well, I believe it to be no other than KMart - I lost count of the number of times I have seen a SKU MOC with a KMart price sticker somewhere near by.

My punt on what SKU sticker should be placed on what figures:

• Figures from Kenner Assortment Box 69570 ---> SKU = 71580
  
• Figures from Kenner Assortment Box 69590 ---> SKU = 71590
  
• Figures from Kenner Assortment Box 93630 ---> SKU = 71600
  

Caveats:

During the years of Star Wars toys, the 3 Assortment boxes would have most probably have been updated to include new figures and older figures switched-out, so you might expect the figure's SKU to be in flux. Nevertheless 3 SKUs definitely appear (to me) to reflect the three assortment boxes available to retailers.

Also, the SKU stickers were applied by hand in mass quantities. It is very much likely that the stickers were applied to the wrong cards at various stages. If something doesn't look right, then one could look at other examples. If a 92-Back POTF release cardback of the figure exists, one could also compare the SKU number printed by Kenner at top left corner and compare that with the Assortment box you expect it to be in from the catalogue.

For Example: Based on the above, I expect a Chewbacca to have an SKU sticker of 71590, however, as can been seen, the SKU sticker applied is 71600. This doesn't make sense, as it is shown in the Kenner Catalogue to be in Assortment Pack 69590. However, if I look at the POTF carded version I can see that Kenner has correctly printed the SKU number as 71590; thus the wrong SKU sticker was applied for this example.








Update (11/07/2018)
[color=#ffff00]

I have recently stepped out of my comfort zone and took the plunge to join face book. It's only been a couple of weeks and I have already had the pleasure of meeting some top folks in some of the groups in FB. One of which is Jonathan Robinson.

Jonathan was kind enough to check his SKU MOC collection and found an anomaly in his run:

This is a Princess Leia Boushh 77-B with SKU sticker at the top left corner, but as you can see the retailer was KMart it was Toys R Us. This has dented my theory a little as KMart


and with a Toys R Us price sticker!

... TBC...


Up until now I was convinced that only KMart sold these MOCs with SKU stickers. It looks like we now say that these cards were avail

@TheSchwartz, @ArtooDetour and @darthmatt22

Guys thank you for your kind words; they too mean a lot.

So this is a fairly common miscarriage then I take it? Sticking to that theory of combining just what's left makes a little sense. But one would think since the factory knew these were mixed up, if done on purpose, then they would have some sort of clearance stickers all over them i would imagine. I mean surely a retailer didn't pay their full cost for these if these were purposely packed with leftovers. Very neat little item. Sucks that the bubble is cracking so badly due to crushing. Wonder if you can create a band of sorts to run around the border of the bubble to support it. Not tape so it doesn't stick but something similar to plastic wrap just the width of the side of the bubble.