Help support the Mego Museum
Help support the Mego Museum

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Kenner SW variants: big head, light sabers, Jawa capes, etc. Which did you have?

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Hedji
    Citizen of Gotham
    • Nov 17, 2012
    • 7246

    #16
    It was the Kenner pack in catalogues that confused me too. I don't think at age 6 you have any mental capacity to understand toy production and the meaning of prototypes.

    So, seeing the vinyl caped Jawa in the catalogue just made my head explode. And I would always want the version I didn't have because it was different.

    Here's an image of the Cantina playset from an early Kenner catalogue.



    Aside from Blue Snaggletooth making me crazed, I just could not wrap my brain around the murky image of Walrus Man that showed a decidedly darker paint job than the day-glow orange and blue masterpiece.

    It was only years later that I realized he was only one amazing prototype from that wave, seen much better in this German Kenner catalogue:



    This is the stuff I dream of. Look at the Gigantics Deadly Mantis model kit head on Death Star Droid! Look at the Adventure People X-Wing Pilot! Look at the light blue Power Droid and the head different head shape for R5-D4! When you can stand around and make Blue Snaggletooth look plain by comparison, you know you've got that magic.

    And speaking of prototypes (and Adventure People), I'd be remiss not to bring out the legendary first prototype mockups made to get the line off the ground.



    Last edited by Hedji; May 7, '19, 1:50 PM.

    Comment

    • EmergencyIan
      Museum Paramedic
      • Aug 31, 2005
      • 5470

      #17
      ^ I love Adventure People, but they never looked as chunky as they do here! In that second photograph, it appears that Kenner has finished R2D2.

      - Ian
      Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?

      Comment

      • Werewolf
        Inhuman
        • Jul 14, 2003
        • 14616

        #18
        Those Adventure People mock ups are pretty wild. Isn't Threepio an AP diver?
        You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

        Comment

        • Spectator
          Museum Patron
          • Feb 4, 2019
          • 108

          #19
          Originally posted by Hedji
          I had the Droid Factory on the left page here and it was an absolute highlight of my youth.

          Comment

          • Hedji
            Citizen of Gotham
            • Nov 17, 2012
            • 7246

            #20
            Me too. The Droid Factory was LEGO Star Wars before LEGO Star Wars. Incredible play value, not to mention the only way to get three legged Artoo.

            Comment

            • SeattleEd
              SynthoRes Transmigrator
              • Oct 24, 2007
              • 4350

              #21
              Always wanted that Cantina vetsion and Walrus Man. That dewback is a kitbash dino, yes?

              I had the small head Solo, cloth cape jawa, but saw the vinyl cape on pegs at Akron stores and moms said "No", yellow Luke, and Blue Snaggletooth. It helped I grew up a block away from Sears.

              Comment

              • Klosterheim
                Persistent Member
                • Mar 23, 2013
                • 1121

                #22
                Originally posted by Werewolf
                It was a fun time for me too. SW was the first line I really heavily collected and tried to get all the figures.
                Very cool!

                I'm happy to hear it.
                ---

                Because of these posts, I have more Star Wars toys memories today. I'll have many good memories every day now. From mysterious Sandpeople to pressing the R2D2 head on an X-wing to fly locked in attack position. Then there was the time spent looking at the regular Kenner Star Wars catalog that came with the X-wing.

                Comment

                • LonnieFisher
                  Eloquent Member
                  • Jan 19, 2008
                  • 10814

                  #23
                  I had the vinyl cape jawa, and threw the cape away. I hated it, and thought it made the figure look really bad. I got a cloth robe one later, and really loved it.

                  Comment

                  • msenger76
                    Veteran Member
                    • Nov 3, 2009
                    • 291

                    #24
                    I've had 5 blue snaggletooths in my life. 1 was my original and 3 came from my neighborhood. every kid had the blue version and we didn't know the difference. i never saw the red one in person until college at a toy show.

                    my lukes were half blonde/half brown.

                    Comment

                    • jimbutsu
                      Memory *is* RAM!
                      • Apr 11, 2002
                      • 4158

                      #25
                      I have a Blue Snaggletooth and a Luke Jedi with blue saber and a snap cape, also a small head Han... I'd love to get a vinyl Jawa or the DT Saber figures, but I don't feel like I *have* to have them in order to have a complete set, plus the expense is hard to justify. I generally don't get too fussed about paint variations, so I haven't worried about Luke's hair or stuff like that.

                      I'm 14 figures away from having everything I'd want for the figures; seven I don't have, five variants I'd like to track down, and two I'd like to upgrade/accessorize.
                      "If you take a dog which is starving and feed him and make him prosperous, that dog will not bite you. This is the primary difference between a dog and a man."

                      - Mark Twain

                      Comment

                      • Mikey
                        Verbose Member
                        • Aug 9, 2001
                        • 47242

                        #26
                        I had a 12" Han Solo with blue eyes

                        Was told the body is mostly likely an Indy

                        I did buy it loose so it's very possible

                        Comment

                        • Werewolf
                          Inhuman
                          • Jul 14, 2003
                          • 14616

                          #27
                          Originally posted by Mikey
                          I had a 12" Han Solo with blue eyes

                          Was told the body is mostly likely an Indy
                          Yep, you got a redressed Indy.
                          You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

                          Comment

                          • EmergencyIan
                            Museum Paramedic
                            • Aug 31, 2005
                            • 5470

                            #28
                            I had the 12” Han for about 5 minutes. I opened him as soon as we got into the car and realized that he was missing his medal. So, we took him back to return him since they had only one. It turns out that was a mistake since we could never find another one, back then...and they really tried to find me one for Christmas, even looking in a Chicago and St. Louis. Checking with all of their stores that might have one. Gosh, I wanted that Han!

                            - Ian
                            Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?

                            Comment

                            • Bruce Banner
                              HULK SMASH!
                              • Apr 3, 2010
                              • 4327

                              #29
                              Still need a Blue Snaggletooth and a few of the "Last 17" to complete my collection. (And the Droid Factory Artoo.)
                              PUNY HUMANS!

                              Comment

                              • Hedji
                                Citizen of Gotham
                                • Nov 17, 2012
                                • 7246

                                #30
                                Originally posted by EmergencyIan
                                I had the 12” Han for about 5 minutes. I opened him as soon as we got into the car and realized that he was missing his medal. So, we took him back to return him since they had only one. It turns out that was a mistake since we could never find another one, back then...and they really tried to find me one for Christmas, even looking in a Chicago and St. Louis. Checking with all of their stores that might have one. Gosh, I wanted that Han!

                                - Ian

                                Seems to me, and this is purely anecdotal, that Kenner had a lot of quality control issues with missing accessories that should have been packed into the 12" boxes. My Darth Vader never came with his lightsaber, and I have heard other stories like yours.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                😀
                                🥰
                                🤢
                                😎
                                😡
                                👍
                                👎