Star Wars Retro Collection: 10 of First 12

 I've only acquired ten of the first twelve Kenner Star Wars figures released again in Hasbro's Retro Collection, but this post will cover the first twelve figures released by Kenner in 1978 - the remaining two I actually have vintage samples of. I had every one of these figures as a child, and though I sold off or gifted them all since, I've had fun rediscovering them as an adult. There were a lot of complaints about how Hasbro's Retro Collection were distributed and released, beginning in 2019, but I'm just glad to have a few.

I only recently acquired these three Stormtroopers, all vintage samples. Two are stamped Hong Kong, the other China. According to Perplexity.AI, the Hong Kong are considered among the first production runs of this figure, Chinese Stormtroopers having been produced later as Kenner's outsourcing throughout Asia broadened.

Below, Kenner's original Stormtroopers and Darth Vader with their later 

Power of the Force line Stormtroopers and Darth Vader from 1995...

Kenner's Death Squad Commander was a somewhat odd choice for Keener to include in the original twelve, but he has his own thing going on and fills out the troop lineup nicely....

My vintage Obi-Wan Kenobi can finally do battle with my Retro Darth Vader ...!

I actually have two vintage Obi-Wan Kenobi figures, both outfitted with replica lightsabers, one the coveted telescoping model ...

It's been a while since I've had a 3.75" Princess Leia in my hands! 

She can now load the Death Star plans into R2-D2 while C-3PO looks on ...

Luke Skywalker was a coveted figure in my youth- having a clean Retro Collection sample is fun! The Bespin Luke figure took his place in 1980, followed by Jedi Luke Skywalker in 1983, but Farmboy Luke was my first in 1978!

The Retro Collection Chewbacca and Han Solo look just like I remember them in 1978! You can probably see some putty holding Han's blaster in the picture below- sadly, he cannot hold his weapon at all. Really unfortunate! Regardless, they'll handle Greedo and Walrus Man easily with their smuggler's swagger!

And last, but certainly not last, the Tusken Raider and Jawa, mysterious inhabitants of Tatooine. Both captured my imagination seeing Star Wars for the first time in the '70s!

When returning to collecting actions as an adult several years ago, 3.75" Star Wars figures were oddly not my main point of interest, though they occupied a lot of my play time as a child. But with the 50th anniversary quickly approaching, I was reminded how much Star Wars meant to us '70s kids and it's fun to have this classic lineup once again!

More Later- May the Force Be with You!

Kenner 12in. C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Darth Vader (1978)

Star Wars hasn't got nearly enough love on The Super-DuperToyBox, contrary to my firsthand experience witnessing and participating in the blockbuster zeitgeist of the '70s as a child. The amount of Star Wars action figures and vehicles I had was substantial and included a small selection of these 12" Kenner figures, including a Darth Vader and Chewbacca who towered over the other toys in my collection at 15". I've had this Darth Vader for years and was featured in my very first post back in 2010.

C-3PO and R2-D2 were not in my childhood collection but are essential if you ask my opinion. R2 has wheels that roll freely, and his hatch in back pops open via a small button/panel on the front to expose the Death Star plans- a play feature that really makes this droid special. This R2's head swivel no longer clicks when turning, and the C-3PO has a loose left shoulder, but they display nicely.

 

All of these figures have a great deal in common with their 3.75" counterparts- Kenner did a great job scaling them up. They don't really have more articulation than their smaller counterparts, so posing is going to be limited, but they are beautiful toys that really wowed me as a kid! 

And finally, the large scale Kenner Star Wars next to some other graduates of the class of 1978. Mego's 12" Hulk, Spider-Man, Superman, and Jor-El. It was a great time to be a kid! The toys of that era, from the late '70s leading into the early '80s were fantastic, these oversized figures among my favorites!

More Later- Make It FUN!

Show Me The Droids!

In addition to compliance with the recent 28 Day Challenge, ChunkyB also used his Jedi mind trick to convince several of us bloggers to photograph some of our favorite robot toys for a post at Eclectorama called Show Me The Droids! (how does he DO THAT??). My childhood stash of Star Wars figures were safely tucked away in my Darth Vader carrying case at Mum's, where they have resided for over for over twenty-five years. My brother & I destroyed a lot of Star Wars toys back in the day, including but not limited to: 1 Death Star playset, 1 Droid Factory playset, 1 Millennium Falcon, 1 X-Wing Fighter, 1 Darth Vader Tie Fighter, 1 Landspeeder, at least 2 Micro Collection playsets, and God knows what else escapes my memory... wouldn't I love to have those in mint condition today. But as my dear Mum says, we played with them. And we did have a lot of fun, especially with our Kenner Star Wars toys!

So in taking some shots of the few remaining droids that survived my childhood, I popped a few more- take a look...

Imperials with bounty hunters...

Jabba's Royal entourage...

Ewoks of Endor...

I have more,  too- including an original Hammerhead, Walrusman, and Chewbacca from 1978, as well as some Hoth characters. The case was packed! Some of you have some serious Star Wars swag, but I have very little really- the fascination sort of fizzled after childhood. However, the humble beginnings of this blog started with a 15" Kenner Darth Vader, so there ya go...!

*Action Figure of The Day is a blog I was looking at for a long time before getting back into toys this past year... great fun, full of Star Wars goodness!