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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies

Star Wars Action Figures 116

Posted by michael from the stuff-to-choke-on dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Star Wars nostalgia buffs: X-E just added a fairly long feature detailing some of the many mail-away offers made by the Kenner company to keep kids interested in SW action figures in the 80s."
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Star Wars Action Figures More

Star Wars Action Figures

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  • Spam from a Jedi Knight? (Score:5, Funny)

    by AtariDatacenter ( 31657 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @05:51PM (#5035845)
    This letter [x-entertainment.com] reads so much like the start of the spam that I get in my inbox. It was funny to read...

    Dear Young Jedi Knight:
    Greetings! I hope this letter reaches you -- I am sending it over great distances and many millennia.     ...if only it read...


    I am sending it over 10000ly (TEN THOUSAND LIGHT YEARS) and 10000y (TEN THOUSAND YEARS)....

  • Are well used original figures worth anything? ;) (Score:5, Funny)

    by modme2 ( 630194 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @05:54PM (#5035851)
    If only I didn't freeze Han Solo so many times and kept the figure in the original plastic it would be worth a lot now ;)

  • Natalie giving her reaction to her action figure (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @06:06PM (#5035867)
    (DivX, 770 KiB, 13 secs) [natalieportman.com]

  • Non-shooting Boba Fett (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mikeboone ( 163222 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @06:11PM (#5035877) Homepage Journal
    I remember waiting weeks for the Boba Fett with the firing missile, and how pissed I was that it wouldn't shoot. I kept trying to make it shoot, looking for a button, moving the arms to trigger it. :(

    I also remember playing with a land-speeder for weeks before I could get any figures to go in it (parents should've gone for that early-bird thing), and also how upset it was when I lost Chewbacca's gun in the dark 70s shag carpet, never to be seen again!

    • Holy cow! I read this and almost thought I said it. With one exception, I found Chewbacca's gun; or at least the doctor did when she pulled it out of my knee after I was crawling around looking for Vader's lightsaber (same color carpet).

      Something about that just sounds Wrong when I re-read it.

    • Yeah same here - when I got mine, the picture-instruction for how to shoot the missile had a sticker over it, and the red missile was glued in his backpack.

      Then to top it off, my dog chewed it apart a few weeks later... little bastard.
    • Ahh yes, the I remeber that well. My first run-in with "child safety". I remember opening the package and reading the notice about it not being able to fire. I also remember not giving a crap because i was the only kid in my school w/ the figure =) Anywho.. here's the scoop [starwars.com]
    • I remember not having one, but my brother did, so I grabbed it and threw it up into a tree. Um, several times. Um, until his arms and legs came off.

      Do you think it would be worth anything now?

      Heh.

    • upset it was when I lost Chewbacca's gun in the dark 70s shag carpet

      At least he was still alive! We lost Chewie out the car window on a busy street. When we went back, he had been dismembered, the poor bastard.

    • Anyone rememebr the product recall on the Cylon Rader spaceship. I had one with the missles that shot out. A friend had one where they "Locked" them down. Damn product safety. Wish I still had it...in the box.
      • Guess I got lucky on this one, since I remember mine being able to shoot. I probably still have it in a storage box somewhere, crushed by other old toys. Probably a few $ in there if I could get around to organizing and eBaying it.
      • They had the same recall for the Vipers as well...

        My mom thought it was a great idea -- "look, they'll send you a free HotWheels in exchange for the missles..."

        So, I got a cheesy circa-1979 customized Chevy Van, and a Viper with no friggin missles... the least Mattel could have done is send you a Hotwheels with a similar warmongering bent. Instead I get the 70s swinger van.
    • I totally forgot about that little last-minute switcheroo till I read the article. I remember -- wow, a missle that shoots... I can't wait! I was sooo pissed at the time. I also remember later getting Bossk and being like, who the hell is this loser, and why are his arms 2x the length of his torso?

      On the upside, I did write to Kenner once regarding the fragility and easily-lost nature of the weapons. (I was a really anal kid, and never lost anything, so was freaked out for a week when my friend lost the gun for the death star officer guy). They actually sent me an envelope of miscellaneous blasters, sandperson gaffi-sticks, etc..

  • So when the trilogy is rewritten... (Score:3, Funny)

    by gpinzone ( 531794 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @06:13PM (#5035879) Homepage Journal
    ...to include Jar Jar and Queen Amidala, are they going to be considered "classic" action figures, too?

  • How can they overlook the emperor? (Score:5, Funny)

    by gatekeep ( 122108 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @06:14PM (#5035883)
    Okay, maybe it was a lame giveaway, but I remember sending in for a whole of emperors because I had the proof of purchase seals anyhow. I think I had more emperors than storm troopers. Maybe that's why the empire failed, too much management.

  • Oh the pain... (Score:5, Funny)

    by MojoMonkey ( 444942 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @06:15PM (#5035885) Homepage
    Raise your hand if, like me, you cried when you saw the current selling price of the original action figures you proceded to tie to a fence, shoot with BB guns and explode with fire crackers. Twenty minutes of sheer joy, a lifetime of regret.
    • I vividly recall witnessing the behedding of a friend's Han Solo by two garbage men....they fired up the compactor on the truck and held onto his legs letting the machine do the work...

      the horror...
    • [raises hand]

      Most of mine ended up in the creek next to my house, buried in mud beside the driveway or in the middle of a field that was nearby. I had a knack for losing the lightsabers- I liked to pull them out of the arm and swap them around (I thought _everyone_ should have a red lightsaber instead of the stupid blue or green ones).

      I also remember that the GI Joe characters (Snake Eyes was my favorite) were much more fun to play with because they were so much more versatile. You could put them in the star wars vehicles (unfortunately, the reverse was rarely true), and they actually bent in good places like ELBOWS and KNEES. That was something that always bothered me to no end about the star wars figures.

      Also, if you unscrewed the little screw in their little GI Joe backs (in the hole where you stuck the pegs that were on the backpacks) you could remove the rubber band that held their arms, legs and hip-thingie (pelvis?) together and play 'Dr. Moreau'. I wasted a lot of time doing that.
    • "Twenty minutes of sheer joy, a lifetime of regret."

      Kinda like how it was with me and my kids, only it was about two minutes of sheer joy...
    • I used to live in England and I had about 20 of the original figures, not to mention the first 10+ Star Wars comincs that came out. I hadn't even opened them (the comics) to read as I really wasn't that interested in them at the time (I was 5..gimme a break!). Anyway...long story short, I gave them to a buddy in an old bag when we moved to Canada...yes...Oh...the pain!
    • Too true. I distinctly remember throwing each one up in the air, hitting it as hard as I could with a wiffle-ball bat, watching as it hit our cement basement wall and exploding into peices, and then putting them back together again with different parts on each one. Think Darth Vader head, Princess Leia body, C3PO legs and Luke Skywalker arms.

      I'm not completely sure, but maybe I had some issues as a child

    • My plan for destruction included flammable liquids. It was cool watching Star Wars meet the Ark of the Covenant.

      THEN, the ones that survived got the BB gun.

      We had a couple Grunts (GI Joe), too. A little liquid that should power an auto and the whole squad was taken out!

      I still have the weapons somewhere, though. Maybe I could work a deal with someone that still has the figures.

  • It's kind of sad how many of those figures I had. And also the ghost Obi-Wan (translucent plastic), the Nein Numb, and the Emperor. But isn't this better suited for Fark than /. ?

  • How I got Anakin Skywalker (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @06:22PM (#5035901)
    This was how I got my Anakin Skywalker figure as a kid. It was the Anakin from the end of ROTJ, it was so cool and I was so jazzed.

    Now you won't believe this one, but after getting that when I was about 7 or 8, I write to Hasbro telling them how much of a fan I was and how much I loved Star Wars and that I was enclosing $3 (the going rate back then for StarWars toys, that I earned raking leaves) for a Darth Vader action Figure w/removable helmet and Anakin Skywalkers head/face. Lo' and behold a few weeks later I get a package in the mail with a Darth Vader action figure, non-removable helmet. I was so excited, I didn't care.
    I would like to see you try that now a days.

    That was one fond memory. Thanks.
    • It really is unbelievable how excited I got about Star Wars action figures as a kid. Actually it was most of my childhood. I probably spent 80% of my childhood playtime with these toys. They were simply the best.
      • I must have had a very deprived childhood (as opposed to my depraved adulthood) - never owned a single star wars figure.

        However I married someone who did. In fact she has a couple of huge boxes (1 the size of a washing machine) full of Star Wars stuff (figures including some of the larger versions, ships etc).

        She even has practically all the accessories that came with the figures as her mother wouldn't let her play with them unsupervised in case she lost them!

        The only problem is that we live in the UK and they're stored in her mom's garage in WA, USA!

  • Walrus Man Lives Again! (Score:3, Funny)

    by GuyMannDude ( 574364 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @06:28PM (#5035915) Journal

    Star Wars nostalgia buffs: X-E just added a fairly long feature detailing some of the many mail-away offers made by the Kenner company to keep kids interested in SW action figures in the 80s.

    Thank God! I'm tired of all those disbelieving stares I get from the neighborhood kids when I regail them with tales of my treasured Walrus Man action figure I had as a wee tyke! Kids today have no respect for the classics!

    GMD

  • Of course, they missed some of the best figures [amazon.com] out there from the wave 69 series such as the "Leia-Porkin' Ewok", "Shaved Bush Chewie", and "AT-AT Crushed Dak". Snoogans.

  • More than meets the eye (Score:3, Funny)

    by Spameroni ( 158440 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @07:21PM (#5036209)
    The BEST part of this article is the link WAY down at the bottom to this [x-entertainment.com].

  • Playing with (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Forgotten ( 225254 )
    The thing I find funny is the consistent use of the term "action figure" (or even just "figure") to describe these things, even by people who are way too old and media-literate to be fooled any longer. Clearly, they're dolls, and hey, I played with them too (I probably still have R2-D2 - and if that one doesn't give the lie to the term "action" I don't know what does). Even as a ten year old boy I was apparently secure enough in my masculinity that I didn't have a problem with this - if we assume the same applied to the other members of the target demographic, who was the concocted "action figure" term actually meant to placate? The marketroids who coined it? The male parents, already distressed that their scifi-obsessed heir prefers fiddling with this weird crap to playing football like a good little oaf? I'm genuinely curious.

    For that matter I'd love to know the history of the weird marketing term itself; were the Star Wars dollies the first use of "action figure", or was it ever used before that, say for certain toys with certain Kung-Fu grips? I'm pretty sure my disastrously-easy-to-disassemble Steve Austin doll wasn't called a "figure", whether or not he was a "doll". Though he would have been proud to be either, damn it.

    Shoulda kept the Darda cars. Stupid kid.

    • Re:Playing with (Score:2, Informative)

      by agrippa_cash ( 590103 )
      PBS had some documentery on the marketing of the GI Joe doll (thats how I know). I found a little here: http://actionfigures.about.com/library/weekly/aa01 1201c.htm Brought to you by the American Trivia Counsel
      • Interesting link, thanks. It's a bit credulously written though, in the sense that it regards there as being a real difference between a doll and an action figure, as opposed to it being purely arbitrary marketing terminology. Since the existence of that term occupies about forty years out of the 100,000 or so that humans of all ages and genders have been playing with dolls (including those that can be stood on their own feet, or can't), I tend to the latter view. A deeper look into the subject might explore where the late 20th century American machismo that makes it verboten for boys to play with dolls actually came from (you can bet Rudyard Kipling called his dolls, dolls). For now we can blame Soviet Russia. ;)
        • If you grew up in the 80s, dolls were Barbie-sized--like those wacked-out giant GI Joe dolls we'd sometimes get glimpses of previous generations having played with. "Action Figures" were those tiny little ones.

          Yeah, they're still kinda sort dolls, though the much smaller formfactor makes it possible to have a lot more vehicles, which in turn influences the way kids tend to play.

          I read an interesting book, can't remember the title, that traced Star Wars from initial concepts to final merchandising. One of the things I hadn't really realized is how out of proportion stuff like the Millennium Falcon is, since one scaled to the figures would be too big for parents to buy, or to store easily.

          [geekdom]Of course, they say that the interiors we see for the Falcon couldn't fit inside the exterior shots we see...[/geekdom]

          Though some fan built a properly scaled Rebel Blockade Runner [pegwarmer.com] that's hauled around on something the size of a autocarrier truck.

  • Nobody.. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by TheRIAAMustDie ( 628852 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @07:29PM (#5036279)
    can touch Hammerhead.. he rules too much to believe.

    My buddy had an AT-AT ( link 1 [starwars.com],
    link 2 [mobz.org],
    link 3 [hispeed.com],
    link 4 [jakestable.com] )and we massacred that thing.. took the head apart so we could get at the electronics and mess with 'em.. we were about 8.. it always kind of walked funny after that..

    Here's some posts as to why AT-AT's are 'retarded'. [allscifi.com]

    Face The Crowd New Media. [facethecrowd.com] Now with CARP-free music, Freeware OS X Apps, and wicked Wallpapers!
  • I was collecting them, but then I got tired of it, oppened them all up, and made a cheesy movie. But none of them were worth anything anyhow.

  • Um, who cares? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by writertype ( 541679 )
    Unfortunately, due to the lack of comments in this thread, I think the overwhelming opinion is "Who cares?" (/troll)

    Seriously, though, the summation of the article wasn't exactly thrilling. Mailing list incentives to convince kids to buy Star Wars action figures?! Shouldn't you be linking to CES previews or something more interesting?
    • I do. As do other readers of that sight. YOU might not, and a majority of the /. community might not but guess what, it wasnt written for you but for the readers of that sight. Getting a bit greedy now aint ya?

  • Add the words "Star Wars" to get submission posted (Score:4, Funny)

    by loggia ( 309962 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @07:34PM (#5036332)
    Ah, I just figured out the secret.

    If you think you have a really good submission but it keeps getting rejected, just add change it to "STAR WARS [rest of original title]."

  • I had a complete set of the original figures (mail away Anakin, et al.). Paid for my first year of private college here in NY, thanks to eBay. I have no regrets about selling them.
  • I still can vividly recall my Darth Vader action figure and his cheap light saber (the little plastic stick was always bent). It added a certain irony to the menacing dark mask.
    • "I still can vividly recall my Darth Vader action figure and his cheap light saber (the little plastic stick was always bent). It added a certain irony to the menacing dark mask."

      He just needs a voice box that says "I hate it when my Schwartz gets twisted..."

    • I purchased a number of arcade games a few years ago, including some Star Wars arcade games, for $250 apiece. Inside the twoo of the three Star Wars games I purchased were Star Wars arcade posters. I benefited from being one of the first people to put them on eBay during the Star Wars Episode I craze. It sold for $120. In fact, I was quite shocked that it sold for so much. But I was more than happy to give the buyer the better of the two posters I had.
  • Everything you never had, always wanted, were jealous of... And hundreds of things that you never had the chance to get. Great site.

    www.toysrgus.com

  • gotta whole Darth Vader head full (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    My inlaws just found the Darth Vader (head) carrying case up in thier attic full of figures in perfect condition. Excpet for the capes. Those cheap thin plastic capes that tore off after a few battles. They want to give them to me. I said SURE!!!! Wait till their son finds out eh!
  • That guys AIM is on there, poor dude...
  • Kids these days want dragonball Z figures!
  • If you ignore most of this guy's text, it's a very interesting study in marketing (some of the stuff he's showing are prototypes!). I guess Mr. Bitter-trousers is being humorous, but from most of the posts here so far, many people participated in this marketing campaign, or knew someone that did. I don't see the posters here wading in grumpy anti-toy-maker sentiments.

    No matter what the attitude of the article writer, Kenner's marketing campaign sure worked. I have some of those limited edition things (the backpacks, guns, some of the secret action figures). Of course none of them are in original packaging (but in good condition).

    Nevertheless, it's a nice collection of promotional material!

    TTFN

  • Bossk (Score:3, Funny)

    by syntap ( 242090 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:23PM (#5037075)
    I remember finally getting Bossk, and all the other neighborhood kids just bowed before me.

    And the Action Figure Survival Kit with the umpteen guns, especially the ones with the straps? I was the frickin ARSENAL!

    I, too, was hopping pissed that my Boba Fett missle didn't actually shoot... as pissed as I was that my Battlestar Gallactica Cylon fighters and Vipers didn't actually shoot.
    • The original Cylon fighter and Viper DID actually shoot, and they were damn powerful for the day. Unfortunately, the missles were very small and presented a choking hazard for infants, so the manufacturer changed the toy. Thankfully I still have my original, firing, models :)

      Oh yeah, article correction:

      "Revenge" of the Jedi was changed because at the time the new Trek movie was titled "The Revenge of Khan". Well known geek folklore, I'm surprised this supposed Star Wars freak didn't know it.
      • Hrm... the version I always heard was that right after the first batch of "Revenge" movie posters went out, someone in the production crew asked "Isn't it out of character for the Jedi to seek revenge?" (or some such comment), and lo and behold, it was changed.

        Come to think of it, though, the Star Trek thing makes a lot more sense...

        Kierthos
      • Posted about this in another thread, but I can attest to this as well.

        Had a Viper with the missles. (and now that you mention it, they were pretty powerful. very cool.) After some idiot shot his eye out or let his 2 year old brother eat the missles, they launched the recall. Mattel would send you a HotWheels in exchange for the missles, which my mom thought was a great idea. So I get a cheesy 70s swinger van and Mattel gets my missles. grrr.
    • you were very fat as a kid huh?

      sorry.
  • I was 10 and and wanted the Boba Fett mail in, but you needed prood of purchases from 4 other figures to mail in to Kenner. So I went into the local department store with a pocket knife and sliced the bar codes off of 4 carded figures and took them home and mailed them in. No reciepts were needed back in those days! *sigh* It just makes me glow inside!

  • How we destroyed our figures (Score:3, Funny)

    by Rimbo ( 139781 ) <rimbosity@sbcglobal . n et> on Tuesday January 07, 2003 @09:29PM (#5037125) Homepage Journal
    When my bro and I were a kid, we played a game...

    Take a stormtrooper, or Luke. Put kid on exercise bike with large rubber wheel. Get wheel going very fast. Put head of figurine on wheel. Watch plastic head slowly burn off.

    That was great fun. I'd rather have done that than gain a few measly bucks off of another stormtrooper, anyhow... :)
  • What about the Natalie Portman / Amidala RealDoll (grown up and early teen versions available). Bet she loves that one.
  • 6 to 8 weeks ago ... it seemed like forever :)
  • ...one of the new X-wing fighter pilot action figures named "Jorge Sacul"....limited edition, I promise...still in the blister pack, with neatly trimmed goatee....? Serious offers only.
  • Skinner: Gasp! Star Wars action figures, still in their original wrapping. Look, it's Luke, and Obi-Wan, and my favourite the Wookie Chewbacca.
     Ralph: What's a Wookie?
     Skinner: What do you think?
     Miss Hoover: I think it's lunchtime
    Skinner: We have a winner!!!
  • I was young enough to only really get into the Kenner stuff just after Empire. The first offer like this I remember was for the yet-to-be-seen Emperor action figure. Am I mistaken, or was that also an offer they made? I seem to remember getting mine, but then it could just be all the booze talkin'.

    In Soviet Russia, they collected *your* UPC's...

  • Did anyone else get to the bit about Nike's transforming robot... it turns from a robot into, you guessed it, a shoe!!!
  • The article didn't have much to say, but it didn't take me on a nice walk down memory lane.

    I remember that early bird special. I had totally forgotten about the weird cardboard display stand. I think I threw it away pretty quickly as it had no play value whatsoever. I remember waiting for the package and being ecstatic when it finally arrived. I believe they came packed in a styrofoam box (ahh, the 70's). As somebody mentioned earlier, I already had the landspeeder and that was the only vehicle available at the time. Anyway, I also remember the Boba Fett and Bossk mailaways, but decided to pass on those. If I had known how much that original package would be worth I wouldn't have subjected my R2D2 to hours of sitting in the bathtub. I think Luke's lightsaber was toast after the first few weeks. Sigh.

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