DVauto

some of my favorite vintage items

by From My collectionVintage Kenner Pix of figures or variations

DVautoI was 13 when I read this book called STAR WARS The  Adventures of Luke Skywalker. It was the spring of 1977, I recall devouring the story after finding  about the book after  reading a blurb in a new magazine I saw called STARLOG.  Of course it changed my life. I was a farm boy, My folks recently purchased a farm in the country, and we had been there 2 years. I moved form the City of Minneapolis, to a small town in Central MN. I could relate to seeing the rest of the universe.

So what are my favorite things? Not surprising some of the earliest items available.  swcardswonderbreadset

My Autographed picture form Darth Vader, he visited the Mall  B Daltons Bookstore.

DSC02547WonderBread Trading cards, and the GM trading card sets and of course the Topp’s cards.

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The Die cast ships…

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Model Kits.. I customized a falcon with black light paint, and lighted interior. – Of course, I wanted to go to hollywood and be a special effects artist, after seeing the models Brian Johnson and Derek Meddings DSC02943did for  space 1999 and other Gerry Anderson productions.

and Lastly the early posters, the Fan Club ,Trench poster, the Soundtrack space battle,poster ,  and finally Marvel Comics, Awesome art, and cheap for a kid to buy. at 35 cents. !!

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Galaxy Empire Star Wars POTF knockoff Bootlegs

by From My collectionNews and other Star Wars collecting stuffVintage Kenner Pix of figures or variations

If you were lucky enough to hit  discount dollar stores  in the 90’s , you know the one’s, with lots of cheap China plastic lining the isles- You may have found these.. One of the few Bootlegs Lucasfilm did not catch and got into the US market.

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Galaxy Empire toys were knock offs of the POTF sculpt of  figures but about  6″ tall. The packages are dated 1997. The cardbacks are very flimsy

The entire release included 7 total figures, with some paint ops in the series.

heres the list.  of what to look for.

Luke, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Chewbacca as Snoova, Darth Vader, and a Stormtrooper.

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Kenner Star Wars Death Squad Commander – Star Destroyer Commander variations

by From My collectionNews and other Star Wars collecting stuffUncategorizedVintage Kenner Pix of figures or variations

Screen Shot 2016-05-29 at 1.13.17 PMThe Vintage Kenner 1977 Star Destroyer Commander/ Death Squad Commander. has many variations- here are a few Things to look for are  eyes colors, his insignia, color and type of grey plastic, head color,  mold of helmet, gloss or matte finish to boots and gloves,  as well the coo markings.

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Vintage Kenner Droid Factory playset- base color variations

by From My collectionVintage Kenner Pix of figures or variations

The Droid Factory Playset came out in 1978 in a Star Wars box. It was also released later in a ESB box. The ESB box version is much harder to find.

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For the most part all things are similar, although there  a distinct variation in the base color can be found.

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From researh it appears the Dark Brown base came to late in the ESB box, making the brown base much harder to find. The lighter color base has been found in both SW and ESB boxes.

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Of course the coolest part of the Droid factory set is the 3 lever R2-D2. with its funky 3rd plug in leg.

 

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POTF 1985 Anakin Skywalker on reproduction card.

by From My collectionVintage Kenner Pix of figures or variations

The world of reproduction cardbacks includes about every cad back and the bubbles are getting better and better.

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The type is distinctly different than original card, The back is much paler.  tape is holding the bubble on to card.

Here is a reproduction Anakin Power of the Force 1985 Anakin,

– notice cheap plastic coin.

-color off on the backside off, and fuzzy.

-type incorrect

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Luke Skywalker Saber variations.

by From My collectionNews and other Star Wars collecting stuffUncategorizedVintage Kenner Pix of figures or variations

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1995 POTF Classic Luke
1995 POTF Classic Luke

I have been going thru Luke Sabers , updating,  organizing and getting sorted to figures.

        Here some of the versions out there.

Lettered sabers,  Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and a reproduction bottom.

A collection of Luke Sabers- Bottom Reproduction
A collection of Luke Sabers- Bottom Reproduction
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Luke Double Telescoping
Luke Double Telescoping
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Vintage Star Wars 12 back Princess Leia Vs reproduction repro fake cardback

by From My collectionNews and other Star Wars collecting stuffVintage Kenner Pix of figures or variations

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I have to say it is really frustrating to see people being taken when I go hunting on eBay  for vintage Star Wars toys.  A flurry of  vintage carded  figure 12  backs have “suddenly materliazed” in the market place over the past year.- I  am not sure what is worse seeing people being duped by the waning, everything is a POCH scams  by melting a figures backside and calling it POCH or this.  Many items are are not what they appear to be.

Here are some comparison pictures of an original Kenner Princess :ii a12b compared to a reproduction cardback.  The original in all pictures is right or on top

Some key points to identify a reproduction or fake card back and bubble< this is list goes beyond just this figure but applies to  many repros of 12k cards currently out there.

  • PRICE in white box  text wrong.
  • The Text for the stock Number of white price box wrong.
  • The Ages 4 and up text wrong.
  • Blue color wrong.
  • Footer incorrect size
  • bubble incorrect size.  although other repro bubbles closer to original shape have surfaced.
  • back of card back incorrect  texture. brought matte  and text slightly fuzzy.
  • POP color wrong.
  • The repro card may look good on display, but do not get taken, there are unaware or more likely  intentionally unscrupulous sellers attempting to pass these off as original . They intentionally place a old  price sticker over the PRICE text, slightly bend up the card, in an attempt to emulate a  more vintage look.

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Original card back aways right or TOP.

Follow me  for future and more look thru  back posts to other reproduction VS original cardback comparisons.

These are being  added to my Vintage Star wars figure guide in upcoming editions.