In 2017 Star Wars: A New Hope turns 40 years old. While some people need time to process that fact, Hasbro is already leading the charge for A New Hope nostalgia. The toy company is releasing a line of nostalgia style figures to pay homage to the classic Kenner toys released when the movie originally came out.
Hasbro revealed the new line of Star Wars toys last weekend at the New York Toy Fair. Their 6” Black Series action figures are packaged in the style of the original Kenner line. Many of the figures have already been released in the Black Series, but the retro packaging will likely be a big draw for collectors.
The first wave is out in the spring, retailing at $20. The first six repackaged figures are of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and R2-D2. Later in the year Chewbacca, C-3PO, Darth Vader, the Death Squad (what Kenner dubbed the Death Star Trooper), a Tusken Raider, a Jawa, and a Stormtrooper will be released. Those characters were the first 12 characters that Kenner released in the first 3-3/4” line of Star Wars toys.
Hasbro will also offer a special version of Darth Vader for $40. It is a recreation of the Kenner Early Bird Certificate set, which was an empty cardboard box Kenner had sold in the Christmas of ’77 to meet the demand for the toys. The original certificate granted the purchasers a voucher for Luke, Leia, Chewie, and R2-D2 figures that would release in early ’78. It had a special cardboard display set for the figures. The Hasbro toy isn’t an empty box, it comes with Darth Vader, but it is the same style of display with both sides of backing from the original – one with an illustration of the figures and the other was a battle between X-Wings and TIE Fighters.
There will be at least two more figures – one is Luke in his X-Wing pilot gear that will only be available at the Star Wars Celebration event in Orlando and the other is the exploding droid R5-D4 – at Gamestop retail locations.