The standard single 3-3/4” action figures dominate Kenner’s Star Wars line, but they aren’t the only toys sought by collectors. To keep the market thriving, Kenner produced several multi-pack sets and an assortment of 12” figures. These, along with production proof cards, have found a robust home on the collecting market.
Kenner created 16 three-pack special action figure sets with the Star Wars or ESB logo. The sets are predominately themed by character type, status, and geographic location, including packs of creatures, heroes, Rebels, Imperials, droids, villains, Hoth, and Bespin.
The six-packs are much rarer, consisting of only two varieties, both featuring The Empire Strikes Back logo. Boxed rather than carded, each figure came sealed in an individual plastic bag. The very rare six-packs are often referred to by their yellow or red backgrounds on the box art.
The 12” figures, marketed as large size action figures, were released around the time of the first two movies. Most of the main characters, plus a few secondary, were produced in the line and sold in window boxes. Larger figures had been the standard size of most action figures before Kenner introduced the 3-3/4” Star Wars line, but these new large figures weren’t as popular, possibly because the smaller ones had more options for vehicles, playsets, and accessories.
A popular facet of the toy collecting is in the proof cards, which were printing production samples made to finalize the card designs that would provide backing to the action figures. Because of that, only a small number have survived.
Cards with the Revenge of the Jedi title are among the most popular. Though the Revenge title wasn’t used, the proofs were printed, along with other packaging and posters. After the title was changed and all merchandise depicted the Return of the Jedi title, those cards became the closest collectors can get to Revenge of the Jedi action figures.
To read more about Star Wars toys, order a copy of The Overstreet Price Guide to Star Wars Collectibles from gemstonepub.com.
