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Star Wars toys collecting
A lot of toys were available from 1978 to late 1985, almost all of them were
edited by Kenner. These toys can be divided into a few categories : the 12" figures,
the accessories, and a whole category of toys for the 4" action figures : the action
figures themselves, the playsets, the ships and other curiosities (monsters etc...)
Almost every character from the movie was available in action figure (except
Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen which prototypes never made it to the final toy stage), sometimes
in several different outfits, sometimes in different physical aspect (ie: Lando calrissian
with teeth, or without). Also, every ship, shuttle and small vehicles were available too
(some toys were never seen in the movies). Last, but not least, there was the playsets
like the Death Star, the ice base, the cantina etc...
Nowadays, all these original toys are valuable collectibles, the value of a single loose
character can vary from $8 to $250, or from $12 to $1500 mint in package, with a very few
exceptions even more expensive. Estimated prices for playsets vary from $30 to $300 (or
$80 to $600 boxed), and so on...
Of course, estimated prices vary country to country, depending on a toy's availability in
the country (an item can be very low priced in a country and high priced in another one,
where it was never sold).
Kenner back to the scene...
Since 1995, a brand new line of Star Wars toys were introduced on the toys
market, once again, manufactured by Kenner, under the name of POWER OF THE FORCE. A lot of
these new toys already are high valuable collectibles for a few reasons : The quality of
these toys is excellent and more and more detailled, moreover Kenner is constantly
improving its toys and there are even more variations than before for a same character
(short & long sabers, closed or open hands, stickers or prints, different blister
colors etc...).
Then, these toys are not only bought for children, because children from
Star Wars are now grown ups, have a job and are buying them. Due to this success Kenner
has produced since 1995 more than 300 action figures, a lot of ships and playsets from the
Classic Trilogy and Expanded universe (novels, comics...).
With the release of prequels, almost all Kenner's efforts are concentrated
on these movies too, but the Classic Trilogy is not canceled because it's always a
best-seller, sometimes even more than prequels figures. Kenner still has a very-impressive
non-stop schedule list and this toy line is far from being ended...
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