Kenner’s Star Wars Vintage Action Figures

The Beginning Of Legacy

The year 1977 was the biggest and brightest year for the toy and film industries. It was the year when the sci-fi genre was revolutionized by one remarkable film that later became a milestone. Yes, it’s about the first Star Wars film that not only changed the film industry, but also revived the action figure industry and made remarkable place in history.  The film got great popularity due to the sudden high demand of action figures after its arrival in the market.

The Era of Kenner

The license for the action figures of Star Wars was first offered to the Mego Corporation in 1976, which was a leading toy company at that time. However, Mego Corporation declined the offer, not knowing that this figure line would rewrite history. Subsequently, another toy company called Kenner accepted the license to manufacture Star Wars action figures. The popularity of the first Star Wars film led to a sudden high demand for its action figures. It was unexpected and a great surprise for Kenner. They came to the realization that they did not have enough time to release the action figures by the Christmas season. They improvised by selling the “Early Bird Certificate Package”, which included a cardboard backdrop display of upcoming figures, a club membership card, a sticker sheet, and a certificate that guaranteed its holder to receive a set of the first four figures of Star Wars as soon as they were released. In early 1978, Kenner fulfilled its promise and mailed four action figures to all the certificate holders. These action figures were of Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Chewbaca, and Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2). This was the start of the legacy of Star Wars.

The End of Kenner’s Era

In 1978, Kenner released the Star Wars action figures in the market with the addition of eight other figures and a number of vehicles and play sets. After dominating the action figure market for 8 years, Kenner ceased the production of Star Wars action figures due to their low demand and was subsequently bought by Hasbro in 1991, which was another successful and growing toy company. In the mid 90s, the market of Star Wars action figures revived due to the release of Star Wars Special Edition. Hasbro took advantage of this and released a new line of Star Wars figures, Star Wars Power of the Force, in 1995. Today Hasbro is one of the top toy manufacturers in the world and has produced and sold many Star Wars action figures and toys.

Legacy of Kenner: Star Wars Vintage Collection Action Figures

Although Kenner was closed in the 90s, its Original Star Wars action figures are still popular. It is because of their popularity, Hasbro started a new line of Star Wars action figures in 2010. This new line has cards similar to that of Original Kenner Star Wars action figures. This new line is called Star Wars Vintage Collection action figures. They are not the duplicates of the original Kenner figures, but rather an improved version with different sculpts and more articulation points.

Since 2010, Hasbro has released many Star Wars Vintage Collection action figures with latest being the wave 16 coming in October 2012. The Wave 16 includes Mawhonic, Naboo Pilot, Aurra Sing, Gungan Warrior, Ahsoka Tano (The Clone Wars), Obi-Wan Kenobi (The Clone Wars), Lumat, Emperor's Royal Guard, Nien Nunb, Weequay Hunter, Republic Trooper (The Old Republic), and Orrimaarko (Prune Face) action figures. You can pre-order Star Wars Vintage Collection action figures from any online toy store.

Following are the links from where you pre-order action figures:

Pre-Order Emperor's Royal Guard Action Figure
Pre-Order Ahsoka Tank Clone Wars Action Figure
Pre-Order Obi-Wan Kenobi Clone Wars Action Figure

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