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Photo by Bluxomephoto
The first Star Wars dolls – er, "action figures" – weren't your ordinary playthings. They launched movie merchandising as we know it. With them, toymaker Kenner made several industry breakthroughs: Its dolls were small, cheap to make, and available for every character who got screen time. The company produced about 100 different 3.75-inch-tall vinyl doppelg�ngers between 1977 and 1985, from Harrison Ford's hunky Han Solo to the lowly R5-D4 droid. Star Wars obsessive John Kellerman catalogs the figures and nearly 1,000 related artifacts in the self-published Star Wars Vintage Action Figures: A Guide for Collectors (Frontback Books). Luke with blond hair and telescoping light saber? $5,500. Luke with brown hair in Cloud City outfit? $165. But the book is more than a road map for eBay trolls. Kellerman has amassed a fascinating set of 1970s juvenilia – from pictures of Kenner cardboard shipping boxes to the mail-in rain checks sold to meet huge demand before Christmas 1977. If only you'd left those boxes unopened. – Adam Rogers
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Photos by Bluxomephoto Missile-firing versions of bounty hunter Boba Fett never got past the prototype stage � something about poking kids� eyes out. Collectors consider them priceless.
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