![]() ![]() The first four figures to be distributed were Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and R2-D2. Unable to build sufficient stock in time for the lucrative Christmas market, they instead sold an "Early Bird Certificate Package" which included a certificate which could be mailed to Kenner and redeemed for four Star Wars action figures. Īlthough the original Star Wars film had been released in May 1977, Kenner was unprepared for the unprecedented response to the film and the high demand for toys, mainly due to George Lucas's unwillingness to provide character/vehicle designs for fear his creations would be plagiarized by movie/TV competitors. In fact, they were so successful that George Lucas independently used the funds to finance the next two movie chapters, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Star Wars (1977) was the first film to successfully market toys based on the movie. Mego refused the offer and the license was subsequently picked up by Kenner, a division of General Mills Fun Group. ![]() The license for Star Wars action figures was offered in 1976 to the Mego Corporation, which was the leading company in action figures in the 1970s. Kenner began producing new Star Wars action figures in 1995. From a line of over 100 unique toys, a total of more than 300 million units were sold during their original run. "It doesn’t often work out that way.") 1.The Star Wars "Early Bird Certificate" toy line from a 1977 Kenner catalogīetween 19, Kenner produced and sold action figures based on the Star Wars franchise. ![]() "If you could go out right now and buy an action figure off the rack for $15, and turn around in a year and sell if for $30, everyone would be doing that," Bellomo says. (And something to keep in mind: While the potential profits of selling these figures do sound impressive, they shouldn't be taken as a sign that we should all invest heavily in toys and wait for our dollars to multiply. ![]() "How many people do you think would have bought a Star Wars figure in the spring of 1977 and saved it in its original packaging?" The answer is: Not very many, which is why mint condition versions of the 10 toys listed below are worth a fortune to collectors. Millions of figures have been produced over the years (the Kenner company shipped an estimated 250 million Star Wars figures by 1985), so what happened to most of them? "Think of it this way," Bellomo says. "As for crown jewels, I have about 150 to 250 mint on sealed card (MOSC) vintage Star Wars figures and a bunch of factory sealed playsets and vehicles, most of which never made it into The Ultimate Guide due to space restrictions."Īccording to Bellomo, there's usually a spike in vintage Star Wars figure prices when there's a major media tie-in (new films, cartoons, or shows made available on streaming platforms), but it's also a case of limited supply and high demand a lot of collectors want the toys, but the number of vintage figures is finite, which increases their value like a piece of fine art. "It took me two years to obtain a sealed bag of foam 'trash' for the Death Star Space Station playset," Bellomo says. Suffice it to say there are a lot, and some were harder to track down than others. With doubles and multiples of many figures and sets, Bellomo could not give a ballpark estimate of how many pieces are in his collection. He now owns every vintage figure ever made, including the "impossible to find" Early Bird Certificate Package. To do so, we enlisted the help of the man who literally wrote the book on the subject: Mark Bellomo, toy expert, mental_floss contributor and author of The Ultimate Guide to Vintage Star Wars Action Figures 1977-1985 (among many, many other books on toys).īellomo tells mental_floss that his love of the Star Wars universe began with the release of the first film in 1977 his connection to the toy line began the next year, when he got his first C-3PO figure. In honor of Star Wars Day, we decided to take a look at some of the figures that you may have owned that are now worth a fortune. In the nearly four decades since the first film hit theaters, almost every character, vehicle, and location from the franchise has been made into a figure or playset, and kid and adult fans alike purchased-and continue to buy-as many as they could afford. When it comes to movie-themed toy tie-ins, no film will ever compare to Star Wars. ![]()
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