We're counting down the last nine days to the Star Wars Saga on Blu-Ray and helping to ease the anxiousness by bringing you a look at another series of Star Wars toys.
Hasbro's Power of the Jedi line is probably one of the strongest and best Star Wars toy lines out there. A great effort was put forward to ensure that several background characters from the film got their chance to shine in plastic form.
The series ran from 2000 to early 2002, and saw a total of fifty-eight new (basic) figures between collections one and two.
BASIC FIGURES
Anakin Skywalker (Mechanic), Aurra Sing (Bounty Hunter), Battle Droid (Boomer Damage), Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Jedi Knight)
Chewbacca (Millennium Falcon Mechanic), Darth Maul (Final Duel), Darth Maul (Sith Apprentice), Darth Vader (Dagobah)
Darth Vader (Emperor's Wrath), Han Solo (Bespin Capture), Han Solo (Death Star Escape), Leia Organa (Bespin Escape)
Leia Organa (General), Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Cold Weather Gear), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi)
Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Training Gear), Qui-Gon Jinn (Mos Espa Disguise), R2-D2 (Naboo Escape), Sandtrooper (Tatooine Patrol)
Biker Scout (Dirty Version), Biker Scout (Clean Version)
Battle Droid (Security), Bespin Guard (Cloud City Security), Boss Nass (Gungan Sacred Place), Chewbacca (Dejarik Champion)
Coruscant Guard, Eeth Koth, Ellorrs Madak, Fode and Beed (Pod Race Announcers)
Jar Jar Binks (Tatooine), Jek Porkins (X-Wing Pilot), K-3PO (Echo Base Protocol Droid), Ketwol
Lando Calrissian (Bespin Escape), Mas Amedda, Mon Calamari (Officer), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Training Gear)
Plo Koon (Jedi Master), Queen Amidala (Royal Decoy), Queen Amidala (Theed Invasion), R2-Q5 (Imperial Astromech Droid)
R4-M9, Rebel Trooper (Tantive IV Defender), Sabé (Queen's Decoy), Saesee Tiin (Jedi Master)
Sebulba (Boonta Eve Challenge), Shmi Skywalker, Tessek, Tusken Raider (Desert Sniper)
Zutton (Snaggletooth),
Bo Shek, Teebo
DELUXE FIGURES
The Power of the Jedi deluxe figures were a perfect example of how deluxe figures should be. They don't need all sorts of nonsense packed in with them to make them deluxe. Just make them relevant to what the figure is, and in the case of the Luke in Bacta Tank, detail, detail, detail. It all paid off in the end as these are some of the best deluxe figures to date.
Amanaman with Salacious Crumb, Darth Maul with Sith Attack Droid
Luke Skywalker in Echo Base Bacta Tank, Princess Leia with Sail Barge Cannon
SPECIAL EDITION, MULTI PACK AND EXCLUSIVE FIGURES
To celebrate the world of Star Wars figures, Hasbro produced a special edition 300th figure - Boba Fett. It served as a great iconic moment for collectors, while at the same time showed us what kind of quality detail Hasbro was capable of. If anything, it's a shame that all Star Wars figures can't be given the time and attention that this one figure got.
One multi pack was release, but was fairly unpopular with the exception of die hard collectors who absolutely have to have one of each figure.
Wizards of the Coast packed in an exclusive Wookiee - Rorworr with their Invasion of Theed Adventure Game. It was an interesting ploy to get toy collectors interested in the roleplaying game, and failed all fronts.
Boba Fett (300th Figure), Rorworr
Masters of the Dark Side
25TH ANNIVERSARY AND SNEAK PREVIEW FIGURES
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of A New Hope, Hasbro produced three awesome two packs - Based on famous scenes, or in the Han Solo/Chewbacca pack, an iconic photograph.
They were a bit expensive for what they were, but man was they hot.
To remind everyone that Attack of the Clones was right around the corner (and that new toys would be coming soon), Hasbro followed suit with four new Sneak Preview figures.
Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa - Swing to Freedom, Han Solo and Chewbacca - Death Star Escape, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader - Final Duel
MEGA ACTION FIGURES
The Mega Action figures were anything but Mega. In fact, they were down right cheap. They were slightly larger figures that basically spazzed out when you pushed the buttons on their back, or in the case of the Destroyer Droid, a simple Transformer. Many collectors and fans were glad to see that Hasbro cancelled this small sub line shortly after its initial release.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul, Destroyer Droid
VEHICLES
Vehicles still didn't get the respect that they deserved. Rather than putting forth any effort into coming up with new vehicles, Hasbro once again dusted off the molds from vintage vehicles, slapped a new coat of paint on them, and called it a day. The only exception to this is the TIE Bomber which was never released in the vintage line.
Interesting about this release of the vehicles is that each one was an exclusive to a specific store.
TIE Interceptor (Toys R' Us), B-Wing Fighter (Target), AT-ST (Toys R' Us)
TIE Bomber (Toys R' Us), Snowspeeder (Walmart)
PLAYSETS
The Carbon-Freezing Chamber Playset which was eventually released as a Star Wars Fan Club exclusive actually dates back to the Power of the Force II line where it was initially slated to be released. For whatever unknown reason, it was pulled from production, and didn't see the light of day until the tail end of the Power of the Jedi line.
Carbon-Freezing Chamber
STAR TOURS
When Disney caught site of Star Wars quickly raking in cash hand over fist, they took the opportunity to dust off the ol' Star Tours ride, and re-launch it at what was called Star Wars Disney Weekend. This of course led to a small line of figures, that while carded on the Power of the Jedi cards (with the logo removed from the card), were a Disney exclusive under the guise of Star Tours. Several other Star Wars lines (which we'll get to on later dates) saw the return of Star Tours specific figures.
G2-41, RX-24 (REX), R3-D3
DL-X2, R4-M9, WEG-1618
Power of the Jedi may have been a relatively small line when compared to later lines, but it certainly had a lot of satisfaction to it in terms of great figures. To this day it is one of the best Star Wars toy lines ever produced.
Join us September 9, 2011 for an in depth look at the massive collection of Star Wars - Saga toys!
Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.
In the Final wave of Basic Figures Collection 2 there were 3 Figures (Snaggletooth, Bo Shek & Teebo) yet there are 4 pictured? The 4th looks like Plo koon on a Battle Droid Cardback. Is this a mistake??
ReplyDelete