Kenner Lando Calrissian (Bespin)

There’s something you’ve got to love about Han’s old friend that betrayed him before helping Luke and the others rescue him.  He had a pretty big role in the movie, which makes it surprising how little spotlight he gets from modern toys, and even collectors.

This figure accurately depicts his outfit from the Empire Strikes Back, which is nice but also means he’s a bit plain. This outfit didn’t have a whole lot going on, which makes the figure a little more boring. It is a nice change from the often busy designs from the films, but that’s about it. While we’re on the sculpt, Lando’s head sculpt is very nice featuring a zealous grin you’d expect from him. It has a lot of character to it, which really brings this figure to life.

A minor gripe I have with the figure is that he comes with the same blue blaster many of the other ESB figures included. It’s a pretty nice gun, though it just doesn’t seem too appropriate for him in my eyes.

Off the character alone, Lando’s a must have for any Kenner collection. The plot on Bespin was a big part of ESB, and you just don’t have that without this guy. I might say that the ROTJ look is more interesting than this one, but that figure doesn’t represent the scene this one does, plus he’s expensive. This Lando is a good figure faithful to the film’s design, and on that I recommend him.

Mailaway Boba Fett

This figure was my first experience with a Kenner style action figure. I wouldn’t have collected these had it not been for this mailaway, but the simple, old-school charm of the figure left me wanting more. I think that alone says a lot about the appeal and iconic nature of this figure.

Unlike many fans, I don’t really like Boba Fett all that much. Don’t get me wrong, he’s cool, especially his design. He just didn’t really do all that much in movies, not that Vader or the Empire couldn’t have done themselves really. For that, I just don’t care for the character that much.

When offered as a mail-in though, it suddenly becomes to where I feel a greater need to own the figure. After all, you never know how many chances you’re going to get at these things before they end up getting pricey, so of course I would get one for myself. My original intent was only to get the other bounty hunters and a few Imperials to accompany this figure, but you know how it goes, a lot here and a cheap figure there and before long I had acquired a large and somewhat meandering collection of Kenner Star Wars figures. I always find it funny how that kind of stuff happens, in this case all because of a novelty mail-in.

Fett himself is a supreme sculpt and perhaps the best from the entire Kenner vintage line. Technically, this figure is actually a new sculpt and isn’t the exact same as the original, but when compared its so close he works fine in place of the true vintage figure. It’s almost impossible to tell them apart unless you see them side by side.

This version of Fett also features a functioning missile launcher like the original was intended to, a story very well known by any collector familiar with vintage Star Wars toys, but I’ll sum it up real quick. For the original figure, Kenner had planned and even advertised him as having a functioning rocket launcher, but the missile for the launcher was too small, and didn’t meet safety regulations as such. The figure was shipped out pretty much the same, but his missile launcher was disabled. This version tries to fix that by including a second missile, long enough to meet safety regulations, so it can be fired. The problem is it just looks like crap; it’s nearly as tall as the figure! It was a nice thought, but ultimately, it just doesn’t add anything to the figure, not for me anyways.

Now that this figure’s a few years old, there’s really no point in choosing this version over a real vintage one, other than the fact that you might get him a little cheaper still. For me, this figure has a lot of meaning that makes him the centerpiece of my vintage collection, even if I really don’t like Boba Fett that much.

TVC Widdle and Wunka

Last year was a big year for the Ewoks, with around eight new bears. For a fan of the little guys this was a pretty good thing, although the exclusive nature of many of these was a small frustration. In the case of Widdle and Wunka, they were K-mart exclusives. Now, my last K-mart closed just before these were released leaving me no option to get them myself. Thankfully a good friend helped me get both of these K-mart sets.

Starting with Wunka, he features a new head, new hood, and new weapon. I like the look of this one, the teal/green hood helps him stand out among the other Ewoks. His head is the source of criticism from some fans that dislike his cartoonish face, that has bigger eyes and more stylized teeth than the other Ewoks. I tend to not mind this, but I do see how it might irritate some. His axe is a nice weapon too, and is a nice change from the typical spear.

Widdle is the orange bear in the set. This is a nice color for an Ewok given their usual shades of gray. Widdle’s hood and club are new, but his head is reused from Leektar in this case. There’s enough of the modern Ewoks that this head reuse can be forgiven as it’s not really noticeable. A club also seems like a pretty strange weapon, but again, I like it for being different.

In ROTJ, Widdle and Wunka are the two Ewoks that help Chewbacca hijack an AT-ST. This was a pretty cool scene in my eyes, so it’s nice to finally own these two in action figure form.