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Fake Vader

I have no idea who Crowd Pleasers is but I can only imagine they were not officially licensed by Lucasfilm and probably made a fortune doing this. Love Darth’s Kenner blaster, just like he never used. This is the perfect type of photo I’m seeking for my next book project Mall of Justice, a love letter to […]

Star Wars sale at Osco

Another newspaper line illustrated gem, this one from Osco. I never had the Star Destroyer Playset but recently discovered some collectors I know have this weird hate on for it. Was it a disappointing toy?

The Kenner Empire

It was around this time as a kid that I realized that I could never, ever “Collect Them All” when it came to Star Wars. Not that I had everything made leading up to this point but there was probably some child like naivete that I could catch up somehow. Fortunately for me, I was […]

Zayre Wars

I think this ad nicely captures the moment in time where my personal lust for all things Star Wars reached a pinnacle. As a kid I had all but two (never got a 12 inch Vader or R2) of the items pictured here. All of them got ruined not by neglect but by constant play.

A Salute to Canadian Toy Packaging

It’s not a closely guarded secret that I’m Canadian. So on the day of my country’s 150th birthday, it seems duly patriotic that i share my favourite toys in Canadian packaging.  Due to having two official languages, we had different toy packages than the US and brother,  it’s tough to find.  Hunting these is my […]

Kenner Jedi

So instead of  Leia, this ad features slave General Madine, the most boring Kenner figure ever IMO (and the last figure I ever purchased, talk about going out with a whimper.) Even Jabba seems to be yawning.

The first 48

This is where i tapped out as a kid, 48 action figures was too much to “Collect ’em all” and I remember taking a hard line with Cloud Car pilot (I already had a Bespin guard). I may have been the exception but I really got into Black Hole and Star Trek TMP figures at […]

Star Wars in Japan

I recently found a 1978 copy of Starlog magazine from Japan, I find it adorable how little Star Wars merchandise there is but this is very, very early in the game. Of particular note is the infamous “Archive Minatures” which I’ve never actually seen before. These little figures (called “dolls” in the ad) were cranked […]