ianboldsworth

Vintage Star Wars Toys Exhibition

Added 2022-11-29 11:00:07 +0000 UTC

Hello there

As mentioned on the most recent Cabin Fever podcast from Friday, I would like you to indulge me in telling you about a recent visit to see some very old friends. I warn you now, this is proper nerd central. I refuse to feel embarrassed no matter how much you may mock me.

This is the May The Toys Be With You Exhibition which is currently homed at the Banbury Museum and Gallery. I was completely unaware this was the case, and was actually in Banbury searching (successfully) for the 4K release of Planes, Trains & Automobiles. However on spotting this sign, it was a dead cert that I'd be paying an extra hour on my parking...

I shall tell you that my absolute favourite thing about this exhibition was how tight it mostly stayed with its time period. The toys on show were exclusively from the original Kenner/Palitoy run, which was 1978 to 1985. There's nothing from beyond that, none of the nineties rebooted figures, nothing from present day overkill, just those originals. Which makes the exhibition both relatively compact, and nicely curated.

I was going to film in there, but there was very loud Star Wars music playing (or loud enough at least for it to make editing a nightmare and flag up rights issues), but I did snap away a load of pictures, especially of things were I had a story for them.

Okay, "story" might be stretching it...

Straight off the bat this is the infamous Early Bird certificate pack (or "empty box" as it was commonly known). These were a marketing ploy as the tiny Kenner company couldn't get close to hitting the demand deadlines for the first batch of figures (yet I managed to singlehandedly make two huge lots of storyboard presentation pieces that are waiting for homes over on Etsy as we speak). So the decision was made to sell an empty box, which contained a certificate and cardboard display stand (which is SO sought after nowadays), along with the promise that the figures would be delivered in a few months. I'm sure if any of the Christmas morning 'children of disappointment' didn't throw this out of a window in disgust at the sheer front of it, they will be now delighted that their empty box is worth a mortgage downpayment.

I was tremendously glad to see these two in a proper exhibition, and discover that my own issues with finding a suitably scaled mannequin for Stormtrooper armour are not unique. Look how badly fitting the armour is, they were enormous. genuinely Chewbacca height. That's why I had to make my own one.

Can't tell you the emotions this brought. There they are. The original twelve figures, mint on original cards, all together as they used to be on the shelves of Toy & Hobby in the olden days. Despite getting these first twelve loose again myself in recent years, I know I shall never own them like this again in this life. It was positively mouth-watering to see them in front of my own eyes again.

A little look at variants now, where the original figures were amended. They're all pretty obvious, with the colour of Luke's hair and the skin colour on Leia. Han Solo is the pin-head and large head variants, and the Jawa was originally released with that vinyl cape only to have it re-released with a cloth cape for "better value". I have the vinyl caped Jawa but the cape is a repro. We can pretend it's not though? Let's do that.

The top right R2-D2 is the original (and that is a proper mint version of a figure that is almost never like that), alongside a variant that I was obsessed with as a kid. The only way to get the three-legged version was in the "Droid Factory" playset, which included all these component parts. Other than that it was a rubbish and flimsy playset, but the three-legged R2 made it worth it. I'd hoped that the middle leg would fit into the original figure but its nowhere near useable. You also had to apply the stickers onto the pieces yourself, and you can see from that picture that this was a regular kids effort at that...I'm sure mine looked the same.

Now. THIS has no place in this exhibition. It's a rubbish unofficial knock off and I told them. The poor lady who was keeping guard was very polite with my nerdy ranting, but I had to express it. These fly around eBay at varying (all disgraceful) price points, and it is really inaccurate as a replica. They're cheaply made and exploitative. I'd genuinely love a Han in Carbonite block, but I've never been tempted by these, even when some sellers were churning out recasts at fifty quid a pop. There's a load of giveaways as to how inaccurate it is, but the quick-look assessment is the "T" on the trousers. That's what shows it's this same shoddy thing. When I thrust my finger to point at this for the benefit of the museum worker a sensor alarm went off (you can see the detecting wires in the first pic). I personally think it should have been pre-recorded applause which gets louder as the piece is smashed more. LOOK AT ITS STUMPY LITTLE FEET AS WELL - I JUST LOOKED ON EBAY AND THERE WAS ONE OF THESE FOR £1600! I HATE IT. IT INCENSES ME.

It was only a brief tantrum though...

Each of these were favourites of little Ian B.

The Hoth playset was the only way to get the Imperial Probe Droid for those figures, and whilst it's incongruous that it's next to a turret from an entirely different point in the film, it was an ace set to have. The AT-AT was everybody's favourite toy, and I can clearly recall my next door neighbour carrying a box to the front of my house which was well quicker than expected. That was a peak Star Wars toy moment, even when I unboxed it and found it had a chin gun missing.

The Rancor was a dominant quest during a childhood trip to Cumbria, with my Grandad eventually going halves on it with my Auntie Kathleen for me, and the Imperial Troop Transporter was the joint first vehicle I was ever bought (with an X-Wing). I had no idea what it was (only a slight corner of it appears in the original film, although it has since been properly featured in The Mandalorian). I can still tell you the exact sound each of the top buttons makes ("R2-D2 where are you?", "There's one, set for stun..." etc), but it was a weird toy for them to prioritise. I'm guessing it was cheap or rehashed.

Speaking of rehashing, this is from the Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves (5/10 film) line of figures where they sneakily used old moulds from the defunct Star Wars line for certain parts of the "new" figures. I'm pretty sure the lovely Mike McShane doesn't have legs like that in real life.

Here's the other thing I was raving about on Cabin Fever. Full disclosure, I even went as far as looking on eBay but it gave me a nose bleed. There was one decent half-repro one on there which wasn't revolting in price (comparatively) but I have managed to resist like a grown up. But look at it. LOOK AT IT. So beautiful (although definitely not water-proof).

These were nice behind-the-scenes set ups, showing the original prototypes beneath a magnifying glass, as well as blue-prints for the old vehicles. I personally only had this version of the TIE Fighter (the Darth Vader one), and never had the standard TIE fighter (which was white for whatever reason). I was actually disappointed about that at the time, but the Vader one was way better.

There's the white TIE fighter up there.

Below are the mail-away figures of Boba Fett (that was the first mail-away they did) and Dengar (which I'd forgotten was even a mail-away). You had to cut out the name plates from six other figure cards and send them off, and then you got these figures in return. It was always a big exciting day when a little white cardboard box dropped through the letterbox and you knew you were only moments away from owning Admiral Ackbar (who they had promoted sat in an AT-AT leading to us all thinking he was going to be a baddie).

Also, if you look behind the Boba Fett you can see the original lightsaber replica. The blade was an inflatable yellow ballon. Mine lasted less than an hour before I'd burst it and never got another one. My grandad tried to fix it with a bicycle repair kit but it really wasn't working. I'm starting to realise I may not have looked after my toys...

An original cinema peg board, an original film reel, and me with a Princess Leia wig on.

Here's a load more figures and variants, and the bottom right pic is the much sought after last 17. These were the ones that were released when everyone was bored of Star Wars (like you may be now), and they didn't sell. So now they are the rarest and most expensive. In a particularly lean time in the nineties I sold these individually on eBay to pay bills. Which they did, really easily.

This is an original proposed poster design that was done for The Empire Strikes Back. I assume by a five-year old. No idea why it was rejected.

And finally this was the thing I looked at the most (after the Palitoy Death Star). There was no information on what this actually was, but I presume it's a bespoke piece rather than an official vintage thing. I'd never seen it before anyhow. It basically replicates the back of one of the old second-wave cards (as in, when they first added to the original 12) and replaces the pictures with the actual figures. I thought it was a proper stunning thing (hence the thumbs up). It was massive too. The pic doesn't do that justice. My house is full enough though and I've enough art projects on the go without adding that to them.

And there we go, the May The Toys Be With You exhibition, which runs at Banbury's Museum and Gallery till March next year. This isn't an advert, I've had no back-handers, nor have any affiliation with them. To be honest, if I did. I'd be using my staff pass to go and nick loads of it. It's a nice exhibition though, if you are passing. Only a few quid and it's got more in it than I've shown you here.

It's also great fun to ask the staff questions about things to see them try and blag it. They will say "Let me look...they've given us a folder..." and you can have a great laugh with them. Also, keep in mind, they are currently spending their days having middle-aged folk wander round saying "I used to have that..." over and over, so their patience is really admirable.

As was yours to get to the end. Thank you for indulging me.