Kenner's vintage toy line ran from 1983 to 1984 and featured various characters and vehicles from the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. The line also included plush Ewok "stuffed figures", featuring large Ewoks and smaller Woklings. It was succeeded by Kenner's The Power of the Force line in 1985.
The Return of the Jedi toys were sold at the same time as the short-lived 1984 Kenner Preschool Wicket the Ewok toy line.
The Return of the Jedi line re-released many toys previously available through Kenner's Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back toy lines but with the new film's logo on the packaging.
As with Kenner's initial Star Wars toy line, many action figures based on background characters from Return of the Jedi did not have proper names, leading Kenner to use nicknames used during the film's production. Many of them would later receive proper names in the works of the Expanded Universe. These characters included Pruneface, Squid Head, and Rancor Keeper. Two similar looking characters were both identified as Klaatu wearing different outfits, but later sources confirmed one of the two was a separate character named Wooof. It was also later revealed that the names of action figures "Nikto" and "Weequay" were actually the species names of the characters Lathe and Pagetti Rook.
Though most of the line featured toys based on the film, a few original items were produced. To avoid the high cost of creating large vehicles for the line, small Mini-Rig vehicles that did not originate in the films were created (starting with the toys from The Empire Strikes Back). Many of these went on to appear in the fiction of both the Legends and later canon continuities.
The plush Ewok toys introduced characters who also appeared in later Ewok books and animated series: Gwig, Kneesaa, Latara, Leeni, Malani, Mookiee, Nippet and Zephee.
The baton that then-Captain Ackbar holds in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes "Water War" and "Prisoners" is an homage to the 1983 action figure that came with such an accessory. Though it was not originally intended to be a weapon, the episode director Danny Keller vividly remembered pretending it was a blaster, so it was worked into the show.
The table below takes information as given on the cards with which each action figure debuted. After the debut of an action figure, details in the packaging, the shape of the action figure, and the name of the action figure were subject to change. No one characteristic (name, shape, or product number) completely defines the list, rather all the characteristics taken together form a clear list.
- "Collections: Foreign Star Wars Collectibles" — The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine 5
- "Scouting the Galaxy: Fanning the Flames of Fandom (Or: Have You Bagged Your Star Wars Insider Yet?)" — Star Wars Insider 25
- "Galactic Bazaar: Vader Rules Collectibles" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 11
- "Galactic Bazaar: Leia Rules" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 12
- "Star Wars Stuff: Rescued from the Trash Heap of History" — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 2
- "Around the Galaxy" — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 3
- "" — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 3
- "Collectors' Comlink" — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 4
- Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive
- "" — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 5
- "Collectors' Comlink" — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 6
- "Mexican Stand Off" — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 8
- "" — Star Wars Galaxy Collector 8
- "Scouting the Galaxy: Of Freebies, Wimps and Fake Fetts" — Star Wars Insider 31
- Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection
- "My Star Wars" — Star Wars Insider 156
- "Classic Moment: The Fastest Hunk of Junk in the Toybox!" — Star Wars Insider 157
- Star Wars Year By Year: A Visual History, New Edition