Star Wars (toy line)

During the early stages of licensing programs, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox executives were unsuccessful in persuading major toy manufacturers to develop a Star Wars series for the 1977 movie Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Nevertheless, Bernie Loomis, the president of Kenner Products, which was then a division of the cereal maker General Mills, was intrigued by the concept, believing that the Star Wars film held potential for toy production. Loomis later acknowledged that, despite being fascinated by the film prior to its premiere, he thought Star Wars would be short-lived and that Kenner did not view the endeavor as a significant investment.

Kenner finalized its agreement to manufacture Star Wars toys only one month prior to the film's release on May 25. Kenner encountered a challenge when the film unexpectedly became a huge hit. Kenner's initial Star Wars figures would not be available for the Christmas shopping season of 1977 because the typical production timeline for three-dimensional model toys was twelve to eighteen months. Loomis came up with the "Early Bird Certificate Package" as a solution, going against the advice of the majority of marketers. Kenner took a chance by sending out 600,000 empty cardboard boxes with mail-in redemption certificates, guaranteeing customers that they would be among the first to get a set of four Star Wars figures, which ultimately featured Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and R2-D2. Loomis was happy with the outcome, even though the media was highly critical of the strategy and a large number of packages went unsold, as it enabled him to keep the public interested in the figures until they were released in 1978.

The first twelve characters in the Star Wars line were released in the spring of 1978 and retailed for as little as $1.97 each, making it challenging for Kenner to keep up with demand. By the time Kenner's "vintage" toy line came to an end in 1985, after the Star Wars original trilogy was over, the business had sold around 250 million action figures.

Although Star Wars author Stephen J. Sansweet stated in his 1999 book Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive that Kenner's original Star Wars product line spanned from 1978 to 1979, he later clarified in his 2012 book Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection that the line continued until 1980. In actuality, the Star Wars line's final toy releases occurred in 1979 before Kenner made the switch to its The Empire Strikes Back line in 1980.

Because many action figures based on supporting characters from A New Hope lacked official names, Kenner resorted to using nicknames that were used during the movie's production. In later Expanded Universe works, many of them would eventually be given proper names. Walrus Man, Hammerhead, and Death Star Droid were among these personalities. The toy line featured two variations of "Snaggletooth," who were later given the names Zutton and Zutmore. The outfits of the characters frequently differed from the costumes that were seen in the movie.

Kenner created the entire body of the "Death Star Trash Compactor Monster" (later called "dianoga") for a toy that was part of the Death Star Space Station playset, even though it wasn't visible in the movie. Later Expanded Universe projects would disprove that design.

Although the majority of the line featured toys based on the movie, a small number of original products were made. As early as October of that year, the Imperial Troop Transporter from 1979 appeared in fiction in the Star Wars Marvel Comics series. The monster droids featured in 2006's The New Essential Guide to Droids would eventually represent the Droid Factory playset in the Expanded Universe. The design of Greedo in the 1984 children's book and record set Star Wars Adventures in ABC was based on his original action figure rather than the outfit he wore in A New Hope.

The Imperial TIE Fighter toy was utilized for distance shots alongside the real filming models of the TIE/LN starfighter and the TIE interceptor during the production of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. As a result, upon closer inspection, the ships' wings appear somewhat different from those of the other TIEs, most notably in the scene where Emperor Palpatine arrives at the Death Star and one of the TIE wings appears to be slightly smaller than the others.

The information provided on the cards that came with each action figure when it first appeared is the source for the table below. Following the debut of an action figure, its packaging specifics, shape, and name were all subject to change. The list is not entirely defined by any one attribute (name, shape, or product number); rather, all of the characteristics taken together provide a clear list.

Kenner also put out "Large Size Action Figure" versions of a few characters, which were roughly the same size as other larger action figure toy lines—around twelve inches. In the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back toy line, one more figure of IG-88 was released.

• 1978 See-Threepio (C-3PO) Chewbacca Princess Leia Organa Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2) Luke Skywalker Darth Vader
• 1979 Boba Fett Jawa Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi Han Solo Stormtrooper