Star Wars Kenner Vintage Rescue
- Mephitsu
- Sep 22
- 18 min read
As a child of the '70s and '80s, I grew up with Star Wars and particularly the Star Wars 3.75-inch figure line from Kenner. Having acquired a fairly complete set once, I sold them all off in the late 80s in pursuit of other toys - to then collect nearly all of them again. Eventually, as I grew out of toys the collection was sold again with a couple of survivors by luck rather than judgment.
Roll forward to the 90s and I started a POTF2 collection through to and including the Phantom Menace releases, but I got a bit bored of that and sidestepped slightly with a plan of picking up a set of the original Kenner releases. That focus fell by the wayside, and the small handful of figures I had picked up were boxed away and partly forgotten.
Nowadays, I am a collector of the Star Wars Black Series, but I have recently found myself drawn back into the Kenner Vintage collecting - but with the knowledge that it is pretty unlikely I have the resources to pull together a complete set. At an Antiques Centre in Summer 2024 I was surprised to find several Vintage Star Wars figures at sub £10 and realized that while there are very expensive and sought-after Kenner figures, there are also many of these 40-year-old figures still in the wild, particularly across more common figures and those with a little - or indeed a lot of - play wear.
And so I kicked off my Star Wars Vintage Rescue challenge, a way to expand my limited collection, ideally with figures that I find on my trips around the UK - allowing each purchase to represent a memory of an event I have attended or a store I've visited.
Summer 2025
Summer 2025 presented as a new phase of my Vintage collecting with the original 79 in hand in terms of figures, and a daunting task ahead to pick up some missing key accessories, as well as the Last 17.
The first acquisition of the summer was an original Bespin Leia cape that updated that figure in my collection. At the same time I nabbed a Luke Endor without the poncho or belt and with a repro blaster. Fate was with me as soon after a poncho, albeit ripped under one arm, turned up on eBay so I reunited the two and used a spare Leia belt to complete the look.
With Paploo and Lumat secured back in May I had expected Warok and Romba to be a tough ask, but they both turned up on Vinted . I am still looking for Warok's hood, but he came with his quikver while Romba had his hood. I have bow as yet for Warok while Romba is using a repro spear for the moment.
Vinted was also kind to me when a Carbonite Block popped up as part of a larger lot of mixed figures. I took a chance expecting it to be the Stan Solo version, but it was the original from Kenner and allowed my Last 17 Han Solo to be reunited with his slab of Carbonite.
Speaking of Stan Solo, I've ended up with a trio of these over the Summer. The first is a stand-in for Lando General from the Last 17, picked up from AliExpress. From the same AliExpress seller came a Stan Solo Garindan, although I had to furnish him with a cut-down Darth Vader Cape and a repro black communicator (Cloud Car Pilot) for the full look. IO was then at a Toy Fair in Stafford with a seller who had a batch of Stan Solo Jawas with Vinyl Cape, and considering the real version of the Jawa is definitely outside my price range, I added this one to a side display along with Garindan and some of the newer Retro Collection figures.
I am slightly addicted to Vinted by now, particularly as it keeps coming up trumps on some figures - although I've been ripped off just as many times with items not sent, or a package sent with different contents to what I'd bought. I came in lucky again in late Summer with a seller who had a Last 17 R2-D2. The condition is rough, particularly around the back, and the saber is a report, but this was another big-ticket L17 figure I had not expected to ever own.
The same can be said of Amanaman, who turned up on eBay with a relatively low Buy-it-now price, and I had cash from some Vintage re-sales of spares to spend. He has a bit of a forehead rub and no staff, but he was delivered on the same day the Mandalorian & Grogu trailer landed, which feels like a sign.
May 2025
I didn't have to wait too long after Star Wars Day to finally say I own all of the first 79 Kenner Star Wars figures. The last piece of that jigsaw being a fixed dome R2-D2 I grabbed through Echo Base.
With that milestone under my belt, the attention turned to starting to get accessories for the figures in that First 79 set who are currently without them. Having been burned multiple times on eBay and Vinted, my accessories will only be purchased through Echo Base sellers or in person, where I can inspect the item in hand. The first to be nabbed was a blaster for 4-LOM (Zuckuss).
Further purchases followed, including loose guns for the AT-AT Driver and IG-88, although the latter is still pending his blue Imperial pew-pew. I also picked up a rifle for Bossk, giving nearly all of my Bounty Hunters their weapons. Echo Sellers also furnished my Gamorrean with the correct axe, a blaster for a Luke Skywalker Hoth that had been part of my 90s assembled collection, and a fully completed Teebo.
While most of May had been spent focusing on accessories, I still had half an eye on the Last 17 figures and, in particular, opportunities for incomplete figures or those with some paint rub.
This 'half-an-eye' monitoring turned into three purchases in May, starting with a deal on Echo Base for a Paploo complete with hood that I couldn't resist. That was shortly followed by a very cheap Lumat on Vinted, which came complete with his hood and his quiver. The trio of Last 17 purchases in May was completed with a low-priced Han, albeit without Carbonite Block. While these are very much the low-hanging fruit of the Last 17, it does reduce those I need down to 13 (plus the Carbonite block as a minimum for the accessories)
May the Fourth 2025
Like last month, May kicked off with orders placed in the month just gone. These included the addition (finally) of Boba Fett and with his arrival, the completion of the Empire Strikes Back series of figures. Boba didn't come with his Imperial Blaster, but I had a correct version that had been displayed up to now with an IG-88 acquired in the 90s. Now Boba has it and I've promised IG-88 a weapons update ASAP. Boba was joined by another online purchase, with a Vinted order of Sy Snootles completing the Max Rebo Band much earlier than I had anticipated.
The First 79 was therefore very close to completion, and while I haven't photographed them all just yet, a quick totting up showed me to be an original Farmboy Luke, a Stormtrooper, and a solid dome R2-D2 short. The Stormtrooper was ticked off at the Bolton Toy Fair for £15, and on the same day, Echo Base served up a Farmboy Luke for a tenner.
The question now was, would I complete the First 79 run (albeit without a full set of weapons) before May the 4th? A trip to Scotland with work presented the opportunity of an outside chance of finding that final R2-D2. Across the course of the trip, I dropped in on the Lothlorien Antiques and Collector Centre in Moffat, the Scottish Antiques Centre in Doune, near Stirling, and Vintage Toys and Collectibles in Aberdeen. The latter had just received a full collection of Kenner figures, and while there was no R2-D2, I took the opportunity to pick up a 2-1B and a Zuckuss (4-LOM) with their accessories - upgrading the versions I had currently.
So what about R2, did I find him? Well, the answer is yes, although only as part of the wonderful Lothlorien Toy Museum, and therefore sadly not for sale. The hunt continues....
April 2025
Part 1
April sort of started in March with our first trip to the Barry Potter Toy Fair in Stafford, which turned out to be very cars & trains focused - but I did pick up a loose Droopy McCool for a tenner. Droopy did have to wait to get a subtle clean and a photo shoot, hence sitting under our April update. Droopy is joined by the last online purchases of March, a Han Solo Endor with Trenchcoat and a bundled pair of Teebo and a new Pruneface, now with his cape. The three set me back £24, so £8 each.
I found myself away from home in early April and dropped into an Antiques Centre, which included a cabinet of Star Wars Vintage figures maintained by a dealer. The prices were higher than I have been paying, but there was a very clean-looking Tusken Raider for £26 with a cape and weapon marked as fully original. The staff at the centre had been instructed not to let anyone into the cabinet or for any customers to handle the figures so I was shopping with one hand behind my back, but I took the plunge, only to be devastated to find out when I got home that the cape and the weapon are repro - something I need to learn more about when shopping in person. I have reached out to the centre who have declined to comment at this point. As I am now leaning into a need to have genuine accessories as much as possible, I did go on to purchase a second beater Tusken with original cape on eBay - combining the clean base figure with the eBay Sand Person for display - albeit with the repro gaffi stick for the moment.
Thankfully, the solid sellers on Echo Base made up for that disappointment, and I picked up a Max Rebo for £14 posted to go with Droopy - albeit without his keyboard at this point. I also nabbed a pair of genuine accessories, a bag for the ESB C-3PO and a Rancor Keeper hood, which I then joined up with an eBay Rancor Keeper that cost me £6.
Further online business included nabbing a Jabba the Hutt and throne for £20 on Vinted. It was missing the rail, which then turned up on eBay for £26 with the Hookah and Bowl. This gives me a more or less complete Jabba with Throne for £46. Other eBay business included Cloud City Lando, and a General Madine with his staff - £14 for both. I do already have a Madine in my collection, a figure that looks in pretty poor condition and with repainted arms. This is, however, the figure on which this entire collection is built as this is my other childhood toy and the paint work was done by my Dad (who is no longer with us) giving it a sentimental value way beyond anything else in this collection - I will display both of these side by side.
The collection focus so far has been on completing a First 79 as I am concious that the Last 17 figures are very much going to set me back a much higher figure than my current average spend per figure - but I have jumped the gun thanks to a deal on Echo Base again starting the Last 17 off with the easiest and cheapest, an Anakin Skywalker for £23 shipped. Purchased at the same time, via an eBay offer, was a lovely condition Klaatu with his skirt & forcepike and a Snowtrooper. I had the latter in my existing collection from the 90s, but this new one included his blaster rifle and a repro skirt, which was declared in the auction.
I finished the first two weeks of April with a punt of a purchase on Vinted for a job lot of Star Wars figures at less than £8. Within the Vinted listing picture, I could see a Luke Skywalker Farmboy, meaning the lot was worth a gamble. Sadly, on arrival, and as I had expected, the figure was a modern Retro release. It does now provide a stand-in until I find the original 1977 version to replace it.
April 2025
Part 2
As you can see already, April was very much a month of volume, with the collection edging closer to a full set of First 79 figures. We kicked off the second half of the month with the Barry Potter Toy Fair at the NEC in Birmingham. The event was bittersweet, with four very well-priced new additions in the shape of an R5-D4, Han Solo, Luke X-Wing, and Obi-Wan Kenobi for about £10 each. But I was also burned again with a couple of other purchases which were priced as genuine and ended up as reproduction accessories.
Getting hacked and banned on Facebook took me off Echo Base for a few weeks, but once I was back online, I picked up some more bargains, including Han Solo Bespin, Salacious Crumb, and an alternative Han Solo from A New Hope, giving me a choice of two for display - although for now I've stuck with the one from the Birmingham Toy Fair
As I come closer to one of my initial milestones of completing the First 79 from a figure perspective, my focus has started to move over to the task of filling in some missing weapons with genuine versions. This is a minefield in terms of the extensive spread of reproductions in the hobby. In just the last two weeks of April alone, I was stung on an IG-88 rifle, an Ugnaught case, a Gamorrean Guard axe, a 4-LOM rifle, and a Dengar Rifle, all of which were sold as original but are clearly reproductions. And herein lies the issue, as while there are certainly those selling these knowingly, many people are selling these believing they are genuine parts from the 70s and 80s and listing as such without doing the homework. Variant Villain and Imperial Gunnery are your friends here, although this relies on good-quality photos available to review ahead of the purchase being made
There were some successful purchases though, and after grabbing a Max Rebo on Echo Base, it hasn't taken me long to reunite him with his keyboard. I also got rid of the repro skirt from the Snowtrooper I bagged in early April, swapping it out for a genuine original skirt.
I had continued with my accessory splurge before the first batch, and the included repros had arrived. Thankfully, the second set of purchases were genuine, and thanks to online auctions, I have now updated my Death Squad Commander with an Imperial Blaster, and upgraded an existing, poor condition, Weequay that I have had since the mid-90s with one with a better paint job and his Vibroaxe. This exercise is costing more than the original plan of cheap and cheerful, but picking up bundles and figures with parts seems cheaper than the weapons & accessories on their own in places.
I also nabbed a relatively nice Death Star Droid who was packaged up with a Darth Vader that allowed another 'upgrade', giving my Darth Vader a genuine 1977 lightsaber, albeit with a missing tip.
The online sales site also came up trumps on a Jawa with one seller having a genuine soft goods cape and another seller with a figure. These two are now united together as a lovely-looking Jawa that just needs its blaster at some point in the future. In a twist of fate, and arriving at the same time, the Jawa is nicely reunited with the Power Droid after that was nabbed online at a sub £20 price which was very good value considering the condition and inclusion of the original aerial.
As the month drew to a close, I was back on Echo Base - the safest trading location - securing a Fixed Limb C-3PO and an upgraded Dengar, now with a genuine blaster. With those two, I now have 76 of the first 79, with May potentially being the month we hit our first major milestone.
March 2025
As we head into March, it has been 6 months since I kicked off this personal project to build a cheap & cheerful Star Wars Kenner Vintage collection. In the past few weeks, I have found myself more engrossed in the project and have also had a couple of realisations. Firstly, the physical market at Toy Fairs and Collector Stores & Centres is limited, and I have found myself seeing the same figures over and over again now - which means continued online purchases are going to be needed. The second realisation is around how complete this collection may get. I've initially targeted the first 79 as a goal - and from there, I would like to build out the figures with accessories where possible. That brings us to the question of reproductions and while they do not sit completely comfortably with me, they may be something I will explore to enhance the collection while keeping costs low - particularly as some matched accessories are often more expensive than the figure. That decision is still weighing heavily and needs further consideration.
Onto the March purchases...
...and like February, there were quite a lot of online purchases, particularly as I joined Echo Base Vintage on Facebook, opening up a new supply route for figures and a wealth of knowledge for an amateur collector like myself. The first purchase of March was a good deal from an eBay seller with four figures I was missing. The lot gave me the Endor Rebel Commando, Imperial Commander, Lobot, and Leia Bespin - with the latter coming with what I think is a reproduction robe.
Barry Potter Fairs came back to Bolton in early March, and as it is our local show, my son and I paid a visit and I made two purchases to expand the Vintage collection. The first was a Rebel Hoth Trooper from a £5 figure bin. The second, as a complete Lando as Skiff Guard, including helmet and weapon, from a seller who came down from his £12 price to a tenner to secure the sale. I did leave the show kicking myself over some missed figures that I saw on our first sweep of the stalls and that had sold by the time I returned - notably a very clean Death Squad Commando and a nice Lando Calrissian including cape - the lesson is to be more decisive at these events!
And then came another extensive run of online purchases across Echo Base, eBay, and Vinted and an influx of new figures including an Ugnuaght, Greedo, Bossk, and a Death Squad Commander (making up for the recent miss at Bolton).
Another bulk lot at a very reasonable price of less than a fiver per figure also brought in a Bespin Guard, Leia on Hoth, a blonde-haired Luke Bespin, and a cleaner Walrus Man than the one I got last year in Wolverhampton. I know I have a darker hair Luke Bespin somewhere so it will be good to have both side by side as a comparison of the variations.
After these deliveries had come in, I found myself in Newcastle with work and dropped in on Big Kid Toys and Collectibles in North Shields. Another gem for fans of 80s toys and a handful of Star Wars Vintage to choose from - and I settled on the other Bespin Guard to complete the pairing.
The month's purchases concluded on Echo Base with a pair of pilots as I picked up both the Imperial TIE fighter Pilot and a Cloud Car Pilot at under £20.
As March concludes, and for those who remember one of the bulk lots I bought back in February, I finally matched up some accessories from those lots to figures I have had for some time. That means I now have a complete Logray with hood, bag, and staff. And Wicket - one of only two figures I have from my own childhood - was finally reunited with his hood. While I was digging out the Ewoks from one of my storage bins I also got my hands on Admiral Ackbar, a figure I bought back in the 90s who came with his baton - so he has been rolled out and added to the shelf (there are more to dig out when time permits).
February 2025
February kicked off with a few more online purchases as I targeted a few Vintage figure lots to expand the collection. Up first was a small lot that featured a pretty clean Princess Leia Boushh, complete with her helmet. The other figures in the lot were ones I already had, but there were some acessories that would suit a Logray I knew I had somewhere (more on this soon).
A second lot of 8 figures set me back £20, so £2.50 a figure. While there were duplicates again, the purchase expanded my collection with Han Solo in his Hoth gear, and a Rebel B-Wing pilot. Like the Boussh lot, there were also some accessories that will bolster existing figures once I dig them out.
I did my best to stay away from online sales for the rest of February and took advantage of improving health and taking half a term off work to venture out a bit, hunting vintage figures in the flesh.
That hunting in person kicked off with the Barry Potter Toy Fair in Doncaster in mid-February, a vast event with circa 350 stalls selling a variety of toys, collectibles and figures. There was no shortage of Kenner Vintage - and after some deliberation, I ended up picking up four figures from a seller who was asking for £7 each or 4 for £20. In that bundle I got Yoda, a Biker Scout, another Jedi Luke Skywalker, this time with original cape, and another Darth Vader. Vader has gone into the spares section, while the cloaked Luke has replaced the one I bought back in January.
Yoda came with his robes, but no belt. Fortunately, two aisles over in the hall, another seller was offering genuine spares including Yoda's belt. I spent another tenner on the belt, bringing my spend to £30 for all four figures - £7.50 each.
I finished February and the Half Term holiday with a trip over to Saltaire near Bradford, where a seller called Star Wars Man Saltaire has taken up several cabinets within Carlton Antiques on the second floor of the Salts Mill where he sells Star Wars figures. Having explored all the cabinets - a mix of Vintage and Modern including Black Series - I ended up buying a Snaggletooth and an Emperor's Royal Guard complete with a nice set of robes.
The total price was £22 so that was a bit higher than I have been paying - but I am starting to get to a point where the lower priced figures are all in my collection, so I am bracing myself for a bit of extra spend each month - and probably lower volume - to continue to expand the collection
January 2025
Following surgery in December, I spent much of January recuperating at home, which put pay to any trips hunting for figures. I did however scratch the Vintage itch thanks to the internet (continuing my rule breaking), winning a small lot on auction comprising of Darth Vader, Endor Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight, and R2-D2. At under £20 for the lot, this certainly fell into my 'cheap and cheerful' approach, setting me back less than a fiver each.
R2 had distorted legs, but some gentle heat with a hairdryer and a bit of patience did manage to straighten these out to some degree. Leia was also missing her poncho, but by a weird coincidence I found a lot on Vinted that included an AT-ST Driver wearing Leia's poncho so that was purchased too and put Leia back into her Endor fatigues while adding a nice AT-ST Driver with just a touch of paint rubs to the feet and hands into the blossoming collection.
November & December 2024
Having had a fruitless October, I picked up a trio of new rescue figures across November and December.
In November I visited the brilliant King Street Toys and Collectables in Wolverhampton. There was plenty of Kenner Star Wars to chose from, but I ended up leaving with a Walrus Man (Pondo Baba) having found him all alone in one of their cabinets. Walrus Man was joined in December by Dengar and a Klaatu Skiff Guard, both picked up in Bolton at that months Barry Potter Toy Fair for a bargain of £2 each.
September 2024
September 2024 was the first month of my Star Wars Vintage Rescue, starting at the end of the school holidays and finishing at the NEC Toy Fair.
The first of my Vintage Rescues came at Bygone Times an Antiques and Collectors Centre in Chorley, Lancashire when I found a lonely Ree Yees on a stall for just £3. The seller had him labeled just as 'figure' and everything else on the stall was very much McDonalds Toys and more modern 90s stuff. The day after my son and I went to York Unleashed Comic Con and with this idea of 'rescuing' old Kenner figures in mind I had plenty to choose from - finally settling on bringing home a cape-less Prune face for just £3.
While the NEC Toy Fair was the big event of the month, the week prior to the NEC it was the Bolton Toy Fair, which is quite often themed more around Trains and Cars than action figures. The September event was a pleasant surprise with a wider representation of toys - although Vintage Star Wars were a bit limited. I ended up adding some Jabba's goons to the collection with a Gamorrean and a Weequay for £3 each.
On the Sunday evening after getting back from the Bolton Toy Fair I broke my own rules when I was trawling Vinted and saw a very nice example of 4-LOM (Zuckuss) complete with coat and harness but with a stain on the reverse. Having watched it, the seller offered me a reduced price - rescuing a 4-LOM (Zuckuss) at just £6 plus postage.
And then it was time to head to the NEC in Birmingham for the Barry Potter Toy Fair with a couple of figures in mind to purchase, namely 8D8 as one of my favourite Star Wars Droids and with Hammerhead front and centre of my thoughts after receiving the Black Series release the day before the event.
I ended up picking up both of these at what worked out more or less £10 each from a dealer - both have a few dings and Hammerhead has a loose neck, but they look great on display.
On the way out of the NEC I spotted a Chief Chirpa complete with hood on a table and marked at £3. I do already have Chirpa but he is hoodless, so this one was picked up to put a more complete Chirpa into my collection. The dealer offered to do two figures for a fiver, so I added Zuckuss (4-LOM) to the purchase and he goes nicely with the recent acquisition of 4-LOM (Zuckuss)
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About Me : As a child of the '70s and '80s I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force), and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licenses - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who, and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK-focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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