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Action Figures Science Fiction Star Wars (Kenner)

The Empire Strikes Back Wave 2 (1980)

The first wave of toys to hit the store shelves after the release of The Empire Strikes Back, the second wave of Empire toys was able to reveal the vitally important character of Yoda (which was also the smallest of the original Kenner Star Wars figures, smaller than even R2-D2, Wicket, or the Jawas). Technically, Yoda was released in the first wave of figures, but was not promoted heavily to preserve the surprise of the character’s nature in the film. … Read more

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Action Figures Science Fiction Star Wars (Kenner)

The Empire Strikes Back Wave 1 (1980)

1980. New wave was in. Early video games were about to reach their apex. And best of all, Star Wars was back – not the original, but a new movie following up on the original, taking us to new places and new adventures. Life was truly good. And so were the first figures from that sequel.

The Empire Strikes Back had such a diverse spread of locations and climates and environments that the first figures – released just prior to the movie – left you wondering just what the heck was going on if you, like me, were a kid whose only bona fida spoiler about Empire consisted of the TV commercials advertising the movie. … Read more

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Action Figures Star Wars (Hasbro)

Star Wars Episode II – Wave One: Jedi Knights

Star Wars Episode IIThe first wave of action figures from Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones is so big, it really needs to be broken up into different groups – and the biggest group represented in the first 27 figures happens to be the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, the Jedi Knights. As you may or may not have seen or heard by now, Episode II features a Jedi gathering that takes place in a much more hostile environment than that of the council chambers on Coruscant, and this first wave includes plenty of figures designed expressly to recreate that scene. … Read more

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Action Figures Science Fiction Star Wars (Hasbro)

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Wave 4 (1999)

Star WarsReleased in the summer of 1999 around July, the fourth wave of Episode I action figures included some long-awaited characters, as well some dramatic improvements on characters who had already been released. … Read more

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Action Figures Science Fiction Star Wars (Hasbro)

Star Wars Flashback & Classic Commtech (1998-99)

Star WarsAt around the same time as the first theatrical trailer from Episode I hit theaters, Hasbro started riding the Phantom Menace horse very hard – including the new Flashback figures, which not only included the classic trilogy characters in new molds, but also a “flashback” photo which, depending on whether or not you pulled out the paper strip, would show each character either as he appeared in the Episode I era, or alongside the closest character (for instance, Princess Leia is compared to Queen Amidala, and Aunt Beru to Shmi Skywalker). … Read more