About 'Star Wars' Action Figures

Early History

• Before the original "Star Wars" was released in May 1977, Kenner bought the rights to create and market toys based on the film. However, the company assumed that the movie would do poorly, and didn't have any action figures for sale when it came out. Instead, Kenner offered an Early Bird Certificate that allowed people to send away for the action figures.

Size

• Due to an oil crisis in the 1970s, toy companies that manufactured action figures had to decrease the size of their action figures from roughly 11 inches to 3.75 inches. By the time "Star Wars" action figures went on sale in 1978, the latter size had become popular, and all but a few "Star Wars" action figures came in that size.

Original Figures

• Today, consumers can buy a wide variety of action figures from all six "Star Wars" films. However, when they were first released in 1978, only 12 action figures where available. They included Darth Vader, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, C-3PO, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jawa, Sand People and a Death Squad Commander. Kenner went on to make action figures for both "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."

Boba Fett

• Boba Fett, a bounty hunter well-known to all "Star Wars" fans, first had his action figure introduced in 1979 after he appeared in "The Empire Strikes Back" and the "Star Wars Holiday Special." The Boba Fett action figure was supposed to come with a missile-launching rocket pack, but after a child choked to death after swallowing a similar shaped missile from another toy line, Kenner decided to remove the feature.

Hasbro

• In 1991, Hasbro bought Kenner and, by 1995, was marketing its own line of "Star Wars" action figures. The Power of the Force line featured more muscular versions of the original toys. Hasbro has since marketed action figures for the "Star Wars" prequels---"The Phantom Menace," "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith."