By Scott Pearson
Little Japanese Figures Equals Big Time Fun
With a wink and a nod to the Early Bird Kit sent out by Kenner in the early
days of 3 3/4" Action Figure collecting, Japanese Toy Maker Medicom has
recently released a set of 4 Kubrick Style mini figures. The set consists of
Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and R2-D2. JediDefender Forums
Moderator Dale Justus recently picked up a set of these cool little guys off
of eBay and has been kind enough to send in some pictures to share.
The set comes inside a box very similar to the Kenner Early
Bird
Package which shows the first four figures plus the upcoming Empire Strikes
Back Bounty Hunter set of six.
Inside the package, the figures are sealed in a white mailer
type box (similar to the Stormtrooper army builder box) complete with some
Japanese writing. Inside the mailer box is a tray containing the four
figures and accessories, a Display Stand and the Rebel Alliance Warrior ID
Card so you too can be a member of the Alliance!
R2-D2 is a nice little figure and very detailed. In fact
he is
probably painted as well as the larger Hasbro R2's have been. A sweet
little figure that measures in at 2" tall by 1-1/2" wide.
Luke Skywalker comes with a lightsaber and removable hair! He
passes for a good likeness of Luke that is for sure. Luke is about
2-1/2" tall.
Princess Leia has some very nice cloth details for her dress
and again is a very nice mini representation of Leia from ANH. Leia is
also around 2-1/2" tall.
Chewbacca is my personal favorite of the four figures. The
set
includes a nice little Crossbow and the head sculpting detail on Chewie is
amazing. Chewbacca is the tallest of the 4 at close to 3".
These figures are all the rage in Japan and the Far East and
are not being sold domestically due to licensing restrictions. Like I
mentioned above, there is a set coming soon of the 6 Bounty Hunters from
Empire (Boba Fett, Dengar, IG-88, Bossk, Zuckuss and 4-LOM) and rumors have
swirled that there are even more characters coming later.Medicom has released
similar sets for Planet of the Apes, Kellogg's Cereal Characters and will be
releasing soon some Sesame Street characters. They usually are released
in boxes similar to the HeroClix lines in that you usually don't know what
characters you will be getting in the individual boxes. This is the way
the Bounty Hunters will be released in Japan (one character per box in cases
of 24). There are usually chase figures which are rarer than some of the other
figures.
Your best bet for scoring an Early Bird type set right now is
to try eBay. This is where Dale got his Early Bird set and prices
usually run around $100. Thanks again Dale for the pictures and for a
look at some foreign Star Wars merchandise that is as cute as a button!
Additional images can be seen here.
