Vintage Variants/Errors

[Thomas Grey]

If you have a question, comment or a rare error or variant figure you'd like to discuss from the vintage era of Kenner figures, this is the place! I try and pride myself on being a bit of an expert in this field and am interested in what you all have to say or ask me.

First topic is the Han Solo head variants/sculpts. There is so much conflicting information as to which headis more rare and which head actually looks better. If you ask me, my information tells me the small head is the more rare version and they should have gone somewhere in between. He either looks like he's anorexic or has been through an Ewok head shrinking ritual. Any thoughts or comments?

[Reconsgt]

Ok I have a chewbacca that I would like to know more about. I couldn't find anything on the archive so here is my question

 I have a chewbacca with a drab green bag. On this figure the dates and info are about half the size than that of my other chewies. Hong Kong 1977 like the rest buy much smaller. Sorry I don't have any way to post pics. Also just to note the bag is not irredesent green it is a drab green and does not look repainted as it shows wear on it and plain plastic below that.

 Any idea?

Thanks to Dale I remembered the link to the auction I got it from. Sorry I can't show the date on the leg.

[DSJ™]

Your Welcome.  

[Thomas Grey]

As far as I can tell, this is a more common variant of Chewbacca that made appearances on all ANH cards (12 back, 21 back...). If you look, all of his limbs are slightly green in color and the body is the intended color his limbs should be. Since  the bag is attached to his leg, it too has more of a green discolored hue. There is no real reason behind the variation, they just made them this way and released them despite the color error. If I find out more about the reason behind this color variation, I'll let you know. It's kind of the same as the yellowing stormtrooper phenomenon. It just is the way it is...

[Reconsgt]

 Thanks
 I knew that there were green bagged chewies but I usually saw them with the shinny bag.
The thing that threw me was the very small copy right info on the same fig. As it is only half the size of the normal chewie I have.

[Thomas Grey]

Yeah, I forgot about that...

Let me look into it. I believe I have a 'loose' green limb Chewie and will check it out. I have not heard of that before and so I will investigate and let you know what I discover.

[Reconsgt]

I looked at it again last night and just to add:

 The smaller one just says Hong Kong

 the larger logo says made in Hong Kong


 both have the GM copyright the same

[Thomas Grey]

I have 2 versions as well, and it gets even more strange. I never noticed the type size difference, and am really intrigued to try and find out more about it. My regular Chewie (with the large type and brown limbs) says it was made in 'Taiwan'? The green limbed and small type chewie says Hong Kong. Both have 1977 and other things. I'm doing this from memory now, but will try and scan them so  I can be more specific about this. You have basically open a can of worms for me and I won't be satisfied until I can find some answers.  I'll try and get those scans up tonight and find some more info on these strange new differences.

[Reconsgt]

Thanks for the info,
 
 I never noticed the size differnce before these chewies came up.  I would think it was a new mold or something maybe the earlier ones were small and a change was made to make them more noticable.

 Just curious but does anyone out there have an early bird set still bagged to look at the dates on those figs? Are they large or small. just an idea

[Thomas Grey]

Check this out...

http://www.brianstoys.com/acatalog
Collectible_Toys_Rare_Figures_135.html

Same, but nothing further than the green limbs listed. The Early Bird Set had Chewbacca with a green crossbow, but not sure if those have or had green limbs or not...

Will get more info soon...

[Thomas Grey]

Okay, here are my 2 vintage Chewbaccas. The figure on the top is the regular variation, and the upper text is the same, but only extends to above the back of the knee area and the bottom text is large and says; 'MADE IN TAIWAN'. The figure on the bottom is the green limbs variaiton and the top text extends down to the top of the calf area and the bottom text is much smaller and says; 'HONG KONG'.



and here is a front view. It seems that they are fairly different especially in the legs (how far apart they seem) and the eye paint. Both are in very nice condition and all the limbs are on normally (not too loose or tight).



This is definitely something and I am going to get to the bottom of it! I'll report anything else I find. This is not just a variation for me, it a 'Chewbacca' variation! Being someone who prides himself on his Chewbacca figure collection, I am definitely intrigued and curious. I'll keep everyone posted and if anyone has any info or input, please let us all know about it!

[Reconsgt]

IS there a good online database of known variants. i haven't been able to turn up much.

[Thomas Grey]

There is not a definitive variant/error database that I know of that provides images of the variants/errors. Not to be biased, but I feel that the jedidefender.com variant/error checklists are pretty thorough and include all major variants known. Errors are a little tougher to track down, but a lot have been listed on our lists. We are currently in the process of revising and updating the lists to stay current and to make them more easy to read and understand. This Chewbacca thing is one to add for sure and I will shortly.  I am the author of the lists here, so I feel that I am the leading authority on these issues and questions at this site. If there are any questions you have beyond what has already been discussed here, please ask and I will search out the answer as best I can. Some (like this Chewbacca are a little more difficult to track down the origin and reason for them. Vintage stuff is difficult, because Kenner no longer exists and Hasbro is not very cooperative when it comes to answering questions about Kenner produced figures. I want you and everyone to know that you can trust that I am on the case and working very hard to get answers for this current challenging Chewie variant and I vow to do the same with any and all future questions.

[Reconsgt]

Don't get me wrong. I am confident you know what you are talking about with these variants. I was just looking for a complete list of the known variants. I didn't think to look at the checklist here.


 This chewie thing had me wondering about them recently and honestly had me thinking about what I have laying around and never noticed before. I found a few variants in the box nothing ground breaking but they were a pleasant surprise when I came across them.

 I can relate to Hasbro being a little hard to deal with. I went through similar things when I was restoring muscle cars. Some companies were great but others left a little to be desired.

 If you ever need a hand tracking info down feel free to pass a little work my way. I would enjoy a little hunt every now and then.

[Thomas Grey]

Thanks for the offer! I will definitely let you know. It can be a slow and tedious process, especially when a lot of my info comes from ebay auctions. The scrolling and clicking can get blinding at times.

I have sent my images to Star Wars Insider to see if they can answer it and maybe it will get some press. I also sent an inquiry to another figure expert and we'll see what it turns up. I am not out for any credit for this, just answers. It's been keeping me up at night!

I think question like:

How far did both sculpts of Han Solo's head make it in the vintage runs is one I haven't yet confirmed. There are rumored ROTJ carded figures of Han with both head sizes. That would be a great thing to be able to confirm or deny.

It has recently come to light that the green bowcaster for the Chewbacca in the Early Bird Kit was also packaged on some 12 back cards.

The Yoda Snake went through a lot of changes from ESB to POTF and it would be cool to have images of any and all that have been made. I have images of 4 so far. There may be more...

Many others exist, but those are 2 that come to mind right away for me...

I'll keep the Chewbacca question updated as I find out more and hope to get others involved in the tireless quest of finding, defining and verifying new and/or old variants and errors.