TRI-POD LASER CANNON /  RADAR LASER CANNON

Once again,  these box designs were created  to store the various loose POTF II Tri-Pod  and Radar  Laser  Cannons that I own.

But I wanted  the design to be reminiscent  of the closed window-less box from the Vintage  Kenner Days:

Photo Credits:

Jeditemple  Toy archives:     (POTF II  Radar Laser Cannon  /  POTF II  Tri-Pod Laser Cannon)
Rebelscum Toy archives:   ( EP1 Obi-Wan Kenobi / Major Derlin  action figures  used to create  Hoth Rebel soldier  “composite figure”)

DEATH STAR SPACE STATION

As of last night,  I now own 3 of these AWESOME playsets MINT and COMPLETE.

I actually did some minor customizing to the playsets themselves by giving them updated customized stickers  (downloaded off the web)  and by doing some minor Photoshop work on the cardboard wall  inserts and then printing new ones.

I photographed one of my assembled Death Stars, and then “populated” the photo (via Photoshop)  with my custom figures and others.

Photo Credits:

Roberto Williams:   (Death Star Space Station Playset , Various Custom Action Figures)
Rebelscum Toy Archives   (Stormtrooper , C-3PO, and R2-D2 Action Figures)

CREATURE CANTINA ACTION PLAYSET

This toy was a birthday gift to myself back in 1979 when I turned 12.

I’ve always loved the toy, so I was  heartbroken  when the box was damaged in the flood.

Fortunately, the cardboard backdrop for this toy survived un-scathed! 

In fact, I used the actual toy to take the  photo for this package design!

Photo Credits:

Roberto Williams:        (Cantina Playset,  Custom Action Figures)
Rebelscum  Toy Archives    (Various action figures)

RADIO CONTROLED JAWA SANDCRAWLER

I  must confess that the box for my Radio Controlled Jawa Sandcrawler was NOT damaged in  the flood.

However,  from the day I bought  it  back in 1979,  the box was in VERY rough shape.

Furthermore,  I never cared for Kenner’s package design for this toy.  I thought it was very clumsy the way the toy seemed to be cut off along the top of the photo by the extended arm holding the remote control and by the STAR WARS logo.

I took this opportunity to make a new customized box design.

Photo Credits:   Rebelscum  toy archives  (Sandcrawler)

LANDSPEEDER

When Hasbro released the AWESOME Saga Landspeeder  with Luke Skywalker about three years ago, I saw no reason to keep the previous versions of Luke’s speeder  in my collection.  I sold them off.

However,  for reasons of nostalgia,  I will ALWAYS fondly remember my Vintage Kenner Landspeeder’s BOX design.

While replacing the damaged box for my Saga Landspeeder,   I created a windowless box that pays homage to the vintage Kenner   days.

Photo Credits:

Roberto Williams:    (Landspeeder,   Luke Skywalker)

Hi Gang!

Some days it just doesn’t pay to get outta bed!

My STAR WARS toy collection  is located on most of the second floor of my home.

I came home one night about  3 months ago and found that my kitchen (located on the 1st floor) had become a virtual  swimming pool due to a ruptured waterpipe  up on the third floor.

The water leaked through the second floor ceiling (flooding my STAR WARS Collection room),  and through the first floor ceiling to flood the kitchen.  There was SEVERE damage along the way.

For me the MOST heartbreaking damage was to my STAR WARS toy collection on the second floor!!

Boxed VINTAGE  Kenner collectibles  as well as MODERN Hasbro pieces were completely  WATER-LOGGED!!!

The toys themselves were (for the most part) un-damaged.    But the packaging for these collectibles were reduced to useless soggy lumps of cardboard!!!

My friends, I don’t mind telling you, I damn-near  broke into tears.

Nearly 30 years of collecting just... soggy.

Now, I've posted this thread HERE in the customizing section because in the tradition of true customizing,  I've decided to take this bittter LEMON of a situation and turn into LEMONADE. 

I have begun to design NEW CUSTOM PACKAGING for all of the (newly) loose toys.

I have created my own CUSTOM GRAPHICS for these boxes using photos of my custom  action figures,  and photos of the actual loose toys composited in ADOBE PHOTOSHOP.

I also decided to base the STYLE of my packaging on  Kenner’s VINTAGE boxes. 

You see,  I really don’t care for the flimsy modern “window” boxes that  present the toy in a “posed” state. 

Call me “old School”, but I prefer the packaged  toy to be contained in a windowless box  protected from damaging sunlight. And the box should have exciting, colorful graphics.

Now,  before anyone asks,  I am NOT offering these custom boxes for sale.  I have only created them for my own personal collection.

In some cases,  the photography work for these boxes  is my own.  But  in many cases,  I have  downloaded photos from throughout the web and from the Rebelscum  toy archives to create these.

Therefore, it would simply be un-ethical for me to profit from the work of others.  So I will NOT do it.  Please do not ask. I hope you understand.

Without further ado,  here are my custom box designs so far…


Roberto  DARKLORD Williams

Howdy gang!!!

Another poster by the name of "skyvvalker" on another message board posted this question, so I CANNOT claim it as my own.  But KUDOS to him, because I think it a good topic!!   Anyway here goes...

Do any of you guys and gals here own one of the 6 foot long Toys R Us MILLENNIUM FALCON Extraordinaires?

Skyvvalker himself owns one:
http://images.snapfish.com/345996%3B%3B%3B%7Ffp337>nu%3D3273>674>783>WSNRCG%3D32334494<9%3B58nu0mrj

Steve Sansweet's got one:
http://www.rebelscum.com/features/ranchoobiwan_IMG_4481.jpg

Philip Wise has one (upper right corner)
http://www.rebelscum.com/room/1-1.jpg

And there is one on display at the Star Toys Museum of Meerkat Meade in suburban Baltimore, Maryland:
http://www.readersadvice.com/museum/mfextra.html

Is there ANYONE else out there who is a proud owner of one of these GORGEOUS Collectibles??



For those of you that may NOT know:

The 6 foot long(!) MILLENNIUM FALCON "Extraordinaire"  (with working lights, Radar Dish, and Twin quad laser cannons (dorsal AND ventral) is a direct "tool-up" of Kenner / Hasbro's  various toy Falcons.  

The "Extraordinaire" is a close approximation of the Millennium Falcon's true size if it were correctly scaled for the 3.75 inch scale figures!  These were made of  sturdy styrene plastic, and have all of the same details, deco, and decals as Hasbro's 1995 POTFII  Falcon.

There were ONLY (approximately) 700 of these made for display in Toys R Us stores around the country.  Each one had a numbered, engraved brass plaque bolted to the circular gun-port area of the dorsal quad-laser cannon.  

These Falcons  could be seen hanging from the celings of Toy R Us stores back in 1997 during the height of the release of the STAR WARS Trilogy, Special Edition.

Out of the 700 that were made, a (smaller) undetermined number of them survived their  months of display in the nation's various Toys R Us stores as MINT specimens.

In late 1997, Toys R Us held a nationwide charity raffle, giving away 500 of the existing "Extraordinaire" Falcons.

Initially, there was some talk that Hasbro would actually REFURBISH any of the non-mint / damaged Falcons to "like-new" condition before shipping them out to all of the raffle winners.  Any missing or broken parts (Laser Cannons, Radar Dish,  Power pack. etc) would supposedly be replaced.

However, right before the raffle winners were awarded their prize, it was then announced that these were going to be shipped in "as-is" condition"!!

That means that quite a few raffle winners got "Extraordinaire" Falcons that were beat-up, dirty, and / or with missing parts.

Now, some of those winners were fortunate enough to know that they should contact Hasbro and request replacement parts.  I know of at least ONE "Extraordinaire" owner that did just THAT back in 1998, and got his replacement parts!  

But, everyone else was outta luck.  They were stuck with "Less-than-mint" Falcons (which they presumably either still own OR have sold off in the secondary market).


I am happy to say that I too am the proud owner of a MINT MILLENNIUM FALCON "Extraordinaire" , and she is THE absolute "holy-grail" of my collection!  My "Extraordinaire" is numbered as  "#315".

I no longer have my "Extraordinaire" on display.  I was quite concerned with her gathering dust and being exposed to harsh, damaging sunlight.  So, back in '98, I had a very good friend manufacture a LARGE cardboard carton to store her inside of.  This box ended up being as large as a king-sized BED!!  In addition, I bought  a HUGE clear plastic tarp from a hardware store and fashioned a  very neat air-tight sealed "envelope" to store her inside of before putting her in the new BIG box carton for storage.

But just last month, I got the old "geek-play" itch, and  pulled the big Falcon out of storage!!!
Let me tell you... my wife and I had an absolute BALL attacking the big Falcon with four of those new Target Tie Fighters with Larger Wings!  I haven't had that much STAR WARS "play" fun since I was a twelve year old!!

I'm telling you... the scale between these Ties and the Falcon "Extraordinaire" is absolutely SUBLIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I particularly enjoyed the sight of one of those gorgeous Ties "firing" upon the Falcon's big Radar Dish!!

Wifey and I had a grand ol' time, making the screaming Tie Fighter sounds and laser sounds, and quoting dialogue: "They're coming in too fast!!" "We've lost the lateral controls!!!" "Don't worry!! She'll hold together!!" Hear me baby? Hold together."

Oh Yeah!!!! And we even played the John Williams "Tie Fighter Attack" music score on the stereo system for full effect!!!

And THEN, we... Oh!... um... heh-heh... Sorry. I, uh... geeked-out again a little bit. So sorry about that. Heh...

Anyway, if any of you are interested, here are some pics of MY Falcon "Extraordinaire" before she was put away in storage. These were taken in the bedroom of my old small apartment before we bought our current home. She used to stand on edge, in a corner of the room next to the window.
You can get a sense of her sheer SIZE with the STAR WARS Han and Chewie standees displayed next to her. Han is 6 feet tall!