Guide to Vintage Star Wars collecting

Not so long ago at a Kenner office not so far away... Star Wars toys were born.

Hello, I'm Fiddlestyx and welcome to my Guide to Vintage Star Wars collecting. This guide is meant to serve as a basic introduction to Star Wars vintage collecting. It includes links and information to help you along your journey to a galaxy far, far away.
Kenner's Star Wars toy line ran from 1977 to 1985.


Where should I start if I want to collect star wars toys?

The following four websites contain a wealth of information on the subject and are a great place to start learning.

The original Kenner 1977-1985 photo archive of Kenner Star Wars toys

Guide to identifying authentic figures, weapons and accessories

Introduction to COOs (Country of Origin)

The Star Wars Collectors Archive


Star Wars collecting Terminology:

When collecting Star Wars you will inevitably come across some abbreviations or terms that you may not recognize. Below is a list of common ones you should learn. Some are easy to figure out and others not so much.

Vintage - In the Star Wars collecting world, Vintage refers to items produced between 1977-85 and does not include stuff from the 1990s

ANH - A New Hope

ESB - Empire Strikes Back

ROTJ - Return of the Jedi

POTF - Power of the Force

MOC - Mint on Card

MISB - Mint in Sealed Box

MIB - Mint in Box

NOS - New Old Stock

POP - Proof of Purchase

DT - Double Telescoping, this refers to the two piece light sabers for the action figures of Darth Vader, Obi Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker (These figures can go for a premium, thousands of dollars)

COO - Country of Origin, where the toy was made. Acceptable COOs:

Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, China, No COO

Wait, isn't Hong Kong in China? Yes, but it was under British control until the late 1990s.

Mexico can also be a COO, but this should only be seen on some toys. For example: card-backs, vehicles, preschool figures... It will not be on any of the 3 3/4 figures.

Card Back - This is the card that the figure was attached to.

Tri-Logo - Tri-Logo cards have logos in English, French and Spanish.

Early Bird - This was the first Kenner Star Wars action figure item. You can read all about it here.

First 12 - This refers to the first 12 characters produced.

Last 17 - This refers to the last 17 characters produced. The last 17 was the end of the line for Vintage Star Wars action figures and as such not as many of them were produced. This makes them a little more valuable than some of the other figures.

-Back - You may come across a term such as 12-Back or 20-Back. This is a way of identifying the card by referring to how many figures are displayed on the back of the card. When the figures first came out, there were only 12 different figures available for purchase. As they produced different figures, more became available and the backs were changed to reflect that. 12, 20, 21, 31, 32, 41, 45, 47, 48, 65, 77, 79, 92 and 93 are all the different backs you may find. You may also find suffixes with the number such as 12backC. The letter denotes a change in the card. This can be as simple as a sticker being added at the factory or a description being slightly changed. Suffixes go from A to H and Tri-Logo cards have a different suffix. This can all get confusing for someone just starting out, but this website can help.


Trademarks (Copyright, ©):

One of the following trademarks should be found on all vintage Star Wars toys in some form.

LFL - LucasFilm Limited

GMFGI - General Mills Fun Group Incorporated (General Mills was the owner of Kenner)

CPG - Consumer Product Group (only used on Boba Fett action figure)


Grading:

Who does it and what is it? Grading is done to give a toy a widely accepted grade that denotes what kind of condition a toy is in.

AFA - Action Figure Authority, a US company which grades toys.

UKG - UK Graders, a company based in the UK which grades toys. UKG is said to use a stricter grading process. So an AFA 90 may be a UKG 85, even though both figures appear identical.

Wait Fiddle, what do these numbers mean? Well, all toys are graded on scale, this scale looks at different aspects of a toy (like condition and paint) and assigns a number to it. Grading scales differ between modern and vintage toys and between graders. For more information check out Grading Scales

UGrade- Ah, the good old controversial UGrade. UGraded toys receive a number such as U90. UGrades are given to toys that, when graded, are removed from their original packaging, the U stands for Uncirculated. This is seen as destructive by many collectors.


Who made or distributed the Vintage Star Wars toys?

Kenner - A toy company based in Cincinnati, Ohio

Kenner Canada - Kenner's distributor for Canada

Glasslite - A toy company that manufactured Star Wars toys for the Brazilian Market

Lily Ledy - A toy company in Mexico that produced and distributed Star Wars toys.

Meccano - The French licensee for Kenner toys

Palitoy - a British toy company

PBP - a toy company that was created from the merger of three Spanish toy companies, Poch, Borras and Palouzie

Clipper - a company that distributed Star Wars Kenner toys in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg

Harbert - a distributor in Italy

Takara - a toy company in Japan


How can I find out what a fair price is for a toy I would like to buy or sell?

Well there are several ways to do this.

eBay sold listings - You can do an eBay search and show only SOLD listing. This is a great way to see what a particular item is selling for. You can then use that information and arrive at an average price.

Ask on forums - There are many places Star Wars toys are bought and sold. Asking at one of these places allows you to pick the minds of other collectors and see what they think it is worth.

Price guides - Price guides are out there, but keep in mind prices are always fluctuating and a price guide can be obsolete really fast.


What is the best piece of advice you can give me?

Be patient! Take your time and do some research before you buy. There are plenty of people out there trying to scam you, but with patience and research you can do a lot to avoid that.


So, there it is. You should now have a strong foundation to build upon in your journey to a galaxy far, far away. There is a lot more out there to learn, but you should have a good start now.
Happy collecting and May the Force be with you... Always

If you have any question, suggestions or find an error, please contact me.

Fiddle


Sources *

The Imperial Gunnery -

Rebelscum.com: Home Page

Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki

Trilogo.info

Kenner History

The Star Wars Collectors Archive