From Apply Now,
Your Guide to Action Figures.
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It’s been thirty years since Star Wars first hit the big screen. The movie itself has had an everlasting influence on the way movies are made with the successful incorporation of special effects into the movie’s action, not to mention the epic, mythical feel of the movie. Indeed, as a series of movies, the Star Wars series had made and will continue to make a tremendous impact on many people’s lives. But one thing that is almost as synonymous with Star Wars as lightsabers or the Force or Darth Vader may surprise you: collectibles.

Star Wars is in a league of its own when it comes to collectibles. The Star Wars series has generated more revenue in toy sales than every Disney movie ever made combined. You can literally find different Star Wars collectibles in all corners of the globe. There is one collectible category within Star Wars that has had more impact on people’s lives than any others, and that’s the action figures. Ironically, thirty years ago, the movie had already set all kinds of box office records, and yet not one action figure could be found on toy shelves.

After the success of the film, many toy companies were clamoring to get the license to the most successful movie in history. It was originally supposed to go to Mego Toys, the company that defined action figures of the 1970’s. They had produced action figures based on super-heroes, TV and movie characters, and many other properties and seemed like a natural choice for Lucasfilm. However, when Lucasfilm made the call to Mego, they were in a meeting discussing the Micronauts toy line. While Micronauts paved the way for toys like Transformers in the 1980’s, they would not have the same kind of impact that Star Wars toys would have. Lucasfilm then made the call to Kenner Toys, and the rest is history.

One of the issues with Star Wars toys was trying to incorporate the fantastic spaceships and environments featured in the film. Had Mego produced the figures in an 8” scale, a Millenium Falcon could have well been five or six feet long and retailed for over a hundred dollars, and therefore the line would not have been accessible to a lot of kids. Instead, Kenner decided to redefine the action figure scale, and the Luke Skywalker action figure set the new industry standard at three and three-quarters inches tall. Kenner had found a way to make a figure small enough for decent sized scale ships, vehicles, and playsets, while also making it large enough to capture the character’s on-screen likeness.