From Apply Now,
Your Guide to Action Figures.
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By Christmas of 1977, toy stores were desperate to meet the demand for Star Wars action figures, but Kenner didn’t have the toys ready in time. This led to one of the most famous marketing decisions in the history of Star Wars collectibles and action figures in general. That Christmas, toy stores sold something called the Early Bird Kit. This kit came with a cardboard display with places for each of the first twelve figures and a redemption certificate for Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, and R2-D2. It was an empty box, so to speak, that promised a kid would receive those first four figures the following spring by mailing that redemption certificate. Today, an original Early Bird Kit is a rather expensive item, especially since the Luke Skywalker figure came with a double-telescoping lightsaber (when pushed under his arm, it would protrude, and then a smaller blade would protrude from the larger blade the more it was pushed) that was removed from later figures.

By the time that Star Wars action figures hit, people had not forgotten about the movie. In fact, Star Wars was still playing in many theaters an entire year after its initial release in May of 1977. The first twelve figures included Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, Han Solo, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Darth Vader, a Jawa, a Tusken Raider (Sandpeople), a Stormtrooper, and a Death Squad Commander (later renamed Star Destroyer Commander). These original figures would be released and re-released several times over during the course of the vintage Star Wars line’s eight year run, but if you find a carded example of one of these figures on a 12-back card (a card that only shows these 12 figures on the back), then you have found one of the original Star Wars figures from the initial release. These figures retailed for less than three dollars a piece, which meant that they could be bought with allowance money. Many, many Star Wars action figures were purchased in that first year, but since they were meant to be toys, they were played with to every extreme, and finding mint or near-mint examples of these original figures is no easy task. Finding carded figures from this era is nearly impossible, since they didn’t linger on toy shelves like later series of Star Wars figures did in the 1980’s.

Today, the original 12 figures on 12-back cards are extremely desirable and arguably the most desired (and expensive) figures in the entire vintage line. Loose figures are not quite as desirable, since they were rereleased over the course of the original trilogy, but near-mint or mint loose examples of figures like Han Solo and Princess Leia command quite a bit more than many of the original 93 Star Wars figures. There are some important variations to consider when hunting for the original twelve figures.