The Star Wars vintage Kenner action figures changed toys and franchising forever.  Sales of this line were so successful that it’s no surprise the fan nostalgia for these 3.75-inch figures in new packages is still as great as ever, 44 years after their first appearance in a pre-order campaign for Christmas 1977.  Disney knows what its fans want, and so they assembled two takes on a action figures for the Disney+ series The Mandalorian–one with modern molds and articulation in vintage packaging, and the other with retro, classic Kenner style molds and articulation, housed in classic, mock-distressed packaging–plus original-style vinyl capes.  Wave I of this line included IG-11, Moff Gideon, Cara Dune, Greef Karga, Kuiil, “Baby Yoda,” and Din Djarin, the man behind the mask.  That complete set is shipping now at Entertainment Earth and Amazon.  The next wave in the Retro line has just been previewed by Entertainment Earth, who is now accepting pre-orders here.  It’s an equally good line of figures, this time from Season 2, including one of the most collected figures of the original Kenner line, as well as rebooted lines in the 1990s and 2000s: Boba Fett.  It also features Bo-Katan Kryze, Ahsoka Tano, a second season Din aka Mandalorian, The Armorer, and an Imperial Death Trooper.  Check out the new sculpts, accessories, and packaging below.

 

 

As with the first wave–the Season 1 figures–the figures for Season 2 include the retro seal that partially blocks the background photo–the primary negative of the line.  Also, the distressed packaging design isn’t for everyone.

 

 

The first wave box included seven figures, and collectors will find one fewer in this set.  The set from Entertainment Earth includes an extra Mandalorian and Boba Fett figure.  This doesn’t make the other four figures “chase” figures per se, but reflects the expected popularity of these two characters and the likelihood of more point-of-sale purchases for them.

 

 

With the return of Star Wars action figures in advance of the prequels, four of the original sculpts from the 1970s returned in a limited set in the 1990s (still sold via third party sellers at Amazon here), and Lucasfilm with its own changes over the years keeps finding ways of bringing them back with the Kenner logo via Kenner’s successor company Hasbro.  The company even released a set of four figures: Luke, Leia, R2-D2, and Chewbacca, in an enlarged 12-inch collection, still available at Amazon here, and even a Cantina set, plus 12-inch re-creations of several other vintage figures, from toy company Gentle Giant, discussed over the past decade here at borg.  Exactly a year ago Kenner released the preview of the first wave of the current line of retro figures, which we discussed here.

Several of these characters were included in the Vintage line (discussed here).  The initial release of Wave 1 sold out within a few hours, but are fully available now.  Entertainment Earth is taking pre-orders for a set of all six figures for only $89.99 (price as of date of publication).  This is six dollars more than the first wave, presumably because of current high shipping costs.

Here are both waves of the retro line:

 

If Star Wars nostalgia is your thing, and you love The Mandalorian as much as we did, check out Entertainment Earth here for more information and/or to pre-order these for yourself.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg