CinemaCast Darth Vader by Kenner

This is most likely the first high end Star Wars collectible. Production was limited to 10,000 by Kenner and in 1994 it was an impressive 16" tall plus another 8" for his lightsaber. This is a striking piece that I enjoyed having on display in my first house for many years. Although it is probably inspired by the duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, it always reminds me of their battle in Empire Strikes Back. That was the one where Vader always had the upper hand, as he clearly has in this pose. According to sandtroopers.com, this is George Lucas' favorite statue, but I try not to believe everything I read on the internet :-)

These statues are very heavy (16 lbs in the box) and were quite expensive. I recall them being around $100 which is surprising considering I have two. The first one I bought through Advanced Comics and my local comic shop. The second one came to me at the Collector's Expo when one of the dealers I frequented pulled me aside and asked me if I'd take it off his hands. I bought it at a considerable discount -- why, I cannot say -- probably just because it was such a good deal!

I Bent My Wookiee!

In 1993 I started a new love/hate relationship. The resurgence of Star Wars was gaining momentum through Dark Horse Comics and the Timothy Zahn novels but I was craving more. I wanted some new action figures! And the powers that be heard the silent plea from me and my brethren and lo and behold: Bend~Ems!

Bend~Ems? Hmmm... Never heard of them, but "Hey! It's Luke, Leia, Chewbacca and the gang!" And with that, my induction into the world of Bend~Ems was complete. Produced by JusToys, these were some of the weirdest looking things I had ever seen: flexible, rubbery figures designed for ages 3 & up. The likenesses were weak and downright comical (see close-up of Chewbacca) and even the lightsabers bent!

Like the seductive power of the dark side, JusToys was tempting my collecting weaknesses by recreating all the variations, exclusives, and box sets of Kenner of in just a few short months. Most of the packages were labeled with "Limited Edition" or "Limited Edition Trading Card" and included a bonus Topps Star Wars Galaxy trading card. Most of the gift sets came with coins as well. I even have a Princess Leia figure on a Yoda card! [Click the photo at the top to see a series of images of all my carded Bend~Ems.]

I always remember Princess Leia because she was impossible to find in my area so on a road trip one weekend I stopped in a Toys'R'Us about 200 miles away from home and bought every Leia figure they had (thinking that I might somehow corner the market -- I was young.) The usual "what were you thinking?" doubts on this relationship didn't set in until well after Bend~Ems were a part of Star Wars collecting history. [Click gift set photo to see series of images of all the box sets.]

Looking back on all this, I still have fond memories of our first meeting, the chase for Leia, and the immense satisfaction of completing a new set of action figures. Mixed with those fond memories are the questions like "What exactly are these things?" and "Why did I buy so many?" and "Why does Chewbacca have fangs?". Ah, the joys of collecting!