Yesterday I discussed how Hasbro is resurrecting the Rocket Firing Boba Fett figure this year. That figure has become a “Holy Grail” for many Star Wars collectors. There are many different figures that have become popular and collectible for whatever reason in the vintage Kenner figure line. Many become popular because of an error made in production, some become popular because they were released at the very end so only limited numbers exist today.
Let’s take a look at the six of the rarest and most collectible vintage Star Wars figures ever made. All of the figures in this list were officially released to retail and aren’t prototypes or mockups. They are actual figures.
Blue Snaggletooth – Released in 1978 as part of the Sears exclusive Star Wars Cantina Adventure Set. Blue Snaggletooth was supposed to be half as tall and in a red-suit. The mistake happened due to a miscommunication by Lucasfilm. Essentially, Lucasfilm sent over a black and white headshot of the alien and Kenner “made up” the blue suit and his height because they had nothing to compare to. This was later corrected which only created demand for the incorrect tall, blue figure (as these things tend to do). Blue Snaggletooth has become legendary in Star Wars collecting circles. It’s not as rare as one might think, but they aren’t exactly plentiful and the popularity of this variation keeps the demand high.
Vinyl-cape Jawa – Of the original 12 vintage Kenner Star Wars figures in 1978, the very last one issued to retail was the Jawa. He first appeared as you see him on the left, wearing a plastic (vinyl) cape. As the line of Star Wars figures proved to be hugely popular, Kenner switched the Jawa to a cloth cape (on right) because it made the figure look better. By doing this, it created a situation in which the vinyl cape Jawa is now an extremely rare collectible. This one is not as well known as the Blue Snaggletooth to people outside the Star Wars collecting community, but Star Wars collectors know the specifics of this VERY well. Vinyl cape Jawa is one of the most faked vintage figures of all time due to it’s high price on the secondary market. All you have to do is take a vintage Obi-Wan, remove the cloak, cut it to size then place it on a Jawa. If you are good enough (and have zero scruples), you can affix the figure to a used Star Wars 12 back card and you have something that may get you thousands of dollars from a collector that doesn’t know any better. However, someone willing to pay thousands for this figure variation WILL know better.
Double Telescoping Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader – “Double telescoping” is a term used for the original mechanics of the lightsaber action feature on Luke Skywalker, Ben Kenobi and Darth Vader. If you look at the above pics, you can see the lightsaber opens up into two parts. One part comes directly out of the hand and the second part comes out of the very tip. This was done as a cheap way to give the lightsaber some length. However, Kenner was not happy with this and changed the mechanics to a single piece of plastic. Not many of these “double telescoping” figures actually made it to retail, which makes them doubly rare.
Cavalcade of Awesome 
