The first figure to be offered on a card back was Boba Fett. Boba Fett was first seen in a cartoon that was part of the hideous Star Wars Holiday Special on T.V. during the 1978 holiday season. The best thing about the special was this cartoon the rest of it can be forgotten and has been since George Lucas himself pretty much denies its existence. Boba Fett was supposed to have a major role in the new movie The Empire Strikes Back. Kenner went into full force in advertising the promotion. Here is how the offer appears on the back of the card and it expired May 31st 1979. A year before the movie was released.

The figure shown is very different from the figure actually released. It is a mock up of the figure. Another thing of note is the spring loaded missile shown firing on the back. Around this time a child choked on a similar missile from a Battlestar Galactica toy and unfortunately died. This brought on a massive recall of the toys and the missiles were glued in. Kenner experimented with ways to try and make the missile so it would be safe, but in the end they were not successful and they had to glue theirs in as well. Later packaging for the offer had a black sticker covering up the picture of the missile firing feature. When the figure finally arrived it included a note to the consumer about the issue and if they were not happy with the figure they could send it back and get a figure of their choice in exchange. I’m not sure why anyone would still want to send it back since it was still a sneak preview figure for the movie and was not available in stores.

Here is a picture of mine with the mailer box, figure, flyer, and product catalog. It took me about 4 months of actively looking before I tracked mine down. This is also the most expensive of the mail-away figures, so I had to save my pennies in order to purchase one.

Several prototypes have come to the market of the rocket firing figure and they sell for thousands of dollars. There are also some cheap reproductions that have been made for the budget oriented collector. I might pick up one of those down the road. Here is the commercial that aired on T.V. advertising the Boba Fett promotion.

Yesterday I finally received the last mail-away figure for my Star Wars collection. I decided to take a group picture of all the boxes together. It’s not much to look at right now as the real treat is what is inside each of them. The next mail-away feature will be posted tonight. I am just waiting on one piece for the set that will arrive in the mail today.

The Boston Globe has a great article on Mark Boudreaux. I’m sure that name doesn’t really mean anything to most people, but if you have ever played with a Star Wars toy then you have played with one of his designs. Mark worked for Kenner back in the 70s and designed the original Millennium Falcon that every kid who grew up during that time remembers. That same design was reused again for the release of the Star Wars line again in the 90s up to this year when the original mold finally gave out. Mark now works for Hasbro who bought Kenner in the 90s. He designed the new Millennium Falcon that came out this year and many other Star Wars toys through the years. From the article it sounds like he happens to also be a Star Wars collector. It would be great to see some of the stuff I’m sure he has acquired over the years being an insider. He also says his favorite character is Boba Fett, so it makes me wonder if he has a rocket firing Boba Fett prototype or other cool stuff like that for the character.

Here is a direct link to the full article. It came up for me fine the first time, but then the site required me to register which is free. http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/08/18/designer_to_the_stars/?page=full