Hey everyone, how's it going? It's Friday, which means it's time for a little trip to the Star Wars Universe to talk about toys. Specifically the 1995 Power of the Force toyline that ended in 2000. So let's get into it.
Being a kid of the '90s I had a lot of action figures, including a bunch of the classic Kenner Star Wars figures that one of my nurses at the hospital passed down to me after her son didn't want them anymore. However, there hadn't been brand new Star Wars toys on shelves since 1985, when the original Power of the Force line ended. But, with the surge in popularity that Star Wars gained between the announcement of the Prequel Trilogy being produced, the novels that were selling extremely well, the Special Editions coming out in 1997, and the re-release of the trilogy on home video in 1995, which I talked about last week, Hasbro, using the Kenner name, began producing a brand new line of Star Wars toys under the same label as what Kenner had used in 1985, The Power of the Force.
These figures, a few of which I own today, were musclebound figures, which was typical for toys marketed for boys at the time (just look at the original Ranger figures from Bandai's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers toyline). Even the new Leia figure looked like she was on steroids or a really heavy workout regime. While this was toned down as the late '90s went along, the look of these original figures is what people came to associate with the The Power of the Force name.
As I said earlier, as a kid in the '90s, I had a lot of action figures, including the classic Star Wars figures from Kenner. However, I was still excited to get new Star Wars figures, especially after I saw the movies in late 1995/early 1996. And I did. Let's take a look at the ones I got when I was a kid, as well as the one I got a few years ago.
The coolest toy I got from the Power of the Force line was the Millennium Falcon. It was an update of the original Falcon toy that Kenner released in 1978-1979, so not only could it hold the new figures coming out, but it could also hold my original figures from the late '70s and early '80s. Which is probably why my parents and grandparents ever looked for the original Falcon toy for me at garage sales and flea markets because we had the new one and whenever my siblings and I played with the Star Wars toys, the Falcon and the classic AT-AT Walker always came out as well.
To go along with the Millennium Falcon, we got the Han Solo figure as well. I don't remember if we got the Han Solo figure at the same time as we got the Millennium Falcon, or if we got him after we got the ship. I just remember having both. I kept the Han Solo figure with his DL-44 Blaster Pistol.
A little bit later on, we got the Electronic FX R2-D2 figure that came with a stand in which, using magnets in its 'feet', you could make Artoo move around on, as if it was the scene from A New Hope. Jawas weren't included though. Also, when you pressed spot where the two vents are in the center of Artoo's torso, he makes the Artoo warbling sounds and his center 'eye' lit up. I actually still have this figure in my collection.
The last Power of the Force figure I got when I was a kid was the Greedo that came with the Commtech chip. Since we didn't have the Commtech Chip Reader (which was designed to look like a Commlink from The Phantom Menace) we couldn't stand Greedo on it and hear it say whatever line from A New Hope that was programmed into the chip. Still though, it was interesting to have Greedo.
A few years ago, I picked up the original Power of the Force Darth Vader figure from 1995 at my local comic book store. I was looking for this figure specifically to go with my Power of the Jedi Emperor's Wrath Vader figure that I got at Ottawa Comiccon back in 2017. I gave my Millennium Falcon to my friend, Jonathan, back in 2015 because my parents and I were getting ready to move and I didn't think I'd have enough space for it in whatever house we were going to be moving to. And I was right because I don't have enough room for it. As for the figures, the only one I don't have anymore is Greedo. I got rid of it in either 2015 or 2016 before we moved.
My siblings and I played with my Star Wars toys a lot. Not as much as my Star Trek toys, but we still played with them a lot. Especially when the Special Editions were coming out and Star Wars was at the height of its popularity in the '90s. At that point in time there wasn't a lot of Star Trek stuff that I didn't already have and the toys had become scarce after the Star Trek Generations toyline had come out in 1994. Luckily Star Wars was there to pick up the slack a little bit, along with Gargoyles, Batman, and Power Rangers. I also remember seeing the commercials for all of the Power of the Force toys and of course, Galoob's Micro Machines Star Wars toys as well.
That my friends, is it for this week. I haven't quite decided what I'm doing next week. The two episode season premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds drops on Thursday and I'll be watching both episodes on Friday evening, so you'll get a post on The Star Trek Journal on Monday, some sort of post on Josh's Geek Cave on Wednesday, a post here at The Star Wars Journal on Friday, and then my review of Strange New Worlds season 3 episodes 1 and 2 on Saturday over at The Star Trek Journal. That's the plan. Until then have a great weekend and may the Force be with you!
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