The Saga Museum Blog!

We all know that the Kenner and Hasbro Star Wars line generated plenty of packaging variations to keep OCD “completist” collectors like myself extremely busy over the years. From major and minor variations to unproduced packaging variations... it is all here!

Some variations were very exciting to uncover, especially those that had never been documented.  Others took some major perseverance to track down, while others would wreak havoc on my bank account once I was lucky enough to find one for my collection.

Here is a sample page spread from Chapter 7 - Vehicles. This 2-page sample (out of 11) documents all known variations of Star Wars Kenner Mini-Rigs.  3-backs, 5-backs, Special Offers and Rebates:  it covers every release from The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and The Power of the Force.

In The Saga Museum book, there are a total of 38 production mini-rigs with 14 unproduced (Revenge of the Jedi & alternate artwork) Mini-Rigs, for a total of 52 in the Vintage Star Wars line alone.  Some of these variations are quite rare with only a handful (3-5) currently known to exist.

Adding variations to my collection always gave me a sense of accomplishment...well, not always. Sometimes I did it to add to the hobby and document an unknown item, while other times I did it out of pure and utter boredom. 

Whatever the reason, at the end of the day, it was all about the thrill of the hunt.