Take my family as an example – when I was growing in the 1980s, everybody was crazy about Star Wars. At that time, the first generation of StarWars figurines was released by Kenner (this line of products produced between 1977 and 1985 is usually referred to as the “Star Wars vintage toys” or “Star Wars vintage action figures”). We were all collecting them, trading them, even using them as a universal exchange currency.
The 5 Best Selling Star Wars Collectibles:
For your convenience, the below list shows the 5 best selling star wars collectibles on Amazon.com. The list is automatically updated once a day.
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The 10 Best Rated Star Wars Figurines
Now I have a 4-year-old son who inherited my precious Star Wars figurines collection. And I have to say that these old figures and models quickly became his favorite toys and he’s becoming extremely interested in anything related to Star Wars.
This is especially interesting if you consider the fact, that he hasn’t seen any of the movies yet. This fact doesn’t stop him from playing with Luke, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Master Yoda, and other favorite characters.
As I know from my personal experience, the addiction to Star Wars can last forever. Therefore, if you are a parent, the good news is that today’s market offers lots of Star Wars related items for all age groups. My son already owns a few Star Wars LEGO characters and construction sets, and considering the special release for the 10th anniversary of LEGO’s Star Wars line, he can definitely look forward to getting more of these.
Obviously, he will soon get old enough to watch and understand the whole StarWars saga and I’m pretty sure the hottest item on his next birthday wish list will be a lightsaber replica. Even the birthday party itself can be themed – there are hundreds of different costumes, games, and decorations available, so getting the right Star Wars party supplies should be no problem at all.
I just hope that he will keep his enthusiasm, so one day he will be ready to receive his own custom lightsaber replica and carry it with pride.
LEGOs – Star Wars, Figures and More
If you are a person under 60 years of age, introducing the LEGO company might be a bit pointless. Virtually everyone I know is familiar with the famous LEGO brick construction sets and toys. And if you also consider yourself a Star Wars fan, I’m pretty sure you have already come across the Star Wars themed LEGO sets, models and figures.
LEGO’s Star Wars sets were first introduced in 1999 on the occasion of releasing The Phantom Menace movie as LEGO’s first line of licensed products. These first sets were based on the original StarWars trilogy and shortly after that LEGO continued with new sets (mostly ships, vehicles and scenes) based on the new prequel trilogy (Episodes I. to III.). Considering that the original license (valid till 2008) was recently extended till 2011, there’s still much to be looking forward to in near future.
Enough of the history, let’s take a look at the range of main LEGO’s StarWars toys available:
Star Wars Ships, Spacecraft, and Vehicles
These types of sets (created in the mini-figure scale) are forming the basis of LEGO’s StarWars line. In order to achieve a realistic and accurate look, LEGO had to develop many special parts and pieces and some of the models exist in multiple redesigned versions, which makes them even more interesting for collectors.
The line includes spacecraft and famous vehicles like X-wing, Millennium Falcon, Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter, AT-AP Walker and other types.
Exclusives
A special range of StarWars LEGO sets – Ultimate Collector Series – contains models and scenes created in larger scales and much more detail than the regular ones.
Apart from the larger scale versions of the previously mentioned spacecraft and vehicles, this line includes, for example, a very detailed model of the Death Star featuring authentic environments and some exclusive mini figures and droids, which you cannot get anywhere else. And, as mentioned earlier, there’s much more to come in near future.
Star Wars LEGO Mini Figures
A very important part of the product range and a very popular topic among collectors are the Star Wars LEGO characters. Just think of any famous character which appeared in the movies, and you are guaranteed to find its mini-figure version.
Similarly to the spacecraft models, the unique appearance of these characters required many specially designed parts like helmets, weapons, headpieces and other had to be created. Some selected characters also exist in the light-up lightsaber version (powered by built-in battery) or as mini figure magnets.
Star Wars Bedding
I admit that this category won’t be very attractive for collectors, but if you are a parent trying to decorate your kid’s room with a Star Wars theme, then you should not forget about all different kinds of Star Wars bedding. There are many styles available these days, from designs inspired by the original movie saga, to the ones based on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.
I admit that this category won’t be very attractive for collectors, but if you are a parent trying to decorate your kid’s room with a Star Wars theme, then you should not forget about all different kinds of Star Wars bedding. There are many styles available these days, from designs inspired by the original movie saga, to the ones based on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.
Obviously, the best choice is to find out, what is your kid’s most favorite character or scene from the movie and then use a set of matching Star Wars comforter, bed sheet set, decorative pillows etc. depicting the chosen theme. If you don’t know which character or scene to choose, I strongly recommend looking for the most popular items like Star Wars twin comforter depicting the final lightsaber battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.
Every child loves lightsabers, so you can hardly go wrong choosing this one. Another safe choice would be Star Wars comforter, duvet or bedding set with Star Wars: Clone Wars pattern. If your kids are watching the animated TV series, they will like it for sure.
If you want to make an even stronger impression, you can add much more Star Wars themed items into your kid’s room – think about various kinds of wall art, Star Wars movie posters, lamps, curtains, adhesive glowing stars applied to the room ceiling and many other decorative items.
With all the possibilities you have, decorating your kid’s room in the Star Wars / Clone Wars style can be a lot of fun, and you can keep changing and improving it over the time simply by adding or replacing different items. I’m pretty sure your kids will love taking part in the process which promises a lot of great fun together.
Star Wars Birthday Party Supplies
The recent release of the Star Wars: Clone Wars TV series, caused a new wave of interest in any items related to the brand. You can be almost sure that your kids will become part of this, especially if you are a collector yourself, and they can see all your figures, toys and vehicles all around the house.
Therefore you should definitely get prepared for your kid’s next birthday, not only in terms of buying the perfect Star Wars gifts, for which you can find a lot of tips on this web site, but you should also make sure to get all the necessary Star Wars supplies for the birthday party. Here are some tips to make your task a bit easier.
Star Wars Invitations
Let’s start with the most important thing. First of all, you want to let your kid’s friends and classmates know, that you are organizing a great Star Wars kids party they shouldn’t miss. One of the best ways to do that is by sending them professionally looking Star Wars themed invitations. Before you rush into the nearest gift shop, you should first take some time and try to run an online search for free printable Star Wars invitations.
There are many websites that let you use their templates to create customized printable invitations in a matter of minutes. If you want to have something really unique, search form companies which use a professional graphics editor to include your own photo on the invitation card, and then send you a high-resolution digital image, which you can either print on your home photo printer, or bring to your local photo lab to get professional-looking prints.
If you look in places like eBay, you can find people who provide really professional design services for as low as $10.
Star Wars Supplies / Star Wars Partyware
It would be really difficult to list all the available kinds of items in this category. Virtually everything on your Star Wars kids party can be themed: cups and plates, party favors, ornaments and decorations, stickers and balloons, pinata, original Star Wars origami, you name it.
Star Wars Birthday Cakes
Probably the most impressive centerpiece of your party would be a custom made Star Wars Birthday cake. Again, if you are skilled enough, you can simply browse the internet and you will find hundreds of amazing designs. Some of the pages even provide detailed tutorials describing every step of making the cake.
If you are not 100% confident about your own skills, you can always ask professional confectioners who should be able to create a cake based on a picture you downloaded from the internet, or even come up with a unique design on their own.
Star Wars Lightsabers & Lightsaber Replicas
If you really want to enjoy movies like Star Wars, you need to be able to forget everything you learned at school, temporarily switch off the logical circuits in your brain and simply accept certain things as real. If you try to figure out how the Star Wars lightsabers work, it doesn’t make too much sense.
However, if you accept them as reality, you’ll probably agree, that having a real lightsaber, or at least a lightsaber replica or toy, could be quite cool. Let’s take a look at some basic options to help you buy lightsaber that matches your requirements.
Star Wars FX Lightsaber Toys
Without any doubt, toy lightsabers are still among the most popular gifts for children. All the major toy manufacturers e.g. Hasbro have their own line of lightsaber toys. The basic versions can be purchased from as low as $10. They usually feature a plastic handle with the battery-operated light-up telescopic blade. Obviously, you cannot expect too much quality and durability in this price range.
If you’re willing to spend $25 to $30, you can get a higher quality Star Wars FX lightsaber toys with additional features like sound effects (real battle-clash and humming sounds), vibration (so-called “force fx lightsabers”) and more.
Another interesting option is the Star Wars Ultimate Lightsaber set (from $35), which includes various interchangeable parts allowing you to build toy versions of the weapons used by characters like Luke Skywalker, Anakin, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Vader, or even assemble the double lightsaber used by Darth Maul or build your own unique design.
Star Wars FX Lightsaber Replicas
For a real Star Wars fan or serious collector, I recommend spending between $100 – $150 for a proper lightsaber replica. The difference between the toy versions is huge. The handles are usually made of solid die-cast chrome plated aluminum combined with polyethylene with a high level of detail which makes them look like real lightsabers.
The blades are permanently attached and usually made of sturdy shatterproof polycarbonate illuminated by a string of bright LEDs. These high-quality replicas feature a whole range of authentic light and sound effects e.g. power-up/power-down effect, hum when idle, swooshing sound when moved and crashing sound when hitting another object. These effects are controlled by built-in motion detectors.
Build Your Own Custom Lightsaber
If you are a real enthusiast and you can afford to spend up to $450, you may want to build your own custom lightsaber replica. There are many specialized online stores where you can select from hundreds of high-quality metal components for your unique lightsaber hilt (look for Modular Hilt System aka MHS), as well as other parts like electronics kits, polycarbonate battle blades etc.
These replicas are realistic enough for display in your room or office, and durable enough for lightsaber duels with your friends. Most of the mentioned websites provide detailed lightsaber construction tutorials, or you can simply have your custom lightsaber built and delivered right to your door.
Star Wars Helmets and Voice Changers
I have to confess, that Star Wars helmets, especially the wearable types, are probably my #1 favorite collectibles ever and there’s a huge number of collectors worldwide, who feel exactly the same way. Since the helmets were among the first types of licensed StarWars merchandise released in 1977, there’s plenty of stuff to collect.
The first licensed producer of Star Wars helmets was a company named Don Post Studios, which started releasing real size and scaled versions of the helmets in 1977. They had all kinds of items in all price ranges, from Budget line ($30 – $60) through much more accurate Classic Action line ($100 – $150) to the top quality deluxe line made of fiberglass. After their license expired in 2000, they were replaced by other manufacturers, but their products can still be found on eBay and other places.
Low-Cost Star Wars Helmets
Most of the budget helmets currently available on the market are produced by Rubie’s Costuming Co. who took over from Don Post in 2000 and received their helmet molds. Obviously, these products are mainly meant to be used as accessories for their own line of fancy dresses and Halloween costumes, so these helmets are much more interesting for parents than real collectors, who require much more detail and accuracy.
Another manufacturer to mention is Hasbro with their basic line of Star Wars voice changer helmets. In the price range below $40, you can usually get a Star Wars helmet voice changer with several basic modes, which allow you to speak with radio static sound effects, hear trooper commands or play battle commentary and various pre-recorded phrases by pressing the ‘phrases’ button.
A typical example is the popular Star Wars Darth Vader voice changer. These products seem to be ideal for kids, but there’s much more interesting stuff for collectors.
Collectible Star Wars Helmets
In this category, we have to mention the Master Replicas brand. This company held the official Lucasfilm license for many years and produced lots of scaled mini-helmets ($30 – $50) made of high-quality die-cast metal and injection molded plastic, as well as real size helmets ($200 – $500) produced in high-quality fiberglass, fully lined and padded.
These products have a very good reputation among collectors for their 100% authenticity, high level of detail and quality. The important information is that Master Replicas’ license expired at the end of 2008, so if you want to have some of their items in your collection, you should not hesitate and make your purchase, while the online stores like Amazon have them in stock.
For those who miss Master Replicas as the main producer of high quality StarWars collectibles, there’s good news though. The current holder of the license, eFX Collectibles, has a strong leading team consisting of ex-Master Replicas managers.
Their first few releases (e.g. Clone Trooper Helmet) and the “in development’ previews (Luke Skywalker X-wing Helmet and others) look really promising. There are also rumors that Hasbro is about to enter this market segment soon, so there’s definitely much to be looking forward to.
Star Wars Clone Figures and Toys
Star Wars: The Clone Wars series
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, released in August 2008, is one of the latest additions to the StarWars empire. This CGI generated 3D animated series is produced by the Lucas Animation studios with Dave Filoni as the supervising director. It started with a feature film released on August 15, 2008, followed by the first season of the TV series consisting of 22 episodes. The second season is planned to start on October 2, 2009.
The plot basically covers the same time period as the original “Star Wars: Clone Wars” animated series released in 2003 to 2005, but according to Lucasfilm officials, it is meant to extend, rather than supersede the original series.
Star Wars Clone Figures
Although the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon caused a bit of controversy among the Star Wars saga fans (the most usual complaints include weak plot compared to the film series and too predictable storylines), but on the other hand it introduced many interesting characters, spacecraft, and vehicles, so the related merchandise became quite successful among Star Wars fans and collectors.
There was a large number of Star Wars clone action figures released in 2008 and 2009. The most popular items include battle droids, Star Wars clone troopers, and of course the famous characters from the film saga, e.g.Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda. Apart from those, there’s also a number of new characters like General Grievous, Captain Rex, Padme Amidala and many more.
Clone Wars Deluxe Figures
The special deluxe line of the clone Star Wars toys released by Hasbro, includes the most popular characters together with their typical vehicles. You can enlarge your collection with Star Wars Battle Droid and Armored Scout Tank, clone trooper with BARC Speeder Bike or jetpack, Obi-Wan Kenobi with Freeco Bike or Turbo Tank Gunner Crew, to name just a few.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Vehicles & Spacecraft
The line of Clone Wars vehicles won’t disappoint you. There are all kinds of tanks, walkers, droids, starfighters, V-wing and Y-wing fighters available, which makes it a very difficult task to pick and recommend just a few of them. Therefore I’m just going to mention a couple of my personal favorites, which also happen to be quite popular among my fellow collectors.
My personal wish list includes the Star Wars Gunship (aka Republic Gunship), AT-TE Star Wars vehicle (All Terrain Tactical Enforcer), and the Star Wars Turbo Tank(aka Clone Turbo Tank). Another important fact I’d like to mention is that some of the retailers (e.g. Toys “R” Us and Wal-Mart) also released their own exclusive lines of Clone Wars vehicles, so don’t forget to check their offers, too.
Star Wars Blasters – toys and replicas
In the other sections of this site, I already talked about all different kinds of lightsabers being by far the most popular Star Wars toys among the fans and collectors (kids or adults) and even among the people who were not so much impressed with the movie saga itself.
However, there are many other kinds of cool stuff related to Star Wars, and the Star Wars blasters are just one good example. These are the weapons used both by civilians and soldiers in the movies, which are firing cohesive bursts of light-based energy called bolts. The design of these weapons was inspired by real machine guns and pistols but given a more futuristic look for the purpose of using them in the movies.
If you are interested in having your own clone trooper blaster, Star Wars blaster rifle or the classic Han Solo blaster pistol, there are multiple categories and price ranges to choose from.
Basic Star Wars blaster toys ($10 ~ $20)
The basic plastic toy versions of the blasters can be purchased from $10 in one of many online stores. They usually claim to be officially licensed, 100% realistic and making real movie sounds, but I would recommend not to take these claims too seriously (unless you believe that the real colors of Han Solo’s blaster are bright blue and orange).
Nevertheless, most of them will work just fine as a toy or as an accessory to your kid’s Star Wars Halloween costume, which is their main purpose, anyway. If you want to avoid disappointment, stick with reliable merchants with a good reputation and look for brand names e.g. Hasbro, Rubies etc.
Advanced Star Wars toy blasters ($25 ~ $50)
In this price range, you can purchase high-quality blaster toys with quite an authentic look and many advanced features. Apart from electronic movie sounds, light up barrels, foam darts and targeting lights, some of these toys (e.g. Hasbro Clone Commander Blaster) consist of several unique parts which can be assembled in many different ways, allowing you to build a fully customized blaster up to 2½ feet long.
Blaster pistol and blaster rifle replicas & scaled replicas ($50 ~ $700)
For serious collectors, there are plenty of options to buy exact replicas of the blaster weapons used in the movies. Depending on your budget, you can either select the 1:1 version, or a scaled replica which will look great on your desk or shelf. Both types of Star Wars blaster replicas are usually made of solid die-cast metal with injection molded plastic parts.
They are usually sold with additional accessories like custom display stands or cases, official certificates of authenticity, etc. Although the top products in this category can cost you hundreds of dollars, their 100% authenticity fully justifies the price. Well, at least for a true Star Wars maniac like me.
Star Wars Figures – Vintage Series
The history of the Star Wars action figures started at the beginning of 1978, with the first line of 3.75? figures released by Kenner, a relatively small toy company from Cincinnati, Ohio. The characters included Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2).
Together with the figures, Kenner released a selection of matching vehicles, ships, and playsets available on the same scale as the figures. There were also some large scale figures released, but the term “Star Wars vintage action figures” usually refers to the 3 3/4? figures and toys released in the period 1978 to 1985.
With the ever-growing Star Wars international fan base, it doesn’t come as a surprise, that the Star Wars vintage toys and figurines have become a hot collectible commodity over the years.
If you look at some of the official price guides, or just browse eBay for auctions related to vintage StarWars figures or models, you find out that the most popular or rare items are often sold for hundreds of dollars easily. The most important variable which determines the value seems to be the figure’s condition. Other important factors include the popularity of that particular character, country of origin, original box, etc.
If you are considering selling some of your vintage figures and dolls, you should take the above factors into account and do some research on eBay before you create your auction. According to experienced collectors, it’s usually a good idea to offer the figures and toys in larger lots and includes weapons and accessories, which can significantly increase the final value.
Remember, that even if your figures are heavily used, incomplete, or damaged, you can still find buyers interested in purchasing them. These are usually collectors looking for particular parts of their own incomplete figures, or they need the parts for their custom projects. Another good idea is to offer your collection for sale at your local comic book store.
On the other hand, if you are just starting out as a collector, the Star Wars action figures (vintage line) will probably be one of your main areas of interest. In order to avoid mistakes, it’s more than advisable to start by joining a few related online forums, talking to experienced collectors and then purchasing the first few toys in person, before moving online. Most of the collectors confirm, that vintage Star Wars merchandise is quite an expensive hobby, so each mistake may cost you, dear.
