Luke Skywalker [1995, POTF2]

...with Grappling Hook Blaster and Lightsaber!

Okaaaaay. I remember Luke using a grappling hook on the Death Star - I believe from a Stormtrooper utility belt, but I don't remember a grappling hook blaster. I also don't remember Luke as quite so...buff.

The Luke figure eptiomizes the direction Kenner took when restarting the Star Wars line - more muscles, more guns. Later Lukes were trimmed down to be more realistic, but this one just came from a stint in San Quentin.

Five reasons to get this figure:1. This guy really can pull the ears off a gundark.

2. No more Mister Nice Luke. He will make you bar let droids in.

3. Imagine the new scene - "But I wanted to go to Tosche Station to work on my glutes!"

4. That blue milk? Total protein shake.

5. Watch Luke's roid rage as the Jawas sell him a droid with a bad motivator.

Backstory:While new Luke doesn't have a new story other than Kenner bulking up the figure, Luke has quite an extensive story here.

Lando Calrissian as Skiff Guard [POTF2]

...with SKIFF GUARD FORCE PIKE.

Will wonders never cease - another force pike. You can read up on them here. Lando comes in all his stylish goodness, with removable helmet and the aforementioned skiff guard force pike. Apparently skiff guards get their own style of force pike - who knew?

The figure is an improvement on the vintage in terms of detail, but the accessories included are pretty much the same.

Five reasons to buy this figure:

1. Slowly lower the face shield to passerbys - oh yeaaaah.

2. Lando - so smooth, even when sporting tusks.

3. Force pike has an axe - perfect for later in the movie when Endor needs to be deforested.

4. Lando is into some big-time S&M. Kinky.

5. Need for your big Jabba diorama. Especially that scene where Luke falls to the Rancor, and Lando does...nothing.

Backstory:

Obviously Lando is in disguise and helping free Han here, but his full story can be found here.

Jawas [1995, POTF2]

...with GLOWING EYES AND IONIZATION BLASTERS

Finally, Kenner recognizes that we feel screwed when it comes to tiny figures (remember how small the vintage Jawa was?) and gives us a 2-pack! Not only that, but their eyes glow (if you put them under a light source - much like POTF2 R2-D2's "light pipe" feature worked. Bothe the little runts come with the same blasters they used on R2 in the movie - good for knocking out droids.

Five reasons to get this figure:

1. Two-for-one! A first in Kenner history! Pinch me! Ouch!

2. Glowing eyes! Does it work with lasers...ah! I'm blind!

3. Recreate the implausible scenario where Jawas just happen to have a perfect weapon for disabling a droid in the middle of the desert. How many random droids show up there anyway?

4. The last time I felt like I was getting this much for my money was when I got that Cobra figure from G.I. Joe and it came with a big rocket launcher.

5. A reason to use your figures in the sandbox - instant Tatooine!

Backstory:Jawas are desert dwellers on the planet Tatooine, scavengers that use abandoned mining vehicles are their mobile transports and living places (sandcrawlers). For their full story, check out their Wookieepedia entry.

Han Solo in Hoth Gear [1995, POTF2]

...With Blaster Pistol and Assault Rifle!

Han in Hoth Gear is still pretty muscular, and he still includes an out-of-nowhere assault rifle, but at least this figure's colors are closer to the movie than the old figure (although many people still seem to debate the exact color of his uniform).

This figure is hood-down, but with head-wrap/visor/cap still on. Since then we've seen every iteration of down/up for this figure as possible. He is in a more "action" pose as well, rather than the straight-laced old figures.

Five reasons you should get this figure:

1. Hood-down! Totally different (eye-roll).

2. Assault rifle to snuggle with on those cold Hot nights.

3. A little powdered sugar, and it will look almost just like the photo on the card.

4. "Assault rifle" has an exclamation point! Can't think! Must get! Why am I shouting!

5. Han - covered up, but still smooth with the ladies.

Backstory:

Bio card has brief intro, and a bit about Empire Strikes Back to help explain the Hoth outfit. For his full entry, go to Wookieepedia.

#7 in the POTF2 line

Han Solo in Carbonite [1995, POTF2]

...with Carbonite Freezing Chamber!

Well, technically, it's more of a storage unit. The actual freezing chamber was in Cloud City, but let's not get into semantics.

Carbonite Han, or CH as his friends call him, is a much better than the vintage figure (no thick neck), but still a little muscular. He comes with the aforementioned freezing chamber, and a blaster that he used in the escape from Jabba's barge (think, oh, the one he shot the Sarlacc tentacle with).

Five reasons to get this figure:

1. Commemorate Han's idleness!

2. The best accessory to Slave I you will ever get.

3. Puts out thoughts of the vintage ol' thick-neck.

4. Mascot for the blind - still manages to stage a breakout.

5. What they give out at the anniversary to Han's visit to Tattooine (they don't get many celebrities).

Backstory:

His backstory is very long and comes from many sources: his Wookiepedia entry.

#8 in the POTF2 line

Han Solo [1995, POTF2]

...With Heavy Assault Rifle and Blaster!

Can you feel it? That's Han! So pumped out now he makes cracks in the concrete when he strides! Do you see it? That's his pimped out blaster rifle! Never saw it before? Well see it now!

When Kenner reintroduced the Star Wars line, they made Han and Luke especially, shall we say, pumped? Also, Kenner decided to include a little extra non-canon weaponry. Why? To appeal to a generation of He-Man and G.I. Joe types, seemingly oblivious to the fact that nostalgia alone would make many people buy these again.

Han has a bio card that is fairly limited to Episode IV information, but that was probably how Lucasfilm wanted it for now.

Five reasons to get this figure:

1. Watch Han smash! Puny human tremble!

2. New Han can finally go hand-to-hand in a Chewy arm wrestling match.

3. New Han doesn't fly the Falcon. He throws it into space and jumps on!

4. Extra blaster is compensatory measure.

5. Bulging chest - oh my! Tight pants - oh my stars! (swoons)

Backstory:

Many, many Star Wars books, comics, movies have covered Han well, but to get his full story just read his lengthy Wookiepedia entry.

#6 in the POTF2 line

Greedo [1995, POTF2]

...with Rodian Blaster Rifle [no exclamation point on this one]

Coming in the second POTF2 wave was Greedo, the man who used to shoot first. He seems a little muscular in the chest, but Kenner did a much better job on his color scheme this time around, a better matching head, and more Rodian-like hands. He also comes with two guns - mainly to match (the gun he was in the movie with) and to more appeal to boys (another big freakin' gun!).

By the second wave Kenner probably realized the bio cards on the back were going to be hard to keep up with every figure, so we now have the basics, a larger photo, and no lengthy paragraph.

Five reasons you should buy this figure:

1. The best Star Wars figure to accent your St. Patrick's Day.

2. A little lighter fluid, a match, some proper supervision, and you can make your own version of Greedo to match his post-duel carcass.

3. Those dead glassy eyes! Couldn't you just lose yourself in them?

4. A spool of thread for a table, and you can recreate your favorite Greedo cantina scenes.

5. If you really want to collect all the bounty hunters, you need him (although he has been disavowed by all the reputable ones).

Backstory:
Apparently Greedo has been causing trouble since the Clone Wars, since he appeared in the series, and faced his end in Episode IV. If you want his full story (and who doesn't?), read his full Wookieepedia entry here.

#6 in the POTF2 line

EV-9D9 [POTF2]

...with DATAPAD.

I used to be excited about the vintage version of this figure, but this one has left me a bit listless. While it may be an improvement over the old figure with coloring and detail, and it includes a datapad this time around, where's the lever? I want my lever! In the old figure there was a lever in the back of the head to move her mouth up and down (yes, check the literature, EV is a "she"). See my post on the vintage figure here. I miss that lever, and no amount of datapads is going to make up for it. Argh. Who makes a droid with such a big moving mouth? Who? Who!?

Five reasons to get this figure:

1. Nostalgia for the moving mouth. Sigh.

2. Datapad! Can't tell your droids from your bounty hunters with out a datapad!

3. That third eye. Oh yes, look closely, it's there, beckoning you to look - but you must not!

4. Fans of scarabs, this is as close as you're going to get with a SW figure.

5. Closely matches the hue of the Colonial flight suits on the rebooted Battlestar Galactica. Another sigh.

Backstory:

EV-9D9 actually worked in Cloud City during Lando's management. However, her sadomasochistic tendencies got the better of her and she systematically tortured many of the droids in Bespin. After her controller found out, she fled the system, but not before partially sabotaging the City as a distraction. She found her way to Jabba's palace and quickly climbed the ranks. She secretly built a room for her tortuous experiments and built droids that felt pain out of spare parts, even giving pain receptors to droids that didn't have them, for her own sick pleasure.

After finding out that Lando had infiltrated the palace, EV-9D9 thought that he and his droids (R2 an C-3PO) were there for her, although they were there for Han. Before she could implement any recourse, she was tracked down by one of the tortured droids from Bespin, which let loose her own creations on her.

Want more? The Wookieepedia article

Emperor's Royal Guard [POTF2]

...with FORCE PIKE.

"Ah, sir?"
"Yes, what is it guard?"
"You are the Emperor, and I want to do my best to protect you, but..."
"Yes, guard, spit it out!"
"Well, couldn't we have guns?"
"Absolutely not, royal guard! Guns are reserved for Death Star Gunners, who get a blaster and an assault rifle!"
"Why would they need any guns - they are manning cannons..."
"Do not question your Emperor!"

So, despite the fact that the highest guards for the Emperor have pikes and no guns (this is explained a bit in the Crimson Empire series from Dark Horse comics), the Guard looks kind of cool. All red, contrasting with the pervasive black in muck of the Imperial forces, and a kind of cloak of secrecy.

Five reasons to get this figure:

1. Peel back the layers to see what's underneath...OH MY GO-

2. Where else are you going to find a force pike?

3. Red is all the rage this season, according to my sources.

4. Cool Cylon-like helmet.

5. His right hand points! It points! You know what this means? Me either.

Backstory:

They were first formed as the Red Guard for the Republic Senate after Palpatine claimed rumors of corruption in the Senate. They later became the Emperor’s personal guard. They were handpicked from among the best stormtroopers, and underwent rigorous and grueling training. To keep in fighting form, some were always rotated out on combat missions, so some survived the destruction of the second Death Star. These remaining Guards were chronicled in the graphic novel series Crimson Empire, where they fought for supremacy. They also came back together to protect the clone Emperor in Dark Empire, but one of their own had sabotaged the Emperor’s clones so he would not live long.

Want more? Full article at Wookieepedia. Article just on force pikes.

Death Star Gunner [POTF2]

...with IMPERIAL BLASTER AND ASSAULT RIFLE.

Sheesh, all of these military types not only get the Imperial blaster, but a mother-puss-bucket assault rifle. Not A rifle, but an assault rifle.

So anyway, second line of the POTF2 figures comes out, and Kenner chooses to make a figure that looks best in a gunner chair on the Death Star, but doesn't make the gunner chair. Oh, well, still looks kind of cool.

Five reasons to get this figure:

1. Another Imperial dressed in black - collect them all!

2. Another Imperial for the Death Star II Emperor line-up - collect them all!

3. Another Imperial with a blaster and an assault rifle - collect, ah forget about it.

4. Cool helmet - especially for the Tour de France.

5. Re-enact his big scene: "Oh I hope they come to my hemisphere of the Death Star! Damnit - why are they going for the trench?"

Backstory:
As cool as the figure looks, in reality, Imperial Gunners are often the lesser-scoring recruits in the Imperial forces. The visor helmet provides little peripheral vision and makes them run into things. Their main function is to guard against the blinding light of the Death Star main gun. Although why you would design something like that where the guys sit that close to the laser is beyond me. It's a cruel joke, man.

Want more? Wookieepedia article on Gunners

Darth Vader [1995, POTF2]

...With Lightsaber and Removable Cape!

Pardon the exclamation marks on all of these, but they are on the package so what can I do?

Darth Vader is certainly a more robust figure than the original series. While his height has not been improved to be more to scale with the rest of the figures, he certainly seems more muscular (despite wearing a survival suit). Muscular was the trend with this new batch, though.

Like the Luke and Ben figures, Darth was originally packaged with a longer saber at first, which shrunk in later shipments when Kenner said "OMG! Look at the size of that thing!" The bio card on the back gives a fleeting mention to a confrontation with Obi-Wan, but no mention of Darth's exact injuries. However, I swear there was an earlier card that mentioned a "molten pit," but I can't seem to find mention of it anywhere. Maybe just my imagination.

Five reasons you should get this figure:
1. Dark Lord of the Sith! Hell yes you're getting this figure!

2. Last words on the bio card are "down the thermal exhaust port." Oh, yeah.

3. There's no Darth TIE fighter on the back of this card, but you know it's a-comin!

4. Fight Luke! Fight Obi-Wan! Fight fashion!

5. Obi-Wan needs a comeuppance, what with all the limb-slashing and whatnot.

Backstory:

Pretty well played out in the prequel trilogy, comics, books, video games, comic strips, yeah. To read his entire story, check out the Wookieepedia entry.

#5 in the POTF2 line.

C-3PO [1995, POTF2]

...with Realistic metalized Body!

While the new C-3PO does not have the grey half-leg, he does sport a rather shiny exterior, and is not overly muscular like others in this new line. Of course, had he been overly muscular to begin with, Anthony Daniels would have had a much better time fitting into the suit.

C-3PO does not come with any accessories, as might be expected. He has no major variations (except maybe on the card itself). His bio card starts with the events in Star Wars, Episode IV, but does not conflict with info from the prequels, simply because it does not mention his history that far back.

Five reasons you should get this figure:
1. Foil a daylight robbery - "Ah, my eyes! So shiny!"

2. Now with rotating waist you can finally re-enact that famous console-touching scene!

3. A new generation of C-3PO to wear the shine off of!

4. The on figure you don't feel very guilty beating on.

5. Always the easiest to find, in stores and at home.

Backstory:

While his bio card simply starts at his service on the Tantive IV, the prequels have fleshed this out to his improbable creation by Anakin Skywalker, and his kidnapping from the Lars farm to Geonosis and convenient memory wipe. His full story can be seen here on Wookieepedia.

#3 in the POTF2 line.

Bossk [POTF2]

...with BLASTER RIFLE AND PISTOL.

In the green-packed waves of POTF2 figures, Kenner started blazing through the bounty hunters, and everyone's favorite Wookiee scalper was no exception. He includes his standard weapon and an additional blaster, which, being a bounty hunter, is just fine and not just due to Kenner's zeal for extra weapons in this line.

The figure itself is pretty well detailed, but could be a little taller, to be in scale with other human figures.

Five reasons to own this figure:

1. No one wears rolled-up sleeves in the SW universe like Bossk.

2. Can repeatedly use the phrase, "Like a Bossk!"

3. Own one of the few characters that is shown in Clone Wars and the main Trilogy. Wait - did I say few? I meant every-character-they-could-legitimately-say-lives-that-long.

4. Re-create his thrilling battle against other bounty hunters to get Solo! You don't know about that? Shut down the computer and pick up a book you troglodyte!

5. Perfect for that terrarium.

Backstory:

Bossk is a Trandoshan, who when born, ate his hatchmates. Quite the beginning. He went on to hunt Wookiees for the Empire (and sport) become a bounty hunter, and lead the Bounty Hunter's Guild (while fractioning it). He clashed and worked with other bounty hunters from time to time, including Zuckuss and Boba Fett. His last appearance was in a jail on a space station being attacked by the Yuuzhan Vong (a later antagonizing race). No word on if he survived.


Want more? His Wookieepedia article

Chewbacca [1995, POTF2]

...With Bowcaster and Heavy Blaster Rifle!

Chewbacca is a decent figure, and an improvement on the original, but where is the scale! In the movies he towers over humans. In the figure line he is more or less the same size.

Chewbacca looks a bit like Bigfoot in this new version, but if you look at the beefed-up versions of Han and Luke, you can see what they were doing in the chest region there.

Chewy also has a bio card, as all the first wave of figures did in the return, and it covers the events in Star Wars: A New Hope, and a tiny bit about being rescued by Han and oweing a life-debt. Nothing, however, about his treetop home, growling kids and wife, or Life Day.

Five reasons why you should buy this figure:
1. Look at the back of the card - the Millennium Falcon needs a co-pilot.

2. Recreate all the exciting scenes from the Star Wars Holiday Special - like the first 20 minutes of nothing but Wookiee utterances!

3. Those droids aren't going to pull their own arms off.

4. Large gun!

5. Bowcaster! Pew! Pew!

Backstory:

Wookiees are longer-lived than humans, so expect Chewbacca to surface even more than he already has during the Clone Wars. For his full story, check out his Wookieepedia entry. Want to know about bowcasters? There's an entry for that too!

#4 in the POTF2 line.

Boba Fett [1995, POTF2]

...with Sawed-Off Blaster Rifle and Jet Pack!

Boba was kind of the second wave after the first release of the major characters (shown on the back of the package), and one of the more impressive updates from the original line. You see all the bumps and scrapes, the weapon is actually a sawed-off blaster rather than a stock gun, jet pack comes off, and you can see the wookiee braids. However, he is still a littl more muscular like the new Han and Luke (didn't want to be left out).

Hi bio card is kept vague about his past, "few facts are known about the man called Boba Fett," probably because they never saw The Clone Wars, so it is still applicable.

Five reasons why you should get this figure:
1. C'mon, really? It's Boba-freaking Fett!

2. Finally, visual accompaniment to your wookieescalp fetish.

3. Yes! The jet pack fires...I mean, is removable.

4. No one wears "scuffed-up" quite like Boba.

5. Re-enact the never-done scene where Boba confronts Jango's ghost with the help of his therapist.

Backstory:

As more episodes of The Clone Wars progress, more of Boba's young life is seen, especially his antagonism towards Mace Windu (what, mad about your dad's decapitation crybaby?). For all that is known about him, check out his full bio with sources at Wookieepedia.

Bespin Han Solo [POTF2]

...with HEAVY ASSAULT RIFLE AND BLASTER.

Again, Han was never seen in the movies with a heavy assault rifle, so this is a bit of license on Kenner's part.

This version of Han is still a bit muscular, otherwise the figure is pretty accurate. I find it hard to get excited about this figure though, because it is nothing spectacular, and they probably produced a zillion of these.

Five reasons to get this figure:

1. Han's best lady-catching attire.

2. Look at the picture of the figure without looking at the enlargement: if you wanted a Fonzie figure, there it is.

3. Recreate the talk with Luke on Hoth, and how Han goaded Luke's own sister into kissing him (hee, hee).

4. Recreate the shooting Darth Vader with a blaster in the dining room scene. Only this time with the rifle: "Deflect this!"

5. Can't be dodging asteroids in any other outfit.

Backstory:

Han was a youth growing up on Corellia and eventually joined the Imperial forces. After rescuing Chewbacca he left the Empire and went into gambling and smuggling. The rest, as they say, is history. Of course, after the movies he and Leia married, had 3 Jedi, and had many more adventures.

Want more? The Wookieepedia article

Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi [1995, POTF2]

...with Lightsaber and Removable Cloak!

In 1995, 12 years after the release of the last movie, and 2 years before the Special Editions would be released, Kenner decided to start their line of Star Wars action figure anew. The new line is considered "Power of the Force 2" because they retained the POTF logo.

The line started with the core characters, old Obi-Wan, Darth, Luke, Han, C-3PO, R2, Leia, Chewy, Stormtrooper. More waves successfully followed and here we are 16 years later and the production of Star Wars figures has not stopped once (although it has long stopped being under the POTF2 line).

Obi-Wan came first with a "long saber" variation (the lightsaber reached the top of the package, versus the one you see here) and later with the length you see here - one of many phallic intentions in Kenner's new line.

Keep in mind that the prequels did not come out until 4 years after this line debuted, so Obi-Wan is completely based on the original trilogy, but his back-of-the-card bio is kept intentionally vague about his younger years so it still applies.

Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:
1. Relive the famous line "Where did you dig up that old fossil?" by burying him in the sandbox to be discovered later (by you or the neighborhood cat).

2. Get the long and short saber variations to compare post and pre-Viagra Ben.

3. Removable cloak!? Finally a chance to see what's underneath! Oh...more brown clothes.

4. Renact his final duel with Darth Vader! Power tools needed to get all the clothes off though.

5. No worry about losing a flimsy vinyl cape! New worry about losing translucent blue accessory!

Backstory:

We've seen him covered in numerous books, movies, comics, etcetera. To read his full story (even that stuff you'd have to read from young reader editions), check out the Wookieepedia article here.

#1 in POTF2 line

AT-ST Driver [POTF2]

...with BLASTER RIFLE AND PISTOL.

Now here is a figure that warrants having that extra rifle in the cockpit. Wookiees and Ewoks beatin' on your hatch, yanking you up, tossing you like last week's garbage. Heck ya you need some personal firepower!

While not pictured on the back of the figure's own card, the AT-ST was one of the first vehicles produced in the new line, so, naturally, they had to come out with the pilot. Probably one of the less exciting uniforms in the Imperial army, but there you have it.

Five reason to buy this figure:

1. Natural pairing: have the vehicle, need the pilot.

2. Commemorate ROTJ's director, Richard Marquand's, spectacular performance as an AT-ST pilot.

3. Recreate Return of the Jedi, but this time an Ewok gets a blaster in their face.

4. Army builder - have him line up in your "meet the Emperor" scene.

5. Closest figure to a Spaceballs henchman you'll find.

Backstory:

AT-ST Drivers wore very light armor compared to their AT-AT counterpart. Funny, considering the AT-AT was already more armored than an AT-ST. They carried standard equipment, such as a blaster, rifle, grenades, thermal detonators, flares, comlinks, and spare ammo. The helmets and goggles were also standard, but many chose not to wear the goggles.

Interesting side note: ROTJ’s director, Richard Marquand, was one of the AT-ST Drivers beaten down by Chewbacca and the Ewoks and the person pictured on the card.

Want more? Its Wookieepedia article.

ASP-7 Droid [POTF2]

...with SPACEPORT SUPPLY RODS.

Don't recognize the ASP-7? That's because, until the release of the Special Editions that added a longer Mos Eisley scene, it didn't exist. Now, you can clearly see one picking up rods (chuckle). In fact, they make no bones about it - look at the package: "From the newly-created footage in The Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition." I use to be excited by something like this, now I just think "They're just printing more money!"

While it's an okay droid figure, I just felt it was never fleshed out like others. Where are some wires? Where are the knobs?

Five reasons to own this figure:

1. The only way to get Star Wars supply rods. Really, where is our accessory pack just for these?

2. Nice and creepy- no eyes, just a slit.

3. Cylon alert! Slit for eyes. Insert your own oscillating red LED for the full effect.

4. "From the newly created footage!" Come on, you have to buy it just for the laugh factor.

5. Did I mention supply rods? SUPPLY RODS!

Backstory:

The ASP-7 is apparently a worker droid, but other materials also mention that the ASP-7 model is used as a trainer for Darth Vader's lightsaber practice.

Want it's full story? Go here.

POTF2 figures start tomorrow!

Zuckuss (ESB 1980-82)

Zuckuss’s actual name is 4-LOM, since he is the droid and Zuckuss is the alien bounty hunter. This was mixed up in the original Kenner line (as stated in my last post) but corrected in subsequent lines and literature. The figure has a gun-metal gray finish, but the actual character is more of a navy blue with orange rusty highlights.

Zuckuss came with a rather large blaster rifle, and his body was very similar to C-3PO’s, aside from his insectoid head. He came on ESB and ROTJ cardbacks.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:

1. As stated before, you must have all the bounty hunters. This is a coolness imperative.

2. He just looks like a badass with those glaring bug eyes.

3. Droids with guns are cool. Death Star Droid? Not so much.

4. Create your own scene where you finally figure who is the better droid bounty hunter: Zuckuss or IG-88?

5. All your non-geek friends will wonder who in the hell this is. All your geek friends will simply appreciate you for it.

Backstory:

4-LOM (as I will now correctly call him) was built by Industrial Automaton, who ripped off many of its design elements from Cybot Galactica’s 3PO series. 4-LOM’s earliest posting was on a luxury liner working as a cabin steward. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that the best way to protect passenger’s valuables was to take them himself. After modifying his own programming, he made crime more enjoyable, and after falling into the employ of Jabba the Hutt, started work as a bounty hunter.

He partnered with Zuckuss many time on bounties, the two becoming friends. After the Battle of Hoth, the two became Rebels for awhile, but eventually went back to bounty hunting after being almost destroyed by Boba Fett.

Want more? His Wookieepedia entry

181st in alphabetical order

Y-Wing Fighter Vehicle (ROTJ)

"And the last shall be first..."

The Y-Wing was one of the first vehicles introduced (in the battle against the first Death Star), but a toy didn't come out until Return of the Jedi. Because of that, you've got Admiral Ackbar in the cockpit, and Lando dinkin' around looking at the back of the thing on the box. Okay, while Kenner didn't always know how to set up a good photo for their toys, the vehicle itself is still pretty cool.

How cool? Five reasons cool:

1. Top-mounted-swivel guns. While in the Star Wars universe these were actually electronic-neutralizing ion cannons, you could just pretend they were destructive blasters.

2. You still had two front-mounted cannons!

3. The cockpit can fit your Luke in X-Wing outfit nicely (because the original line didn't have anyone else in the orange jumpsuits). The X-Wing pilots and Y-Wing pilots wore the same uniform.

4. It fits an astromech droid, unlike the X-Wing toy. You are still limited to only R2-D2 or R5-D4, but still, that's pretty cool.

5. The bottom-mounted proton torpedo could be dropped on your younger brother, or actually used for real purposes.

Backstory:

The Y-Wing (technical name: BTL Y-Wing Starfighter) was a good bomber, and a good partner to the X-Wing fighter. A Y-Wing has two laser cannons, two ion cannons, and two proton torpedo bays. Unlike the X-Wing, the Y-Wing could immobilize ships with its ion cannons. They were in use for quite awhile, fighting in both battles on the Death Stars. Y-Wings were largely replaced by the newer B-Wing fighter that were faster and had many of the same functions.

Want more? Its Wookieepedia entry

180th in alphabetical order

Yak Face (POTF 1985)

Yak Face – you know him, you love him. Well, you probably don’t actually know him since he is only briefly seen on Jabba’s Sand Barge and he is a nonsentient piece of plastic, but you have to love the challenge of getting a figure like this. Yak Face was going to be the 93^rd figure in the line, but with declining sales the line was stopped at 92. However, Yak Face was still released in Europe, Canada, and Australia, just never in the U.S. So, it is naturally a little rare.

Yak face comes with the same battle staff as Barada, and only comes on a POTF card. Oh, and did I not mention it only came…not in the U.S.? Kenner bastards! I mean, c’mon! What kid didn’t want a Yak Face after seeing his pivotal 5 seconds in the film? Anyway, you had to get this figure while you could, because when word got out that the line was done – well, you can guess that the rest were snatched up. This is still not the rarest Star Wars figure, however. That honor goes to Vlix.

When Saelt-Marae as he was now called was re-released in the 90's line, is was rather anti-climactic. Yes, you couldn't find this character during the old line, but the new one clogged up the shelves big-time.

Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:

1. There was not a more phallic looking figure in the Kenner line.

2. That faux-fur collar? Who’s he kidding?

3. Rarest figure in the POTF line (well, debatable. Rarest figure only run in the POTF line).

4. Debate with your friends if it is more of a Yak Face, or a Camel Face.

5. Speaking of which, the closest match to Joe Camel you'll get.

Backstory:

Yak Face's real name was Saelt-Marae, a Yarkora and long-lived at that. He spent 200 years alone just wooing his mate. He was a con man and often an informant for both sides of the Galactic Civil War. He was an informant for Jabba and managed to escape the Sand Barge (and steal a few secrets) before it blew up.

Want more? His Wookieepedia article

178th in alphabetical order