In the world of vintage and modern toy collecting there has always been one king. That one king being Star Wars. When I look at the last 45 years of the Star Wars franchise as a whole, nobody has done it better. Outside of the genius that is George Lucas in creating an entire universe of characters, vehicles, planets, religion, and everything in between on the silver screen, the toy line is equally as impressive. First introduced to the market in 1978 by Kenner, the Star Wars toy line was innovative in having their action figures be 3 ¾” tall compared to the industry standard set previously by Mego and Hasbro at 8” and 12” respectively. Prior to Kenner taller action figures carried a higher production cost. Instead of having numerous different figures you would have different costumes and accessories to change your character. Furthermore, the large size made it incredibly difficult to make vehicles to scale. Imagine if all your Star Wars figures a kid were 8” and you wanted the Millennium Falcon? It would have been massive! Kenner’s format revolutionized the toy industry in that action figures no longer had clothing like a doll. The 3 ¾” figures were molded plastic, so instead of buying different outfits you were always buying different toys. On the business side production cost went down and profits were up, everybody in the toy industry was happy. Except Mego, just imagine being the hottest toy maker of the 1970’s and turning down the license to Star Wars. Not a good day for them.
Jumping to present day 2022, Star Wars is still one of the hottest brands going. Both in the primary new retail space and secondary vintage collecting. On the vintage side it is honestly hotter than ever before. In my opinion Star Wars has now taken a jump in the marketplace in regard to the seriousness around the hobby. It is no longer just toy collecting, but a true commodity that is now traded like comic books. In 2015 a 1978 Kenner 12 back Luke Skywalker in 85 graded condition would have cost you $3,000 to $4,000. Now it is easily $7,000 to $10,000 if not more depending on which variation. The other reason why it has become its own NASDAQ is because there are so many different toys available to collect. It is just like comic books. There are very few people in the world who have every 1978 to 1985 Star Wars figure in sealed condition. Almost impossible if you want to consider foreign releases. The point is that it’s a collector’s chase that is extremely hard to find the end. If you are one of the lucky few sitting with a cache of vintage Star Wars at home the market has never been better. When looking to sell always seek out the advice of an auction house first. It is always better to sell through consignment then selling outright, you do not want to sell yourself short. Outside of that happy Star Wars Day! May the 4th be with you, sit back, relax, and get your trilogy day on.
