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Discussion: Which Star Wars Kenner mini-rig should be realised in the movies.

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Imagine you could take any of the Kenner mini-rig range and make them into a detailed model and stick them in a film which would it be?

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Didn't they repaint a luke bespin kenner figure to do the pre viz on the biker sequence in return of the jedi, i always thought it was odd though because the leia figure had her hair buns, and standing in for the stormtooper was the boba fett figure,lol.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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As a kid I used to have a crazy dream of the Hoth Scout walker jettisoning it's legs and becoming an INT-4 (even if the scale, colour and just about everything were out).

INT-4

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Cool idea for a thread, most of us olderish guys will remember the ol' mini-rigs.

The MTV-7. That thing was crazy, like a steam roller with a front mounted gun and the ability to bob up and down. I had one as a kid, but I never really knew what to do with it... it is that whole bobing thing, it just didn't make any sense! And I loved the thing for it. The MLC-3 was pretty cool too, I loved the bubble canopy.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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The Forest Ranger predicted some of the features of Clone War vehicles and we don't see much variety on screen of Imperial Forest vehicles:

Forest Ranger

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Whoa, I've never seen that De La Foret before! Have I somehow never been fortunate enough to see one throughout all my years of browsing any and every store that sold old collectable toys, or is it perhaps another one of those across the pond exclusives?

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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Wow.  I suddenly feel like a young-un.  I've never heard of or seen these before.  I'm assuming they're original creations by the toy companies?  Or are they rejected designs, a la the later Expanded Universe toys?

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C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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There's a nice item here about the origins of the mini-rigs:

http://theswca.com/images-speci/mini-rigs/mini-rigs.htm

Basically it started with bored workers at Kenner playing in the spare parts bin, but then they thought it would be a good idea to make small vehicles that children could buy with their pocket money as the larger ones were rather pricey.

None of the designs actually appeared in the films though sometimes you get items like the Imperial Tripod gun being classed as a mini-rig because it was in the same price range so in a sense they were (with Splinter Of The Mind's Eye and the Marvel Comics) the beginning of the EU.

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C3PX said:

Whoa, I've never seen that De La Foret before! Have I somehow never been fortunate enough to see one throughout all my years of browsing any and every store that sold old collectable toys, or is it perhaps another one of those across the pond exclusives?

No, it was available in US packaging too, it just came out near the end of the line so it was a little harder to get.

 

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Ziz said:
C3PX said:

Whoa, I've never seen that De La Foret before! Have I somehow never been fortunate enough to see one throughout all my years of browsing any and every store that sold old collectable toys, or is it perhaps another one of those across the pond exclusives?

No, it was available in US packaging too, it just came out near the end of the line so it was a little harder to get.

I have one, I guess I got it new since I can remember NOT having it and I was BORN in 1983.  Broke one of the guns off the side almost immediately, of course.  Ah, toys...

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Bingowings said:

There's a nice item here about the origins of the mini-rigs:

http://theswca.com/images-speci/mini-rigs/mini-rigs.htm

Basically it started with bored workers at Kenner playing in the spare parts bin, but then they thought it would be a good idea to make small vehicles that children could buy with their pocket money as the larger ones were rather pricey.

None of the designs actually appeared in the films though sometimes you get items like the Imperial Tripod gun being glassed as a mini-rig because it was in the same price range so in a sense they were (with Splinter Of The Mind's Eye and the Marvel Comics) the beginning of the EU.

Wow, interesting.  Thanks for the info!

 

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Ziz said:

No, it was available in US packaging too, it just came out near the end of the line so it was a little harder to get.

 

Eh, just like those pesky and elusive Power of the Force figures that are nearly impossible to obtain. I have all of the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back figures, many of the Return of the Jedi figures, but only one from the POTF line.

 

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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I always thought the MLC-3 (tank-like thing with the bubble canopy and two laser canons) was the only legit one in terms of NOT looking odd should it appear in a film.  A figure could be put in it and there was zero chance they would randomly fall out.

I always hated the PDT-8 (non-descript flying vehicle shown w/Threepio and FX-7).  As if it wasn't bad enough that each of the two chambers could barely keep a figure in place, IIRC the end flaps snapped down (like a pick-up truck's tailgate), as if the figures needed an easier exit!

CAP-2 was cool if imagined as Bossk's little vehicle.  I guess it was supposed to fly, since those legs weren't too stable.  And I assume the Rebel Commander was his bounty.  I wonder what was in this guy's past?  No doubt the EU has explored this. ;)

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I had nearly forgotten about the ISP-6, which was really great. Sure, it looks like the cheapo one man version of the Lambda class Imperial Shuttle, but as a kid I had two of them, both with the top canopy broken off (got them at garage sales), without the top wing (which is connected to the canopy) they simply look like generic star fighters. I think most of us could only afford one X-Wing as kid, so the ISP-6s made great wing men for my X-Wing, padding out my Rebel squadron a bit. Alternatively, I could pop a Stormtrooper into each ISP-6 and have something for my X-Wing to shoot at (since I never owned a Tie-Fighter) with its nifty buzzing noise and francy flashing red light. For a kid who made many of his own ships out of toilet paper roll tubes, paper cups, and tin foil, the ISPs were pretty sharp looking. 

I think Kenner was very wise in making the mini rigs as budget ships for kids who didn't have a lot to spend on toys. After all, what was Star Wars without spaceships? And a lot of the movie ships, like the Falcon, the X-Wing, the Tie-Fighter, and many of the others that followed were pretty big investments for some parents.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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Though not a mini-rig this little number would be right at home within a Star Wars film (the hover vehicles in the Rebel base on Hoth looked rather similar) in fact, I'm surprised something like this wasn't introduced in ANH:SE.

Imp Troop Transport

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I just wanted to point out that I'm old enough to remember these, but that my parents were wealthy enough that I don't.

 

:)

 

Okay, so I'm sure that' not exactly true, but of all the Kenner figures and ships I had, I never had a mini-rig.

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Bingowings said:

Though not a mini-rig this little number would be right at home within a Star Wars film (the hover vehicles in the Rebel base on Hoth looked rather similar) in fact, I'm surprised something like this wasn't introduced in ANH:SE.

Imp Troop Transport

I got that one Xmas as a kid and loved it, especially the 6 or so sampled quotes from the movies! "There's one set for stun" being my personal favourite. It's because of this vehicle that I built up my imperial stormtrooper army with much saved pocket money.

Also, this vehicle did turn up in the UK Marvel Star Wars comic, it's the strip where you see an imperial stormtrooper with no helmet - which at the time I thought was a big deal considering these guys were supposed to all be clones, even back then. Really significantly great artwork compared to the usual IIRC. It's by the same team (maybe even the same story) where vader is playing chess with some cthulhu looking betentacled thing. I have no idea what issue number or year ... I'll have to do some googling ...

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That Troop Carrier can be seen in Marvel STAR WARS #31 'RETURN TO TATOOINE', I'm pretty sure.

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RDRR said:

That Troop Carrier can be seen in Marvel STAR WARS #31 'RETURN TO TATOOINE', I'm pretty sure.

Indeed, it would seem so. Hope I'm not imagining a stormtrooper taking his helmet off, the complaining about the sand sounds familiar.

http://www.theforce.net/comics/marvel/cp_msw031.asp

"Working at the Darklighter place, Tagge hired Fixer and Camie, his wife, as caretakers of his lands. Luke won't fight for the farm, leaving when an Imperial Troop Carrier, Unit Three, approaches."

nice!

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So I found the Imperial Troop Transporter from issue #31 (US) and it's most definitely not the story nor the artwork I remember!

Here's a scan-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miker71/3938939200/

 

in the story I remember the Transporter was slightly modified (by artistic license) and IIRC the stormtroopers were sat along a "bench" on the side of the vehicle rather than pods. And they are chatting without their helmets on ... no idea if they were on Tatooine or not.

 

man, i have to find it now to make sure i didn't imagine it! just to complicate matters the US and UK Marvel issues numbers are totally different, and it's possible the UK version was printed weeks, months, or years after the US. I'm fairly certain there was no UK exclusive strips.

 

(and sorry to derail the thread a little ...)

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Luke appears to be played by David McCallum in that strip. I had the UK monochrome version of this one. Oh for the days when the Tagge family were almost as messed up as the Carringtons, Vader had a very long helmet (fnah, fnah) and Jabba the Hut (one T intensional) looked like this :

Jabba The Hut

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miker71 said:

 I'm fairly certain there was no UK exclusive strips.

 

 

There were a dose of UK-exclusive Marvel stories. Two collections of them were reprinted in the US in mass market paperbacks as volumes of Marvel Illustrated Books or something like that (way back in the early 80s) and a dose of touched up ones were reprinted in the 2-issue Dark Horse Devilworlds comic series in 1995/1996 or so. The recent huge Luke Skywalker Last Hope of (for?) the Galaxy TPB has at least one Marvel UK story too (stuff that was reprinted in the Marvel Illustrated books back in 81 or so).

I love the imperial troop transport. My grandmother gave me that for my birthday when I was a wee thing.

I thought was a big deal considering these guys were supposed to all be clones, even back then.

 I don't think the clone status was paid much attention to. Marvel ignored it elsewhere.