These days, Star Wars action figures are everywhere... With the release of the Special Edition movies in the 1990s came the biggest production of Star Wars merchandise the world had ever seen. Action figures were, and still are, there in 'force'. One of the most popular current figure lines is Hasbro's large 'Deluxe' action figure assortment, with well over 100 different character variants made so far, and collector demand still high. But where did it all begin? Let's hop into the Toyzine time machine and take the trip back...
When you're onto something really big... make it bigger. Or so the toy designers at Kenner thought in early 1978. Consumer demand for their 3 inch Star Wars action figure line was phenomenal, and the management was itching for newer and better ideas for figure related product. It was only a matter of time before the memory of great profits past (Kenner's mid 1970s 12 inch Six Million Dollar Man) steered the Star Wars merchandise bandwagon toward... "Large Size Action Figures". Although they are often referred to as the "12 inch Star Wars figures", they actually ranged from 8 inches high (little guys like R2D2 and the Jawa), up to a towering 15 inches for the likes of Chewbacca and IG-88, the bounty hunter droid. The only definitive "12" about this group is the number of different figures that Kenner produced from late 1978 until their untimely demise in 1980. (source: excerpt of article by John Graham at http://www.toyszine.com)
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