Kenner cards in the UK - how common back in the day?

[stratpack]

I put up one of my Xmas day photos on the Where It All Started thread a while back and i just noticed that amongst the presents the Jedi R2 Sensorscope seems to be on a Kenner card. Here's the photo here again. My brother has the light coloured jumper on and its just next to him.

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This was news to me, I had assumed most cards would have been Palitoy. How common was the importing of US cards back then?

I don't imagine the supermarkets and high street stores doing this, probably more wholesale stores etc. The main places I remember buying figs from was Tesco and John Menzies. Although for xmas my family probably bought stuff from The Jolly Giant which was a wholesaler-type large toy store.

Incidentally, I did keep all my cardbacks back then along with my ROTJ comics in those little clip bags that colouring books came in. Came home from school one day and my mother had thrown them all out saying she thought it was rubbish. So I've no idea what cardbacks I really had.

 

[Joe]

Kenner exported product to the UK as far back as the original SW range. There are plenty of older guys on here who remember the Kenner logo from back then and still have Kenner 12 back cardbacks from their childhood.

Kenner probably would have sent directly to Palitoy for distribution, something that carried on right up until ROTJ. The POTF cards with coins obviously never made it over as they were distributed in Europe on Trilogo cards but there are plenty of 65, 77 and 79 back Kenners that came over to us and were available from plenty of shops (not just wholesalers).

 

[stratpack]

Right back to the first 12? wow, I thought it was a later thing when the line was running out of steam.
Did Palitoy bother putting any stickers or the like on the back with the Coalville address or did they just ship them straight out?

Thats interesting, thanks Joe

 

[Joe]

Yep Palitoy stuck stickers over the Kenner addresses/offers to reflect their own. Jason's site has more info on the sticker types (think there are a few): http://mrpalitoy.webs.com/

Palitoy also exported the excess Kenner stock to other countries to, which is why you can find Clipper stickers on Kenner ROTJ figures etc.

I'm sure Dave will know the reason behind Palitoy getting Kenner products but I would imagine it was simply to meet demand and for Kenner to keep in close contact with the boys at Palitoy.

 

[steve obi wan]

I remember back in the day , as I must be one of the older guys !

There was ongoing issues with availability, I remember my parents looked and travelled everywhere to get me a falcon one Christmas, however couldn't and I got a rebel transporter instead

So definitely there was lots of Kenner items shipped over , figures , playsets and vehicles

 

[theforceuk]

I actually saw more Kenner cards than Palitoy between 84 - 86 and this reflects in my childehood cardback collection, not including Trilogos. I also picked up a Meccano Jawa around about 86'. Someone on another thread has said they remember seeing POTF cards on the shelves over here. This is why Palitoy doesn't mean much to me really, Kenner is more nostalgic.

My boxed stuff from a kid is a mixture of both Kenner and Trilogo.

 

[lee gray]

I still remember buying a Bespin guard and it was on a kenner card, it was the first time i saw a kenner card so remembered it, at the time I thought that a new less known company had taken over from palitoy, but thought it odd that action force was being made by palitoy, wasnt until the 90s that I started going to action man toyfairs and getting model mart and then guide books that I found out Kenner was the main company.

 

[stratpack]

So they were quite common then.

I had a mix of Jedi/Trilogo cardbacks which I kept at the time but I can't remember which was Kenner and which was Palitoy. Too far back and I was too young to notice really.

Thanks for everyone's reply, appreciate it.

 

[jedisearcher]

From what I remember of the Toy Shop I think the bulk of the MOC's direct from Palitoy were Palitoy carded, but we definitely had Kenner cards as well, so these were either mixed in with stock bought from Palitoy or bought from wholesalers.

I'm amazed people remember Kenner 12 backs, I only remember Palitoy stuff from the 70's. I wonder where these came from, I can't see them being from Palitoy themselves. Perhaps wholesalers like people have said, but maybe the bigger Toy chains contracted with Kenner in the USA, rather than buying direct from Palitoy?

 

[Dannywhiteley]

I have vivid memories of Luke Hoth on an ESB 48 back Ackbar offer card. I remember the blue back so it must have been Kenner. I had no idea there were Kenner and Palitoy bitd, it was all just star wars to me.

 

[CRAZYHAZY]

I clearly remember both palitoy and kenner cards available.

 

[JFK]

Love the picture ,every time a member puts a picture up like this ,it's makes me feel fuzzy with warm affection ,love it -me personally I prefer theese old xmas pictures of the 70s with the Star Wars stuff than any top Banana focus pictures of grail pieces ,as we get older we can buy our focus pieces but having the pieces from your childhood is priceless ,even better if you have that 70s xmas photo to go with it love it .

 

[robpmarsh]

I don't remember ever buying a figure on a Palitoy card in the UK. I only bought from 3 retailers so they could all have had imported stock. I did send off for the mail-aways like Dengar so the Pali stickers must have been on the back.

 

[chipsteak]

I first remember seeing Kenner cards midway thru the ESB era, but I've since bought several SW cards with UK price stickers on them.

They seem to have been careful as to what cardbacks to import, i.e. some offers were avoided altogether and those that made it were stickered accordingly. Similarly, I've not seen an example of a 21 cardback with a UK price sticker as Fett wasn't out here at that time. I'm happy to be proved wrong though from those who've seen more cards! 20 backs were quite common - I've spoken to middle-aged men still peeved they couldn't get a Dewback as advertised.

I remember Kenner seeming more prevalent circa ROTJ *but* the Palitoy cards were not logo-ed so the Kenner brand was more noticable.

I don't recall seeing any of those large Kenner boxed items with the coloured images on one side only. It got to the stage circa ROTJ that all smaller boxed items seemed Kenner.

Disclaimer - All of the above is subject to the condition of 'Star Wars related false memory syndrome'.

 

[Andyclarke]

The pic below are all my childhood cardbacks, which I remember receiving or buying when I was a kid and are placed in the order in which I got them. As you can see a fair mix are Kenners, though they tended to be the later ones. The ESB figures I bought in a sale at my local toy shop after Jedi had come out. I suspect a lot of Kenners were imported when the Palitoy lines were running out.

 

[stratpack]

Disclaimer - All of the above is subject to the condition of 'Star Wars related false memory syndrome'.

I know that very well!

Andy - great pic of your childhood cardbacks! Like yours (and most peoples) mine had the names cut out to send off for the free figs. When next I see my mother I'm going to chastise her again for throwing them out. It won't bring them back but it eases the pain! :lol: :twisted:

 

[chipsteak]

Yep, nice to see them . ( to see them, nice) .

I cut all mine up, not just the names - the everything. I attacked all paper and card goods with scissors back in the day. I'd love to say I kept great scrapbooks, but no. Now, cutting through a 12 back Palitoy is what a Bullingdon Club member would do in front of a homeless person if they were both Star Wars collectors.

 

[stratpack]

Now, cutting through a 12 back Palitoy is what a Bullingdon Club member would do in front of a homeless person if they were both Star Wars collectors.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Pomse2001]

Kenner exported product to the UK as far back as the original SW range. There are plenty of older guys on here who remember the Kenner logo from back then and still have Kenner 12 back cardbacks from their childhood.

Kenner probably would have sent directly to Palitoy for distribution, something that carried on right up until ROTJ. The POTF cards with coins obviously never made it over as they were distributed in Europe on Trilogo cards but there are plenty of 65, 77 and 79 back Kenners that came over to us and were available from plenty of shops (not just wholesalers).

I do not know if it is true, but I have heard the POTF cards with coins was sold in sweden in the 80s :?

Last year I talked with a guy in denmark who talked about he remember the Droids A-Wing fighter was sold in Denmark in one of the big supermarkets in the 80s.

 

[sith-smith]

I remember kenner in the shops. Heck I can remember seeing the Kenner version of the death star at our local toy shop 8)