Star Wars Bend-Ems!

[SWBendems]

So you've seen this thread is about Bend-Ems and haven't run away, a good start

Hi, i'm a long time lurker, first time poster and I want to talk about Star Wars Bend-Ems!! Hoping there's someone else out there that likes or is collecting this line?

I know they get a bad rap from some folks, but I just love this line. The artwork, the ace Star Wars Galaxy Cards, the coins. For many like me that were born after the movies had left the cinema and missed the first kenner toys being ubiquitous in toy aisles, this was our first taste of SW merchandise and will forever hold a special place.

I got the Darth Vader / Luke Skywalker / R2-D2 / Emperor 4 Piece gift set for Christmas of 1994 and I was over the moon - my very first Star Wars figures. With the new Kenner's on the horizon in 1995, they slowly moved to the discount stores, which was great news for me. A local chain called "Options" stocked them and every friday when we would do the weekly "Big Shop" at the supermarket on the same shopping centre I'd race round eagerly to see who was in and who i would pickup with my pocket money. In the end i had 14 of the 20 figures. I never did see Boba Fett, Lando, Luke X Wing, Gamorrean Guard and that awesome Vader Carry Case in the flesh, but I remember spending hours looking at the cardbacks at all the figures and dreaming of a complete set.

In the intervening almost 30 years I've had two kids who both love Star Wars and both played with those very same now much more worn Bend-Ems (well at least until they saw how great the new figures are in comparison!). I've always toyed with the idea of starting to collect and get a full set of the line, they are readily available and inexpensive on eBay. With Lockdown, i was bored and curious (a combination that has admittedly gotten me into a lot of trouble over the years) and decided to take the dive. Honestly its been a great pastime. I've really been enjoying it. The Topps Galaxy Cards and the Coins also add another element to it, its really a great line. There are also SOOOOOO many variants.
Here's my collection as is (minus the variants), I've more pictures on my twitter if you wish to see them - https://twitter.com/SWBendems

My current goal is for a complete set of one of each character and gift set, and i'm not far off that - Happy to say Boba Fett is in the mail, meaning i'm one away from a complete set of the 20 characters. So, if any of you have a Luke Skywalker in X-Wing Pilot gear for sale - hit me up!
But i'm interested to hear from you guys, anyone collect these? Anyone have fond memories of these?

Also i've been delving through old usenet posts from the time (i know i need help!) to find some interesting tidbits about the mail away cards offer on the back of packs and sets that were to come out that never did! Apparently there were two additional 4 Packs set for release in Diaroma style packaging, themed around Jabbas Palace (containing Salacious Crumb, Sy Snootles and Leia in Boussh gear) and the Cantina (containing a Jawa, Greedo and a Cantina Band Member) - i know a prototype of the Jawa exists and have seen photos but is anyone aware of the other unreleased figures having prototypes existing and also were there any pictures of these sets? (They were apparently at Toy Fair 1995).

 

[grinchy]

Hey, welcome to the boards, glad you made a post about these,I quite like them, love the cardart, I have around ten figures and one gift set, they are good, shame the plastics used for the bubbles goes brittle over time, but apart from that I think they are cool, you have a great collection,well done on nearly completing the run ,

 

[Diamond76]

I bet you will be a like a pig in sh*t when that Fett card arrives

I will keep my eye out for the Luke Skywalker in X-Wing Pilot Bend-Em but what will you do when you complete the set...

 

[SWBendems]

Hey, welcome to the boards, glad you made a post about these,I quite like them, love the cardart, I have around ten figures and one gift set, they are good, shame the plastics used for the bubbles goes brittle over time, but apart from that I think they are cool, you have a great collection,well done on nearly completing the run ,

Thanks Grinchy! That's excellent, you must post a pic of the ones you have. I love seeing other people's collections.

The card art choice is excellent, Ken Steacy was the artist I believe, there was also a Topps galaxy promo card of the artwork that you could get along with a checklist card for free if you sent off the coupon on the back of the figures. I love trading cards so getting one free with each figure was a big selling point. Your right about the bubbles, have a few that have cracked quite easily on me, yellowing also an issue - buy hey I'm sure we all get a bit more brittle after 30 years!

I've Been tracking the Boba Fett package and it's likely arriving with me today. He's one of the cooler figures in the line and one I never saw in the shops as a kid so will be great to finally own it carded. Interesting fact about Fetts figure he's the only figure other than Luke to come with a weapon. Also whilst they molded on his cape, he dosen't appear to have his jet pack for reasons we'll never know. I'll try and post some pictures of him if it arrives today.

 

[SWBendems]

I bet you will be a like a pig in sh*t when that Fett card arrives

I will keep my eye out for the Luke Skywalker in X-Wing Pilot Bend-Em but what will you do when you complete the set...

You have no idea Diamond!! Like a kid at Christmas here waiting on it.

I suppose once I have the 20 characters, it's onto the variants. In a throwback to the original Kenner line there's a small head / big head variant of Han Solo which I have. There's also a silver leg c3po and a wicket card variation. It's never acknowledged but I think Leia had a slight variant too with one having a very pale face then a more flesh tone coloured face, I'm not sure if it's just fading over time with some figures but I'll need to check that out.

I've also still a few gift packs i need before completing the line, A New Hope, Empire and 6 Piece gift sets. Then there's the coins, I've 2 of the three (they all have the same Star Wars logo on one side, the side facing out on the packs so it's really hard to tell which one your getting) at present. Then there's the trading cards, I'd like to get one of each in some form either in pack or loose.

Then after all that there's the card back variations and even Italian versions lol I swear man this line is fab to collect you can really scale it as you like, from 20 loose figures right up to I don't know how many variations if you wanted. There were a good few card back variations and running changes, then add into that the card packed in could be potentially one of many, not necessarily specific to the character. It would be some challenge and to date I don't know of anyone who got all the possible variations, whether i have the time and finances to go that far will remain to be seen!

 

[Mini99]

Hi, and a warm welcome to the forum.
Thanks for sharing your great collection.
I too remember buying these at retail, but I thought it was long before 1994?
I only have an R2 as I collect R2 figures.
I knew that they came with a collectors card but didn't know that they also had a coin offer.
I like the Vader case, isn't that the same mould as the vintage one?
Good luck with finding a LXW.

 

[SWBendems]

Hi, and a warm welcome to the forum.
Thanks for sharing your great collection.
I too remember buying these at retail, but I thought it was long before 1994?
I only have an R2 as I collect R2 figures.
I knew that they came with a collectors card but didn't know that they also had a coin offer.
I like the Vader case, isn't that the same mould as the vintage one?
Good luck with finding a LXW.

Thanks Mini. You are correct they came out in 1993 and ran through to 1995. But I personally don't recall getting any until 94. The first gift set I got for Christmas was in the Argos Catalogue in Winter 1994, I've a picture of that on my twitter - https://twitter.com/SWBendems/status/1361368087686217731 they were probably in Toys R Us before that but we didnt have a TRU where I lived until later in the 90s.

R2 is one of the better figures in the line in my opinion, has a really good likeness, they seemed to get the Droids and Aliens likeness much better, some of the human faces are a little dodgy!

There were 3 Brass coins, that came with the Gift Packs. One featuring Millenium Falcon, The X-Wing Fighter and a Tie Fighter. The other side is a Star Wars logo which faces out on the sets, so difficulty is you won't know what one you have until you open up the set!

As for the case, good spot, Justoy went with nostalgia and the mould is very similar to the original Kenner Carry Case. There's slightly more detailing in Vader's suit at the bottom as you can see below. And the spaces inside are much larger to accomodate the Bendems figures. In fact there was to be a deluxe version of this set containing all 20 figures, it was in the Justoys 1995 catalogue but sadly never saw release. The case is usually available on eBay for like £15 ro £20 quid and looks great on display, its worth picking up as alternative storage for whatever line you collect, dosen't have to be the Bendems.

 

[Mini99]

Hi, and a warm welcome to the forum.
Thanks for sharing your great collection.
I too remember buying these at retail, but I thought it was long before 1994?
I only have an R2 as I collect R2 figures.
I knew that they came with a collectors card but didn't know that they also had a coin offer.
I like the Vader case, isn't that the same mould as the vintage one?
Good luck with finding a LXW.

Thanks Mini. You are correct they came out in 1993 and ran through to 1995. But I personally don't recall getting any until 94. The first gift set I got for Christmas was in the Argos Catalogue in Winter 1994, I've a picture of that on my twitter - https://twitter.com/SWBendems/status/1361368087686217731 they were probably in Toys R Us before that but we didnt have a TRU where I lived until later in the 90s.

R2 is one of the better figures in the line in my opinion, has a really good likeness, they seemed to get the Droids and Aliens likeness much better, some of the human faces are a little dodgy!

There were 3 Brass coins, that came with the Gift Packs. One featuring Millenium Falcon, The X-Wing Fighter and a Tie Fighter. The other side is a Star Wars logo which faces out on the sets, so difficulty is you won't know what one you have until you open up the set!

As for the case, good spot, Justoy went with nostalgia and the mould is very similar to the original Kenner Carry Case. There's slightly more detailing in Vader's suit at the bottom as you can see below. And the spaces inside are much larger to accomodate the Bendems figures. In fact there was to be a deluxe version of this set containing all 20 figures, it was in the Justoys 1995 catalogue but sadly never saw release. The case is usually available on eBay for like £15 ro £20 quid and looks great on display, its worth picking up as alternative storage for whatever line you collect, dosen't have to be the Bendems.

Thanks for the pictures, great to see my memory isn't too bad these days...
The Vader case is very different inside but would be of course to accommodate the larger figures
The coins are interesting, clever marketing ploy to pack them the way that they did though... might have to have a look for them...

 

[grinchy]

Great pics of the case, looks just like the kenner one but more detailed like you said, very cool, i'll take a pic of the collection, i don't have them on display yet, ran out of room in my main collection

 

[SWBendems]

It only took me 26 years, but I finally own a carded Boba Fett Bendem!

 

[Grant_C]

Fanastic collection- i love it.

You should chat to Dave Tree about Bendems- hes a Bendem master.

[youtube]T1bkJOEQNTI[/youtube]

 

[Mini99]

Fanastic collection- i love it.

You should chat to Dave Tree about Bendems- hes a Bendem master.

[youtube]T1bkJOEQNTI[/youtube]

Cheers dir the link [mention]Grant_C[/mention] I enjoyed that, nit seen it before.
I didn't know the Dave was into Bendems in such a big way.

 

[Cardbackkid]

Lovely collection ! I have a LXW Pilot moc and also a miscard I believe, would consider selling both.

 

[SWBendems]

That was an excellent video @Grant_C thanks for that. Dave definately knows his Bendems alright! Looks like he has on of the most complete bendems collections ive ever seen, am dying to see pictures of his collection. Sounds like the guy I need to speak to to help me track down this elusive Luke X Wing. Does he post on these forums at all?

 

[grinchy]

Lovely collection ! I have a LXW Pilot moc and also a miscard I believe, would consider selling both.

cardback kid looks like he has that luke x wing figure you were after just in case you missed his post, hope you get sorted, lovely fett figure,

 

[SWBendems]

Lovely collection ! I have a LXW Pilot moc and also a miscard I believe, would consider selling both.

I'd be interested for the right price, Drop me a PM cardbackkid. Tried to sent you a pm but just sits in outbox and won't go to sent, not sure if I'm restricted from sending maybe as I'm relatively new here?

 

[Ruby2511]

Welcome to the forum mate

What a cracking collection, love the Fett acquisition, very cool

Dont know much about these figures?? I have a mate who owns a collectables shop in our town, I know he has a couple knocking about! When he reopens I will have a look and let you know/take pics and share he might have a variant you dont have??

Russ

 

[Mini99]

Lovely collection ! I have a LXW Pilot moc and also a miscard I believe, would consider selling both.

I'd be interested for the right price, Drop me a PM cardbackkid. Tried to sent you a pm but just sits in outbox and won't go to sent, not sure if I'm restricted from sending maybe as I'm relatively new here?

I believe your first PM has to be approved by admin.
[mention]lejackal[/mention] [mention]Cazza[/mention] [mention]edd_jedi[/mention]

 

[theforceuk]

Welcome to the forum and nice bend-ems collection!

 

[Grant_C]

[mention]Richard_H[/mention] might collect these as well.

Maybe i need a bendem. I collected them in 1994 and had about 6 of them. Royal Guard and Yoda was fine. Leia was the horrendous experience of my life.