Tell me about the first 12

[Richard_H]

Ok I have no idea if this will take off for last but I was thinking we've all filled in those top 5 ... Whatever many times but haven't really talked about the figures etc individually as far as I know and what we thought of them when we were kids, perhaps there are some fun stories to share. Clearly this couldn't be done on a figure by figure basis as there'd be 100 threads eventually but I think we could group them.

Here goes

Luke Farmboy - loved him. His yellow hair and suit was perfect. I never once thought about the yellow sabre. Or why he even had one as in the film he hardly has it and uses a blaster a lot more.

C3PO - i never had this. I remember being pissed that my 3PO had removable limbs and a mates didn't come off. I wanted his!

R2 solid - again don't think I had this version

Han - never had him

Jawa - loved the cloth cape. Didn't know the vcj existed and to be honest don't really think a lot of the vcj now. Loved the way the Jawa could hide.

Tusken - don't recall having it

Darth Vader - didn't wonder why his cape was plastic and not cloth but I know I was gutted when a small rip appeared. By far my most played with figure

Ben Kenobi - my only memory about this figure was the only time I was in a department store my mother took me to meet Darth Vader / Prowse. I was standing in a line to meet him and she said I could get one figure. I picked Ben but she made me out him back as she he it was crap and I was forced to take DV. Prowse ruffled my hair when he saw the figure.

Stormtrooper - every kids dream. I had one for years but wanted more. As we were poor it was never going to happen but one year I remember having a second yellowed one from somewhere when I was older. I hardly played with it as I thought it was dirty looking. No idea where I got it from.

Death Star Commander - always thought he was a big standard figure. Didn't care too much for him

Chewie - other than the sabers this may be the only figure that managed to keep its weapon. Chewie always came and saved the day!

Leia - Never had this version.

 

[starshipriot]

I like this idea!

I grew up in the 90s, so a lot of the figures you guys saw in shops as kids weren't available to me. The internet was a way away as well. But here is my experiences on the first 12!

Luke Farmboy

I got my luke farmboy when I was 5/6. After getting a bag of ROTJ figures off my grandparents (A car boot find!) my mum bought me a job lot of star wars figures from an advert in the paper. I was so perplexed when she handed me a parcel, but so excited when I opened it and there was about 20 figures and a wampa. Luke was lacking a saber, but he was my most played with figure, and I distinctly remember playing with him on a dining room chair, pretending it was the ewok village, whilst simply red "love the thought of coming home to you" played on the radio.

C3P0

Never had this. Always wanted. I got the removable limbs version off a car boot when I was 11, but only got this after I joined this forum!

R2D2

Same as 3po,got periscope version off car boot. Only got this version after joining here!

Han

Never had him, only had a ROTJ han that was lacking coat, had a missing hand and had paint wear all over his hair.

Jawa

I wanted this soooo bad!!! It was mid 90s and My mum had bought an antiques magazine on the way up to the seaside, and there was an article on kenner star wars toys and how they were getting expensive (though by todays standards were prob dirt cheap!). There was a diorama of a sand crawler with lights in, and loads of jawas and I really wanted one. They looked so awesome in their cloth capes. I only managed to get one this year, I had never seen one in person, and in a small way my five year old yearnings which I thought had disappeared were finally fulfilled!

Tusken

Carboot purchase, when I was about 9, it lacked spikes on head and gaffi stick and cape. Still thought it was awesome though.

Vader

I think I got this when I was about 4, with my ROTJ bag of figures my grandparents bought me. He was played with a helluva lot, even though he lacked a cape. What the heck was wrong with you 70s/80s kids, why did you have to remove the capes and sabers off every toy that should have had a cape or a saber!? Poor 90s child I was, I had to play with your old half naked unarmed figures!!

Ben

I got this when I was 14 when I collected more than played, for easter off my parents. They had not long gotten the internet, and I think this was one of the first things my mother bought off ebay for me. He had a repro saber though, even then I could tell it wasn't right paint was coming off it!

Stormtrooper

Took me aaages to find one of these on a carbootsale as a kid. Even then it was a yellow loose limbed specimen. Only managed to get a minty one since I came on here.

DSC

As a kid, I didn't know this existed, didn't really care either. He wasn't a figure I really wanted. He's okay now, he adds a bit of variety to the empire figures.

Chewie

Had chewie since I was about 5. Another Car boot purchase! He was in amazing condition when I got him, and somehow, he still looks amazing today, with tight limbs and no paint loss. Probably because I think he was moulded brown instead of painted? So paint loss would only come from his eyes. I finally got a weapon for him this year as well, so this is one of the few figures I had as a kid I really treasure.

Leia

Got this from a flea market when I was 9, and I had to pay about £3.50 for her, which I thought was a ridiculous amount of money, but I only had boussh leia. She was lacking her cape and gun (as all caped figures tended to be, bloody 70s and 80s kids! haha). She wasn't in great shape when I got her, lacking paint to her face, like her eyes had disappeared. Finally got a nice one off ebay for probably too much, earlier this year.

So there is my experiences of the first 12, probably very boring, but I really enjoyed sitting and writing this out, reminiscing and thinking how exciting it was to go rooting in old boxes at car boot sales with £2 in my pocket, in the hope I would find some star wars goodies! Alas, days no more!

 

[Mrleemur]

Luke - probably one of my favourite figures, lost him on holiday in Sherringham. Still miss that figure, and have been known to ask my parents to look for it when they've gone to stay in the same place again.

Han - my brother's figure, i always tended to get Luke, and him Han, think to a certain degree there are personality similarities between us and our figure choices!

Darth - think he was my brother's, don't have too many memories of playing with him, but someone must have, his head's coming off!

Ben - think he was mine but not many memories

Stormtrooper - another of my brother's never cared much for it as a figure

Chewie - whenever me or my brother had to have a stay in hospital, we both always got a toy when we were collected, i think my brother had his tonsils out, dad borrowed a friends big old Rover to collect him as he only had a van at the time. I still remember sitting in the back of that big comfortable car, holding chewie MoC feeling like i'd hit the jackpot, can't remember what card it was on though.

Leia - another of mine, remember mixing and matching toys with her, she was definitely played with along side my Action Man (who was called Steve)... Wierd!

 

[Richard_H]

Awesome stories guys this is exactly what I was hoping for. Come on lets here some more!

 

[Fishtalk]

C-3po was really hard to find back then, when I finally found him I couldn't stop polishing him. Some hidden subtext there I think.

Death squad commander again was a bitch to find, didn't get him until December 1978. I was so happy I took him to bed with me, the only time I took a toy to bed. When I woke he was wedged down the side of the bed.

Stormtrooper. Also impossible to find, one Sunday 3 of us were up town and saw him through the window of our only toy shop. Next day the 3 of us had a pound each and as soon as school finished we all ran the half mile to the shop, I won the race and claimed my prize.

Han solo, I remember freaking out when large head Han first appeared, I went round telling everyone "they've changed Han's head!"

 

[mr_palitoy]

I only had the first 12 and the landspeeder as a kid. I remember getting farmboy Luke first then maybe R2D2. The only clear recollection I have of shopping was dragging my Dad round every toy shop round Nottingham, looking for a Jawa to complete my first set of 12. Eventually found one in s toy shop in Beeston. They had none on the racks in the front of the shop so the owner went out back for his unopened stock and I got to open a sealed palitoy box and rummage through for the Jawa I was missing. He was deffo Palitoy, and a cloth cape. Would have been awesome if he had been a vinyl cape!



Jason

 

[Pomse2001]

Hi Rich this is a great thread

Luke Farmboy, great figure I still have mine from my childhood. I remember mine came from a Tri-logo and it had a big yellow light saber not a telescoping saber. So I thought this was the correct saber until in 2001 when I started to collect

C3PO - I never had this and I think it was never sold in Denmark :?

R2 solid - I never had this and I think it was never sold in Denmark :?

Han - I never had him, but I wanted him a lot so in 2001 when I bought him I was very happy :lol:

Jawa - I only had one jawa and I thought it was were cool, I remember building caves in my bed and played the scene when the jawa attacked r2-d2 :lol:

Tusken - I never had this one

Darth Vader - I had 2 Darth Vader figures when I was a kid, I still remember a christmas when I was opening the moc. I still remember the awesome smell Vader had. No other figures smelled like vader :lol: I think it was the cape

Ben Kenobi - I think ben was cool, I played a lot of saber battles with vader and ben when I was a child :lol:

Stormtrooper - I had 3 stormies when I was a kid, but I wanted more for my imperial army :lol:

Death Star Commander - I only had one of this and I thought they were cool. I had no imperial officers so I used him as an officer :lol:

Chewie - Chewie was one of my first figures and I loved him a lot, I still have him from my childhood

Leia - one of the coolest figures I really love that one but I never had it as a kid. So again in 2001 when I bought my first I was very happy :lol:

 

[Richard_H]

Wow Lars our figure collection is so similar! I to remember making caves out of my bedding. Thanks for the memory

 

[x-pack]

Liking this thread. Great idea

Darth Vader - he was my first figure and i vaguely remember going with my dad to a little independent toy shop in Preston and picking him out.

Chewie - Everyone had a Chewie. The bowcaster was my favourite weapon but i lost 'em all pretty much as soon as they came of the card :roll:

3P0 - always thought he was a shiny nancy boy. One of my least favourite figures.

Never bothered with any of the other first 12 figures. Always wanted a white Leia but could never find one in the shops and ended up with a Bespin Leia.

 

[Pomse2001]

Wow Lars our figure collection is so similar! I to remember making caves out of my bedding. Thanks for the memory

No problem Rich, always happy to help :lol:

So did you also used your pillow and duvet to make caves ? Jabba with his guards lived in a cave under my duvet when I was a kid :lol:

 

[jabbawokkie]

i kinda hated first 12 as a kid as when i was in to sw empire line was already on shelf and though i always had darth luke c3po r2 ;eai ben chewwie stormy they always came second to likes of luke ,han bespin boba ,hoth figs.then jedi figs came out with proper capes and removable helmets ;hoods and they looked even worse .hated origanal sabers as a kid

 

[Richard_H]

Wow Lars our figure collection is so similar! I to remember making caves out of my bedding. Thanks for the memory

No problem Rich, always happy to help :lol:

So did you also used your pillow and duvet to make caves ? Jabba with his guards lived in a cave under my duvet when I was a kid :lol:

Yes I did! I forgot all about that memory. I'm sure I used my coloured torches as lightsaber glow too!

 

[Pomse2001]

Wow Lars our figure collection is so similar! I to remember making caves out of my bedding. Thanks for the memory

No problem Rich, always happy to help :lol:

So did you also used your pillow and duvet to make caves ? Jabba with his guards lived in a cave under my duvet when I was a kid :lol:

Yes I did! I forgot all about that memory. I'm sure I used my coloured torches as lightsaber glow too!

Funny I used my bike flashlights to blink with when I made laser shots in the dark :lol:

 

[Richard_H]

Bike lights! You must have been rich :lol:

I had a silver torch with clear, red or green beams when you pressed a button. I think every kid in Britain had one at some point

 

[Pomse2001]

Bike lights! You must have been rich :lol:

I had a silver torch with clear, red or green beams when you pressed a button. I think every kid in Britain had one at some point

:lol: No not rich :lol: a red bike flashlight from the back of my bike and a yellow bike flashlights from the front of my bike with batteries in them. I just turned them on and off to make the blink :lol: when I made the laser shoots :lol:

 

[x-pack]

Bike lights!

Oooh! posh

 

[Stormtrooper37]

Vader - was one of my first figures as a kid. The cape on mine seemed enormous and the head almost came off. Wasn't overly keen on the figure - thought it was too skinny.

Luke - loved this figure found him quite early on, but wanted him to have a gun.

Chewie - again had as a child, loved the bowcaster, thought figure was too skinny though.

Han - had him as a child, not keen on the figure though

R2 - Only had the periscope version, not solid dome.

C3P0 - Only had loose limbs version, liked shiny gold body

Leia - Had the bespin version early on, eventually found a White caped Leia ESB Carded version in Tesco of all places. She was one of my favourite figures as a kid as she looked so classic as a figure even back then.

Jawa - Pain in the arse to find in the shops. Had to swap my Yoda to get him. Then found Yoda again, but only ever saw Jawa ONCE as a kid and that was near the end of my collecting in 1985.

Ben - Took 2 years to find him in the shops. Loved his blue saber for some reason

Sandpeople - Loved this figure and had as a kid, got played with quite a bit

Stormtrooper - Had late on in my collecting - army builder???? yeah right.........not easy to find in the shops and when I did was not overly impressed with the figure

DSC - Never wanted him, never had him in my collection.

 

[Richard_H]

Bike lights!

Oooh! posh

Yes Barry for us Northerners that was some serious cash outlay :lol:

 

[Richard_H]

It's odd how we all some to not have the same figures! The first 12 was released when I was about 1 so I have a defence!

 

[Jez]

I remember my Mum proudly presenting me with Han and Luke for my first figures.
I'm almost certain that they were ESB but no idea of the manufacturer.

Luke was opened first, he was my favourite. I absolutely loved that figure. It will disgust you all to read though that after a few months i removed the tip of the lightsaber because i thought it looked crap; i mean the lightsaber is either on or off, there was no crappy weedy bit sticking out in the films!

Han was naturally opened after Luke, a great figure who often went everywhere with Luke. At that time i had no idea about the small head big head thing. He had a blaster so he was cool.

Darth was a great figure, in my opinion. The size and build didn't annoy me, but regrettably the tip didn't last long :roll: He had a special smell, the same smell, TFP and Rebel Commando keep well.

My biggest memory of Chewbacca was that he was my Sisters favourite, he was the one she'd marry apparently! :lol: What was great about Chewie was he never dropped his gun. Good man/wookie.

Stormtrooper - I finally got one to escort Darth, but it wasn't for a couple of years.

Leia was a bitch to find in the shops. That said, i think i initially struggled to bring myself to buy a female doll, male dolls fine, female dolls, well i'm not sure about that

I don't remember getting Sand Person, DSC, Leia, or the droids. At the time of my collecting it was all about ESB and then ROTJ.