Posts Tagged ‘Last-17’
The Take-Down Two.
The Take-Down Two. (Vintage Admiral Ackbar, Vintage General Lando Calrissian)
Who do you call to lead a merry band of Rebels into battle?
Oh yeah: Admiral Ackbar and General Lando “Lady’s Choice” Calrissian.
That is of course if you want to kick some ass.
The Beast in Me.
The Beast in Me. (Vintage Yak Face)
Also an outtake from an earlier shoot. I like how this one captures the quiet and regal side of a rare Star Wars classic.
The Rock Bottom Gang.
The Rock Bottom Gang. (Vintage Ree-Yees, Vintage Amanaman, Vintage Squid Head)
Essentially a man-sized leech featuring flaccid skin and absurdly-long atrophied arms, the Amanaman creature from Return of the Jedi is a double dog dare in the grotesque. Did I mention his knobby staff decorated with the skulls of his hapless victims? Yeah, well there’s that too. As you can see the vintage action figure in Amanaman’s name adds a nice touch, finishing the weirdness off with a devilish grin.
If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time you already know that the Ree-Yees and Squid Head action figures are perennial favorites. As far as the vintage line of Star Wars toys goes, these two beauties came along at the high-water mark period. Demand was still peaking for Star Wars goodies at this point in 1983 and Kenner clearly sought to keep their end of the bargain, designing toys that offered greater detail and newer features than their predecessors.
But sadly nothing good lasts forever. The Kenner line of Star Wars action figures would be dead (or at least relegated to the 59-cent bin) within 18 months.
Trouble Bound.
Trouble Bound. (Vintage R2-D2, Vintage EV-9D9, Vintage C-3PO)
Hard to imagine, but this photo represents the first proper portrait I’ve taken of the vintage R2-D2 and C-3PO action figures together. With chrome paint these two can be particularly hard to light. Worth the effort though as the results are spectacular when the stars finally do align.
Attention sports fans! If you want to dig deeper into the story of ‘Star Wars Action Figures Doing What They Do Best’, an interview has been published at the excellent Galactic Awesome blog. That blog has a terrific companion as well.
Two Years!
Rather Childish / Two Years Retrospective Poster
What better way to celebrate my first two years of obsessively lighting and photographing vintage Star Wars action figures than a greatest hits poster!
Need a print? Snap it up here.
Profound thanks to everyone that’s helped smooth the road: my wife, my daughter, my friends on tumblr (notably darthambiguous, samuraifrog, retrostarwars, geeklitist, and dbsw), my friends at Rebel Scum, and my friends at The Imperial Gunnery.
Thanks to Mike D as well for encouraging me to get printed works out there.
Enjoy! And here’s to the next two years…
-Pete
This Way Out Redux.
This Way Out Redux.
(Vintage Luke Skywalker Stormtrooper Disguise, Vintage Han Solo, Vintage Chewbacca,
Vintage Millennium Falcon)
This is a much-stewed-over rethink of a recent underachiever. Happy to finally have it off my chest and onto yours. Enjoy!
This Way Out.
This Way Out. (Vintage Luke Skywalker Stormtrooper Disguise,
Vintage Chewbacca, Vintage Han Solo, Vintage Millennium Falcon)
I’ve been itching to see a Millennium Falcon on these pages for quite a while. Now I’ll be the first to admit this shot doesn’t do the old scrap heap justice, but it’s definitely a start. Or if not a start, at least a hint as to where this might go from here.
So we chalk it up to research, and next time I vow to present something that shows a bit more… shall we say… commitment.
Imperial Gunner Redux.
Imperial Gunner Redux. (Vintage Imperial Gunner, Vintage Emperor's Royal Guards)
Every so often the urge to do some housekeeping kicks in and I focus on re-shooting an earlier photo that doesn’t quite stack up. This is a good example of that. The version I did of these figures last November started rubbing me the wrong way from day one. This version I can finally say makes me happy.
Rebel Scum.
Rebel Scum. (Vintage General Lando Calrissian, Vintage C-3PO, Vintage Leia Organa (Bespin Gown))
Yak Face Abides.
Yak Face Abides. (Vintage Yak Face, Vintage Jawas)
Pump thy fist and behold the Yak Face! He’s number one with a bullet on the list of legendary toys made in the likeness of entirely unknown Star Wars characters. I mean you could be a serious fan of the original Star Wars trilogy and not be aware of this guy. Did he carouse on Jabba’s barge, adding to the discord of Jabba’s final throwdown? Hair yes. Had he missed the whole shebang would anyone have noticed? Not a chance. Still the Vintage Yak Face action figure, riding the substantial rumors of his scarcity, fetches one of the highest price tags among vintage Star Wars action figures. Well done, Ace.
