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Vintage Kenner RDR Recap, Thank You, And Announcement!

We’ve completed our vintage Kenner Research Droids Reviews. Please click through for a thank you, an overview and an important announcement.

 

It’s difficult for me to process, but we have gone through every single vintage Kenner action figure from 1978 through 1985. Where does the time go? Beginning on Star Wars Day (May the Fourth 2018), we opened this run of reviews with Luke Skywalker and about a week ago we concluded with the elusive Yak Face, which was only available internationally (before the USA KB Toys Kenner Trilogo purge where he did arrive in minimal quantities). There have been MANY sleepless nights for me. It’s a bit sad, but I had difficulty remembering all of the card back variations and figure variations that existed on a few of the figures. It was sensory overload. The research involved to provide an accurate review was a bit stressful for me, but it all seemed to work out in the end. We received tremendous feedback, and we thank you for your input on all of them. Each month, we plowed through all eight (8) series of vintage Kenner Star Wars figures, wherever possible utilizing 80s pop classics to create themes by which we named them. (Thanks to all of my friends Martin Malacara, Indiana Skywalker, Chris – even though he didn’t know half of the 80s songs I presented to him – who helped with this.) I also reached out to friends like Josh Makison and Chris Swanski who I sought out for their most recent opinions on what modern Hasbro classic figure serves as the definitive version (also, wherever possible).

But most of all, I have to thank Chuck Paskovics for torturing him through this process and giving him more strife than his three boys and wife combined. If you could see us behind the scenes, we actually “fought” about whether a character’s name pill color matched the vintage Kenner card back well enough. We also bickered about redoing a reference image from scratch after approving the version we just trashed. For example, we went back and forth incessantly wondering whether we had the right shade of green or red for the name pills and backgrounds. And there were many figures where we could not find any reference materials AT ALL for certain characters. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to find some of these figures’ reference images for us to “redo” them with better quality in our reviews. That combined with my overbearing type A personality made nitpicks commonplace and necessitated tweaks that seemed endless for every last character we reviewed. It was a completely labor-intensive process which created more aggravation than I think Chuck and I ever imagined. I wish sometimes our readers could see the labor pains of these projects. I also have to thank Chuck for visually creating the templates for all four vintage Kenner lines in addition to the “blueprints” for each figure we added showing their color swatches, articulation and accessories. And thanks to him for taking my input so graciously on how to make them look the best they could. We thought a visual reference based on what Kenner utilized for the factories in China would go over well with our readers rather than a boring listing. (See Steve Sansweet’s 1,000 Collectibles if you don’t know what we’re talking about here.)

I also have to reemphasize how thankful I am to all of the readers for sharing their amazing stories and participating in reviews that focus on 40-year-old products. We’ve amassed over 5000 comments (probably close to 7500 now) in just the Kenner reviews alone, and that is something we don’t take lightly. Thank you for the kindness you show us by participating. It means so much to us.

But I am tired. In fact, I don’t think my exhaustion can be quantified anymore. Keeping the RDR train running daily for almost ten years has proven to be quite the test, and although I think I’ve passed it with flying colors, I need to revisit their impact on my personal life. I have received many requests for us to do reviews on more vintage Kenner items. Readers would like to see us take on things like vehicles, playsets, DROIDS and EWOKS lines, and other vintage Kenner items. I can’t answer that conclusively yet, but Chuck and I need a break before we can consider those great items.

I know I need a change. And as a result, Research Droids Reviews will be coming to an end soon. May 24, 2019 will be my 10th anniversary providing the Star Wars collecting community a new review every single day. And I have given myself that date to wind down the column once and for all. Ten years seems like an excellent place to stop. This unprecedented feat of mine hasn’t come close to getting matched anywhere else on the web, and I am proud of the body of work I created. I feel that Research Droids Reviews and I need to float at the end of the skein to recoup some energy and rejuvenation from a decade of nonstop madness. I’ve been at the front of it much too long. At this moment, I am not sure how RDRs will continue (if at all) after May 24th 2019 but stay tuned for details!

Also, amazing things are happening in my personal/professional life which might tie up how much time I can devote to JTA in the very near future. But I am not ready to spill that yet. Count it as a teaser trailer. I do know that I want to keep my toes in the JTA pool as long as I can. We’ll see what happens.

In my opinion, Star Wars is broken and fandom is in current disrepair. It’s not fun being a fan like it used to be hen you deal with certain people that you have to wonder are true fans or not. I feel similarly about being a Star Wars collector. Disney Star Wars is offering so little engagement for me that it’s hard to be excited for much of anything nowadays (again, this is how I feel and I don’t speak for anyone but myself). Collecting Hasbro stuff is also very painful. Two OT aliens and a big vehicle aren’t enough to keep me zealously eager and championing for the 3.75″ super-articulated line anymore. I have lost most of my interest. Hey, if it’s any consolation, I played a significant role in getting TVC re-launched. And I consider my whining successful. 🙂

If you’re enjoying the current Disney stuff, I AM THRILLED for you. It’s just not resonating with me. And I don’t see the important people in the Star Wars property reacting properly or doing all they can to realign fan engagement of those disenfranchised with the franchise. Regardless, please keep enjoying it if you love it and don’t let anyone else steal your joy! Your opinion is the only one that matters, and I mean that wholeheartedly. It’s just that for me, everything is aligning in a way that is telling me that it may be time for a “drastic” change. And because God is good, the opportunities I’m being afforded are helping me to form this decision. In short, everything is coming together beautifully.

You should still expect some incredible things to come soon from JTA as we revisit our approach and placement in the Star Wars collecting community.

Despite this news, let’s turn the frown upside down. If you missed any of the impressive figures featured in these vintage Kenner reviews, please catch up by clicking the links below. We hope that every single reader will eventually check out every unique vintage Kenner review. We believe you’ll find them entertaining and very useful.

Once again, thank you so much for reading. Thank you for the feedback, corrections, trivia, images of your collections and everything else you do to make JTA one of the best Star Wars communities on the web. And our readers are always the very best in the Star Wars collecting community! Thank you!

 

May The 12-Backs Be With You (Vintage Kenner Star Wars Series 1)

      
      
      

 

Droids And Creatures + Two Main Features (Vintage Kenner Star Wars Series 2)

       
      

 

Some Like It Hoth (Vintage Kenner The Empire Strikes Back Series 3)

      
      
    

 

You Bespin Me Round (Like A Record) (Vintage Kenner The Empire Strikes Back Series 4)

      
      

 

Pilots, Commanders And Droids! Oh My! (Vintage Kenner The Empire Strikes Back Series 5)

      
      

 

Jabba Don’t Preach (Vintage Kenner Return Of The Jedi Series 6)

      
      
      
      

 

Turning Ewokese (Vintage Kenner Return Of The Jedi Series 7)

      
            
  

 

The Final Countdown (Vintage Kenner The Power Of The Force Series 8)

      
      
      
    

 

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