Cantina Adventure Set - Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures

The Cantina Adventure Set, more commonly and affectionately known as the Sears Cantina, is special to collectors for multiple reasons. But perhaps it possesses the most notoriety for including an error figure which eventually developed into one of the most sought after vintage Kenner action figures of all time; the Blue Snaggletooth. What fewer Star Wars collectors know however is that Kenner subsequently changed the Snaggletooth figure from Snaggletooth [Blue] to Snaggletooth [Red] and there are Cantina Adventure Sets out there that contain the red version instead of the blue one. If you ever buy one like this from a third party, you should know you probably haven't been scammed. In retrospect, the "Sears" Cantina Adventure Set comes across as a McQuarrie concept inspired collectibles more than anything else. Not screen accurate, it provided a backdrop for the beloved Star Wars figures we were gobbling up as kids. Anyway – enough of the history lesson. Gentle Giant Ltd. decided to develop a product to accompany their very popular Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures line. Since the 1978 and 1979 Kenner figures were developed first for this high-end collectible line, all of the “pieces� were in place for Gentle Giant to create a playset to go along with the figures. And that’s exactly what they did. They made a very respectable collectible even though it isn’t 100% accurate, but you may not care in the least.

Collectors of the Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figure line can now welcome the very first “big sized� playset into their collections with the Cantina Adventure Set, based on the Sears exclusive from 1979. Gentle Giant Ltd. brought forth as many elements they could from the original Kenner toy into the adult collectible, but some things had to ultimately be cut just due to the sheer size of the item. For the most part, they did a really fantastic job at making a scaled up version of the original cardboard playset, but they had to “seamlessly� remove some of the panels to keep this piece practical without becoming obtrusive/intrusive. Had they recreated every last part of the playset, it would have been too long to place in any collection. The parts that were added are enough to get a good taste of what they piece felt like for the kids that were fortunate enough to own the original. They did a great job because your mind flashes right back to 1979 when this set was first offered. The packaging is stupendous. Faithfully recreated with almost the same exact artwork, Gentle Giant Ltd. kindly advises collectors right on the box that the Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures aren’t included and sold separately (in case you couldn't figure that out from the super skinny packaging).

When displayed, the Cantina Adventure Set will almost choke you up. It’s an absolutely gorgeous piece, but it will behoove you to purchase Greedo, Walrus Man, Hammerhead and Snaggletooth [Blue] (or even the regular Snaggletooth) to display them inside of it. You would think that there some scaling issue would exist since they chopped off parts of the backdrop to make this more manageable, but all four Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures fit well inside the replica. In fact, the Cantina Adventure Set backdrop is a brilliant dispaly for any of the figures in the collection. We probably shouldn't expect Gentle Giant Ltd. to be making too many more of these. We have little to no complaints about how they approached this collectible at all. If we had to find fault about the Cantina Adventure Set, it would have to be the price. It retails right around $88.99 which is a lot of money for something designed from paper products. Still, you need to keep in mind that this was how the original Kenner playset was designed and that Gentle Giant Ltd. is paying direct homage to that specifically. It goes without saying that the Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figure line and the associated products are hefty items for the average collector’s wallet. But if you can make it work, then please do. This is beautiful.