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Cantina Fans Should Check Out This Article!

Posted by Paul | July 13, 2009 at 08:47 PM ET

StarWars.com has posted a great article on Duncan Jenkins' Cantina Collectibles overview. Click thumbnail below to read all about it!

By Duncan Jenkins

When Ben Kenobi first told a young Luke Skywalker (and, by proxy, us in the audience) that "you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy" than Mos Eisley Spaceport, we had no idea what we were in for. At the seedy heart of it all was the Mos Eisley Cantina, a place where creatures of every imaginable description could be found (as long as they weren't droids). They all shared a common interest in a good drink, temporary relief from the blistering suns of Tatooine, and the occasional desire to cause a little mayhem. Those scenes in the cantina and the accompanying music left an indelible mark on moviegoers from the outset. It is little wonder that licensee companies have revisited that cantina in the form of merchandise in many different ways. From posters to coins, to apparel, to toys, there are a host of cantina-related products. Here is a brief overview of some of them.

Due to the initial success of the original 12 Star Wars action figures in 1978, Kenner quickly followed up with eight new figures. Half of the eight were aliens from the cantina: Snaggletooth, Hammerhead, Walrusman, and Greedo. Yes, kiddies, it's true. In the '70s we had no idea it was supposed to be Zutton, Momaw Nadon, and Ponda Baba with Greedo. To go along with the figures, two playsets were available: the Creature Cantina, and the Cantina Adventure Set. While the Creature Cantina was a regular playset with lots of playability, the Cantina Adventure Set was a Sears exclusive that consisted of a simple cardboard backdrop of the exterior of the cantina. But what made it so special was that it came with all four creature action figures including a version of Snaggletooth that was tall and blue as opposed to the correct short red figure. This makes the Cantina Adventure Set a highly sought after item today.

One of the most obvious choices for a cantina action figure would have been a musician. But sadly, the original generation of Star Wars kids had to suffer without a musician figure. It was not until Hasbro re-ignited the toy line in the late '90s that a cantina musician was finally made available. Not only could you get them in the regular scale of 3.75" but also in the 12" Collector's Series as a Wal-Mart exclusive and even in a cute plush format. The modern line has given us several versions of the bar and populated it with almost every alien barely glimpsed in those scenes.

Another item from the vintage Kenner era that is cantina related is the rare "Creatures" coin from the Power of the Force line in 1985. The coins were an added bonus attached to figure packs or available through a mail-in offer. One of the coins featured artwork of Snaggletooth, Greedo, and Hammerhead (Greedo also had his own coin). Early versions of this coin described the creatures as hanging out in "cafes" -- not nearly as nefarious as the corrected "cantinas" version that replaced it. Speaking of coins, in 1987 Rarities Mint released a set of six coins in various weights of gold and silver. The sixth in the set is the Cantina Band. Just don't try to spend it on blue milk.

There were a couple fun t-shirts created in the late 1990s that are cantina related. A company called Changes released a shirt for the "Mos Eisley Cantina Bar and Grill" that promised 2-for-1 drink specials. Winterland Productions licensed a faux concert style shirt for Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes (the current cannonical name for the band) performing at the Mos Eisley Cantina.

The Expanded Universe had a couple books to peruse for their cantina fix. Tales of the Mos Eisley Cantina compiled several short stories from many different authors; each one dealt with a different character seen in the bar. Often they dealt with the circumstances that put them at the cantina on the fateful day that Luke first ventured into their midst. So if you don't know who Dr. Evazan is or which character uses a hidden proboscis to eat the brains of his victims, then run out right now and find a copy of the book.

A second book of interest is the The Mos Eisley Cantina Pop-Up Book. This thin volume is short on story and includes only a single pop-up of the entire bar and all patrons, but is well worth having for the wonderful Ralph McQuarrie illustrations (the cover art for this book was also used on a necktie from Ralph Marlin). Ralph McQuarrie also featured the cantina band in a snow globe as artwork for the 1995 Lucasfilm exclusive Christmas card.

Cantina artwork has been represented in several formats over the years. Perhaps the earliest is a rare poster from Factors in 1978 by artist Bill Selby. The 20"x28" poster captures the feeling of the cantina perfectly. Another famous artist team that did a piece of art of the cantina was the Hildebrandt Brothers. Arguably the most famous of the original trilogy era artists, the Hildebrandt Brothers did not do very many Star Wars images prior to the 1996 Shadows of the Empire series. One of their paintings, that of the cantina, was featured exclusively in international publications of Star Wars: The Official Collectors Edition (printed in the US under the title The Star Wars Album).

Also in 1978, budding artists could try their own hand at creating cantina art using the coloring set made by Craftmaster or by constructing the Cantina Action Scene model kit from AMT/Ertl in the late '90s.

For three dimensional artwork, Gentle Giant has produced busts of Greedo and Momaw Nadon as well as Han Solo/Greedo bookend sculptures. Earlier, sculptor Greg Aronowitz did a superb likeness of the cantina band member bust for Legends in 3D.

In 1997 Hamilton Collection proposed a Cantina Collection. The concept was for subscribers to receive a sculpted piece of the bar and one or two aliens every couple of months. When finished, the collector would have a complete cantina scene filled with all the usual patrons. However, due to poor pre-orders, the idea was scrapped. Only a couple of flyers and prototypes exist for this line. Maybe one of the current licensees will revisit this idea in the future.

As Star Wars fans have gotten older, the types of collectibles have also matured. Case in point is the Cantina Barware Collection available at Disney theme parks in 2002. The glasses came in pilsner, martini, shot glass, and even a mixer, each sporting a Mos Eisley Cantina logo. Now fans could more accurately live out their desires to hang out with Wuher the bartender (check out StarWarsShop's current line of exclusive cantina barware items!).

Of course, this is just a sampling of cantina related merchandise. Collectors could also find Kenner's Cantina Band puzzle, as well as many of the fifth series of Topps trading cards featuring cantina scenes (a feature touted on the wrappers). There's even the obscure 2000 calendar devoted exclusively to the spaceport bar where everybody knows your name...or am I thinking of the place that Major Derlin frequents?


Be sure to check out Duncan's regular Vintage Food Premiums column and his new Star Wars collectibles book, co-authored with Gus Lopez.

Read more about it here!

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