Darth Vader is one of the most iconic characters in pop culture history. While he started off simply as a menacing villain in the Star Wars original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars animated series showed us what Anakin Skywalker was like before being seduced over to the dark side. His descent into evil is not only one of the most tragic tales ever told in fantasy and sci-fi history, but also cemented him as one of the most beloved characters in fiction. And, you know what that means on the merchandising front.
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Action figures and toys of Darth Vader have been popular since the release of the movies in the late ‘70s. In fact, the centrepiece of my own collection is a 10-inch Play Arts Kai Vader. As you probably already know, Kenner was one of the first toy manufacturers to release an action figure of the Sith Lord, with sealed versions of it going for thousands of dollars today. However, evan amidst the valuable Kenner Vader figures, there are some variants that are more popular and coveted than others, all thanks to his iconic red lightsaber.
One Of The Most Sought-After Darth Vader Action Figures In History Is Going Up For Auction
Heritage Auctions will soon put an AFA 80 Kenner Star Wars Darth Vader action figure with DT Lightsaber up for auction. Back in 1978, when Kenner first launched its Star Wars action figure line, the manufacturer decided to do something special for the original three Force users. Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Vader came with double-telescoping (DT) lightsabers, which allowed us to activate and deactivate them. They were made up of two cylindrical tubes, where the thinner one collapsed into the broader one to emulate the action seen in the movies.
While the idea was pretty neat for 1978, the reason this variant of the figure is so popular is that the double-telescoping lightsaber was discontinued after a while. At the time, Kenner claimed manufacturing costs were running high due to the feature, and customers also reported that the lightsaber would break easily. It was eventually replaced by a single-piece version in all three figures, making the original version rare and pretty valuable today. Just to give you an idea of how valuable it is, the same figure, with the same AFA 80 grading, sold for $130,095 last year.
The value of vintage action figures has only been steadily increasing over the last few years, so you can bet that this one will go for an even higher price once bids start flying in. The double-telescoping lightsaber was a novel toy innovation for 1978, and would be one of the rarest items in any fan’s collection today.
Who is your favourite fantasy movie villain of all time? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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Forum Conversation: STAR WARS MOVIES
Go to ForumI do think it’s been tainted to the point where the only way Star Wars is going to work again is if it goes away for a few years before trying again. It would be impossible to do so, especially with Disney+ around, but like there just needs to be like no projects to give fans a reason to miss the franchise so they support it
I agree but what I don’t understand is why they thought that, creating a whole new canon would be better than the original stories that came after the original trilogy? They were the stories that everyone already loved.
They gotta fire very single current employee at LucasFilm
Star Wars can not be fixed until Lucasilm is fixed
LucasFilm as is is broken